Steve Morison after 20 games - a comparison with other City managers after 20 games

Here's a table of every Cardiff manager's record after their first 20 games in charge for us since 1946 (P W D L F A):

1 Billy McCandless 20 16 1 3 48 15
2 Lennie Lawrence 20 14 4 2 36 17
3 Alan Cork 20 13 4 3 52 22
4 George Swindin 20 11 2 7 48 35
5 Malky Mackay 20 10 6 4 40 27
6 Bill Jones 20 10 2 8 35 30
7 Mick McCarthy 20 9 7 4 30 19
8 Cyril Spiers 20 9 4 7 32 29
9 Russell Osman 20 9 2 9 26 28
10 Neil Harris 20 8 10 2 33 29
11 Frankie Burrows (1st) 20 8 7 5 28 26
12 Trevor Morris 20 8 6 6 38 39
13 Dave Jones 20 8 6 6 29 21
14 Steve Morison 20 8 4 8 30 29
15 Neil Warnock 20 8 4 8 27 27
16 Eddie May 20 7 7 6 28 28
17 Kenny Hibbert 20 7 5 8 25 26
18 Frank O'Farrell 20 7 5 8 23 25
19 Len Ashurst (2nd) 20 6 8 6 31 32
20 Russell Slade 20 7 4 9 28 32
21 Len Ashurst (1st) 20 7 4 9 28 30
22 Richie Morgan 20 6 4 10 21 35
23 Jimmy Scoular 20 5 8 7 27 30
24 Billy Ayre 20 5 7 8 21 29
25 Jimmy Andrews 20 5 5 10 22 32
26 Frankie Burrows (2nd) 20 4 7 9 27 28
27 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 20 5 3 12 20 43
28 Alan Durban 20 4 4 12 24 40
29 Phil Neal 20 4 4 12 17 34
30 Terry Yorath 20 3 5 12 14 30

Of those 30 managers, 10 saw their first game at the start of the season.

Of the 20 managers who started during the season, 17 saw the side in the bottom half of the table. Lennie Lawrence was the last manager to start his tenure with the club in the top half after Alan Cork's sacking with the club in 11th.

I think it's interesting that Steve Morison and Neil Warnock both have almost identical records after their first 20 games - both managers saw their clubs climb up the league.

For those still awake at this point, here's a table of how managers fared in terms of league position from the start of their reign to the 20th game (position at start, position after 20, difference)

1 Alan Cork 17 2 15
2 George Swindin 17 8 9
3 Mick McCarthy 16 8 8
4 Lennie Lawrence 11 4 7
5 Neil Harris 14 8 6
6 Neil Warnock 23 17 6
7 Len Ashurst (2nd) 24 19 5
8 Frank O'Farrell 20 16 4
9 Cyril Spiers 7 4 3
10 Russell Slade 16 14 2
11 Steve Morison 21 19 2
12 Richie Morgan 20 19 1
13 Len Ashurst (1st) 20 20 0
14 Frankie Burrows (2nd) 19 20 -1
15 Russell Osman 7 9 -2
16 Billy Ayre 19 21 -2
17 Alan Durban 20 22 -2
18 Terry Yorath 20 22 -2
19 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 17 20 -3
20 Phil Neal 19 22 -3

I haven't looked at points difference etc, but my gut reaction is that we were so far away when Morison took over that it's been one hell of a battle to climb out of the bottom 5.

Lastly, for all those who have spent many nights pondering which manager has the best record after 20 games from the start of a season, your prayers have been answered (position after 20 games). There aren't probably many on here who remember the 1946/47 promotion winning season (apart from TOBW). Cyril Spiers took charge of the club during the second world war, was replaced by McCandless who won promotion back to Division Two at the first attempt in a record breaking season, then was soon replaced by Spiers the following season. I wonder what that was about?

1 Billy McCandless 1
2 Malky Mackay 4
3 Bill Jones 10
3 Eddie May 10
5 Trevor Morris 11
5 Dave Jones 11
7 Jimmy Scoular 14
8 Frankie Burrows (1st) 16
9 Kenny Hibbert 19
10 Jimmy Andrews 20

Brilliant work Eric. I've skimmed it so far but read your conclusions (I will give it all the love it deserves). I liked the question about Spiers though. Further intrigue, isn't Spiers a German name? Weird considering McCandless (another great name) was such a success during WWII. :sherlock:

There are so many variables that affect these figures - not least the quality of the players that managers inherited.

I would have thought that the priority of incoming managers would be to create a side that was hard to defeat - and in that respect Neil Harris had a very successful start, taking over a side that was going through the motions and then only losing two games in twenty - a run which propelled City towards a play-off place.

Good work. So many variables, as Cyclops says, but interesting all the same. Worth noting that Trollope didn't make it to twenty. While it's too soon to judge Morison, I see him as similar to Ole and Trollope in that he's trying to move us from one style of play to another (I never quite worked out what Harris was trying to do) so, while it hasn't been all plain sailing, I'd say he's dealing with the transition more successfully than those two did so far.

Off topic but for those who think that Morison couldn't fail to improve both our football and our form after McCarthy left, it's worth noting that McCarthy left Ipswich when they were 12th in the Championship in April 2018 and they finished bottom the following season, 13 points from safety.

McCandless left to manage Swansea the following season.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_McCandless

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cyclops

There are so many variables that affect these figures - not least the quality of the players that managers inherited.

I would have thought that the priority of incoming managers would be to create a side that was hard to defeat - and in that respect Neil Harris had a very successful start, taking over a side that was going through the motions and then only losing two games in twenty - a run which propelled City towards a play-off place.

---

Absolutely. In general terms, new managers tended to inherit a side that was struggling. The varying degrees of struggle can never really be defined properly. However, I think there's a limited merit to this in terms of most crap managers don't do well here where most decent managers do, but that is often in part due to the players at their disposal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Loramski

Good work. So many variables, as Cyclops says, but interesting all the same. Worth noting that Trollope didn't make it to twenty. While it's too soon to judge Morison, I see him as similar to Ole and Trollope in that he's trying to move us from one style of play to another (I never quite worked out what Harris was trying to do) so, while it hasn't been all plain sailing, I'd say he's dealing with the transition more successfully than those two did so far.

Off topic but for those who think that Morison couldn't fail to improve both our football and our form after McCarthy left, it's worth noting that McCarthy left Ipswich when they were 12th in the Championship in April 2018 and they finished bottom the following season, 13 points from safety.

McCandless left to manage Swansea the following season.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_McCandless

---

I think Morison has been helped massively by having managed the young players coming through. He knows their strengths and weaknesses and, while I don't agree with some of ways he's managed some of them, others have made huge progress in a short space of time.

I also think he's not tried to be too different. Trollope wanted a brand of football and didn't have the players to do what he wanted. Solskjaer could have brought in another dozen players and still not known what to do.

I have a theory that McCarthy left due to interference from above and his last few team selections were a vertical finger to Vincent Tan.

Thanks Eric, given where the team were when Morison took over, I’d say they are impressive figures and, while the usual caveat aboutresults at lower levels not being overly important needs to be added, the fact is they did improve while he was in charge of the under 23s as well.

Looking back, that almost freakish ten minutes or so when we turned what was shaping up as a thrashing at Stoke into an honourable draw in his first game was so important for Steve Morison, because it gave.him something he could point to right from the start as an achievement that I’m certain we’d never have managed under McCarthy at that stage.

Morison wasn’t my first choice when he was appointed (I’d have preferred Beale), but I don’t think any of the realistic candidates could have done much better than him in their first twenty matches given how far we fell in September and October under McCarthy.

There are aspects of his management style that have caused discussion which are clearly not to everyone’s liking, but with acceptable results and an effective transfer window behind him, you have to think a longer contract offer will be made to him (hopefully, not too soon like it was with McCarthy) eventually if his current win one, lose one record is maintained for the next couple of months.

I hope he is given a contract and before the season end as the summer is going to be shorter this year as the next season starts sooner due to the world Cup - with so many players out of contract and loans going back we need to hit the ground running otherwise we could be playing catch to start the season ready

I hope he gets a year on a rolling contract to start with and see how it pans out

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nobody's Rep

I hope he is given a contract and before the season end as the summer is going to be shorter this year as the next season starts sooner due to the world Cup - with so many players out of contract and loans going back we need to hit the ground running otherwise we could be playing catch to start the season ready

I hope he gets a year on a rolling contract to start with and see how it pans out

---

But we’ll have Bale next season, that should help! 🤣

Those figures make cork look like we'd found the next bill Shankly yet I barely remember his time in charge

Worth pointing out that no manager has taken over a Cardiff team on a worse run of form than Morison as we had never lost eight matches in succession prior to McCarthy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shrewsbury Blue

Worth pointing out that no manager has taken over a Cardiff team on a worse run of form than Morison as we had never lost eight matches in succession prior to McCarthy.

---

That's a very valid point and makes the turnaround of results under SR even more impressive.

Since the closure of the January window, he has recruited talented footballers, dovetailed them seamlessly into his team and got maximum points from two must-win games.

While not falling into the trap we did with MM, I think SR's efforts should be rewarded with a one-year contract possibly to be extended based on results.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nobody's Rep

I hope he is given a contract and before the season end as the summer is going to be shorter this year as the next season starts sooner due to the world Cup - with so many players out of contract and loans going back we need to hit the ground running otherwise we could be playing catch to start the season ready

I hope he gets a year on a rolling contract to start with and see how it pans out

---

I don't have the link to hand but a few weeks ago he said they were going to be cracking on with their recruitment plans, as even if it's not him in charge next year, the next manager will likely set up in a similar way.

I would imagine it will be SM though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FormerlyJohnnyBreadhead

I don't have the link to hand but a few weeks ago he said they were going to be cracking on with their recruitment plans, as even if it's not him in charge next year, the next manager will likely set up in a similar way.

I would imagine it will be SM though.

---

Missed that but that's good news

so we've had 75 managers over the last 15 years...that's bonkers

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ToTaL ITK

so we've had 75 managers over the last 15 years...that's bonkers

---

:scratchingheadsmiley: