Now that the dust has settled ... Birmingham

Birmingham beaten 6-1 at Hull - cue new manager.

Not sure if any of the Birmingham City squad were on international duty.

Hence two weeks to prepare (with full squad) ahead of this fixture.

Emphasis on fitness work - double sessions.

Players coming back from injury or being overlooked by previous manager.

New manager 'bounce'.

Compared to Cardiff's preparation ... important players playing WC qualifiers - must have detrimental effect on preparation, both fitness wise and tactically.

Birmingham dominated throughout, with an impressive Vassel toying with lacklustre Cardiff defending.

Cardiff going route one, with little effect.

Cardiff should have had a penalty and arguably playing against 10 for remainder of game. Neil's assertion that the ref said he would have given a foul if anywhere else on the pitch is hard to take if true. No doubt the ref will deny saying that if FA decided to investigate.

Birmingham deserved the win and we must continue to expect the unexpected in this division.

Ball retention this season has been very poor at times.

Can Cardiff improve in this respect or are the players at Neil's disposal simply not good enough?

Warnock as much at fault as the players for not reacting to a dismal display

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SunderlandBluebird

Warnock as much at fault as the players for not reacting to a dismal display

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This^^^^

The lack of action by Warnock was as frustrating as the performance.

He was standing there shaking his head from about 30 minutes onwards yet did nothing about it until the 65th minute and then it was just like for like.

Players were off colour, but so was Warnock.

No excuses the side weren’t good enough on the night. Fact.