Originally Posted by
the other bob wilson
I could write so much more about this, but I think you have to look at what I’ll call the Cardiff City psyche. I talked about our last six home matches, correct me if I’m wrong (I may well be), but did any of our opponents start with the sort of big target man that has been compulsory at Cardiff more or less since I started supporting the club sixty one years ago? I don’t think they did?
It’s the same in midfield. It’s easy to knock Siopis at the moment, but, for me, he was definitely our best central midfielder through the autumn. However, in truth, should we really have been signing a player like him in the first place? Yes, the fact that we’ve been without Ramsey for so long has to be factored in, but it can hardly be called a complete shock that he’s been missing with injury can it?
There’s always the occasional exception to the rule that we only sign grafters in central midfield, but they are definitely occasional - bringing Siopis into a club that already had Ralls, Wintle, Adams and Rinomhota was typically Cardiff.
Speaking of Joe Ralls, I had visions of him becoming another Whitts type player when I used to watch him playing for the youth team as a sixteen and seventeen year old - he was very much the talented left footed play maker back then. Instead, Ralls became a central midfield grafter - don’t get me wrong, he’s been a good midfield grafter who has given us great service for thirteen years now, but I do wonder what type of player he would have turned out being if he had left us in his early twenties - I also wonder if the injuries that have limited him so much in latter years might not have been such a factor if he’d not become “a typical Cardiff type midfield grafter”.
I think Cardiff managers are always hamstrung by the psyche I mentioned. Of course some of the managers we’ve had (maybe a majority of them) wouldn’t want it any other way, but look how often attempts to turn us into more of a “footballing team” have had to be abandoned because too many of our players were uncomfortable trying to play a more rounded game.
The Siopis signing and his comments on Colwill, Robinson and Tanner make me think Bulut is another manager who prefers a preponderance of grafters, but, to be fair, he is the latest in a pretty long line of City managers who have been surprised by just how limited the squad he inherited is - I’m sure he wants more from his side, particularly in home games, but, let’s face it, we’ve been playing in much the same way since Harry Wilson left the club.
Good thread this.