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Re: The table
Last week, with Sabri Lamouchi in the dugout, Cardiff ground Blues into the floor in a horrid, arm-wrestle of match, which resulted in two late goals courtesy of Perry Ng's free-kick and Callum Robinson's lovely solo effort.
READ MORE: Cardiff City transfer news as Bluebirds send scout to watch starlet and Mick McCarthy opens up on sacking
Style of play or footballing philosophies are tricky to nail down and the path from one side of the spectrum to the other is even more difficult to navigate. Managers typically hate answering questions about it, too, or go to great lengths to avoid nailing their colours to any one particular mast.
But there is more than one way to skin a cat and Cardiff have shown that this season. They will be finishing this season playing a completely unrecognisable brand of football to what they did at the beginning of the campaign, but it's now a case of needs must.
So, just why have Cardiff been unable to shift to a more 'modern', for want of a better word, brand of football with any sort of success? Well, there are a number of factors.
There were both drawbacks and positives to Steve Morison's time in charge of the club. However, he must be commended for at least having the courage of his convictions when he comprised a brand-new squad on a shoestring budget with a view to playing a brand of football built on patient build-up play and slick passing moves.
We saw signs of that bearing fruit early on. That first Birmingham game, the opener against Norwich City, the stunning first half away at Middlesbrough which blew Chris Wilder's side away.
Patience was required - because this style was a major shift as the club looked to move away from the remnants of the squad Neil Warnock had built during his time in south Wales - as consistently positive results continued to elude them. Owner Vincent Tan seemingly lost patience and, with Cardiff in 18th, Morison was sacked.
In came assistant coach Mark Hudson to take the reins for what he thought would be the remainder of the season. Of course, we all know what happened next.
Hudson was caught between two stools. Under him, Cardiff were neither one thing nor the other. They were not a team built on passing and intricate build-up play, nor were they a direct team who played off the forward players. That was what led to his downfall, ultimately, a lack of identity and direction.
That appeared to bleed into Sabri Lamouchi's first three matches in charge of the club, too, as the Frenchman assessed his players and attempted to ascertain the best course of action moving forward.
The last two matches, though, we have seen a big shift in style, reverting back to the tried and tested. Kion Etete and Sory Kaba, both 6ft3-plus, have been named as a physically imposing striker pairing and have become the base from which Cardiff have launched their attacks. It has worked, too, with two wins from two. Connor Wickham has also been brought in and he is no pushover.
It hasn't been what punters would call 'pretty' football, but it has been efficient and effective. It means Cardiff are playing far more of their football closer to the oppositions' goal and, crucially, away from their own.
Romaine Sawyers' words about the style of player after his winner against Reading on Friday night were pretty telling. "Earlier on in my career I would have struggled (with the style), but now I know what the gaffer is expecting from us," the player said. "It's about minimising risks, getting up the pitch, picking up on second balls and playing from there.
"The good thing about the gaffer is that he is taking every game as it comes. Against Blues it was a bit of a scrap, going long, hooking things on. [Against Reading] we put our foot on the ball and tried to play a bit more."
The key phrase there is "minimising risks" and that is why it is easier to get Cardiff out of sticky situations playing this way than it is by playing out from the back.
We saw Neil Warnock have great success with it during his time at the club, we also saw Mick McCarthy employ even more direct, route-one tactics when he first came in and it yielded incredible results, with the club unbeaten in his first 11 games at the helm before finishing just outside the play-offs.
Now, we are starting to see the green shoots of success, albeit it is still early days, with Lamouchi now demanding a more purposeful approach.
The trouble with this style, though, is that if you begin to lose matches playing this way, the patience from the fan base wears incredibly thin far quicker. Supporters will rarely moan if their side is winning regardless of the style of play, that much we know, but if you are losing and you're playing less attractive football, then it becomes a problem.
That is why many fans appeared to afford Morison a lot of latitude despite poor results, because they were enjoying the evolution in the club's playing style.
But there is obviously a business side to all of this. The looming prospect of a relegation battle, the ruinous financial implications a drop to League One would bring, and a rookie manager at the helm meant the owner got itchy feet and Morison's stint was cut short.
There are a number of reasons why Cardiff's shift in style has never changed successfully. Neil Harris tentatively tried it before results turned, he then went back to tried-and-tested, riskless football which bought him a little more time. Morison went unashamedly for it and stuck to his guns and for that he must be commended. He died on that hill but could at least leave with his head held high.
But how many top, experienced managers come into Championship clubs, rip up the club's footballing philosophy and have instant success? They are very few and far between.
Also, in this period of austerity, it is even harder at Cardiff. They have cut the spending so they cannot afford to buy top-level Championship stars or wantaway Premier League players, so have a limited pool of players from which to pick. That has an immediate knock-on effect with regards to what managers they attract, too.
Being unable to cherry pick top managers or players and with the top brass unwilling to stretch their patience too far pertaining to the threat of relegation, it's been nigh-on impossible to change the style of football. It's far easier to pick the devil you know when push comes to shove.
But, with everything considered, what is Cardiff's identity? The feel-good factor around the club last week after the Bluebirds created a number of chances and won two games was like the Cardiff of old. Yes, it's pretty route one at times, but there is also some good football dotted in there, too. Especially at home.
Away from Cardiff City Stadium, expect an extremely direct approach with a mantra of: 'Do not lose'. At home, as we saw against Reading, there might be a little more licence to play and stretch the game.
For whatever reason, that formula just seems to work for Cardiff. It did under Warnock, it did, for a while at least, under McCarthy and, perhaps, it will work under Lamouchi. Get points on the board, build up that atmosphere and feeling of belief within the fan base again and suddenly Cardiff becomes a force in this division once more.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though, there is still a long way to go and three or four more wins are needed to secure the club's status as a Championship outfit next season.
But with a clear plan and identity, Lamouchi has shown the blueprint for the rest of the season and it appears to be far more risk averse than what we have seen previously. It's lifted Cardiff out of sticky situations before - and it has to once again.
Last week, with Sabri Lamouchi in the dugout, Cardiff ground Blues into the floor in a horrid, arm-wrestle of match, which resulted in two late goals courtesy of Perry Ng's free-kick and Callum Robinson's lovely solo effort.
READ MORE: Cardiff City transfer news as Bluebirds send scout to watch starlet and Mick McCarthy opens up on sacking
Style of play or footballing philosophies are tricky to nail down and the path from one side of the spectrum to the other is even more difficult to navigate. Managers typically hate answering questions about it, too, or go to great lengths to avoid nailing their colours to any one particular mast.
But there is more than one way to skin a cat and Cardiff have shown that this season. They will be finishing this season playing a completely unrecognisable brand of football to what they did at the beginning of the campaign, but it's now a case of needs must.
So, just why have Cardiff been unable to shift to a more 'modern', for want of a better word, brand of football with any sort of success? Well, there are a number of factors.
There were both drawbacks and positives to Steve Morison's time in charge of the club. However, he must be commended for at least having the courage of his convictions when he comprised a brand-new squad on a shoestring budget with a view to playing a brand of football built on patient build-up play and slick passing moves.
We saw signs of that bearing fruit early on. That first Birmingham game, the opener against Norwich City, the stunning first half away at Middlesbrough which blew Chris Wilder's side away.
Patience was required - because this style was a major shift as the club looked to move away from the remnants of the squad Neil Warnock had built during his time in south Wales - as consistently positive results continued to elude them. Owner Vincent Tan seemingly lost patience and, with Cardiff in 18th, Morison was sacked.
In came assistant coach Mark Hudson to take the reins for what he thought would be the remainder of the season. Of course, we all know what happened next.
Hudson was caught between two stools. Under him, Cardiff were neither one thing nor the other. They were not a team built on passing and intricate build-up play, nor were they a direct team who played off the forward players. That was what led to his downfall, ultimately, a lack of identity and direction.
That appeared to bleed into Sabri Lamouchi's first three matches in charge of the club, too, as the Frenchman assessed his players and attempted to ascertain the best course of action moving forward.
The last two matches, though, we have seen a big shift in style, reverting back to the tried and tested. Kion Etete and Sory Kaba, both 6ft3-plus, have been named as a physically imposing striker pairing and have become the base from which Cardiff have launched their attacks. It has worked, too, with two wins from two. Connor Wickham has also been brought in and he is no pushover.
It hasn't been what punters would call 'pretty' football, but it has been efficient and effective. It means Cardiff are playing far more of their football closer to the oppositions' goal and, crucially, away from their own.
Romaine Sawyers' words about the style of player after his winner against Reading on Friday night were pretty telling. "Earlier on in my career I would have struggled (with the style), but now I know what the gaffer is expecting from us," the player said. "It's about minimising risks, getting up the pitch, picking up on second balls and playing from there.
"The good thing about the gaffer is that he is taking every game as it comes. Against Blues it was a bit of a scrap, going long, hooking things on. [Against Reading] we put our foot on the ball and tried to play a bit more."
The key phrase there is "minimising risks" and that is why it is easier to get Cardiff out of sticky situations playing this way than it is by playing out from the back.
We saw Neil Warnock have great success with it during his time at the club, we also saw Mick McCarthy employ even more direct, route-one tactics when he first came in and it yielded incredible results, with the club unbeaten in his first 11 games at the helm before finishing just outside the play-offs.
Now, we are starting to see the green shoots of success, albeit it is still early days, with Lamouchi now demanding a more purposeful approach.
The trouble with this style, though, is that if you begin to lose matches playing this way, the patience from the fan base wears incredibly thin far quicker. Supporters will rarely moan if their side is winning regardless of the style of play, that much we know, but if you are losing and you're playing less attractive football, then it becomes a problem.
That is why many fans appeared to afford Morison a lot of latitude despite poor results, because they were enjoying the evolution in the club's playing style.
But there is obviously a business side to all of this. The looming prospect of a relegation battle, the ruinous financial implications a drop to League One would bring, and a rookie manager at the helm meant the owner got itchy feet and Morison's stint was cut short.
There are a number of reasons why Cardiff's shift in style has never changed successfully. Neil Harris tentatively tried it before results turned, he then went back to tried-and-tested, riskless football which bought him a little more time. Morison went unashamedly for it and stuck to his guns and for that he must be commended. He died on that hill but could at least leave with his head held high.
But how many top, experienced managers come into Championship clubs, rip up the club's footballing philosophy and have instant success? They are very few and far between.
Also, in this period of austerity, it is even harder at Cardiff. They have cut the spending so they cannot afford to buy top-level Championship stars or wantaway Premier League players, so have a limited pool of players from which to pick. That has an immediate knock-on effect with regards to what managers they attract, too.
Being unable to cherry pick top managers or players and with the top brass unwilling to stretch their patience too far pertaining to the threat of relegation, it's been nigh-on impossible to change the style of football. It's far easier to pick the devil you know when push comes to shove.
But, with everything considered, what is Cardiff's identity? The feel-good factor around the club last week after the Bluebirds created a number of chances and won two games was like the Cardiff of old. Yes, it's pretty route one at times, but there is also some good football dotted in there, too. Especially at home.
Away from Cardiff City Stadium, expect an extremely direct approach with a mantra of: 'Do not lose'. At home, as we saw against Reading, there might be a little more licence to play and stretch the game.
For whatever reason, that formula just seems to work for Cardiff. It did under Warnock, it did, for a while at least, under McCarthy and, perhaps, it will work under Lamouchi. Get points on the board, build up that atmosphere and feeling of belief within the fan base again and suddenly Cardiff becomes a force in this division once more.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though, there is still a long way to go and three or four more wins are needed to secure the club's status as a Championship outfit next season.
But with a clear plan and identity, Lamouchi has shown the blueprint for the rest of the season and it appears to be far more risk averse than what we have seen previously. It's lifted Cardiff out of sticky situations before - and it has to once again.
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