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The biggest disappointment for me isn't the fact that we're struggling and playing shite football, it's the fact that the club and manager hasn't used the experience and money of the premier league as a way of bringing in players with the potential to improve and develop into players that will show that they have ability. There has been zero planning, it seems Warnock has done what he wants.
What's this "unprecedented success" we've had under Neil Warnock then? Granted, what he did two seasons ago was very impressive, but he's been living off that for eighteen months now - he has not done anything that is without precedent at Cardiff City except, perhaps, buy more expensive duds than any other Cardiff manager.
Alot of our fans are easily pleased. We went up when we thought that we had no chance, that's fantastic, the consensus after that wasn't one of an opportunity that was to good to turn down, let's make something of this even if it isn't survival in the Premier league. The thought process seemed to be 'Oh well' 'Didn't see that coming' 'let's just turn up and see what happens' and now look at us, no thought and no planning. That's a disgrace.
People seem prepared to excuse our relegation, but, if you are looking for something unprecedented, then we did what no one else has done in the history of the Premier League with our 100 per cent relegation record for a club that has spent more than a single season in the top flight - that suggests that we didn't learn anything from our first season in the "best league in the world" and we now seem to be proving that we learned nothing from our our first season back in the Championship either.
Of course, you can't blame Neil Warnock for all of that, but I must say I was expecting a great deal better from a so called Championship expert this season.
Well he not only got us promoted, but had a very realistic go at keeping us there. We didn't fold up as we did the last time. He also came very close to maintaining the momentum this year and if he leaves us we will be in better shape all round than we've been before.
In short he took us on a long march which included many fantastic moments and famous victories and made ( most) people believe in the club.
He bought some surprising players this year and unfortunately they can't quite do the job together as a team. Mind you, he might not be finished yet.
Fact is the club had no football nous in the boardroom. They went from cost cutting Slade to Trollope and crowds dwindling. Fans not happy, fans want Tan gone. Fans want Warnock. Fans get Warnock. Warnock knows there is no football nous at the club. Warnock tells Tan what is needed. Tan, after years of getting fingers burnt listens. Problem is, Warnock is a football manager from the dark ages, with 2/3 years left until he retires.
Club gets promoted. Fans think Warnock doing a great job. He can do no wrong. Fans defend style of football, some bring up stats showing that they don't play "hoofball". Club promoted. Fans vindicated. Tan vindicated.
Club tell fans PL will be a bonus season. Fans swallow it. Who cares that we conceded 5 again, we shouldn't even be here. Warnock escapes any form of scrutiny from fans and owners. Its a binus season. Take the money, run. Warnock building a team for next season, when we'll be going for promotion number 2. It'll be easy.
Championship has got wiser. Teams play football, good football. Fans don't want that, Warnock's style will sort them all out. Who wants all that boring passing when you can get the ball to the striker in one big punt? It worked last time. It's not working this time. Fans, so fickle, so quick to say they never liked Warnock's style. It isn't so good when you are not winning so often. Fans now want a footballing ethos and culture at the club.
Warnock has always avoided scrutiny. He has, if you listen to him, never actually made a mistake at all. Every loss is because of a refereeing mistake. Hard done by Warnock. His teams are hard done by too. That's where they dig in, we'll show them. And it works, at every club he has been at, it works. Until it stops working. Players suddenly start getting it in the neck from Warnock in private because, actually, it's not really the referee or the football authorities to blame. It's them. The players, The ones he spent lots of other people's money on. The ones he didn't really research that well. Then, when people start to question, hang on, is it Warnock's fault after all? He defends hisself, then sods off. Reputation always in tact. He's a survivor is Colin. His clubs, less so.