A comment posted by Ryder Bluebird in yesterday match thread caught my attention. RB said: "Before we all get on Tomlin's back, let's just remember how many games he's won for us. His credit score with Cardiff is heavily on the plus side. Not condoning a rash and stupid rush of blood to the head, but cut him some slack."

I think RB's view that Tomlin's credit score with Cardiff is heavily on the plus side would be echoed by many City fans, but is that really an accurate assessment of his time so far in South Wales? Is he heavily in credit with the club? I had a quick skim through his stats this morning and they paint an interesting picture. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions:

Tomlin signed for City in July 2017 for a fee reported to be around the £2.5 million mark. Since then, the first team has played a total of 149 competitive matches. Tomlin has started just 34 of those games and played the full ninety minutes on only 15 occasions. He has scored 11 goals.

Incredibly, Tomlin didn't play the full 90 minutes in a single league game under Neil Warnock's management. The only full games he played under the manager who signed him were EFL and FA cup ties against Portsmouth, Burton and Mansfield. Tomlin's first full league game for Cardiff was on 30/11/19 in a 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest, two years and four months after he joined the club.

Since Neil Harris became City's manager in November 2019, the first team has played a total of 41 competitive matches. Tomlin has undoubtedly established himself an important figure for the Bluebirds under Harris's leadership, although he's actually started less than half of those 41 games (18) and has played the full 90 minutes in just 12 of them. However, Tomlin has scored 9 goals since the former Millwall boss arrived - a huge improvement on his stats under Warnock. He's also created a number of goals and his performances have generally been far more influential than they were while Warnock was his manager.