Cardiff City are currently in possession of one of the relegation spots, with seven games left to save themselves from a season which looked doomed from the start – Phil Bushby (@Bushby_P) talks us through it.

How has the season been for Cardiff?

This will be a short answer. Pretty terrible, with a couple of bright spots in October and January. Apart from that it has been bad. Really bad.

Cardiff in the league so far…
Cardiff 0-2 Sunderland O’Nien 18, Clarke 89
Burnley 5-0 Cardiff Horvath og 9, Koleosho 31, Bronwhill 51, Amdouni 88, Gudmundsson 90
Swansea 1-1 Cardiff Cullen 10 – Robinson 79
Cardiff 0-2 Boro Clarke 55, Ramsey og 82
Derby 1-0 Cardiff Goudmijn 28
Cardiff 0-2 Leeds Ramazani 30, Piroe 87
Hull 4-1 Cardiff Belloumi 22, 35, Zambrano 51, Bedia pen 90 – Robinson 18
Cardiff 1-0 Millwall Ng 39
Bristol City 1-1 Cardiff McNally 73 – Tanner 54
Cardiff 5-0 Plymouth Robertson 16, Colwill 24, El Ghazi 52, Robinson 75, Willock 80
Cardiff 2-0 Pompey Poole og 5, Robinson 13
West Brom 0-0 Cardiff
Cardiff 2-1 Norwich Robinson 89, O’Dowda 90 – Sainz 52
Luton 1-0 Cardiff Brown 57
Cardiff 1-3 Blackburn Turnbull 73 – Weimann 15, 54, Baker 86
Sheff Wed 1-1 Cardiff Bernard 36 – Tanner 34
Cardiff 0-2 QPR Celar 40, 90
Coventry 2-2 Cardiff Mason-Clark 7, Torp pen 88 – Meite 4, Robertson 48
Cardiff 0-2 Preston Chambers og 48, Osmajic 90
Stoke 2-2 Cardiff Moran 17, Gibson 90 – El Ghazi 32, Gibson og 72
Cardiff 0-2 Sheff Utd Moore 65, 73
Oxford 3-2 Cardiff Harris 41, Brown 53, Placheta 57 – Ashford 82, Robinson 90
Watford 1-2 Cardiff Chakvetadze 38 – Robinson 1, 42
Cardiff 1-1 Coventry Robertson 6 – Sakamoto 46
Boro 1-1 Cardiff Latte Lath 11 – Chambers 21
Cardiff 1-1 Watford Ashford 65 – Bayo 87
Cardiff 3-0 Swansea Robinson 47, 51, Goutas 67
Millwall 2-2 Cardiff Scanlon 2, De Norre 19 – Willock 45, Salech 90
Cardiff 2-1 Derby Robinson 62, El Ghazi 64 – Salvesen 70
Leeds 7-0 Cardiff Aaronson 6, Solomon 13, James 50, Piroe pen 65, 90, Gnonto 67, Joseph 88
Portsmouth 2-1 Cardiff Bishop 9, Shaughnessy 17 – O’Dowda 22
Cardiff 1-1 Bristol City Salech 90 – Knight 60
Plymouth 1-1 Cardiff Tijani 67 – Salech 12
Cardiff 1-0 Hull Robinson 52
Cardiff 1-2 Burnley Salech 42 – Brownhill 19, Esteve 40
Sunderland 2-1 Cardiff Mayenda 2, Mepham 77 – Davies 41
Cardiff 1-2 Luton Chambers 50 – Clark 57, Aasgard 80
Blackburn 1-2 Cardiff Ohashi 16 – Salech 4, Meite 73
Cardiff 1-1 Sheff Wed Davies 21 – Ihiekwe 61

We thought it would be a struggle for the Bluebirds and it has been - what have been the reasons behind a failure that could yet end in relegation?

I was not quite so pessimistic as you were at the start but it has been a struggle. I don't think there is one thing. Ultimately it might come down to poor leadership on and off the pitch. Tan, Dalman and Choo have been at the helm now for a number of years but seem unable or unwilling to invest in a manager who can lead the club and invest in the squad properly. On the field, we have blown hot and cold or, rather, warm and cold. In theory, we have a squad of players who should not be in this position but all too often we have flattered to deceive and failed to hold on to leads. We lack pace in the team, we have tinkered with selection too often (I have lost count of our centre back pairings) and never really found an answer out wide. In game management has sometimes been a bit baffling too… more of this in the next answer.

What difference has Omer Riza made since taking over?

Mixed. Immediate impact was great. Players seemed to like him and we got a ‘bounce’. We started scoring and winning games. But as time went on, this initial impact waned and he struggled to come up with a plan B. I really like him, but this may be a role too soon for him. We have often (sometimes!) taken a lead but then failed to capitalise. The latest match v Sheff Wed is a case in point. Dominated the first half with a young, mobile front four then threw the match in the second half making some really odd substitutions where the players who were performing well were replaced with an unfit Tanner and an uninterested El Ghazi.

How's Chris Willock's first season gone?

Not great. I am really disappointed as I had high hopes for him. I hardly remember any good times. He scored a goal away at Millwall similar to those that I remember him scoring at QPR but those moments have been very few and far between.

What business was done in January? What was left undone?

In a pretty miserable review, this will be a highlight. We signed some really good players in January. Yousef Salech is a striker and is what we have been missing. I think my favourite striker since the Chopra/ Bothroyd era. He has got good touch, strong, holds the ball well and knows where the goal is. Two very good loan signings in Leicester’s Will Alves and Ajax’s Sivert Mannsverk

Summer Ins >>> Jesper Daland, 24, CB, Cercle Brugge, £4m >>> Roko Simic, 20, CF, RB Salzburg, £1.5m >>> Will Fish, 21, CB, Man Utd, £1m >>> Alex Robertson, 21, AM, Man City, £1m >>> Wilfried Kanga, 26, CF, Hertha Berlin, Loan >>> Calum Chambers, 29, CB, Aston Villa, Free >>> Anwar El Ghazi, 29, RW, Mainz, Free >>> Chris Willock, 26, AM, QPR, Free

Winter Outs >>> Manolis Siopis, 30, DM, Panathinaikos, £750k >>> Malachi Fagan-Walcott, 22, CB, York, Undisclosed >>> Kion Etete, 23, CF, Bolton, Loan >>> Ryotaro Tsunoda, 25, CB, KV Kortrijk (Belgium), Loan

Stand out players?

Actually quite a few. I guess the problem has been consistency. Others than those mentioned, I have been impressed by Robinson and especially O’Dowda. In a team that does not always play well, I don't think that I have seen Callum O’Dowda have a bad game.

Weak links?

We hardly ever keep a clean sheet. Not enough creatively in midfield. Not enough pace. Too much reliance on older players. The left side of the team, especially at left back.

If we had a fit squad, I think we have a starting 11 who would win most Championship games but we haven't had that. Instead, we have put players in unnatural positions, made strange selections and poor substitutions. If we played the following 11 in a 4-4-2, we would win on Saturday, but I bet we don't. Perhaps O.R. will read this and go with my selection. There are a couple of injury doubts in the list below.

Horvath; NG (or Rhino), Daland, Goutas, O’Dowda; Ashford (or Davies), Mannsverk, Robertson, Alves; Robinson, Salech

How do you see the rest of the season going? Will you stay up?

I think 52 points has historically been the safety. We are nine points away from that. I hope this is achievable but I really don’t know. I think it depends on the decisions of the manager and how much the players then want it. They can stay up and should stay up but I am really not sure.

Links >>> Official Website >>> Three Little Birds — Blog >>> CCMB — Message Board >>> Wales Online — Local Paper >>> Mauve and Yellow — Blog >>> View From The Ninian — Website and Podcast

Pictures - Ian Randall Photography

TacticalR added 21:25 - Apr 4 Thanks to Phil. There are some similarities with QPR, with big parts of the team not working. The great debate about Willock was whether his form fell away because he was saving himself for his next move (which turned out to be to Cardiff). I was of the opinion that he never recovered from the injury he got at Nottingham Forest, and would never be the same player.
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