It’s three games and three draws back in the Championship for Brian Barry-Murphy’s stylish Cardiff team, so what direction do the guys from the View From The Ninian Podcast expect things to go from here?

How was your one year stay in League One?

League One was great. The previous year in the Championship was dismal, depressing, and there were only a few bright moments. It had been a few seasons of us circling the drain before the inevitable relegation came. League One brought new grounds, old friends, new opponents, and wins. From seeing two wins live in 24/25, I didn’t see us lose in 25/26 and saw us get promoted in second place. The football we played was a joy to watch, and we’re back in the Championship looking forward to the new season.

What has Brian Barry-Murphy changed? You weren't in a good state when you went down…

BBM changed the way we play and he changed the people playing football. We’ve had a great crop of youth waiting in the wings and previous managers seemed reluctant to trust them with game time; BBM started his first game as manager with seven academy prospects and carried it on throughout the season. He also trusted them to play football. We’ve got centre-backs playing more than 100 passes per game and becoming key components in the new system. We out-passed, out-shot, and out-scored teams and didn’t back down, even against teams two divisions above in Carabao Cup games. I can’t fault the geezer.

Cardiff so far…
Cardiff 3-2 Swindon* Salech pen 29, 43, Moylan 77 – Osho og 9, Glatzel 62
Cardiff 1-1 Wrexham Colwill 90 – Moore 3
Derby 2-2 Cardiff Morris 26, Clark 49 – Ashford 19, Salech 39
Cardiff 1-2 Norwich* Salech 90 – Kvistgaarden 25, Crnac 78
Cardiff 2-2 Sheff Utd Moylan 2, Ashford 38 – Cannon pen 4, O’Hare 7
* - League Cup ties

How's the season started? You like a draw...

All about spin, my friend. We’re unbeaten in three despite contending with a pretty mad injury list - we had no centre backs by the second game of the season. We haven’t looked out of place and Saturday’s game against Sheffield United was pretty one-sided - we just couldn’t get the winner.

What business has been done this summer?

We signed Jack Moylan from Lincoln which is an exciting move. He was one of Lincoln’s top scorers last year as they pipped us to the league title, scoring 11 goals and assisting more on top. Feels like sensible business and gives us another option on the wing or through the middle. We also secured Nathan Trott, our goalkeeper from last year, on a permanent deal. He’s probably the best keeper we’ve had since David Marshall - and he’s another key part of the way we play. After a few quiet weeks Krystian Bielik joined from West Brom. He’s a versatile defensive player, can play DM and CB. He also knows the league very well and is good with the ball at his feet. Decent business; don’t ask about the lack of other business…

Ins >>> Jack Moylan, 24, CM, Lincoln, £3m >>> Krystian Bielik, 28, CB/CM, West Brom, £2.5m >>> Nathan Trott, 27, GK, Copenhagen, £1.5m >>> Thierry Katsukunya, 20, CB, Villa, Free >>> Calum Scanlon, 21, LB, Liverpool, Loan

Outs >>> Ryan Wintle, 29, DM, MK Dons, Free >>> Jesper Daland, 26, CB, Viking, Loan >>> Roko Simic, 22, CF, Magdeburg (Germany), Loan

Four games in where do you feel this squad is strong and weak?

It feels like our main weaknesses are circumstance-based. Our defence has been makeshift and weaker because of injury, but it’s coped with physical teams like Wrexham. We are creating a lot of chances but not scoring them so that’s one annoying thing we need to address. But once it clicks, it will click! We need some players to come in and give us better depth off the bench but I’m pretty happy with our squad overall.

How do you think the season will go?

When you look at the teams in the Champ this year, it’s so open. We did our podcast predictions and some of the teams could easily be in the running for promotion or relegation. And with a six-team playoff system, a couple wins in a row could be the difference between mid-table and a chance at promotion.

I’d love to think we could challenge for a top-eight place but I’d also be content with consolidating on mid-table. We’ve just come back up, we need to get back to grips with a very competitive league and we can grow from there. This division is wide open and we’ve done well so far. Get some of our defenders back fit and cut out the individual errors and we’ll be ok.

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

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