Why Cardiff Are Showing Good Early Signs Of A Promotion
Well, first things first, Cardiff City are sitting at the top of the Championship table at present with four wins from four games, so of course the encouraging early signs are there. There is more to it though.
Firstly, there is the presence of manager Neil Warnock, love or loath him, who has done it all before with the likes of Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers. So he knows exactly what it takes to get a team up from this division.
We can’t see this is as too much of a surprise either; the Bluebirds come from a capital city, a big club with a big fan base and one that as recently as 2014 was a Premier League team anyway. Those thinking that this campaign would be all about big spenders like Boro or Wolves, or title favourites such as Villa or Derby have so far been proven wrong.
Cardiff haven’t simply managed to steal four wins either, a closer look at their form tells you that their results have been very impressive indeed. They finished last campaign beaten by now Premier League side Huddersfield Town 3-0 away before starting the current campaign with a 1-0 win on the road at Burton.
A thumping 3-0 win over Aston Villa came next before a comfortable 2-0 win at home to newly promoted Sheffield United. All very impressive on paper but not too overwhelming, until they went to play the impressive Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux and again came away successful, a 2-1 win this time the order of the day.
Those results show real improvement in the side we witnessed for most of last season. With Neil Warnock’s side having a very solid look about them, they are unlucky to go gung-ho at home and end up being caught on the break. Many points will come their way at the Cardiff City Stadium and this could be the foundation for a proper promotion push.
The last thing they have to recommend them is their rather clever transfer dealings over the summer. Gone are under-performers Idriss Saidi and arguably past-it Adam Le Fondre and Peter Whittingham, but in come the prolific Danny Ward, inexpensive having played for Rotherham last season, and Calum Patterson as well.
The new boys have complemented top performers like Anthony Pilkington and Craig Noone very well to give Cardiff a very rounded look. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep this pace up.