Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Wednesday, October 12.
Morison: We were a striker away from being a top Champ team
Steve Morison believes he was just a striker away from having a more positive start to the campaign and says he can see "only good things" from this side now Callum Robinson is in the building.
Cardiff sacked Morison after 10 games of the season, with the Bluebirds in 18th place in the Championship, having won three, drawn two and lost five of their opening matches.
But there were signs of improvement on last season and Morison conceded that he anticipated an inconsistent start to the campaign after such a squad overhaul.
READ MORE: Cardiff City have a very familiar problem with one of their brightest young stars as decision looms
"It was going to be an inconsistent start," he said on Sky Sports. "Right up until the transfer window ended we still needed players and we were searching for a striker all summer. We got one two days before the window closes.
"He had been injured previously and we only managed to get 45 minutes out of him in his first game and we were lucky to get that. We even thought we might have lost him off the back of that game because we'd maybe pushed him too early.
"The Hull game in between that getting cancelled helped us get a few players back fit and we produced an excellent performance away at Middlesbrough.
"We had three great wins. We beat Norwich at home first game of the season. We beat Birmingham at home on TV, which was one of our most complete performances. Then we beat Middlesbrough away which, regardless of where they are in the league, is a real tough place to go. So it was a work in progress."
Robinson, who signed on deadline day from West Brom, has played a huge part in City's resurgence over the last few games, scoring two goals and producing five assists in his five starts so far.
His involvement has coincided with an upsurge in form under interim boss Mark Hudson and Morison believes if Robinson came in earlier in the summer, it would have elevated Cardiff into a "top Championship team". Now Robinson is with Cardiff and firing, Morison sees the team going from strength to strength.
"We were a striker away, I felt, from being that top team, which they now have," he added. "You can see that with their last three performances. Callum Robinson has been a catalyst in that. He's been huge for them and the players around him can bounce off that.
"I only see good things for them. I said earlier this season whether it's me or someone else within that position at the football club, with the work we did in the off-season with the recruitment and getting out the players who had been stalwarts there for a long time, that the squad has got the ability to push on, grow and progress.
"I can see the squad getting better and better and they'll be a really good team in the Championship now."
Morison is currently 20/1 to take over at Newport County following James Robwerry's sacking at Rodney Parade. Whether it's that job or another, he said he now has the "bug" for management and cannot wait to be on the touchline again.
"I've left the club in a better position. The club is in a good place for someone to be able to carry it on. I've got the bug, I want to get back into it," he added.
"My ego won't get in the way of anything that comes up. I just want to get that chance again and be standing on the touchline again."
Purse: Leahy needs to affect games more regularly
Jack Leahy was the mini-South Wales derby hero on Tuesday afternoon when his belting effort from 25 yards earned Cardiff City under-21s a 4-3 victory over their Swansea City counterparts.
Leahy was promoted to the first team during pre-season and turned out a number of quietly impressive performances before the campaign began. He was certainly one to keep an eye on.
And he is one of the more talented players among the younger crop of Bluebirds coming through, as showcased by his stunning strike against the Swans in Leckwith.
But under-21s boss Darren Purse wants to see more consistency from his playmaker if he is to really push on to the next level and force his way into the first-team reckoning any time soon.
"We have a go at Jack for not affecting games enough - but he scores goals!" Purse said of the former Brighton man after the derby triumph.
"When he's coming up with goals like that, you just have to stand back and applaud it. He's got some quality, the kid.
"If he keeps producing the way he has done the last few weeks, because he has been in and around the goals for us, it would be nice if he could do that week in, week out. He was good in that No.10 role."
EFL release statement on 3pm blackout
Lifting the Saturday 3pm blackout is one option the English Football League could consider in the sale of its next television and media rights.
The league confirmed on Wednesday it had issued a Request For Proposal (RFP), inviting interested broadcasters and media companies to come forward and suggest new ways of presenting the league on television and streaming platforms from the 2024-25 season, when its current deal with Sky Sports expires.
Lifting the ban on screening any matches live between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on a Saturday is an option being considered, the PA news agency understands, but ultimately nothing is off the table as the EFL seeks to find solutions which cater for changing viewer habits.
"Whilst the appetite for EFL football remains stronger than ever, we want to grow this audience further," the EFL's chief commercial officer Ben Wright said.
"We are inviting proposals from organisations that can enhance and develop the league's offering, taking a new and innovative approach to how people consume EFL content.
"Alongside the EFL's rich tradition and distinguished history there is a desire to evolve, grow and innovate in order to grow our audience further and we're looking for a partner or partners who share that vision."
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