The pitch at Ewood Park on Sunday served as the perfect metaphor for Cardiff City’s recent form. It was soft, slow and unpredictable. Cardiff lost by the odd goal and without scoring in three games or a win in seven, Cardiff have dropped to 20th in the table, only two points off the bottom three.
It feels like Cardiff have hovered around 18th place for a few years now, so 20th is far from a culture shock. In the club’s most recent published accounts, Cardiff’s budget was the 11th highest in the division for 2020/21 and they have cut costs significantly in the two years since, so you could argue that 18th is probably about par. The problem is that sometimes you exceed expectations and sometimes you can drop below them and when your base is so low down the standings, it offers very little wriggle room.
League position is significant, but not the only measure of a club’s health. Unfortunately, Cardiff are also on their second manager of the season, under a transfer embargo, have falling attendances and an almost complete lack of interaction on any of the pressing concerns. When you bundle it all together, you understand why the general mood is so down at present.
