Steve Morison was and still is a beneficiary of circumstance.
When everything came crashing down for Cardiff City under Mick McCarthy, the club were unprepared and Morison was in the right place at the right time.
It’s very unlikely that he would have got a Championship job anywhere else at that stage of his development and Cardiff talked about not taking a risk. Yet he did enough in those first few games to impress (admittedly the bar was set very low) and win over supporters that had become disillusioned with what had become rather cowardly football.
Let’s be honest, the gamble paid off.
I feel Morison’s 18 games in charge have been a success. The league table may not make for particularly pretty reading just yet, but that can sometimes be deceptive. Cardiff haven’t yet managed to creep up the league, but they have made up a lot of ground on those above them, while simultaneously putting some distance between those below them.
Cardiff may still be 19th, but they’re now 15 points off the bottom three. They’re now actually closer to the top six, which is only 14 points away, but let’s not get too carried away just yet. They are also one win away from potentially leaping over Swansea City, who were starting to fancy themselves for promotion earlier in the season.
If you look at the form table based on the last 10 games, then Cardiff are a respectable 12th. Over the last eight games they would be seventh and over the last six they would be as high as third. Incremental progress that is more impressive the deeper you dig.
Their only heavy loss in that time was a 3-0 hammering at Bournemouth, but they played half of that game with 10 men. That remains their only defeat by more than a single goal and the 4-0 win over Peterborough, who were admittedly on their uppers, was as good as Cardiff have played in years.
The evolution in style of play is probably an even more impressive feat.
This is the same group of players that spent the first half of the season terrified of the ball. They’re hardly Manchester City now, but they’re far more comfortable in possession. Progressive in their approach, they press higher, work harder and maintain some sort of recognisable shape.
Morison aced the transfer window too, despite tight constraints. He brought in hungry players with a point to prove, to reinforce problem positions. Tommy Doyle is a gem and has helped raise standards in midfield, Cody Drameh’s energy on the right flank knows no bounds, while Uche Ikpeazu is already a cult hero, with the impressive brute strength of his cameo appearances.
Morison also took Kieffer Moore’s departure in his stride. He had every opportunity to feel hard done by, but instead adopted a matter of fact attitude which helped take the sting out of the situation. The arrival of Jordan Hugill certainly helped in that regard too.
The question now is what happens next, and it is a question that is asked in most press conferences. The future is out of Morison’s hands and by his own admission, there have been no talks yet. The problem is that Cardiff face a monumental rebuilding job in the summer and that ideally needs to start now.
As many as 10 senior players could depart, on top of all the loan signings, and of the group that remains, another 10 head out of contract 12 months later. That requires urgent attention and it's my personal belief that Morison has shown that he deserves the chance to take a crack at it.
After all, what is the alternative?
Craig Bellamy doesn’t appear to want it and Cardiff seemingly couldn’t afford to attract someone of Chris Wilder’s calibre. There are not many that would be attracted by the prospect of rebuilding a skeleton squad with no money, but Morison has a head start and the hunger to try and make it work.
Morison also appears to have cultivated some fanatical supporters. His stern approach to young players and the press has been well-documented, but is championed in some quarters. He is viewed by some as straight-talking and admirably honest, in an industry of half-truths and mind games.
I personally think this take is rather generous, but this has been the only real sticking point to date and I’m more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I do fear that it may eventually prove his undoing if he fails to take a softer approach at times, but Morison is learning on the job and has been the first to admit that he has made mistakes.
I know that the club got stung by hastily awarding McCarthy longer terms, but this situation is very different. Morison was and remains a cheap option, at a time when Cardiff are cutting costs and if anything, it might be viewed as riskier to wait than it would be to make Morison permanent now.
With every passing week, it is less likely that the likes of Joe Ralls will commit to a new deal because they will naturally start to look elsewhere and plan for their own future. The transfer window may also not open for another four months yet, but make no mistake, deals are already being discussed behind the scenes. Especially for the better, soon to be free agents, which are the waters that Cardiff will be fishing in.
Essentially, nothing else happens until Morison’s future has been decided and all he can do is continue to impress and try and force the club’s hand when fielding the same question over and over. Morison has turned around Cardiff’s fortunes and made them fun to watch again.
My personal view is it's now time to reward his achievements.
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