We spoke to Bluebirds Past ahead of Thursdays game in the second leg of the play off semi final…
How good of a job has Neil Harris done this season? Is he a massive upgrade from Neil Warnock or not?
The style of football has improved for sure, we’re still a physical side but he’s getting us to play more football on the floor. It’s taking time but you can definitely see the changes being introduced. I’m not going to knock Neil Warnock, the man performed miracles for us but it was going quite stale just before he left. Most people, including myself, weren’t keen on Harris being appointed but he’s done a fantastic job to be fair to him since he started and pretty much everyone is behind him and thinks he’ll do a good job.
Who’s been your standout player so far this season?
Lee Tomlin for me. He’s the one player we have that has the bit of creativity that really helps our attack. After Harris gave him consistent game time and made him the main man, he’s been outstanding, he really has got bags of talent.
What went wrong in the first leg? You started off pretty well.
Failure to take one of the two early chances hurt us. Hector defended the first one really well but Glatzel should have put away the second, who knows what would have happened then? After that, you just took control and dominated, we lost all momentum and were dreadful second half. I didn’t agree with some of the selections either, Marlon Pack slows us down too much in midfield, Will Vaulks should have played, and I would have liked Josh Murphy to start over Junior Hoilett as he looks knackered.
If you were to achieve promotion through the playoffs, how far away do you think your current squad is from being Premier League ready?
We’d struggle in my opinion, I don’t think this current squad is strong enough and think we’ve probably over-achieved finishing 5th considering where we were when Harris took over. He and the players have done a great job in getting to the playoffs. There’s not much cash swishing around the club either so couldn’t see any major signings being made.
Where do you think you would finish next season if you stayed in the Championship? And where do you think you would finish if you went up?
I think if we can make a few signings and maybe a couple of good loans during the summer, and the good work that Harris has done so far continues, we could be contenders. If we went up now, without sounding like the archetypal pessimistic Cardiff fan, we’d probably come straight back down.
Fulham VS Cardiff: what’s the first thing that comes to mind from years gone by?
Well we’ve played you quite bit recently and there’s been a bit of a manufactured rivalry hasn’t there? I did enjoy Harry Arter getting sent off earlier this season for diving but Jordon Mutch’s injury-time goal against you in 2013 that gave us a 2-1 win was a good one. It was a lovely 25-yard curler which helped us get our first top-flight away win in over 50 years.
Do you think there is a way back for you in Thursday’s game?
Well there’s always hope isn’t there?! Realistically it’ll be very hard for us to overcome a two-goal deficit, especially as you seem to have our number at the moment. I’d love to say 2-0 to us and we beat you on pens but I think it’ll be a draw, 1-1 maybe. I’d just like us to show a bit of fight, the second half of the first leg was very lacklustre and didn’t reflect our recent performances.
Who do you think the 2 teams in the final will be?
Fulham & Brentford probably. Ideally, Brentford will go all out as it’ll be the last game at Griffin Park, they’ll get their swagger back and stick five on Swansea. And if it is you two in the final, sorry to say but I’d like Brentford to get promoted!
Thank you to Bluebirds Past for answering our questions!
