Cardiff City 2, Fulham 2
Cardiff City extended their unbeaten Championship run to four matches – and chairman Mehmet Dalman pledged that manager Neil Warnock will be given the backing he needs to mount a promotion push next season.
The Bluebirds team boss signed a new contract before kick-off against Fulham, taking him through 2017-18, but the match result was 2-2.
Kenneth Zohore scored twice and City led 2-1 with well over an hour gone, but Fulham hit back to earn a point.
Dalman, though, insists City are keen to push hard for promotion back to the Premier League next season, saying: “We want to him to have a go. We want to have a go.
“We had extensive discussions over what his needs are.
“We’ve agreed on all of them and I think he needs to get off the block pretty quickly in getting his team together for next season.
“We always want promotion – every season we say that.
“The real wonderful situation for us here, and I don’t think people appreciate, is that Neil has his own agenda on getting promotion.
“That plays into our hands very well. We have somebody who has ambitions beyond being a manager and that’s fantastic news for us.
“We love Neil to bits, both on a personal and professional basis. He’s good for us and long may it last.
“He’s won the management over, certainly the owner and the board. He communicates extremely well with the fans and most importantly with the players.”
The pity was that only 15,656 spectators, almost 900 of them from Fulham, were at Cardiff City Stadium on a big day for the club.
All season ticket holders were offered the chance of four cut-price tickets each and City were hoping to attract closer to 20,000.
Warnock plus assistant manager Kevin Blackwell and first team coach Ronnie Jepson have all committed to Cardiff.
“I’ve not been this excited about a job in many years,” said Warnock. “I can’t thank Tan Sri Vincent and the Cardiff City Board enough for the support they’ve given me since day one – and indeed the speed with which we were able to conclude our talks.
“We have a unified approach across the Club we’re going to give things a real go next season.”
Chief executive Ken Choo added: “This is the news that we all wanted to hear and I’m personally thrilled that we’ve been able to work with Neil to agree this deal.
“I know that Tan Sri Vincent Tan has spoken with him many times in recent weeks and that they have
a solid relationship, built on trust.”
Cardiff were in the Championship relegation zone when Warnock took over, but have now moved well clear of danger.
Zohore was booked by referee Scott Duncan for celebrating his second goal, a left-footed striker, too much, but he won’t worry about that.
Stefan Johansen fired Fulham ahead after 17 minutes, but Zohore hit back to equaliser just before the half hour. He then netted a second to give Cardiff a 2-1 lead, but Neeskens Kebano completed the scoring on 68 minutes.
Substitute Declan John, who replaced Craig Noone, almost won it for the Bluebirds after 90 minutes, but his shot hit a post.
Cardiff City: McGregor, Connolly, Morrison (capt), Bamba, Richards, Noone (John 86), Gunnarsson, Ralls, K Harris, Hoilett, Zohore. Subs not used: Murphy, Bennett, Whittingham, Pilkington, Halford, M Harris.
Fulham: Button, Fredericks, Kalas, Ream, Malone, McDonald, Jihansen, Aluko, Cairney, Piazon (Kebano 25), Ayita (Cyriac 65). Subs not used: Bettinelli, Odoi, Madl, Sessegnon, Adeniran.
Referee: Scott Duncan.