Cardiff City have four games left in this season’s Championship campaign and are already planning for next season, rather than the play-offs. The future could start tonight, when they travel to Brentford, with manager Mick McCarthy anxious to inject some young blood and fresh ideas into his line-up. Jack Price considers the options.
A recent stagnation in form has left Cardiff City’s play-off ambitions in tatters, all but confirming another season of Championship football.
With a play-off place now only possible through some kind of statistical miracle, the primary target at the club will be to plan for the future and look ahead to next term.
At this stage, there is an opportunity to experiment with the squad and hand a few players an opportunity to impress in the final four games – following in the footsteps of breakthrough star Tom Sang.
Manager Mick McCarthy has hinted the experimentation could start this evening with the trip to promotions-chasing Brentford.
“Some of the younger players might get an opportunity,” said the Cardiff boss.
“We have a responsibility to try and win the games and play well, but there may well be (scope to blood youngsters) because you talk about the play-offs, the play-offs are not happening. We are 12 points adrift.”
In recent weeks, the Bluebirds have been beaten by Nottingham Forest, were hammered 5-0 by relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday, and conceded last-gasp goals in draws with Blackburn and Reading.
McCarthy wants his team to cut out the late lapses which have cost his team in the last two games.
“If you drop your guard against good teams, you get punished. We had better not drop our guard against Brentford,” he said. “We’ll just keep plugging away and see where we end up.
“We’ll do our best in the next four games. We’ve a duty of care to ourselves, to the club, to the fans, to everybody that is associated with Cardiff City, and we want to make sure we finish on a high.
“And then hopefully the fans can come back looking forward to seeing us. We’re certainly looking forward to seeing them.”
Five players hoping for a chance to prove themselves in the remaining four games:
Max Watters
Back in January, the acquisition of the Crawley Town striker was met with excitement by Cardiff fans and that was easy to understand given the magnitude of his performances for his former side.
In only his first half-season of Football League action, he chalked up a mightily impressive 16 goals in 19 matches to attract plenty of interest.
Cardiff won the race for his signature, but Watters has been on the periphery so far, making only three appearances and being largely consigned to game time with Steve Morison’s U23’s.
He was always going to be something of a long-term project, given Watters’ lack of experience, although in the final four games, there certainly is the scope for him to bed into Championship football.
Rubin Colwill
Week after week, all-action midfielder Colwill is creating excitement within the club owing to his stellar showings with the academy.
In the past, the pathway from youth to senior football at the club had been hardly visible, but efforts are being made under McCarthy to change that and Colwill is reaping the rewards.
Colwill, who is widely regarded as the shining light of Cardiff’s youth set-up, has made three substitute appearances for the City boss to date, including his professional bow in the 4-0 win over Coventry City in February.
At 18, Colwill already holds a physical frame that looks fit to handle the testing physical elements that the Championship entails. His technical game means he can dictate tempo and also inject a creative spark with ease.
Jonny Williams
In contrast to Watters and Colwill, Williams has an abundance of experience under his belt. But since reuniting with his former boss on deadline day, first team minutes have come at a premium.
In fact, the 25-times capped Welsh International has only started on one occasion for the Bluebirds – lasting 70 minutes in their shock 5-0 trouncing away to Sheffield Wednesday.
Williams has made a further four appearances from the bench and his peripheral impact is far from what had been envisaged.
A six-month contract had been agreed initially and it is yet to be seen if he will gain extended terms given his lack of action.
The next few matches will prove decisive to his future and Williams will be hoping to get the opportunities to prove his worth beyond this season.
Kieron Evans
It speaks volumes about the potential of a young player when, before even making his senior debut, he begins to attract interest at the highest level.
Cardiff prodigy Kieron Evans has reportedly been tracked by Newcastle, Sheffield United and Burnley following a catalogue of impressive displays for the academy.
Equally adept out wide and in the number 10 role, Evans has long been a figure of excitement amongst City academy coaches and is widely tipped to force his way into McCarthy’s plans in the not-too-distant future.
It hasn’t happened yet, however. Rather surprisingly, Evans has not made the 18-man squad for any of McCarthy’s 17 matches at the helm, having previously featured on the bench four times under former boss Neil Harris.
That is not to say it will not happen, though. McCarthy has already displayed his willingness to promote from within and, given the recent slump of Cardiff’s attacking threat, a potential debut before the conclusion of the current campaign is far from a write-off.
Isaak Davies
Similarly, youthful forward Isaak Davies is also regarded highly in this corner of the world, with his senior breakthrough seemingly on the cusp.
For those who have tuned in to the Under 23 team’s fixtures of late, Davies’ talents will be far from concealed and he has been the recipient of a host of rave reviews.
McCarthy has publicly explained that the 19-year old has caught his eye, so it is no shock that he has already been present in a few of his squads – although he has yet to play.
🔵🏴 | @Cymru youth internationals, Rubin Colwill and Isaak Davies, have both signed new contracts at Cardiff City. pic.twitter.com/h7RRhBPXVv
— welshfootie (@welshfootie) February 15, 2021
Davies is an energetic, speedy forward with the prowess to stretch defences and a natural goalscorer’s instinct.