By Gareth James
Sabri Lamouchi has told his Cardiff City players it’s got to be no more Mr. Nice Guys if they are to save their skins in the Championship.
The Bluebirds have now gone 13 matches in all competitions without a win following their 1-0 defeat at Hull City.
They are still just above the relegation zone, but the three clubs below them all have two matches in hand and if they take four or more points then Cardiff will be rock bottom.
“I have a good squad. They are very nice guys, but maybe too nice,” said Lamouchi after his second match in charge went the same way as his first, with a 1-0 defeat.
“Cardiff must stay in the Championship, so we must find a solution. We need to be more aggressive in the two boxes and change our mentality to the game.
“If we opened the scoring first, it’s a different game – but it’s not enough. We are all disappointed. We can’t accept what’s happened.
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“We have to change something because we have three teams behind us. We need to fight and to switch on.
“And if you want to win, you must score. I didn’t think we deserved to lose. We are close but far at the same time.”
The outlook appears bleak for Cardiff, who made just one signing in the January transfer window – striker Sory Kaba on loan from Danish club Midtjylland.
Kaba came on as a substitute, but could not prevent the Bluebirds from falling to their fourth straight defeat, the last three of which have failed to produce a Cardiff goal.
Cyrus Christie scored the winning goal after 62 minutes to leave the visitors just two points clear of the bottom three.
Cardiff, without a league victory in 2023, were left frustrated after Callum Robinson’s first-half penalty was brilliantly saved by Matt Ingram.
Hull, though, have been rejuvenated following Liam Rosenior’s arrival and have now lost just once in nine league games.
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Asked if there was any panic in the camp, Lamouchi added: “We have to panic. We have to panic. Sometimes if you care about something you can play without any thinking in your mind.
“So just run, fight and do what you have to do. We have to panic because the situation is not comfortable.
“I know they are all aware of the situation, so this is very important. We have 16 games [left]. I don’t want to start late. I talk to the players and they know the situation. So we must find a solution.
“We played much better than the last time. It’s just one goal. One more. But one more loss. We need to be more aggressive in the two boxes and we need to change our mentality to approach the game and need to be more of a killer.
“So don’t give anything to anyone because nobody is going to give us a gift, or a point, or a goal. So we need to work all together and the message for the fans is that we know where we are.
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“It’s not my fault. It’s not the players’ fault, it’s OUR fault. We are where we are. We don’t deserve to be where we are, but we’re in this s*** position and we need to work together to get out of this position.
Hull manager Liam Rosenior said: ”I knew they’d be a real threat, physically, as they’ve got some big boys in the team.
“But that’s something you have to stand up to and fight against. We did that and I’m so proud of them.
“ It also shows the mentality of this group. You need to be able to outplay teams and you also need to grind out victories in this league.”