CardiffCity

Mick McCarthy on borrowed time as Cardiff battle to end slump

22-Oct-2021 11:18:09 | The Guardian

Seven straight league defeats have manager clinging to his job as he faces popular predecessor Neil Warnock’s Middlesbrough

Last week Neil Warnock borrowed Forrest Gump’s famous line, comparing the unpredictability of his Middlesbrough team to a box of chocolates. “You never know what you’re gonna get,” he said, doing his best impression of Tom Hanks. On Saturday he visits his previous club, Cardiff City, whose form is anything but irregular after seven straight league defeats for the first time since 1934, an alarming run in which they have scored a solitary goal – a Sean Morrison header from a corner while 4-1 down at Blackburn –and conceded 17. If Derby had not been docked points for entering administration, Cardiff would be in the Championship relegation zone.

Warnock’s return to south Wales will naturally act as a reminder of happier times, though aside from Morrison and Joe Ralls, comfortably the team’s longest-serving player, this group is almost unrecognisable from the one that won promotion to the Premier League three years ago. They have proven easy to wound – only Peterborough have conceded more goals in the division, while Cardiff have a sole clean sheet – on a run of nine defeats in their past 10 matches, a streak that began with their first team being swept aside by, in effect, Brighton’s under-23s in the Carabao Cup. Goals have also been a problem. Kieffer Moore has scored once this season. “Sadly, teams have been enjoying playing against my team for the last six or seven games, so that is disappointing,” McCarthy said on Friday.