Cardiff City currently sit in the automatic promotion places in the EFL League One so far this campaign, with them positioned first on 63 points.
Now, with the remainder of the season inevitable, City will be looking to cement their spot in the promotion places and carry on their potential pursuit for promotion.
Ahead of their next fixture against Luton Town on the 14th of February, I sat down with Cardiff City fan Tomas Taylor to talk all things football in a Cardiff City interview.
Before we start, I would like to thank Tomas for taking part in this Cardiff City interview. His responses were informative and aim to give you an insight into Cardiff City as a club currently.
Cardiff City currently sit top of the league. How do you feel your team has performed so far this season?
“It’s been a brilliant season, and we’ve approached League One the way we needed to. It can be a bit of a bear pit of a league, and one you can get stuck in for a while if you’re unlucky. It’s nice to have a team to feel connected to again and one we enjoy watching, something we as Cardiff fans haven’t experienced for quite some time.”
Compared to your feelings before the season started, would you say your thoughts now are more positive or negative?
“Far more positive. I wasn’t confident we’d be in the playoff picture at this stage before the season started, let alone top of the league! Brian Barry-Murphy has transformed this team through working wonders with a limited budget and putting trust in youth players to step up, which many of them have. Plus, we’ve seen some redemption arcs for a couple of players who weren’t at their best last season, which is great, and important given you need quality and depth everywhere in this division.”
Who would you say has been your best player so far this campaign?
“Yousef Salech for sure. He’s been our biggest attacking threat, and his performances speak for themselves. I still can’t believe we have him, given he’s a championship level striker at least. Managing to keep him has definitely played a huge part in us doing so well this year.”
Who has surprised you the most this season, and why?
“Joel Bagan. He’s been in and out of the Cardiff team over the last few years and has had a couple of loan spells, but now he’s one of the first names on the team sheet. He’s a rock in defence, but creates so many chances too. He’s created 44 chances this season with 3 assists, the perfect utility left back.”
How do you feel your team has performed in cup competitions this season?
“We went out of the FA Cup early, and the Vertu Trophy went fairly well until we lost in the first round of the knockout stage, but the League Cup was good for us! We managed a great win against Wrexham at the Cae Râs (which I hope will be included in the next series of the documentary) and more than held our own against Chelsea. We lost 1-3 on the day, but the performance was fantastic from us, and it shows how far we’ve come over the last year!”
Do you think your manager, Brian Barry-Murphy, has done a good job this season, and why?
“BBM has turned out to be the perfect hire. He’s got us playing a great style of football that’s far more clinical and creates far more chances. But as well as that, he just gets it. Cardiff can be quite a difficult job, but he’s grasped it with both hands and steered the team in the direction it needs to be. My only hope is that he can stay here long enough to see a long-term project flower, because I’m sure one day he’ll be managing at a higher level than League One.”
Have your owners supported your team enough this season?
“They’ve been fairly absent as usual, which is the one blight. I thought maybe they’d have more of a presence given how poorly last season went, but they’re still nowhere to be seen. There were rumours in the summer of a bid from a consortium based in South Africa, but the talk has quietened massively since. Despite how well things have gone on the field, I still maintain it’s been achieved in spite of the ownership, not because of them.”
Which position has been the most beneficial to your side this season?
“Our centre backs improving the team as much as they have has been huge. Last season, we looked weak at the back, and that cost us a lot, last season but that’s changed this year. Dylan Lawlor, Gabriel Osho, Will Fish, and Calum Chambers have all been huge parts of our team this year, which was going to be crucial for us being competitive.”
Which position do you feel has held your team back the most this campaign?
“There’s not really been any weak spots for us, and it would be harsh from me to single anyone out. It was more our rotational players that looked a bit shaky at the start of the season, but they’ve settled as the season’s gone on.”
What do you believe to be a realistic aspiration for your team in the closing stages of the season?
“Winning the league is still going to be a big ask given how good Lincoln look, but promotion is definitely still on the cards. Given how we’ve come through the busiest period of the season over the winter, I think we can start to dream a bit and push on to go up.”
Thank you for reading the Cardiff City interview with Tomas Taylor. If you have any feedback, please comment below.
