Britt Assombalonga and Michail Antonio key for table toppers Forest
Friday 17 October 2014 11:55, UK
Peter Beagrie looks at Cardiff and Nottingham Forest ahead of their Sky Live Championship clash on Saturday...
Two of the pre-season favourites for promotion do battle in Sky Sports’ lunchtime kick-off on Saturday, with inconsistent Cardiff City hosting high-flying Nottingham Forest.
There have been contrasting fortunes for these giants of the Championship with almost a quarter of the season already gone but the men in charge believe their teams can do better.
In Cardiff’s case, their only consistency has been their inconsistency.
They are languishing in 15th position in the table with 13 points, despite possessing a top-four squad in terms of depth and quality – only Forest, Norwich and Derby are able to compete on both counts.
Cardiff find themselves six points of the play-offs and six points off the relegation places with controversial owner Vincent Tan now entrusting lower-league miracle worker Russell Slade with the task of achieving a top-six finish.
The Bluebirds have used 34 players in all competitions this season – 25 in the Championship – to try to find the form that saw them take seven points from their first three games this term; a draw at Blackburn and two home wins over Huddersfield and Wigan.
They have gone on a sequence of one win in eight with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer resigning on September 18 after being culpable for the first four winless games in that run.
Cardiff’s league position has plummeted and a messy divorce from what seemed a perfect marriage between Slade and Leyton Orient has seen the former Yeovil boss act in a consultancy capacity while a compensation fee with The O’s was ironed out.
Slade will be like a kid in a candy shop with the embarrassment of riches at his disposal having operated at the coalface in the Conference and Leagues One and Two for the majority of his career.
Russell will hope his new students get on the same page quickly and listen and learn as consistency was vital for him at Orient – he was the fourth longest-serving manager in all four divisions before he left Brisbane Road.
Slade must find a shape and style that suits his plethora of talent – in attack, only Kenwyne Jones has played anywhere near his best but even he has stuttered of late and various partners have been employed without great joy.
Adam “Alfie” Le Fondre should be the perfect foil for Jones in a 4-4-2 but it’s the wide boys who are key for me in that system or a 4-2-3-1 shape.
Anthony Pilkington and Craig Noone would be used wide in a three with the option of Federico Macheda or my choice Ravel Morrison central, just behind Kenwyne. There are plenty of options but managers earn their corn by picking the right ones.
A massive plus for Slade is that, in David Marshall, he has one of the best ‘keepers in the division – the Scottish stopper has been in imperious form and but for him Cardiff’s points tally and goals against column would be a lot worse off.
The Cardiff job would be a dream one for anybody, particularly at this stage of the season with 105 points still to play for, so a poor start could still have a happy ending.
Perhaps the only parallel you can draw between Slade and Forest boss Stuart Pearce is that Stuart was also in and around his club for a period of time before he officially took the managerial reins.
Since then, however, the change has been significant with Pearce overseeing the recruitment of some prized assets. Young, hungry, and talented seem to be prerequisites for Stuart’s signings, bar the brilliant experienced pro Matty Fryatt.
They are more than capable of getting automatic promotion, especially if eight-goal Britt Assombalonga and six-goal Michail Antonio stay injury free.
Forest legend Pearce became the Al-Hasawi family’s fourth manager since they took charge in 2012 and at the moment it looks like an inspirational choice for a side in their seventh successive season in the Championship.
Forest have failed to achieve a top-six finish since losing semi-final play-offs to eventual winners Blackpool (2010) and Swansea (2011) but they look well equipped to massively eclipse last season’s 11th-placed finish.
Pearce’s squad has coped admirably with the loss of David Vaughan, Henri Lansbury and Kelvin Wilson – all of whom have now returned – and they look equally capable of dealing without long-term casualties Jack Hobbs, Chris Cohen and Andy Reid.
Going unbeaten up to this stage is no mean feat in such a competitive division and a tough period of four draws, including three goalless draws, shows that Forest, who have conceded just nine goals (Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday have conceded eight) and scored 19, are a very good outfit.
They are more than capable of getting automatic promotion, especially if eight-goal Britt Assombalonga and six-goal Michail Antonio stay injury free.
I am really looking forward to Saturday’s game and expect both sides to put on a show for the watching public.
