3/1 To Win
The start of the Sky Bet Championship season is just around the corner, with 15 days separating Derby County from their opener at Sunderland.
As part of our countdown to the new campaign, dcfc.co.uk has been profiling all the clubs that Gary Rowett’s side will be coming up against over the course of the year.
After finishing with the B’s yesterday, we are on to team number seven, Cardiff City…
Cardiff City
Manager: Neil Warnock
Nickname: The Bluebirds
Stadium Capacity: 33,300
Finishing Place Last Season: 12th (62 Points)
Top Scorer (2016/17): Kenneth Zohore (12 Goals)
Promotion Odds (According to Coral): 8/1
When Do We Face The Bluebirds?
Home – Saturday 17th March 2018
Away – Saturday 30th September 2017
What Were The Scores Last Season?
Cardiff City 0-2 Derby County
Derby County 3-4 Cardiff City
How Did They Fare Last Season?
The 2016/17 campaign was a tale of what could have been for Cardiff City.
For five short months – between May and October – Paul Trollope was in charge and was the man seen to take the Bluebirds forward after they had finished eighth at the end of the 2015/16 season under Russell Slade.
He brought in six new players in a bid to take the club into play-off contention, including the likes of Kenneth Zohore and Rickie Lambert, but this could not prevent Cardiff’s worst start to a season in over a decade.
From their first 11 games, City managed just two victories in total; it was a run that left the Bluebirds in the relegation zone and, ultimately, cost Trollope his job.
Cardiff’s board did not hang around. Just a day after Trollope’s departure, Neil Warnock was appointed and he managed to orchestrate an instant revival with his side remaining unbeaten for his first three games in charge.
Warnock was active in the transfer market almost immediately and snapped up key players such Junior Hoilett and Sol Bamba to enable his side to have more than just a fighting chance of survival.
They did far better than just that.
At the end of the campaign, after a January reshuffle, Cardiff finished in respectably in 12th place. This was by an impressive run at the beginning of the new year when City won six of their first 10 games in 2017.
Following that solid finish, Warnock has committed his future to the club and has been active in the transfer market once more - with Bristol City forward Lee Tomlin and Rotherham United's Danny Ward just two of their additions - making them a firm bet to be amongst the clubs challenging at the top half of the table this time around.
