Morrison heads to Cardiff with an unenviable job

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·25 de abril de 2025

Morrison heads to Cardiff with an unenviable job

Cardiff City v West Bromwich Albion; Cardiff City Stadium, Saturday 26th April 2025, 3pm

James Morrison has drawn the short straw of attempting to lead a group of evidently demotivated players for the two final games of the season. Having capitulated against Derby County, the Rams’ relegation rivals, Cardiff City and Luton Town, will hope that the Baggies are equally compliant in their matches against Albion, but it is Mozza’s job to try to ensure they are not.

The former Albion midfielder, who was, of course, signed by the outgoing head coach, Tony Mowbray, back in 2007, is in something of a no win situation. He will not want to preside over another two awful performances, but if he is able to get a tune from the players in these two games, what does that say about his mentor? For me, however, it would say more about the players than Mowbray. They are undoubtedly better than their recent displays have suggested, and they should be at least driven by professional pride, something that has deserted them in recent weeks.

Vídeos OneFootball

Some, of course, are due more blame than others and, while the likes of Diangana and Swift are already apparently on their way out of the club, there are others that are still under contract who have a lot of work to do to win back any sort of appreciation from the supporters.

This weekend’s opponents are fighting for their lives. With Derby’s win over Albion last Monday, and Luton’s win over Bristol City, Cardiff City find themselves three points from safety and could be relegated on Saturday should they fail to beat the Baggies. The Bluebirds have only won one of their last ten games and haven’t won at home since the beat Hull City in late February. Their draw against Oxford United on Monday was just the second point they have earned from their last five home games. Of course, they are facing a team who have not won on their travels in fourteen league games, losing their last three.

The Welsh side are also under a caretaker boss having sacked Omer Riza after their defeat to Sheffield United on Good Friday. Aaron Ramsey, who took charge for the first time on Monday, has played ten games for Cardiff this season but has missed much of the season with a troublesome hamstring injury. He is currently in his third playing spell with the Bluebirds having started his career there, and returned on loan from Arsenal in 2011. He has insisted this week that he wants to continue playing next season and has his eye on playing in next summer’s World Cup with Wales.

This is a game that Albion should win, of course, having been challenging for the play-offs all season and City struggling at the other end of the table. However, on current form, the Bluebirds are faring slightly better and the Baggies’ current away form is dreadful. It should be a great atmosphere at the Cardiff City Stadium with the club having reduced ticket prices to get the punters in, and you do wonder how Albion’s players will react. Let’s say that I’m not confident!

History

The Baggies are currently on a seven match unbeaten run against the Bluebirds which dates back to a 2-1 defeat at the Cardiff City Stadium in January 2020 – on that night, Callum Paterson gave Neil Harris’s team the lead just after the half time; Charlie Austin equalised from the spot before Lee Tomlin scored the winner with 14 minutes left.

Since then, Albion have won three and drawn four of the seven meetings, with two of the victories coming in the Welsh capital. The most memorable was one of the best results of Valérien Ismaël’s tenure at the Hawthorns when goals from Karlan Grant, Alex Mowatt and Matt Phillips, together with a Curtis Nelson own goal, earned the visitors a 4-0 victory.

In September 1930, Albion legend Jimmy Cookson scored four at Ninian Park with Harry Boston and Joe Carter also finding the net in a 6-3 victory. That was the season in which the Baggies would win their unique double of FA Cup and promotion, while the Bluebirds finished bottom of Division Two and dropped into the third tier – they wouldn’t return to the second tier until 1947 when they would meet Albion again and suffer what remains their heaviest home defeat to the Baggies. At Ninian Park in April 1948, Jack Haines and Arthur Taylor both scored twice while Football League record goalscorer, Arthur Rowley, scored the other in a 5-0 victory. It was the last of the four goals that Rowley scored for Albion before he moved on to Fulham, Leicester City and Shrewsbury Town ending his career with 433 goals from 619 appearances. It also made an aggregate score of 3-11 in successive league games between the sides at Ninian Park.

The teams had met the previous season in the FA Cup when, for the only time in the competition’s history, rounds one to six were played over two legs with the Football League not resuming until the following season. For the record, the two clubs drew 1-1 in the third round first leg in Cardiff and Albion won 4-0 at the Hawthorns before losing in the fourth round to Derby County.

Cardiff’s biggest home win over Albion is 3-0, a result they achieved twice when the Welsh club were at the height of their powers in the 1920s. The Bluebirds joined the Football League in 1920 and immediately won promotion and finished fourth in the first ever top flight season, finishing runners up on goal average to Herbert Chapman’s Huddersfield Town in 1924 after drawing their final game of the season with Birmingham. City beat Albion 3-0 on Boxing Day 1922 with club record signing Jimmy Gill (2) and George Reid scoring the goals, and by the same scoreline in November 1923 – once again Gill scored a brace with Herbie Evans scoring the other goal. City would go on to reach the FA Cup final in 1925 before becoming the only Welsh side to win the competition in 1927.