CARDIFF CITY ARE SLEEP WALKING INTO RELEGATION

Cardiff City have just four wins in twenty-four league games, with a difficult run ahead, are The Bluebirds sleep walking into relegation?

A disheartened Calum Chambers.

Games are passing by and Cardiff City aren't showing a great deal, which makes you wonder if City are sleepwalking into an untenable position, and with a difficult run ahead, it really makes you wonder if The Bluebirds are going to dig in deep and crawl out of this position.

Cardiff could've gone seven points clear of the bottom three with a victory against Luton Town and had results gone their way. They now find themselves one point clear.

Difficult Run-In:

As already alluded to Cardiff have a difficult run-in. Starting with play-off chasing Blackburn on the weekend. City have had little luck at Ewood Park in recent years, and with Rovers unable to concede anymore points between them an the play-offs, it's likely that will continue.

It's then into the international break which already feels significant if City are going to turn this around. Cardiff return with tricky games against QPR and Sheffield Wednesday. An extremely important week follows that run, with games against Preston North End and Stoke City.

City close the season with playing three of the top ten in the final four of the season, with a colossus game against Oxford United dotted in the middle.

No way back for Omer Riza?

Omer Riza has come under paramount pressure after another defeat and poor performance in a must-win against Luton. Riza wasn't a fond figure previous to kick-off due to City falling down the table into a risky position, but Riza has appeared to lose those who have backed him for so long last night.

Supporters consistently have sung his name for weeks, rightly or wrongly given some performances, the mood was summarised perfectly yesterday as the fans sang his name as they've done for weeks now, and at full-time those chants turned to boos and Riza headed straight for the tunnel.

Riza has come under consistent criticism for his lack of taking accountability, his consistent blame-shifting and an unrecognisable style. After last night's defeat, it seems there's no way back for the City boss. Supporters let rip and it became clear what the general consensus is regarding Riza's future.

Complacency:

In my opinion, this feels similar to when Leicester City got relegated from the Premier League two years ago. The squad of players City have shouldn't be in the position we are in the table, we've shown that on occasions this seasons, but it's been to far and far between.

Cardiff have been complacent this season. In must-win games, there's just not that feel from the stands that it's stressed amongst the players that we have to win that game of football, rather we have spells in the game but typically the other side understand the nature of the fixture, and we don't.

The Bluebirds have a squad full of current/ex internationals and players who have played a good level, but simply don't play like it. Could that perhaps be a mentality issue? If so, why hasn't it been addressed?

What would the future look like?

This generation of Cardiff City fans have never experienced City below the Championship. I really don't feel like it will be as easy as some predict. It's not as easy as some predict, keep most of our decent players when we come down and we stick them with the best of our academy and we bounce back up, League One is grim.

Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich, Wigan, Bolton just a few examples that bouncing straight back up just isn't that easy.

If Cardiff were to go down, it's likely players will have clauses to leave, those out of contract will also go and suddenly Cardiff's squad is a shadow of what it is and they're forced to recruit poorer quality of player.

Summary:

This probably sounds a very defeatist article, but I feel heavily concerned at the position City are putting themselves in, and if the worst does happen we only have ourselves to blame.

I hope City can muster something together that they haven't consistently done all season, but at the moment it's difficult to see that happening.

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