Cardiff City collectively threw away an outstanding chance for promotion last season but three men in particular were singled out as under-performers over prolonged periods of the season. Paul Parry, Stephen McPhail and Peter Whittingham each under-acheived last season and performed only in brief spells.
McPhail was found to be negative and limited with two red cards against rivals Swansea City causing angst among the fans.
Parry was anonymous at times, wasteful at others and showed little sign of the pace and attacking prowess that served him well the previous season. Whittingham failed to make an impact and rarely showed the class he is capable of. Always considered a luxury, he was more a passenger for the majority of last season.
Collectively the midfield balance was poor, and each of those three contributed to this and were poor personally. It seemed that a midfield overhaul would be on the cards, but this has not happened. Interest in any of the trio would surely have been entertained by Jones / Ridsdale with any 6 figure bids likely to be seriously contemplated. However, all three look set to feature heavily again in the next campaign and will be looking to set the record straight.
There are very few occasions where a Cardiff City player should be subjected to abuse from our own supporters. It would be shameful if such actions took place at the season opener against Scunthorpe in a couple of weeks. Each player deserves a fresh chance and opportunity to redeem themselves. All three are vastly experienced players, and all have been potent attacking threats at Championship level.
There were promising signs against Chasetwon that all three are prepared to knuckle down, work hard and return to top form. McPhail looked more confident and showed good vision and skill to back-pass for the opening goal while Parry somehow looked more agile and menacing. Whittingham too showed good work-rate and looked to get involved. Of course this was against Chasetown and likely to be a poor indicator – yet somehow they each looked different.
The hurt, shock and misery of May will remain – and rightly so. However, whichever players are selected for our matchday squad deserve full backing until poor form or a lack of committment dictates otherwise. I’ve heard so called ‘fans’ state they will boo Parry and McPhail – how these people claim to be supporters is beyond me. We all love Cardiff City, the fans more than the players – but current players are the club and thus must and will get 100% backing.
Parry’s pace, McPhail’s magic and Whittingham’s wonderstrikes all have a place in the new Cardiff City Stadium.
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