, Experience tells as unlikely duo top the Championship

Experience tells as unlikely duo top the Championship

After four games, the unlikely duo of Cardiff City and Ipswich Town occupy the Championship’s two automatic promotion slots. What do these two sides have in common, other than the fact that both sides are yet to drop a single point this campaign? Answer: both teams have wily old managers at the helm.

Admittedly, it is early days, as each side still has 42 more league games to play this season. However, the way in which Cardiff and Ipswich have started the 2017-18 Championship season has to be noted.

Both sides have won all five of their matches so far this season, with Carabao Cup first-round victories accompanying their 100% league records. But why have these two sides started the season with such an unexpected bang? Well, the experienced old heads in charge have certainly played their part.

Starting at Portman Road, Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy is the Championship’s longest serving manager, and it goes without saying that the former Republic of Ireland boss knows this division inside out. Before taking charge of the Tractor Boys, the 58-year-old Yorkshireman led both Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers to promotion to the Premier League, having previously taken an unfancied Millwall side to the play-offs in this division.

Since becoming Ipswich manager in 2012, McCarthy has, considering the resources available to him, performed minor miracles. After two mid-table finishes, he led them to the play-offs, where they lost out to arch-rivals Norwich City, before narrowly missing out on the top six the following season. All this was done with only a selection of freebies and cast-offs from other sides at his disposal – his work at Portman Road has been massively underrated. Last season brought a disappointing 16th place finish in the league, and expectations were not high going into the new campaign, a feeling exacerbated by the departure of key figures Tom Lawrence, whose loan from Leicester City had expired, and Christophe Berra, who signed for Scottish side Hearts.

In the face of this adversity however, Mick McCarthy has led his side, helped by the goals from former Rangers duo Joe Garner and Martyn Waghorn, to four straight league wins. Admittedly, there will be tougher tests to come than home encounters with Birmingham City and Brentford, and trips to Barnsley and Millwall, but the 58-year-old has galvanised his side and injected hope into the Ipswich Town fanbase, who have watched their side unable to escape the Championship, a division they have been stuck in for the last 16 years.

Will they be able to maintain this form when they come up against some of the league’s leading lights? Or will Ipswich fade and plummet down the table, with their fans having to endure another frustrating campaign at Portman Road? Whatever happens, McCarthy has done a sterling, underappreciated job in Suffolk, and his knowhow and knowledge of this division has certainly contributed to their excellent start.

Meanwhile, Cardiff City fans also have every reason to be optimistic following their start to the campaign. Neil Warnock’s men sit at the top of pile, having conceded just a solitary goal over the course of their four victories so far. What will be most encouraging for the Bluebirds, however, is the quality of the opposition that they have overcome. Cardiff have emerged victorious from tricky trips to solid Burton Albion and big -spending Wolves, who themselves had won every game with relative ease before encountering Warnock’s side. The Bluebirds have also comfortably gained all three points at home to promotion favourites Aston Villa and newly-promoted Sheffield United.

Just as with Ipswich Town, much of this early success is down to the experienced figure at the helm. Neil Warnock took charge at the Cardiff City Stadium with the side in disarray – Paul Trollope was fired with Cardiff in 23rd, well entrenched in the relegation zone, having lost seven of his first 11 games in charge. A hero was needed in the Welsh capital and Warnock stepped up to the plate, halting this freefall and leading Cardiff to a respectable 12th placed finish, a remarkable turnaround. However, ahead of this campaign, expectations weren’t exactly sky-high for the side who have been in the Championship since their relegation from the Premier League in 2014, especially considering their less than inspiring transfer business.

Nevertheless, wily old Warnock has proved many people wrong with their impressive start, although considering Warnock’s vast experience of this division, some would say that it was to be expected. The 68-year-old has won promotion to the Premier League with boyhood club Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers, whilst doing commendable jobs with teams like Rotherham United, miraculously saving the Millers from the drop in 2015-16.

Can Cardiff keep their 100% record intact for much longer? Or will they fade into mid-table obscurity for yet another season? As with Mick McCarthy at Ipswich, whatever happens at the Cardiff City Stadium this campaign, what Warnock has achieved in Wales cannot be ignored. His experience has certainly contributed to Cardiff’s unprecedentedly good start, putting the Bluebirds in good stead for the long weeks and months ahead.

We live in an age where British managers are often overlooked at this level, as young, foreign managers (à la Thomas Christiansen at Leeds United, Daniel Farke at Norwich City and Jaap Stam at Reading etc.) are the preferred option for many clubs. Yet it is the success of managers like McCarthy and Warnock that proves that experienced home-grown bosses certainly haven’t reached their sell-by date.

 

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