Having followed Leicester since the early seventies, you have seen various management styles. Different approaches to managing the club can lead to both success and failure. The key is to attract the right players and blend them with what you got, excelling youth and understand importance of experience, this is the key to a successful team build.
The arrival of Russell Martin are on time. Marti Cifuentes arrived at the club too late to properly organize his team. Steve Cooper mismanaged a good budget by bringing in too many players of similar quality, which unbalanced the squad.
The fact that Leicester are seen as very difficult, in negotions for transfers, is not a new fashion, but a symptom of this regime over time. Jeremy Monga and Victor Kristiansen could both have been on their way out, but with that tempo we se at the moment in player departures, we can’t see that this job is finished when the club reach the pre-season preperations.
Training players who won’t play in league games this season is challenging for a coach and disrupts team dynamics. Managing one or two players who might leave is feasible, but having more can damage team cohesion. That’s why we think it’s important to keep some players from last season’s squad instead of letting all of them go.
#OTD in 2018 – The #Bluebirds secured promotion at CCS with a goalless draw against Reading.
— Cardiff City FPA (@CardiffCityFPA) May 6, 2026
A special day in our history! đź’™#CityAsOne pic.twitter.com/A2vWBd1Hf5
Cardiff from last season is a model to look at, but is far from significant to Leicester. The Bluebirds are back in EFL Championship this season, after getting a straight promotion. Brian Barry-Murphy, previously with Leicester, managed to get his set up correctly after coming in and having a clear view of what to do.
The interesting view on this was that Cardiff had little or no change in their set up from the relegation season, depending on their core group as much of the players had a life at the club before, and in no way made a fire sale or brought in a number of youth prospects.
Cardiff based much of their standards on a squad group of 20 players. 6 players played only one game, coming on as subs. Young starlet Paul Moreno getting his debut in that last game of the season.
Goalkeeper; Nathan Trott (41), Defenders; Ronan Kipiako (33), Callum Chambers (22), Perry Ng (35), Gabriel Osho (19), Joel Bagan (35), Will Fish (38), Dylon Lawlor (32), Midfield; Ryan Wintle (40), Omari Kellyman (36), Cian Ashford (36), Ruben Colwill (31), Ollie Tanner (28), David Turnbull (41), Alex Robinson (32), Joel Colwill (39), Forwards; Yousef Salech (31), Chris Willock (41), Isaak Davies (29), Callum Robinson (40)
Brian Berry-Murphy used 30 players in league matches, including those six who made only one appearance.
Gabriel Osho was the only permanent signing during last season with any special impact. Nathan Trott and Omari Kellyman were on loan from Copehagen (NT) and Chelsea (OK). Nathan Trott has now made his move to Cardiff permanent.
We will soon get indications from Russell Martin about how he will build his squad. What we hope to see is a blend that reflects the vision and ifea of play. To see Wrexham goalkeeper Okonkwo linked is one indication that is a major positive. The former Arsenal graduate is a step up from what is available at the club.
We will soon see what happens, hopefully not a repeat of last season’s poor management, with no recruitment plan and a disorganized mix of players instead of youth academy graduates filling the gaps of players between 17 to 22.
This base was mostly in place at Cardiff last season, using a core group of players that manage to perform and not throwing everything around like a rollercoaster ride. To talk about Cardiff relying on youth is far from the truth, as their players are mostly in the age group between 24 to 33.
We are looking forward to seeing Russell Martin’s preparations and the first signs of style, system, recruitment, and methodology for this Leicester team to flourish next season.
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