Popular Cardiff City forward has been "unlucky" under Brian Barry-Murphy - January exit ruled out though | OneFootball

FLW’s Cardiff City fan pundit believes Callum Robinson should be earning more minutes now the Bluebirds have slumped in form.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Despite having a promising start on their return to League One, the alarm bells are starting to ring for Cardiff City after a dip in form.

The Bluebirds were unbeaten from their opening seven league games of the season under Brian Barry-Murphy, but in recent times the Welsh outfit have slumped to back-to-back defeats, while also tasting three losses in their last five league games.

From sitting pretty at the summit, Cardiff have now been dethroned, currently fourth in the table but just two points off table-toppers Stockport County while possessing a game in hand over Dave Challinor's men.

While getting back to the top isn’t out of reach, Cardiff need to address this run of form and ensure it doesn’t go on for any longer, so head coach Brian Barry-Murphy may be considering a change in tactics to try and get the best out of the players again.

One figure who has not been a regular starter so far this term is forward Callum Robinson, which is a bit of a surprise given his goalscoring exploits in years gone by in England.

In 14 league games this season, the 30-year-old has started just three times, while two of his goals came in one of his starts against Leyton Orient.

It does beg the question whether Robinson should be getting involved more to help the team get back on an upwards trajectory, with the former Preston and West Brom forward possessing enough quality to be a nuisance at this level.

With this in mind, FLW’s Cardiff City fan pundit outlined his thoughts on Robinson’s lack of gametime and whether Barry-Murphy should be considering giving the frontman more of a starting role in his system - and if a January exit could be on the cards.

Cardiff City urged to hand Callum Robinson more minutes this season

Speaking to Football League World, Cardiff City fan pundit Matt Hall believes Callum Robinson has been “unlucky” to be competing against Yousef Salech for a starting spot, and has urged Brian Barry-Murphy to consider starting both in a front two to help turn their poor run of form around.

Matt said: “He’s been unlucky in a sense since January that he has been competing with Yousef Salech, which is no easy feat at all.

“Obviously, it was a tough period in the second half of last season because he wasn’t fit, and because he wasn’t fit, he’s ended up losing his place, and it’s carried on into this season based on Salech’s goal return at the back end of last season.

“I think Robbo isn’t blameless in this though. He had a game away at Peterborough in the FA Cup, and he was pretty poor, as was the team, but he was poor. He did go on a run where he scored a few goals in consecutive games, and you could feel he was unlucky not to start in those, so it’s a difficult one.

“I don’t think he’ll angle for a move (in January). If he was to move, it would have been in the summer, more so than it being now, and I do think we need to find a way of getting him in the team, in his defence, because the most dangerous we’ve looked in the last month has been when him and Yousef Salech have played together, and when we’re struggling for form, you’ve got to get your goalscorers on the pitch.

“The last two teams that we’ve faced, in Bolton and Blackpool, have beaten us playing a front two in a 4-4-2, so that might be something that we have to look at, especially in home games, as they are starting to become a bit of a drag.”

Brian Barry-Murphy should consider Cardiff City tweak to turn slump around

Largely this season, Brian Barry-Murphy has opted to start games with a 4-2-3-1 formation, while his starting systems have never included two strikers.

It’s something that is becoming increasingly less common in modern football, but if you have quality in the forward department, then a front two can give opposition defenses headaches and potentially form a fruitful goalscoring partnership.

At the moment, the current system isn’t delivering consistent results to keep the Bluebirds in a promotion push, and in order to avoid having pressure placed onto his shoulders, Barry-Murphy will have to be proactive and be thinking about what he can do to change this.

A front two that includes Callum Robinson should certainly be at the forefront of his mind. Robinson has always known where the back of the net is throughout his career, and after tasting most of his success in the Championship, a step-down to League One should be exactly what he needs to get his confidence back.

However, this hasn’t been able to be achieved due to his lack of gametime, and it is rather surprising that he isn’t being utilised as much as he should be.

With the team needing to get back to being free-flowing, Robinson’s goalscoring prowess appears to be one of the areas they can try to help it return, particularly when the 30-year-old was so devastating when given a start against Leyton Orient.