‘I Wouldn’t Start’ – Cardiff City Given Advice By Former EFL Star | OneFootball

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Former EFL star Adrian Clarke believes that Cardiff City got old-manned by Bradford City and should not start to panic, despite their first League One loss.

The Welsh side, who had been dominating early proceedings in League One and winning praise, were humbled by Graham Alexander’s Bradford City on Saturday, going down to a 3-1 defeat at home.

It was Cardiff’s first League One defeat of the season and pushed them down to fourth, with the Bantams replacing them at the top of the table.

Given that Cardiff manager Brian Barry-Murphy has been using a relatively young team, Clarke believes that the visitors were outplayed by a side with more experience, against whom Cardiff’s players looked a bit ‘naive’.

However, Clarke also asked the League One giants not to panic, assuring them it is just a rude awakening and they have enough quality to still shine in upcoming games.

Going back a week earlier, when Cardiff drew against Stockport County, Clarke told What the EFL (30.21): “They scrambled a point the week before [the defeat to Bradford City], which was the closest they have come to being beaten.

“So, maybe it was coming, I just feel that you shouldn’t read too much into it from a Cardiff point of view.

“They are still a good team, they just kind of got old-manned. And I am not saying that Bradford were a team of granddads.

“But Bradford are much more experienced and it kind of showed in this match where Cardiff looked young, they looked a little bit bit naïve.

“There was some shocking defending.

“Gabriel Osho came in for his debut, the penalty he gave away was, if I was playing centre-half and I gave that away at my age I would be disappointed with myself because the positioning is awful, Sarcevic runs off him, spins into the hole.

“He is desperate to get back and then to slide in like he did was just nuts really. It was always going to be a penalty.

“It was one of those where Bradford showed their experience and quality.

“It was a little bit of a rude awakening but I wouldn’t start panicking if I were Cardiff. I still think there are a lot of positives.”

Bradford City star Matthew Pennington tipped Cardiff to be title contenders before the game on Saturday.

Former manager Mick McCarthy also heaped praise on Barry-Murphy, who he believes has got Cardiff ‘absolutely flying’.