Neil Harris insists he will continue to encourage Lee Tomlin to be Cardiff City’s free spirit – by providing him with solid ground to work from.
Tomlin’s skill and creativity proved the decisive moments as Cardiff turned around a 2-1 scoreline to beat Barnsley 3-2 at home on Saturday and move within striking distance of the play-offs.
It was a third successive victory for Harris, but also a personal triumph in management as in a few short weeks he has transformed Tomlin from bit-part contributor to lead actor – but within an overall team script.
Previous manager Neil Warnock was always mistrustful of Tomlin’s ability to stick to the lines provided for him, although the midfielder himself undermined his own cause with fitness levels that lagged behind those of other players pressing for Warnock’s attention.
None of those rivals, however, seemed capable of the kind of surging run and defence-splitting pass that the 30-year-old former Bristol City player laid on for Danny Ward to score Cardiff’s second equaliser – or the superb composure and technique he showed to volley the winner in the 95th minute.
“When you hit your late twenties, sometimes it dawns on you that you’re not getting any younger and you really need to enjoy it,” said Harris of the late career blossoming of Tomlin.
“All I have tried to do is give the players a structure to work from, but within that structure let them express themselves.
“Lee is a player who has similarities to the way I played. He’s a better footballer than me, to be honest, but he’s the same in the way he wants to play off the cuff.
“I also wanted a structure to work from, though, so there are similarities.
“I like the fact his enthusiasm is infectious. He always wants more. I cut him short on Tuesday because I needed some minutes in his leg today. I have to find the right way of managing him to get the best out of him.
“But that goes for everybody, not just Lee. It’s not just about the lads who played today. It’s not just about Lee Tomlin, who scored the winning goal, or Aden Flint, who was a rock and gave one of his best performances in a Cardiff shirt.
“It’s about the whole group – the players who trained this morning, the boys who didn’t get off the bench, and the impact the subs had.”
Harris is shrewd enough to know that Cardiff will need to play far better than they did here for a hesitant and half-paced first hour if their surge is to continue.
They may be bottom of the table but Barnsley were slicker and smarter and deserved their lead through goals from the impressive Conor Chaplin and Bambo Diaby.
The first came early on when Chaplin got behind Cardiff’s defence and although Aden Flint got his toe to a cross from Junior Hoilett to make it 1-1, the Tykes went ahead again soon after the break.
This time Chaplin hit a cross too hard for any deliberate touches, but it struck Diaby in the midriff and flew in.
Harris sent on Ward for the ineffective Gary Madine and the wisdom of that switch was clear when the striker latched onto Tomlin’s through ball to clip home a second Cardiff leveller.
Then, came Tomlin’s classiest moment with a composed finish deep into added time to leave Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber still bottom and distraught.
First and foremost let me be very honest, that wasn’t a great performance from us.
Harris added: “I thought we were a little bit lethargic and I’ll hold my hands up for it. We’ve had a tough week, when we don’t have a midweek game I have to find a way of working the group and getting them up to speed. Maybe I pushed them too hard.
“We saw a performance where we were half a yard off it. Credit goes to Barnsley, I spoke before about their qualities and how hard they work and they made it difficult for us, but we weren’t great.
“But when you’ve got a magic man like Lee Tomlin, you stay in games and you’ve got a player who, in any moment, can win it.
“He’s got a big heart, he wants to play for me and wants to do well for Cardiff City. The fans love him and that goes a long way to give confidence to a player.
“He’s got the quality to open up a defence with a pass, like for Danny’s goal, or he’s got the quality to hit a ball dropping from high into the bottom corner.”
Barnsley manager Struber said: “The feeling now is like being hit in the head. I am very frustrated
“I need to change the mindset so the players believe they can win, but now it’s only a mentality situation. The history of losing is in their minds.”