Neil Harris is pinning his hopes of getting injured players back into squad. Pic: James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images

Under-Pressure Neil Harris Wants Loyalty From His Players After Talks With Cardiff City Owner Vincent Tan

By Jack Cook

Under-pressure Neil Harris wants his Cardiff City players to play as if his future depends on it after revealing he has held talks with owner Vincent Tan.

The Bluebirds boss knows the next two home games – against Luton Town on Saturday and Huddersfield Town on Tuesday – could decide his fate.

City are 18th with just three wins from their opening 13 games and there have been calls from fans for him to be replaced with either club legend Craig Bellamy or ex-Bournemouth chief Eddie Howe.

“I spoke to Vincent yesterday (Thursday), talked through what went wrong and where we can improve,” said Harris, who came under increasing pressure after Wednesday’s disappointing defeat at Coventry City.

“He cares, he’s interested. He’s invested a lot of money into the football club and had huge success in doing it as well. He wants to be successful.

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan with current chairman Mehmet Dalman are the two men who will decide Harris’s fate.

“We built that last season, we built that expectation when he brought me into the club. Naturally, you want the same again. He knows my personality, work ethic and that’s why he brought me in.

“But, ultimately, he wants the club to be successful and I know that.

“When you’re a manager and you’re not getting results, questions come flying your way about your tenure, you want that group siege mentality.

“That means the manager supporting the players and the players supporting the manager.

“Over the last 13 months I’ve been critical of the players, that’s my job to demand more, there are times the players have not been happy with me as well when I leave them out.

“But we are close. I didn’t say that to them directly. We have enough leaders in the group to take collective responsibility. The lads know the results aren’t good enough for what we expect.”

After the loss on Wednesday against struggling Coventry 1-0, Harris spoke of his frustration with his side’s performance and now some Bluebirds fans are calling for huge changes against Luton.

“I am quite passionate after games, which is a strength and weakness of mine. I spoke with passion from the heart. When you watch it back and reflect, yes, I’m loyal to some players which is a strength because you want them to feel comfortable.

“I’ve been quite consistent with personnel and we hadn’t got the results I’d hoped for. It’s not back to the drawing board and ripping everything up. It’s about making adjustments for various reasons.”

Now with results going against him and the season passing by Harris believes that the pressure is now mounting on him to keep his job.

“Yes, there is, of course. If I answer that straight question with a straight answer, the realism is yes, that is football. Let’s be realistic. You asked me the question because that’s what you think and that’s what most people think.

Neil Harris has been in charge for just over a year. Pic: Cardiff City FC/Getty Images

“I love my job, I really, really enjoy working with the group. But you have to get results as a manager. I think this is a big period for me, the club and the group, the next couple of games. I put expectations on my own shoulders, and I need my players to deliver and I need to get big calls right.

There have been many fans calling for Harris to be sacked, but Harris said that  Tan doesn’t need to give him an ultimatum over his role at the club and knows what is being asked of him by the board.

“Yes, ultimately, Vincent (Tan), Mehmet (Dalman), Ken (Choo), Steve Borley, they are the ones who count. Everyone is entitled to an opinion in modern society, I get that, but, to me, what matters is what we build in-house, within our changing room. But also, what the thought process is of above.

“Vincent doesn’t need to give me ultimatums. We have a fantastic relationship. I’ve shared some of the conversations we’ve had, and the rest might stay between me and Vincent.

Cardiff haven’t won for three games since a 3-0 thrashing of Barnsley when they looked to have finally got into gear for a push towards the play-offs.

But results have not gone their way since and seen them slip down the table.

Welshman Nathan Jones is in charge of visitors Luton Town. Pic: Getty Images.

Harris added: “I’m not going to sit here and talk about making changes when the opposition are hanging on every word I say. Ultimately, it wasn’t a good performance at Coventry.

“When we conceded the goal, the subs didn’t have the impact I’d hoped for and the performance wasn’t what I’d hoped for. The last half hour wasn’t good enough, the hour before wasn’t either, but it wasn’t the levels I expected.”

Luton currently sits in 11th in the league and haven’t lost in four games, but three of them being a 1-1 draw.

Harris said there were no fresh injury concerns despite the heavy schedule while left-back Greg Cunningham could return soon.

“No. The build-up of minutes, three games in a week. Other than that, we are good. Bruised egos, broken hearts, but other than that we are good.”

 

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