Cardiff City’s relegation from the Championship in 2024/25 marked the end of a dismal campaign on and off the pitch.
Despite their stature and infrastructure, League One poses unique challenges, as recent cautionary tales from Huddersfield Town, Charlton Athletic and Barnsley have shown. All three have dropped out of the second tier and expected to be big players, and while the Addicks have now gone up, all three discovered that Stevenage, Lincoln and Burton are not the puhovers they feel like on paper.
There’s a danger that Cardiff City could become the next big name to lose their footing in the third tier. A turbulent summer so far has offered little encouragement, and as Brian Barry-Murphy begins his tenure, there are growing concerns that the Bluebirds could falter again.
A Damaging Summer of Exits
Cardiff’s off-season has been defined by exits, not arrivals. Losing Aaron Ramsey – club icon and temporary manager – was damaging both symbolically and strategically. His departure for Mexico came after he was overlooked for the manager’s job, a snub which clearly disappointed him.
Club captain Joe Ralls also leaves after 15 years of service, a shock to supporters expecting stability. Midfield partner Andy Rinomhota, the 2024/25 Player’s Player of the Year, is gone too, alongside senior figures like Yakou Meite and Anwar El Ghazi. The sheer volume of experienced departures has stripped the spine from the squad.
While some have praised the club’s focus on youth, that shift feels less like a strategy and more like a necessity amid financial limitations and mounting pressure.
Managerial Mayhem and Missed Opportunities
The delay in appointing a manager exposed Cardiff’s dysfunction behind the scenes. It took over a month after relegation to confirm Brian Barry-Murphy’s arrival, with failed pursuits of Nathan Jones, Des Buckingham and Ruben Selles revealing the club’s waning pulling power.
Supporters’ frustration boiled over, with the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust accusing owner Vincent Tan of treating fans with “contempt” due to the lack of communication. The drawn-out process wasn’t just poor optics—it hindered crucial early recruitment and planning.
Barry-Murphy may well prove a forward-thinking appointment, but he enters with expectations high and patience low. Being the seventh manager in five years tells its own story of inconsistency and short-term thinking that could haunt the club further.
An Unproven Manager Under Enormous Pressure
Barry-Murphy is highly regarded for his work at Manchester City’s academy, developing the likes of Cole Palmer, James McAtee and Rico Lewis. But his only full-time managerial stint ended in relegation with Rochdale, and he hasn’t taken charge of a senior squad in three years.
His task now is enormous: rebuild a broken dressing room, inspire a disillusioned fanbase, and deliver results in a brutal division. The League One fixture list offers no easy weeks, especially for a club with Cardiff’s target on their back.
A slow start could see the mood turn quickly, and it’s not as if the fans are fully onboard right now. They perhaps expect an instant bounce back—but this squad looks further from promotion than many realise, and the pressure could overwhelm a manager still learning the demands of senior football.
League One has big hitters such as Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool and Luton Town, all of whom will expect promotion. Leyton Orient, Wycombe and Stockport all had good campaigns, while Huddersfield and Barnsley will hope to be better, with the former spending big.
This might be a season of consolidation for Cardiff, but will that lead to even more instability?
League One Is a Graveyard for Complacency
The challenge facing Cardiff is stark. This is not a division to be taken lightly. Huddersfield were relegated with them and will pose a direct threat. Meanwhile, once-mighty clubs like Barnsley, Reading and Wigan have found themselves languishing well below expectations for multiple seasons.
Without the right mix of leadership, recruitment, and culture, the slide can continue unchecked. Cardiff’s stature and stadium count for little when they line up away at Exeter or Lincoln. Grit and togetherness win games at this level – and right now, it’s unclear if the Bluebirds have either.
The squad lacks identity and leadership, the fanbase is fractured, and the boardroom remains chaotic. There’s every chance that, instead of soaring back to the Championship, Cardiff could find themselves battling to avoid another relegation.
Conclusion: Alarm Bells Should Be Ringing
On paper, Cardiff City still look like a Championship club—but football is not played on paper. Their decline has been gradual and self-inflicted, and unless Barry-Murphy performs a swift and decisive rebuild, they risk becoming just another cautionary tale of a fallen giant.
Supporters deserve better, but patience may wear thin if the cracks widen. Unless the Bluebirds stop the rot quickly, they could find themselves stuck in the League One quicksand for longer than anyone expected.
