Neil Harris: Cardiff City sack manager after six straight defeats

Former Millwall striker Neil Harris had a loan spell at Cardiff during his playing career

Cardiff City have sacked manager Neil Harris after a run of six consecutive defeats.

Harris, 43, and his assistant manager David Livermore both leave the club with immediate effect.

Wednesday's 1-0 home defeat by QPR was Cardiff's fifth in succession in the Championship and their sixth in all competitions.

The Bluebirds are 15th in the table, 13 points adrift of the play-off places and nine from the relegation zone.

Cardiff have not yet appointed a successor to Harris and said in a statement "a new permanent manager and assistant will be announced in due course".

Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan said: "I'd like to thank Neil and David sincerely for their hard work at Cardiff City.

"Their efforts to propel us towards a fifth-place finish and play-off position last year are recognised and appreciated, although sadly we are in a result-orientated business and our on-field results of late and progress this season has been very poor.

"As such, we have had no choice but to relieve them of their duties in an effort to improve results and league position with a change of manager."

Harris succeeded Neil Warnock as Cardiff manager in November 2019 and led the club to the Championship play-off semi-finals last season.

This campaign, however, has been a struggle for the former Millwall boss.

The Bluebirds won only three of their opening 13 fixtures, prompting talks between Harris and Tan about the manager's future.

Scrutiny surrounding Harris' position intensified again as a result of this latest loss of form, Cardiff's worst losing run since 2018.

Harris admitted "the pressure was on" after Wednesday's defeat against QPR, which proved to be the final straw for Tan.

"I'd like to personally wish Neil and David the very best with their future undertakings and endeavours," Cardiff's owner added in Thursday's statement.

"They will always be welcome faces at Cardiff City Stadium and I wish them good luck and good health. God bless."

'Problems run a lot deeper than manager'

Former Cardiff City and Wales defender Danny Gabbidon says Harris departure was "no real shock, no kind of surprise to anyone".

Speaking to the Ellis James Feast of Football podcast, Gabbidon also said the development gives the Bluebirds a chance to make long-needed changes.

"There are so many little things that need to be put in place, it's going to take a long time," said Gabbidon.

"So I think you write the season off; you bring in a manager who can do a decent job until the end of the season and then it gives you time to have a long, hard think about getting the right manager to get Cardiff playing the right style of football and then the owner and all those other things have to come along with it.

"They have to back the manager with money and time; look at the academy as well, bring academy players through and just look at the whole kind of model, really so it doesn't just start with the manager.

"The problems run a lot deeper than just him. He's been sacked, but the problems have been there and deep-rooted for a number of seasons so this is an opportunity for the club to take a long, hard look at things and make some necessary changes and bring the club back into 2021 because they've been off the pace for too long.

"Clubs have been adapting and changing and Cardiff City just haven't done that. So this is a great opportunity for them to make some of the right changes."

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