Steve Morison: Cardiff City boss admits he is 'too honest' in criticising players

Former striker Steve Morison won 20 caps for Wales, scoring one goal

Cardiff City manager Steve Morison admits he might be "too honest" when he talks about his players.

Morison has been critical of Cardiff's attackers during their five-match winless run in the Championship.

He was also criticised for describing youngster Isaak Davies as "a hindrance" after last month's loss at Bournemouth.

"Ultimately, I know I made a mistake by using the word 'hindrance' because that's all anyone has focused on - that one word," said Morison.

"If I'd used a different word in that moment, there wouldn't have been as much off the back of it. I get that.

"The reality was he wasn't good enough when he came on for that half an hour and we then went through why that was.

"Then on the flipside of that, we went through the West Brom stuff when he came on because that was a great opportunity to win the game and there were moments in that where we needed to be better, so we went through that and we showed that.

"I get it. All I did was repeat what I said to him in the dressing room."

Winger Davies, 20, came on at half-time during the 3-0 defeat at Bournemouth but was taken off by Morison 30 minutes later.

Morison said Davies was "more a hindrance than a help", which incurred the wrath of former Wales internationals Iwan Roberts and Danny Gabbidon on BBC Wales podcast Elis James' Feast of Football.

Ex-Norwich striker Roberts said he was "angry", while former Cardiff and West Ham defender Gabbidon, who mentors Davies, described Morison's comments as "poor management".

Morison has since defended his comments and praised Davies after his goal in the FA Cup win over Preston earlier this month.

The Cardiff boss has more recently directed his ire at the team's forwards, with the Bluebirds mustering only 26 goals from their 25 Championship matches so far this season.

"I may be too honest at times with you guys [the media]," said Morison.

"But the reality is the top end of the pitch is the most pressurised place in the game.

"The best players, the most highly-paid players, the most sought-after, the Ballon d'Or [winners], they're all at the top end of the pitch. That's because the most pressure is on them.

"There is pressure on every player on that pitch but there is pressure to put the ball in the back of the net. We create chances, we need to put those chances away.

"There is pressure on every single one of us. There is pressure on you guys to write what you write from your bosses, pressure on me from my bosses to win and pressure from me to the players to put the ball in the back of the net.

"Scoring goals is the hardest thing to do and that's why those people get paid the most money at most football clubs in the world.

"I say it because when I'm asked the question after the game, all I've done is repeat what I've said to them [the players]."