Cardiff gave it a good go in the top flight despite nobody expecting them to survive, and if nothing else the Bluebirds fought right until the very end, and with a bit more luck could have achieved the unthinkable.
Limited in terms of finances, coach Warnock didn’t strengthen the newly promoted team much in the summer and the lack of players with rich Premier League experience in the ranks quickly showed.
Despite playing passionately, Cardiff lost 8 of their opening 11 games and quickly the situation got desperate. A glimmer of hope was the run of 4 consecutive home wins between late October and early December, but January brought a major off-the-pitch drama that altered the rest of the season.
Cardiff lacked goals all season and to address that they broke the club’s transfer record in January to bring Emiliano Sala from France, but without even playing a game for his new club the Argentine died in a tragic plane crash, and with the bank emptied Cardiff found themselves in trouble.
It was exactly the lack of goals late in the campaign that prevented Cardiff from accumulating more points, and many agree that the Sala tragedy was what predetermined the team’s destiny.
The one player that was always playing well and looked a class above most of his teammates was Spaniard Camarassa. Equally good in a holding midfield role, as a number ten, or even as a false nine, he was the main creative force on the pitch.
