Cardiff City eye Neil Warnock reunion - 2 issues he would have to fix ASAP | OneFootball

Football League World assesses two urgent calls of duty for Neil Warnock if he seals a dramatic return to Cardiff City

EFL great Neil Warnock will face no shortage of urgent issues to get in order if he seals a dramatic return to Cardiff City, who are staring down the barrel of relegation to League One with just four games to spare of the current campaign.

According to TBR Football's Graeme Bailey, and as suggested by others on X over the last few days, Cardiff are considering a return for Warnock to replace under-fire manager Omer Riza for the remaining weeks of the season as they bid to retain their second-tier status.

It is said that discussions have been undertaken in the wake of Cardiff's harrowing 1-0 home defeat to Stoke City on Saturday afternoon, which plunged them into the relegation zone behind the likes of Derby County and Hull.

Warnock, of course, has a history of arriving at clubs out of the blue and ensuring safety. He did so at Huddersfield Town, his most recent managerial post in English football before moving to Aberdeen and then into his current role as Torquay United's football advisor, and managed to steady the ship with Cardiff after taking over in October 2016.

The 76-year-old, who then claimed a record-eighth EFL promotion by guiding the Bluebirds to the Premier League against all odds the following season, still has a strong standing among the majority of supporters in the Welsh capital. He would certainly be more popular than Riza, who has been fighting a losing battle to get fans onside for some time and is currently enduring a bitter and toxic relationship with the Bluebirds faithful amid the club's plight.

But, if Cardiff were to appoint Warnock, what issues would the Yorkshireman need to sort in swift fashion? Football League World takes a closer look...

Neil Warnock would need to sort Cardiff City's defensive frailties

Another miserable campaign in the blue quarters of South Wales has been characterised by signficant defensive shortcomings, which have undermined the side's relative productivity in the final third.

Cardiff score a respectable 14th out of all teams in the Championship for goals per match, recording a rate of 1.1 with the likes of Callum Robinson and January arrival Yousef Salech both enjoying prolific campaigns. But it's at the other end of the pitch where many of the problems lie.

Only bottom-placed Plymouth Argyle have conceded more goals per match than Cardiff's 1.6. The Bluebirds have conceded 66 goals in total from an inferior xG of 58.9, which is still an alarming return in of itself, and they have kept just seven clean sheets.

Cardiff have a bad habit of conceding tame, preventable goals, borne from a complete lack of organisation in the defensive line. Riza's frequent selection tinkering is a damning indictment of how much Cardiff are struggling from a defensive standpoint, and he still evidently does not know his best defence.

Warnock, however, would have to gain that knowledge - and fast. Would he play one of Dimitros Goutas or Jesper Daland alongside Joel Bagan, a left-back by trade who has showcased an ability to invert and play centrally in either a back four or five this season? Would he employ a back or a back five? Riza has not been able to make his mind up.

Meanwhile, where exactly would Will Fish figure? And would Perry Ng go back to his favoured right-back role or play as the third central defender in a back five?

These are all questions Riza has been unable to find the answer to, and Warnock would have to figure it out much quicker.

A settled, consistent backline without incessant change could go some way to keeping the goals out, but Warnock would also have to make Cardiff much more resolute and harder to break down.

Neil Warnock would have to make Cardiff City better at seeing games out

A real drawback of Riza's tenure in charge, which began back in September on an inital interim basis, has been his inability to see games out.

Cardiff have dropped a quite simply calamitous number of points, and had they been able to see out matches in a stronger fashion, they would not be in this ruinous present predicament.

Over the course of the season under Riza, the relegation-bound Bluebirds have dropped no less than 21 points from winning positions. Of course, every single side in the league can attest to dropping points at some stage, but with the stakes so very high for Cardiff, and the manner in which it has been done, it's a pertinent concern and will prove an instrumental reason if they are indeed relegated to the third-tier.

Why exactly is this the case? Supporters point to myriad reasons.

The aforementioned defensive issues certainly play a part, while Riza's own difficulties in managing games in terms of being reactive, countering opposition action, making the right substitutions at the right time and, as many fans vent, being overly-pragmatic and safe, shutting up shop when Cardiff are in the ascendancy and control.

Cardiff's 1-1 draws against both Bristol City - away, that is - and Sheffield Wednesday at home more recently, both provide ample evidence of the latter factor.

While Riza tends to make Cardiff pragmatic and sit behind the ball after taking the lead, they are nowhere near organised or resolute enough. It's a contradiction, really, but Warnock's proven track record at instilling those fundamentals could help Cardiff to see out leads, or even vital points, in the remaining games.

However, the truth is that Cardiff are likely to need at least two victories from their next four matches against Sheffield United, Oxford, West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City to stay up, with Derby in much better form and with a favourable run-in. Will they find themselves in a winning position under Riza again? And can they even trust him to retain that ascendancy?