Heading into the new campaign, Cardiff City manager Steve Morison threw his backing behind a seemingly renewed and re-energised Max Watters.
Watters appeared to enjoy the wholesale changes to both squad and style in pre-season and looked a perfect fit for the new system as we headed into the new campaign.
He was the nailed-on first choice up front and will likely continue to be. There is a balance to be struck, of course, but Morison appears to have placed a lot of trust in Watters and there is a belief that he will come good in a Bluebirds shirt.
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Indeed, on the eve of the season, the manager was glowing in his praise of the striker. "I said to him today, 'you look happy' and he said 'I am', and a happy footballer is a lot better than an unhappy one!" Morison said at his pre-Norwich City press conference.
"I am excited by him. I see a lot of myself in him. I went 21 games when I first came into the Football League and I scored one goal. Everyone wants to write you off. The rest is history.
"From his point of view he has got an opportunity to play in a way that suits him and he can grow and enjoy himself. One thing he can do is put the ball in the back of the net! And he can like nobody's business. He is so sharp.
"And he doesn't realise how strong he is yet, he is a strong boy. A Swindon player ended up on his backside on Saturday and Max looked at him and didn't even realise he'd done it. I'm excited by him.
"He hasn't come out of his shell yet, but he is starting to and it's a sign that he is in a much happier place. I'm really pleased with what he's done so far this summer. He has all the attributes to be a top striker."
It is a question, then, of when those attributes and that potential represents goals on the pitch. In 13 Bluebirds outings, the 23-year-old has only one goal to his name. It is not panic stations by any stretch, and he will get the backing of the manager to get it right to an extent, but goals are his currency and the metric by which he will be judged.
Against Norwich City, Morison waited for the hour-mark before he hooked Watters for Mark Harris. Watters led the press well against the Canaries and linked play relatively well, too, but did not look a goal threat. Against Reading on Saturday, Watters was even less effective and the manager only afforded him seven second-half minutes before hooking him.
That decision was met by a telling reaction from the striker. When his number 36 flashed up on the board, he turned to the dugout, shrugged his shoulders and dropped his head in exasperation. Romaine Sawyers had to console the forward during his trudge off. In some ways, it's a positive reaction, no manager will want to see their players happy to be removed from proceedings, but it told its own story, really.
Cardiff have, in fact, exceeded their expected goals (xG) for the first two games. Their xG was 0.28 Saturday and 0.08 the week before, but they netted once in each game, once from a midfielder, Sawyers, smacking one in from 25 yards and another from a winger, Callum O'Dowda, sending a brilliant header into the bottom corner.
As things stand, Cardiff have three strikers who are unproven at this level. While Morison in theory has preferred Watters for the first two matches of the season, there is not much separating Watters, Harris and new signing from Tottenham Kion Etete. Watters' reaction was one of a man who knew another opportunity to nail down his first-choice tag had perhaps slipped him by.
Etete wasn't brought in to carry the water bottles. He represents serious competition to Watters' starting berth at the minute, despite only being handed his Championship debut on Saturday. He is an untested talent at this level but Cardiff saw enough in him to fork out half a million quid, so he will get his fair share of chances, one suspects.
And then there is Mark Harris, a player many believe is a better player coming off the bench rather than from the off. He has only six Championship goals to his name and just two of those have come as a starting player. Since his first Championship start for the club, in which he scored against Luton Town in November 2020, he has scored only once in the league - against Sheffield United last December - after being named in the starting XI.
It's a conundrum, certainly. Cardiff will have Isaak Davies returning later this month after he missed pre-season with a knee injury. But he has only two goals in 28 Championship games to his name.
Cardiff's four strikers are all aged between 20 and 23. Between them, they have 95 Championship appearances and just nine goals. It's the gamble you take, when you place so much faith in youth and try to build value into your squad, but it almost means there is no natural hierarchy. There is no Kieffer Moore, for example, who was always the club's nailed-on first choice. It's a right old battle at the minute and that can, of course, be a good thing and bring the best out of all of them. Morison and his coaching staff will hope that's the case.
For the short term, it will be interesting to see who is given the nod against Portsmouth on Tuesday. Will Harris be given his first opportunity to stake a claim for Saturday? Will Watters be afforded a chance to get that first goal and shot in the arm he appears to need? Or will new-boy Etete be handed his first start so we can all really see what he can do?
It's an interesting sub-plot in this early portion of the season for Cardiff. It's a clean slate and an even keel, who will shoot out of the traps as the frontrunner and snatch the shirt? It's certainly up for grabs at the minute.
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