On the day he pledged to write off half of the club’s debt of £140m, the Cardiff City owner, Vincent Tan, has urged his players to provide their fans with more entertainment by taking more shots.
Tan visited the club’s training ground on Thursday to give some advice to Russell Slade’s side, who are ninth in the Championship and five points behind the play-off position.
“I gave them a pep talk and said they have got to start shooting,” he told Wales Online. “Have you seen ugly men walking around with a very beautiful wife? Well that’s because they’ve asked 30, 40, 50 times before getting a ‘yes’.
“On the other hand, you’ll see a handsome man ask once, get a ‘no’ in response and that’s it. So the more you try, the more success you’ll have. We need a lot more goal attempts, we’ll score more and win games. Not only that, the fans will love it, too.”
Tan, who is worth an estimated $1.2bn, has made similar demands of his players before. The former defender Danny Gabbidon revealed last month the owner had called a meeting of the club’s defenders to tell them to shoot from the halfway line.
This time Tan reserved his ire for the team’s more attacking players, with the exception of Peter Whittingham. “What’s the point of passing, passing, passing and hoping to get in the box that way. Unless you’re Lionel Messi looking for a tap in, it’s not going to work,” he said.
“I watch every Cardiff match and I told them: ‘You guys have no confidence. Peter Whittingham is capable of shooting and scoring score goals from 30 yards, so have a go’.
“Yet they get the ball and it seems to be like a hot potato. Pass it to somebody else straight away. You must see that, because I do. The law of averages says the more you shoot, the more you’ll score. If you shoot 30 times you’ll get three goals, 40 times will be four goals, 50 times and you’ll get five goals.
“Don’t respond by saying I know nothing about football. I’ve learned an awful lot, I see players regularly scoring in the Premier League from distance and we have to do that.”
Tan also delivered his backing to Slade, who has come under pressure from some fans in recent weeks.
“I gave Russell a chance based on a recommendation. He was an honest man, based on what the club needed. I was looking for an honest, trustworthy manager,’’ he said. “I am convinced that with this group we can get promoted.”
