If you think I was excited before........!
...then I’m probably 10 times more excited now!
The season started quietly enough, with a loss in the Capital One cup (formerly the Carling Cup) to Northampton. I know we probably shouldn’t make excuses for a competition that we reached the final of last year, but a team made up essentially of reserves and under 21 players nearly pulled it off. To use a well-worn phrase, we have bigger fish to fry this season!
Then, on Friday 17th August we had to start the season proper against newly promoted Huddersfield Town. Not only was it our first league game of the season, but it was the first league game in the whole league, as we were moved forward to the Friday night so that SKY TV could see us in our new red kit!
The game itself soon took on a familiar pattern though. Malky had the team lined up in a 4-5-1 formation that he used for much of last season, with Helgusson the lone striker up front. Huddersfield’s star player from last season, Jordan Rhodes, was not even amongst the reserves, and as a result they lacked a little cutting edge.It wasn’t really much of a spectacle, and Huddersfield probably had the better chances, but after making ourselves hard to beat, skipper Mark Hudson appeared in the penalty area one minute into stoppage time at the end of the game to snatch the late winner.
Cardiff attack against Huddersfield (Picture Jon Candy via Flickr)
3 points to start the season, so no complaints. Its easy to win when you play well - winning when you are not at your best is a sign of a good team!
AWAY DAYS.
The following Tuesday saw us play away at Brighton. By all accounts, this was an entertaining 0-0 draw (my American friends can’t believe that a 0-0 draw can be “entertaining”). The match could have gone either way but the draw seems to have been a fair result.
As the end of the transfer window approached, Malky was busy, and by the time of the Bristol City game away another two former QPR players had joined the Bluebirds - Tommy Smith and Matthew Connoly. Both started against the Wurzels, but a combination of bad luck, individual mistakes and a team getting used to each other resulted in a 4-2 defeat to our local rivals. There were few excuses though in what was essentially a bad day at the office. However, this match proved to be quite a wake-up call.
THE TRANSFER WINDOW CLOSES
Just for once, the club was active right up to the end of the end of the transfer window. In the last two days, Malky finally got his man when he signed winger Craig Noone from Brighton. A deal had been organised in the last transfer window in January, but Brighton called off the deal at the last moment.
And finally, during the last hours of the window, Nicky Maynard was signed after only half a season at West Ham United. This was the signing that I really wasn’t expecting, although there had been rumours for a number of weeks that Maynard was one of Malky’s targets. He is a class player who is still getting better, and will hopefully be the goalscorer we need to make the team complete,
CARDIFF 3 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1
So, on Sunday 2nd September we saw in essence what is Malky’s new team! And it was GOOD! Even without Craig Bellamy who was out with a calf injury, this was clearly an attack minded side. The team lined up with a 4-4-2 formation with Maynard making his debut up front with Helgusson. The main problem for us fans was to identify who was who out of our new players - this was a different team and formation to the one who beat Huddersfield 2 weeks earlier.
The players introduce themselves to each other before the Wolves game! (picture by Jon Candy)
This was a great attacking display, and despite going behind early on, ended up being a comprehensive victory. Craig Noone would have been man of the match on most other occasions - his sheer speed and enthusiasm caused the Wolves defence problems all afternoon. But it was our “old” established player Peter Whittingham who stole the day with a hat trick of goals, the first a penalty after Noone was brought down in the area, the second a powerful shot after great approach play by Maynard and Mutch, and the third a trademark free kick.
Whittingham equalises from the penalty spot (picture Jon Candy)
LOOKING FORWARD
Well, next its home to Leeds United on Saturday. There are now so many options available. Kim Byo-kyung still hasn’t made a start yet, and Etien Velikonja stayed on the bench against Wolves. I’ve no doubt this strength in depth will be useful as a long Championship season continues. But for now, its an exciting time, and I can’t wait for Saturday to come!
