Just
over a month has gone since my last post, and a lot has happened since
then. By the 5th November, we find ourselves in 4th place in the league,
and in the last 8 of the Carling Cup. Not many of our fans would have
predicted that at the start of the season, (although I would like to
point out that I did at least predict the league form and said that we
are capable of being a top 6 team - see blog post 06/08/2011).
The
matches have come thick and fast, but the last 3 against teams who were
previously above us in the table were particularly impressive and
satisfying. A lot more people are starting to take notice of the
Bluebirds now. If you were ever in doubt, then make no mistake - we ARE a
good team!
There
have been some question marks over whether we need to strengthen the
squad, and I think most people appreciate that we need a fast wide
player and another target man striker as an alternative to Kenny Miller.
However, there is no need to be hasty. Malky Mackay has built a great
team spirit with a great work ethic. The danger of bringing in a star
player from outside the squad is that this balance gets upset. A decent
Championship player, or an up and coming player from a lower division
may be better than an out of favour Premier League star.
As
far as strikers are concerned, then someone like Jutkiewicz from
Coventry or Jordan Rhodes from Huddersfield would fit the bill, although
I suspect Rhodes may head straight to the Premier League and
Huddersfield would be very reluctant to let him go in their present
form. Wide players are harder to spot, although possibly someone like
Adam Hamill from Wolves might be what we’re looking for. In a perfect
world, we need another Jay Bothroyd and Wayne Routledge, but given the
history of those two with the Bluebirds, this seems pretty unlikely!
CARDIFF 2 IPSWICH 2 - 15th October 2011
There
are some teams we always seem to lose to, no matter how good or bad we
are or they are. Ipswich are one of those teams as far as I’m concerned,
and I never expect anything from our games against them. I think this
negative attitude stems from the last match at Ninian Park, when Ipswich
obviously didn’t read the script and beat us 3-0.
On
the face of it, a 2-2 draw is quite positive, but the score truly
doesn’t tell the story here. An early Rudy Gestede goal from
Gunnarsonn’s long throw seemed to give us a slight edge, but over the
next hour we slowly let them get back into the game, and the ten minutes
following Chopra’s (who else?) goal which gave Ipswich the lead after
51 minutes was some of the worst football we have played at home this
year - they threatened to completely overrun us. However, we were then
awarded a dreadful penalty - grossly unfair to Ipswich, in my opinion -
which let us draw level, and following that we could easily have pinched
it. Ultimately, the draw was a fair result.
Whittingham scores the equalising penalty - picture Jon Candy.
PETERBOROUGH 4 CARDIFF 3 - 18th October 2011
We
should have known that this game would have lots of goals - the last
timewe played at Peterborough 2 seasons ago was the famous game when we
gave away a 4-0 half time lead to draw 4-4! Only one less goal this
time!
We
led twice in this game - an early strike from Don Cowie for a 1-0, then
an Aron Gunnarson goal with 8 minutes left to lead 3-2. But
Peterborough seem to have some form of magic formula which causes
opposing teams to fall apart in the last few minutes. We are by no means
the only team to concede late at London Road, and a dodgy penalty
decision (against us this time) was followed by an injury time winner.
There was to be a big question asked of the team after this performance - could they bounce back from such a disappointment?
Ben Turner in action against Peterborough
CARDIFF 5 BARNSLEY 3 - October 22nd 2011
This
was by far the easiest win we have had at home all season - Barnsley
were the worst side at the Cardiff City Stadium this season (including
Bristol City and Doncaster, who were also poor). They gifted us an early
Kenny Miller goal, who was then replaced by Joe Mason following
Miller’s accidental clash of heads with Ben Turner. Mason then scored
his first league goal for the club after seizing on to a rebound from a
Peter Whittingham free kick. 2 goals from Aron Gunnarson and one from
Don Cowie completed the scoring for the Bluebirds.
The
fact that Barnsley scored 3 flattered them, as their manager Keith Hill
admitted after the game. 2 of their goals came from deflections and it
could easily have finished 8-1 to Cardiff.
Cardiff attack against Barnsley - picture by Jon Candy
CARDIFF 1 BURNLEY 0 - 25th October 2011 - Carling Cup
Both sides put out virtually complete first teams for this fixture - something that doesn’t always happen in the Carling Cup.
This
match gave us an inkling of the improvement that had come about from
the Bluebirds. The first clean sheet for a while confirmed that things
were getting better defensively, and in the end it was quite a
comfortable win. Burnley have had a number of changes from last season
and weren’t quite as strong, but this was a well controlled performance
by Cardiff. After Joe Mason’s well taken 40th minute goal, the result
was rarely in doubt.
It
was hoped that we might draw one of the really big Premier League Clubs
in the next round, but instead we drew struggling Premier outfit
Blackburn Rovers. At least this gives us a good chance of progressing,
as well as giving the team some idea of the teams they would have to
beat if we move up to the Premier League.
THE BIGGEST THREE GAMES OF THE SEASON SO FAR!
LEEDS UTD 1 CARDIFF 1 - 30th October 2011
DERBY COUNTY 0 CARDIFF 3 - 2nd November 2011
CARDIFF 2 CRYSTAL PALACE 0 - 5th November 2011
These
3 games took place within 7 days and finally showed people that we
could be a top 6 team this year. We went to Leeds having beaten them 6
times straight in Championship matches, and given their form this year
many of us feared that their time was due. However, an early Joe Mason
goal from a mistake by Leeds gave us just the start we needed.
This
was a high intensity game where a good performance from the Bluebirds
in the first half was more than countered by Leeds in the second half. A
Leeds equaliser inevitably came, but the team to continued to work hard
(not that you would expect anything else!), and held on for a valuable
away point.
Don Cowie against Leeds.
The
trip to Derby 3 days later was also to be a test, as Derby have been
the surprise team of the early part of the season, (despite being tipped
by me as relegation fodder before the season started!). However, Derby
were struggling with injuries, including having to start a 15 year old
striker, and this Cardiff team now has too much power and enthusiasm for
teams not to be at their best against us.
A
quiet first quarter of an hour, before Phillip Kiss scored his first
goal for the club with a good shot on the turn. There was very little
pressure from then on, and an own goal from Kevin Kilbane after 15
minutes of the second half effectively ensured the Cardiff win. A late
Peter Whittingham goal following a run sealed the win, but looked like
it was offside to me (although I have only watched TV replays, to be
fair).
Kenny Miller (headband!) celebrates Phillip Kiss’ first goal for the club.
The
final match before the International break was at home to Crystal
Palace, who were lying 4th in the table at kick off. Their manager
Dougie Friedman has got the Palace youngsters playing well, and they had
not conceded a goal for 5 matches coming in to this game.
For
the first half an hour, I was struck by the similarity between the
teams, as both were hard working with a tightly packed midfield. Chances
were hard to come by for either team, but towards the end of the first
half, Cardiff began to gain a little territorial advantage, even if
there were no clear cut chances.
Kenny Miller celebrates the opening goal - picture by Jon Candy
Cardiff
seemed to push forward a little more in the second half, and when a
chance finally came, Kenny Miller put it too close to the goalkeeper.
The people around me on the Bob Bank (Sorry, Ninian Stand!) all thought
that the game was heading for a 0-0 stalemate, as this was the first
real chance of the game. However, Cardiff continued to create chances,
and a great Miller volley on 69 minutes gave the Bluebirds a well
deserved lead. A trademark precision Peter Whittingham free-kick on 80
minutes sealed a well-deserved win.
ALL OF A SUDDEN....
We
are looking good. This match against Palace was a good test against
decent opposition. We were patient, hard working and solid at the back.
Surprisingly, the 4-5-1 formation we have been almost forced to play due
to a lack of fit strikers looks good and quite attacking - we are the
third highest goalscoring team in the Championship!
Two
away games after the international break, against Reading (don’t we
always draw against them?) and a struggling Coventry side, then a home
game against Forest before the Carling Cup quarter final against
Blackburn. I can’t wait!
Bluebirds!
