Well, the first flurry of fixtures are over and the start to the season has been OK. Nothing startling like our last Championship season when we started with 5 straight wins, but a solid 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses from our opening 6 league fixtures (and one Carabao Cup loss). I know there is little to differ between a C plus and a B minus, but I'm going to award the team a B minus so far and will attempt to explain myself below.
Results so far this season:-
WIGAN 3 CARDIFF 2
CARDIFF 2 LUTON 1
READING 3 CARDIFF 0
CARDIFF 2 HUDDERFIELD 1
BLACKBURN 0 CARDIFF 0
CARDIFF 0 LUTON 3 (Caraboa Cup)
CARDIFF 1 FULHAM 1
The opening game at Wigan was finally disappointing (especially as Wigan have not won any more league games and only scored one more goal) with a 3-2 defeat after Joe Ralls had given us the lead after 20 minutes. The team still had a bit of a makeshift feel to it, with new signing Aden Flint starting in the centre of defence alongside captain Sean Morrison. Up front, Gary Madine started the game as new signing Robert Glatzel had to serve a one match ban acquired at the end of last season's Bundesliga 2. The team was further disrupted when goalkeeper Neil Etheridge had to go off with a serious hamstring injury after 26 minutes, meaning that new signing Joe Day suddenly had to make his debut for Cardiff. Unfortunately, he was in goal for the 3 Wigan goals but could not be blamed for any of them - the defence seemed to lose a bit of organisation once he left the field.
One week later, the team had a much different feel to it against newly promoted Luton Town. At the end of the transfer window deadline we had signed midfielder Marlon Pack from our Severnside rivals Bristol City. Also, Bobby Decordova-Reid had left the club to go to Fulham on an initial loan, with a transfer to be completed for £11.5m at the end of the season. Pack immediately took his place in from of the back 4 previously occupied by Aron Gunnarsson last season and looked at home. The newly promoted Luton team had some good individuals but eventually the pressure told and we got a deserved win from a stoppage time winner from Isaac Vassell, another player signed (from Birmingham City) on Transfer deadline day. A deserved win if a little late in coming.
The following away game at Reading was an awful experience, captured live on Sky TV. On reflection, the game seemed to be going well until Marlon Pack went off injured in the 23rd minute. Reading had a couple of new signings who looked to be very useful acquisitions and caused the defence problems for the rest of the game. Leandro Bacuna had started at right back but was moved into central midfield, and new signing Curtis Nelson then had to play at right back. Although this was a poor performance, I think we may ultimately find that this is quite a good Reading team who are much improved on recent seasons.
The home win against Huddersfield was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests, with one moment of individual brilliance supplying their goal, but it could't disguise that Huddersfield looked rather lost and may struggle this season. The appointment of Danny Cowley as their manager this week may well help their season.
An away point at Blackburn provide the team with their first clean sheet of the season, although reports suggest that this was a game we should have won if we had taken the chances created.
A midweek loss in the Caraboa Cup to Luton was once again disappointing, but a side made up almost entirely of fringe squad players and members of the under 23 team shows what Neil Warnock thinks about the EFL cup.
The final game before the International break was at home to Fulham, relegated (below) with us from the Premier League last season. It is the performance in this game which made me feel that the team is worthy of a B minus instead of a C plus. Fulham are one of the favourites to get promoted back to the Premier League this year, and yet we easily matched them during the game. But for one momentary lapse in concentration, we would have won this game. Fulham tried to play lots of pretty football but mostly with no end product. Indeed , in the second half they barely got a shot at the Cardiff goal. The sending off of Harry Arter, a Cardiff hero from last season, should have meant a Cardiff win but ultimately a draw against one of our main rivals is acceptable. Considering we were missing a number of key players, this was a good performance and very encouraging.
HOT OR NOT? PLAYERS WORTHY OF A MENTION.
JOE RALLS: Has easily been the most consistent player this season and playing as well as ever. The season in the Premier League seems to have improved his game.
ROBERT GLATZEL: The tall and lanky German striker is undoubtedly talented and quite a handful, but the disruptions in midfield have meant that he has had limited goal scoring opportunities. The jury is still out on him.
LEANDRO BACUNA: Finally starting to win people around despite being made the scapegoat for poor team performances by a minority of disgruntled fans. Bacuna isn't a flashy player, but does a lot of the midfield ball winning and tackling. His extended run in the team following the injury to Marlon Pack is definitely improving his game (and popularity).
MARLON PACK: This was a surprise signing just before the transfer deadline. Still only 28, he has been admired at local rivals Bristol City for a few years and we were really surprised that they let him go. Unfortunately injured for a couple more weeks, he could be a major influence if the team is going to be successful this season.
LEE TOMLIN: It has been well publicised that Tomlin is in the best physical shape he has been in for a number of years. Has basically forced Warnock to give him another chance, and the departure of Bobby Decordova-Reid to Fulham has given him that chance too. When at his best, his passing and creativity can't be equalled in our squad. A very good performance against Huddersfield, where you could see his confidence increasing in from top your eyes suggests that he could be a really key player this year after 2 years of invisibility.
ONWARDS:
The international break ends this weekend, and we have the privilege(?) of being in the first game back with a Friday night fixture at Derby County (live on TV again). Hopefully, this will be better than our last TV match at Derby where we lost 3-1 late on in our promotion season. I'm a natural optimist, and so I'm not yet downhearted about this season. Onwards and upwards!
Results so far this season:-
WIGAN 3 CARDIFF 2
CARDIFF 2 LUTON 1
READING 3 CARDIFF 0
CARDIFF 2 HUDDERFIELD 1
BLACKBURN 0 CARDIFF 0
CARDIFF 0 LUTON 3 (Caraboa Cup)
CARDIFF 1 FULHAM 1
The opening game at Wigan was finally disappointing (especially as Wigan have not won any more league games and only scored one more goal) with a 3-2 defeat after Joe Ralls had given us the lead after 20 minutes. The team still had a bit of a makeshift feel to it, with new signing Aden Flint starting in the centre of defence alongside captain Sean Morrison. Up front, Gary Madine started the game as new signing Robert Glatzel had to serve a one match ban acquired at the end of last season's Bundesliga 2. The team was further disrupted when goalkeeper Neil Etheridge had to go off with a serious hamstring injury after 26 minutes, meaning that new signing Joe Day suddenly had to make his debut for Cardiff. Unfortunately, he was in goal for the 3 Wigan goals but could not be blamed for any of them - the defence seemed to lose a bit of organisation once he left the field.
Joe Ralls - best player of the season so far.
One week later, the team had a much different feel to it against newly promoted Luton Town. At the end of the transfer window deadline we had signed midfielder Marlon Pack from our Severnside rivals Bristol City. Also, Bobby Decordova-Reid had left the club to go to Fulham on an initial loan, with a transfer to be completed for £11.5m at the end of the season. Pack immediately took his place in from of the back 4 previously occupied by Aron Gunnarsson last season and looked at home. The newly promoted Luton team had some good individuals but eventually the pressure told and we got a deserved win from a stoppage time winner from Isaac Vassell, another player signed (from Birmingham City) on Transfer deadline day. A deserved win if a little late in coming.
Isaac Vassell heads a late winner against Luton
The following away game at Reading was an awful experience, captured live on Sky TV. On reflection, the game seemed to be going well until Marlon Pack went off injured in the 23rd minute. Reading had a couple of new signings who looked to be very useful acquisitions and caused the defence problems for the rest of the game. Leandro Bacuna had started at right back but was moved into central midfield, and new signing Curtis Nelson then had to play at right back. Although this was a poor performance, I think we may ultimately find that this is quite a good Reading team who are much improved on recent seasons.
The home win against Huddersfield was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests, with one moment of individual brilliance supplying their goal, but it could't disguise that Huddersfield looked rather lost and may struggle this season. The appointment of Danny Cowley as their manager this week may well help their season.
An away point at Blackburn provide the team with their first clean sheet of the season, although reports suggest that this was a game we should have won if we had taken the chances created.
A midweek loss in the Caraboa Cup to Luton was once again disappointing, but a side made up almost entirely of fringe squad players and members of the under 23 team shows what Neil Warnock thinks about the EFL cup.
Josh Murphy scores against Fulham.
The final game before the International break was at home to Fulham, relegated (below) with us from the Premier League last season. It is the performance in this game which made me feel that the team is worthy of a B minus instead of a C plus. Fulham are one of the favourites to get promoted back to the Premier League this year, and yet we easily matched them during the game. But for one momentary lapse in concentration, we would have won this game. Fulham tried to play lots of pretty football but mostly with no end product. Indeed , in the second half they barely got a shot at the Cardiff goal. The sending off of Harry Arter, a Cardiff hero from last season, should have meant a Cardiff win but ultimately a draw against one of our main rivals is acceptable. Considering we were missing a number of key players, this was a good performance and very encouraging.
HOT OR NOT? PLAYERS WORTHY OF A MENTION.
JOE RALLS: Has easily been the most consistent player this season and playing as well as ever. The season in the Premier League seems to have improved his game.
ROBERT GLATZEL: The tall and lanky German striker is undoubtedly talented and quite a handful, but the disruptions in midfield have meant that he has had limited goal scoring opportunities. The jury is still out on him.
LEANDRO BACUNA: Finally starting to win people around despite being made the scapegoat for poor team performances by a minority of disgruntled fans. Bacuna isn't a flashy player, but does a lot of the midfield ball winning and tackling. His extended run in the team following the injury to Marlon Pack is definitely improving his game (and popularity).
Marlon Pack.
MARLON PACK: This was a surprise signing just before the transfer deadline. Still only 28, he has been admired at local rivals Bristol City for a few years and we were really surprised that they let him go. Unfortunately injured for a couple more weeks, he could be a major influence if the team is going to be successful this season.
LEE TOMLIN: It has been well publicised that Tomlin is in the best physical shape he has been in for a number of years. Has basically forced Warnock to give him another chance, and the departure of Bobby Decordova-Reid to Fulham has given him that chance too. When at his best, his passing and creativity can't be equalled in our squad. A very good performance against Huddersfield, where you could see his confidence increasing in from top your eyes suggests that he could be a really key player this year after 2 years of invisibility.
Lee Tomlin is now slimmer than this!
ONWARDS:
The international break ends this weekend, and we have the privilege(?) of being in the first game back with a Friday night fixture at Derby County (live on TV again). Hopefully, this will be better than our last TV match at Derby where we lost 3-1 late on in our promotion season. I'm a natural optimist, and so I'm not yet downhearted about this season. Onwards and upwards!
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