Solskjaer’s Tinkering, Moaners and the Roath High School for Girls.

Solskjaer’s Tinkering, Moaners and the Roath High School for Girls.

The great thing about being a Cardiff City supporter is the moaning. You should have heard me moaning about Jimmy Scholar’s teams back in the sixties as we beat Real Madrid and came close to promotion to the first division. Yes youngsters, THAT Real Madrid.

So here come today’s moans. Why change a winning team? Why tinker and then tinker some more and then, oh yes, do more tinkering?

Ok members of the jury, here we go with the reasons for the tinkering.

Solskjaer grew up at Man Utd. His daddy was Alex Fergusson. Fergie would look at his huge, talented, over paid squad and keep them all primed. No one knew what tactics he would play - I am not sure he always did. By dint of sheer personality, whoever he put out on the pitch in whatever formation, would generally get a result.

This meant players were kept on their toes. No one could second guess the bosses views, no one could think they were indispensable. You ask Dwight Yorke who thought Fergie was joking when he dropped him for cavorting with a model on the front pages of the tabloids. Yorke spent the rest of the season in the reserves. 

From Fergie’s point of view, he saw each of his squad in a battle situation.

Training tells you how good people are at training. We all know kids on the school park who have the magical twinkle toes. They can do this and they can do that, but lack the bottle for an actual match.

Solskjaer is able to see how these guys play in front of a baying mob, how they react when going a goal down or if they still hungry for the ball after a tough challenge. And well done Whits for getting up after the x certificate challenges you have been through.

He can see how different players interact with each other.

Connolly and Morrison worked against Wigan, in fact more than worked, they were brilliant. But what about Hudson and Morrison? Ok let’s take a look at them at Wolves. And you know what? Just as solid.

This is a long season. There will be injuries, suspensions, fitness issues, back to back skirmishes and casualties - and that is just getting past the beefburger and beer stalls under the Canton stand.

This is a big squad. You can see how big it is when you recall how Dave Jones couldn’t even summon 11 Cardiff City players for the last two months of his final season. He would have borrowed players from the Roath High School girl’s squad if he could - BTW, they turned him down as it was exam time.

Midfield genius of the Roath High School Girl's team 2004-2006 and not a gratuitous pic of a sexy girl at all.

Solskjaer, for the first time in living memory, is a City manager who can actually choose a team for a particular game - just like his mentor Fergie. For sure we don’t have a Beckham or Giggs or Scholes or Cantana but we have players who would walk into most teams in the championship.

So far his game plan has worked ok. It would have worked brilliantly if Wolves hadn’t pulled off a great save from Kenwynne and scored an improbable one off own goal from the foot of mister reliable, Mark Hudson.

So whilst the selection plan is working we ease off the guy, we support him. If the choices aren’t working then we support him a bit louder. If we get to the Promised Land of the Premiership we will have done so by riding on the back of an amiable Norwegian with a Mister Bean smile.  He will be a bigger hero for doing it his way.

Now if you want to moan: can those damned supporters, who suddenly remember they need to be somewhere else ten minutes before a game ends, just shift their fat arses and get out a bit quicker! Some of us have come to see a football match.