From mindless optimist to hopeless pessimist in just two hours

It works like this you have to score a goal to win. 

In a tight game the team that can get away with dragging down the keeper leaving his team mate to head home is going to beat the team that fails to take their chances.

After the Slade victories over Notting Forest and Ipswich we all thought we would collect something at Millwall before beating Leeds at home. Go on admit it, you did as well. At least four points expected from these two games, oh all right I thought it would be six.

We need a like for like replacement for both Gunnarsson and Whittingham. When the Icelander went off to day his replacement Ralls didn’t quite fill his boots. Ralls is a good footballer but there are a few players in the city squad who can break up the opposition’s midfield play the way Gunnarsson does. We haven’t seen enough of Dikgacoi yet but that’s who we needed today.

If we really are promotion candidates then we need a better showing with teams like Millwall who had only won 3 of the previous 10 games.

We just didn’t have the sense of direction exhibited in the previous two Slade matches.

Why didn’t the City players make more of a fuss over the manhandling of Marshall before the goal? I know it won’t any difference but it give the officials a chance to wonder if city are owed one.

Ravel showed he can unlock defences and on another day might have been awarded a penalty when his cross was handled … maybe on a day when Cardiff players make more of a fuss with the referee when they have conce3ded a goal after a foul on the keeper.

So pressure is now really on Slade. If we lose to Leeds on Saturday we will be back to where we were before Russell Slade took over. Be back in the bottom third and back to feeling despair.

So let’s get a grip, if we beat Leeds that’s 9 points from a possible 12. Hardly shabby. But I did think we could get something here and in truth they were more deserving of a win.

 

Cardiff 3 Ipswich 1. The new PS era, not to be confused with the PS era nor the PS era.

Cardiff 3 Ipswich 1

Before we start singing ‘he does what he wants’ can you credit some folk felt Whittingham should be dropped?

Whitts just before he scores a goal

Whitts shines in attack, that’s when many see him. His crosses, corners, free kicks, oh yeh, and his amazing goals are all noted. People don’t seem to see what he does just in front of the back four, always offering them a get out of jail free card. When City are under the cosh he can take a pass from just about anyone, anywhere and move it on. It may not look spectacular, in fact clearly some people don’t even notice it, but easing the pressure on the defence is as important as scoring – well ok it isn’t really, but it is up there.

Anyways, just a thought.

So first up I will give Whittingham a mention. If Gunnarsson has fearsome rock based lava running through his veins then Whitts has ice, chilled and shaken by the cocktail maker at Harrods. That two man midfield is a marriage made in heaven.

So where do we start with the match? Ah yeh. Whittingham (cue song again). One nil down and oddly no one feels worried. This is the reverse of the PS era. PS era? Pre Slade era! If we were two nil up and conceded a goal we started worrying. In fact it was worse than worrying. We knew we were going to lose. 

Interestingly I even felt ok with the city holding on against Notts Forest, a team that had not lost before they played the Post Slade Cardiff.

Whitts just after he scores a goal

So one nil down and who should score a goal from nothing, from so far out he must have had satellite navigation to see where the goals were? Answer? Do you need to be told? Cue song.

He and Macheda back on the score sheet. I know it sounds picky but can Macheda just offer us a little more? I get the class, I get the vision. Just a little more something. Oohmph maybe? But two games and two goals is maybe all we need from him. In fact ok, if he gives us a goal every other game I wont mind him running in second gear.

LeFondre scores. Break out the bunting. Never has a man worked so tirelessly across 180 minutes of football for a single goal. But surely that has opened a dam. More goals to come.

Whitts when we win

The Magna/Morrison partnership must be soul destroying for the unfortunate Connolly, one of the few players to emerge with credit from the PS era– Pre Slade era! Ah I see the problem. Can’t be PreSlade and Post Slade.  Else it will be PS for both before and after. Then make it Post Solskjaer, ie PS. Damn. 

That’s 5 goals across two games. Not just two wins, but 5 goals. If you score goals then you always have a chance.

Whitts getting emotional

Suddenly we're tenth and can just see the playoffs spots over the fence. One more win might get us into the top 6, though probably we need two further victories. Talking of two victories we are only 6 points off second placed Watford and it is still October.

Yeh, promotion is doable in the PS era. (Post Slade)

Whitts being the coolest, calmest guy on the pitch. This pic taken just after he scored  a wonder-goal from thirty yards against high flying Ipswich

Russell Slade, The Commitments, Closing Down and Sexy Bikinis.

Firstly the good news …. And the good news is there isn’t any bad news. Crack open a bottle of aged Brains S.A. and use the special glasses, the ones without the cracks, as this feels a bit like a Renaissance.

The first half saw City playing neat energetic football and, now hear this, playing for each other. They seemed to play as a team. Yes I know, that’s what they are supposed to do. But this has been rare since Malky did everything he could to be fired.

Russell Slade wants: Commitments ...

City played with purpose. After some early good moves the players actually went around slapping each other’s hands as if they wanted to be out there together. Amazing huh? How did you do it Mister Slade?

Just as I was thinking Macheda doesn’t fit into this side, he seems a little slower than his team mates, less committed, so he beats a string of players with crafty and neat footwork and drives home a classy strike from the edge of the area. More of that please Fredrico. I liked that. Kiko wasn’t as involved as leFondre, a man who understands what it means to chase every cause be it lost or on. I think Slade will be playing this duo more often.

A few minutes later Whitts found a gap and blasted home to the corner of the net from a good 25 yards. Yep cue song. He does what he wants etc. And After a shaky few touches just after kick off Whitts actually did do what he wants. Nothing flashy, ( apart from the goal!), but loads of vision, sharp passes and one exquisite volley that annoyingly kept rising over the bar.

Russell Slade wants....closing down ...

The first half was everything Slade had demanded. Commitment, closing down, teamwork.

The second half had a Norwich feel to it. Nottingham weren’t second in the league by chance. In the second half they came out and took control of the game. But this new Cardiff side kept down the opposition’s crossing options. The defence was tighter. In fact unrecognizable from the team that fell apart against Norwich in similar circumstances.

Still we waited for their comeback goal. Cardiff City fans know how this will work out. We go 2-0 up and then they either draw or win the match. So in came a few dangerous crosses, the crowd fell hushed as we waited for their first goal. We were silent because we were biting our fingernails. Suddenly I realised why so many fans wear peaked caps. It is not to shield off the glare form the floodlights, they are in fact useful when pulled down over the eyes when you cannot bear to see what is happening - which has been a lot of times in the last 12 months.

and of course Russell Slade wants sexy girls in bikinis ..er, no, Teamwork!.

Thankfully their goal didn’t come until the 89^th minute. If it had come earlier every fan would have needed a cardiac resuscitation device. In truth the medics didn’t need to be called. The Cardiff players were calmer than the crowd and dealt in a clear and direct way with the second half domination of play by Nottingham. I am wiping from my memory their disallowed goal mid second half as that would have changed the course of the game.

Final thoughts …

Magna is class. 

Pilkington on one wing with Noone on the other will give us chances.

The LeFondre and Macheda combination should work both home and away.

4-4-2 may be football’s most basic combination but when in doubt it works like a dream and players ‘get it’. We always looked a little at sea with a 3 man defence or 4-5-1, the or the 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2 etc or all the other variations known to Norwegian managers.

Also: a few more over the top balls please. Mister LeFondre waited all match to run onto a single good one.

Finally a letter to Kennwyne Jones …

Dear Mister Jones,

It has come to my attention that you are way too good to actually chase a game or to close down the opposition. Please desist in these thoughts. Actually Nots Forest midfielders got the wind up when they saw your huge presence bearing down on them. They just didn’t see enough of it. There is a lot of you and not much space for the opposition player if you are in their path. You honestly don’t have to break out a sweat. Just get in their faces. Reason being, once we have the ball back you will score, I know, ‘cos you have been doing it all season. 

Yours advisedly,

S Scribe.

Blackpool win! How Much Misery can a City fan Take? - comes with a medical warning

Medical warning: if you are suicidal, prone to bouts of depression or a genuine Cardiff City Supporter look away now.

City had all the talent, the ball players, the stars and Blackpool put in a shift.  Blackpool won.

They contested every ball, closed down every blue shirt, cluttered up the space Cardiff tried to make. 

And the talented ball players? Useless.

And it could have been worse. In the first half Blackpool put crosses straight into the city six yard box as easily as if they were playing Sunday football. Only their lack of ability in the air and on the ground prevented them scoring at least a couple. 

City’s answer? I am not sure there was one in the first half.

Cardiff do not seem to be able to hold and control midfield. Russell Slade’s problem is no different from OGS, Gabbidon/Younge’s: How to pull a team out of this talented squad.

If we can’t get three points from a team lying dead at the bottom of the league without a win in 10 matches then we have no chance. By the end of this weekend we could be in the bottom third again.

We are a middle of the table footballing side. So let us be honest about it.

Ravel Morrison must do more. People like Ronaldo and Neymar work their socks off every game …yes every game. He clearly is an extraordinary talent. Maybe a goal will lift him but right now he seems little better than Noone and not as effective as the energetic Pilkington.

We created chances in the second half, well we put the ball into their box a lot more, but either you give them credit for last ditch defending and wanting it more, else you just say it wouldn’t fall for us. Sometimes sport is about luck. Usually it is about making your own by upping your commitment.

Yet another dispiriting day for City fans. How many more must we endure?