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.