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Doncaster Rovers Beat City 2-0; Bluebirds Slip to Second
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Doncaster Rovers beat Cardiff City 2-0 today at Keepmoat Stadium to drop the Bluebirds to second place. The loss is City's first of the new campaign, the win Doncaster's first. Adam Lockwood headed in a corner to put the hosts in front in the 13th minute, with James Hayter doubling the lead four minutes later. City had their chances to get back into the match but it just wasn't their day. Kelvin Etuhu, on for an injured Jay Bothroyd, had a header cleared off the line and Michael Chopra got ahold of a poor Rovers back-pass but couldn't take advantage of the opportunity.
In a match report for his Bluesy's Blues blog, Nigel Harris observes that "City were well beaten and can have no complaints other than hold hold an inquest into why they didn't turn up on the pitch until the game was already out of reach." He adds that
17 minutes after kick-off, Cardiff found themselves without an injured Jay Bothroyd, two goals down and played off the park for the entire half. The second half finally saw City wake up but only a bit and chances missed meant there wasn't even a consolation goal for the 1,200+ travelling fans.
City can hang onto second place if Newcastle United and Leicester City draw tomorrow. If either wins, the Bluebirds drop to third.
In "Cardiff Suffer Defeat at Doncaster," his report for Wales Online, Terry Phillips quotes manager Dave Jones as saying, "I don’t think we turned up in the first 20 minutes and you can’t afford to do that to any team at this level." The Yorkshire Post's report, "Super Donny See Off Cardiff," sang a different tune. For their writer, City might have come into the match tops in the division but they "were always chasing in South Yorkshire."
Updating Player Comings and Goings
Friday, August 28, 2009
Cardiff City have made a number of noteworthy roster moves of late. None of them have been mentioned here, however. So, a slow Friday offers the perfect opportunity to get caught up on what's been going on.
* Let's start with the signing of Kelvin Etuhu. City acquired the services of the 21-year-old Nigerian striker in a season-long loan deal with Manchester City, finalised on Saturday. BBC Sport has a brief story on the signing here; it includes manager Dave Jones's description of Etuhu as "a big, pacey lad who will give us options across the front line."
In a story on the signing for his Bluesy's Blues blog, Nigel Harris notes that "Etuhu has been with the Eastlands club for the past 3 seasons and had 10 Premiership appearances," adding that "with their influx of strikers, he's got no chance of appearances this term which made his loan or sale a formality." He reports that "Cardiff are believed to have secured his services despite interest from Premiership outfits Wolves and Portsmouth."
* A few days later, on Tuesday, City inked another Nigerian, one Solomon Taiwo, a midfielder from Dagenham & Redbridge. The deal set City back all of £250,000. BBC Sport has the details here. In a posting to his blog regarding the transaction, Nigel Harris wrote, "Cardiff have needed extra central midfield cover and Taiwo fits the bill although, clearly, he is a gamble." Mr. Harris adds that "two weeks ago tonight, Taiwo shone at Cardiff City Stadium in Daggers Carling Cup defeat and that obviously convinced Dave Jones to make a move although he has been tracking the player for some time.
* Not all recent moves involve players coming to Cardiff City. Today City defender Darcy Blake went to Plymouth Argyle in a six-month loan deal. BBC Sport has the story here. The idea with this move is to give the 20-year-old a chance to play some first-team football, something it looked like he'd have trouble getting with the Bluebirds.
In a post to his Bluesy's Blues blog, Nigel Harris observed that "Darcy hasn't quite broken through to Cardiff City's first team held back by injuries and for reasons I sometimes can't understand, not quite getting the same opportunities as others ... did anyone say Comminges for example??"
With the August transfer deadline approaching in just a few days, there's reason to believe that City will make some more moves. After all of the excitement of this latest flurry of activity, however, it wouldn't be too surprising to see them stand pat. We shall see what we shall see.
The Lone Gunman Cooks Up Some Impressive Stats
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Messageboarder The Lone Gunman has dug into the record books and found that this isn't the first time Cardiff City have managed to score at least three goals in each of their first four home games. They turned the trick back at the beginning of the 1937/38 season. Here are details, from the Gunman himself:
Having had a quick glance through the record books, I'm pretty sure I'm right in saying that the 1937/38 campaign was the last time City scored three or more goals in each of the first four home matches of the season.
In fact, I'm almost certain that was the only time the team managed to score three or more goals in the each of the first four home matches of the season during Ninian Park's 99-year history.
On that occasion, the first four matches were all Third Division (South) contests. The results were:
5-2 v Torquay United
5-0 v Southend United
4-1 v Northampton Town
4-1 v Brighton & Hove Albion
Our record so far at Fortress Cardiff City Stadium (that doesn't sound right, does it?!?) is:
4-0 v Scunny
3-1 v Dagenham & Redbridge
3-0 v Bristol City
3-1 v Bristol Rovers
The players appear to like this new stadium.
I love it.
As might be expected, someone had to ask how things turned out for the 1937/38 squad. Nedd Glas asked, "What was the 37/38 season like? Any success at the end?" To which Mr. Gunman had to reply, "Ah. I was hoping nobody would ask that. We finished tenth."
City Beat Bristol Rovers 3-1, Advance to Carling Cup Third Round
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Michael Chopra netted his eighth goal of the season tonight to pace Cardiff City to a 3-1 Carling Cup win over Bristol Rovers before 9,767 at Cardiff City Stadium. The victory secures a spot for City in the Carling Cup third round draw coming up this Saturday.
City's starting lineup saw five changes from the squad that started against Bristol City. Peter Enckelman came in at goal, along with Tony Capaldi and Gabor Gyepes in the back, Steve McPhail in midfield, and Kelvin Etuhu on to partner with Chopra up front. This was Etuhu's debut for City. The Bluebirds moved on top at the 34-minute mark as Michael Chopra netted another goal and took their 1-0 lead into the second half. Peter Whittingham doubled the lead midway through the second stanza before Steve Elliott got Rovers back into the game with 15 minutes to go. Josh Magennis put the match out of reach with his first-ever goal for Cardiff City at the 86-minute mark.
In his report for the South Wales Echo, "Michael Chopra on Target Again in Cardiff City Stroll," Simon Kendal-Williams observes that, "a shaky 10-minute second-half spell aside, this was every bit as impressive as last Sunday’s 3-0 win over Bristol City." He notes that Chopra's first-half goal "was no less than City deserved and the home fans settled back for a comfortable evening," but then "had to wait until halfway through the second half to start dreaming of a glamour third-round tie. Before that, the match had threatened to peter out." When "City began to wobble just a little" following the Elliott goal, "it was left to one of their young guns to calm the nerves."
"Cardiff City Stroll to Carling Cup Win Over Bristol Rovers," a Western Mail report, sums things up as follows: "Dave Jones side never really had to move into top gear in a reasonably entertaining game, despite the visitors grabbing a goal with quarter of an hour left from Steve Elliott that hinted at an upset which was never really on the cards." The report adds that "to say Cardiff dominated would really be an under-statement with Paul Trollope’s Rovers barely troubling them in the first half and barely coming out of their shell in the second." About Kelvin Etuhu's debut for City, there's this: "Etuhu was busy enough and got a few sniffs at goal along with a cut head which he had to go off and get sorted for a few minutes."
The Bristol Evening Post has a story on the match as well, entitled "Bristol Rovers Bow Out of Carling Cup as In-form Cardiff City Show Their Class." For this writer, "there was no disgrace in defeat for the visitors" as "the Bluebirds marched into the third round of the Carling Cup with a comfortable victory." Another page from the Evening Post offers player ratings for the match. Check their ratings here.
For a boatload of pictures from the evening at Cardiff City Stadium, go here.
The New Stadium Effect
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
It's more than obvious that Cardiff City have settled quite nicely into their new digs at Cardiff City Stadium. Four goals in the opener against Scunthorpe, three more goals in the Carling Cup win versus Dagenham,
and now another three against Bristol City on Sunday. So, there can't be much question that the Bluebirds aren't exactly grieving over leaving Ninian Park behind. But what of Cardiff City supporters, many of whom were quite fond of the old ground? How are they taking to the new stadium?
Mailing list member Julian Wing commented as length the other day on what he called the "new stadium effect." Here's what he said:
One interesting phenomenon has just presented itself in my office; I've just had 2 female colleagues who have never before mentioned CCFC to me, come up and talk about yesterday's game. It was the 1st time they'd both been to the new stadium and both will readily return again - one of them in particular had been to Ninian Park a couple of times previously & had hated it - but thought our new home was great.
As a traditionalist I didn't want to leave NP & I think that yesterday would've felt even better, more "vicarious" if we'd achieved that level of performance in front of 21,000 at Ninian but if the club can use the new stadium to attract & retain a new layer of support then I guess at some point I'll have to reluctantly admit that to move was the right thing to do.
Matt Gabb wrote, "If we were at Ninian Park we wouldn't have had 21,000 at the game though! We'd
have had 14,000 as the ground would have been all seater (for three seasons) by now." He added, "I think if anything the new stadium is 'louder' than Ninian Park. The enclosed bowl and roof seem to improve the acoustics.
Gareth Thomas wrote in reply:
My wife was the same, she last saw a Cardiff match when A. The Grange had no roof, B. it was home support in the Grange, C. it was against Lincoln City and D. the Away supporters were housed in the top left of Grandstand! It was that long ago now, she never set foot back in Ninian again as she hated it.. however, Michelle came along with myself and two sons for the Scunthorpe game, and joined us in the Family stand, and thoroughly enjoyed it, of course it helped that we won, but she found it much more pleasant and will have no qualms about going again if money was not an issue!
I loved Ninian, but that was then and this is now.. I always say, never look back when you can always look forward..
Shame about the attendance, but that happens when you are playing against a side on Sky and that past off the field exploits haven't gone down so well.. hopefully, now though future matches against Bristol City will see a bigger attendances, the big one will be Swansea if that passes off well (considering past meetings) off the field, then maybe just maybe it will attract supporters back for those type of matches.
The new stadium effect is only beginning to make an impact. Early days, to be sure. But if City keep winning, we can expect to see a new culture develop a bit sooner than we might otherwise expect. Once the novelty wears off it could well be replaced with a number of new and unexpected experiences. The upcoming match with Newcastle United should serve up a telling moment or two, to be sure.
Mailing List Members Comment on Yesterday's Big 3-0 Win
Monday, August 24, 2009
Mailing list members were quite pleased with City's performance yesterday. Michael Morris got an "Ooh Aah It's a Massacre" thread going with these remarks: "
Simply brilliant. Could have and should have scored 6. Matthews at full back was ace. A sparkling show for the sky cameras." In a second post to the list, he added, "It all went right today. It was the wurzels who got narked, had the bad luck and were 2nd best all round. Disappointed with less than 21000. TV though, sunday travel and cost come into it. I expect more for the geordies in a few weeks." He noted, too, that "the movement from burke and chopra for the 2nd goal was stunning."
David Abse observed, "Fantastic. Best TV performance since ... Middlesbrough, I guess. Loved it." Scott Thomas picked up on the quality-display-on-TV theme as well, even going so far as to suggest that the TV curse might be ended (for a while at least):
Great display; Burke, Matthews (brought to you courtesy of The World Famous 1927 Club), Chopra, Bothroyd and Rae all outstanding.
I presume that's "The Curse of Sky" over for a while? Even my family who were forced to watch it in a restaurant in the Algarve with me were slightly impressed. The owner was so moved by our champagne football he brought a few glasses of something sparkling over at the final whistle to celebrate with.
In a second post, Mr. Thomas added:
We seemed to get away with Quinn's questionable performance at left-back because we caused Brizzle so many problems going forward.
Sky also commented on the number of personnel changes and the formation switch they had to make but they just couldn't deal with us once we settled down.
Hope the last four matches of this season are as productive as the first four and that we're in a positive enough position for it to matter.
Not all mailing list comments were laudatory. Matt Gabb had a critical observation or two. He wrote, "Quinn is/was rubbish, all apart from his admirable attempt to score from near the half way line. We look as good as we ever have going forward, but defensively there's work to be done." About Quinn's long-range effort, Scott Thomas observed, "The long range attempt on goal from Quinn really shouldn't be held up as that much of a positive, he was slow to realise the potential for a shot and exacerbated that by having to shift the ball on to his right foot (not his fault obviously)." He added, "Another player may not have given Gerken the time to make the save."
Comments on the match had to include mention of Michael Chopra's goal celebration. Scott Thomas had a word about that. " Do we know if Chopra's goal celebration is an original or has someone else done it before?" He added, "I do hope it's the latter and children start copying it in playgrounds, my seven year old did a perfect re-enactment at half time, albeit with a sequin covered Lelly Kelly sandal."
City Batter Bristol City 3-0, Reclaim Top Spot
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Cardiff City reclaimed first place today with an impressive 3-0 win over arch rivals Bristol City at Cardiff City Stadium. City have three wins and a draw from their first four games, a record identical to the 3-1-0 marks held by Middlesbrough, Newcastle and West Brom. A superior figure in the goal-difference column has City on top.
The Bluebirds took the lead in the 37th minute via a Jamie McCombe own goal, then secured a two-goal cushion just before half time as Michael Chopra netted his seventh goal in just four games. Gavin Rae's goal in the 66th minute put the game beyond reach. The 3-0 win is City's biggest against Bristol City in 40 years. The Bluebirds hadn't scored three times in a Severnside Derby since beating their rivals 3-0 at Ninian Park on January 25, 1969
With his goal just before half time, Michael Chopra becomes the first Cardiff City player to score in each of the first four games of a league campaign. Stan Cribb scored in each of the first three league games of the 1932/33 season but failed to score in the fourth match, a 3-2 loss at Bournemouth. Graham Moore scored in the first three in 1959/60, but couldn't extend his run to four in at
1-1 draw at Middlesbrough in game #4. In 1993/94, Nathan Blake scored in each of the first three league tilts but not in the fourth, a 2-2 draw at Exeter.
Chopra's seven goals in the first four matches leaves him second only to Hugh Ferguson for most goals in a league campaign's first four games. Ferguson had eight in the first four league games of the 1928/29 season.
In his match report for the Western Mail, Steve Tucker observes that "Cardiff were simply sublime for much of this encounter and in such form there will be few sides in this division who will hold any fear for them." Tucker adds that
Early on Bristol had a few promising moments. Showing they were prepared to mix it up with some neat play on the deck and a few high balls over the back just to test the waters.
But they found the Cardiff defence, with Paul Quin back at full-back after injury, implacable for much of the time.
In "Cardiff City Continue Their Sizzling Form," his story for the South Wales Echo, Terry Phillips contends that "Cardiff City are simply too hot to touch at their new stadium." He adds that a "delighted City manager Dave Jones believes Cardiff’s new stadium is playing a role in their great start to the new season."
Paul Evans serves up a thorough report at his spanking new Mauve and Yellow Army blog, complete with detailed player ratings.
A number of other reports are available as well. The Guardian's Spencer Vignes has penned "Cardiff dare to dream after outclassing Bristol City." Get that report here. For "Flying Chopra Lifts Bluebirds," The Independent's report from James Corrigan, go here. The Telegraph's Jed Pitman has a report too. Get it here. To round things off, how about a report from a Bristol City perspective? Thought so. The Evening Post has at least two stories on the match. Get them here and here.
On a day with many highlights, there's one that must tower over all others. Michael Chopra's goal celebration has to be one of the best ever. Nigel Harris has posted the celebration to his Bluesy's Blues blog. Check it out here.
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To get to the previous week's entries (August 16 to August 22), go here. For the next week's (August 30 to September 5), go here.
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