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City Beat Shefffield Wednesday 1-0, Climb to 8th
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Cardiff City climbed to eighth place today, topping Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at Ninian Park via Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's 36th-minute strike, his fifth of the season. The Bluebirds' sixth win in their last eight games lifts them to within two points of sixth-place Crystal Palace. City had a chance to net a second when Glenn Loovens hit the crossbar early in the second half, but after that the Owls got the upper hand and nearly got the equaliser when second-half substitute Ronnie Wallwork's header was tipped over the bar by Michael Oakes. Loovens and Roger Johnson excelled in defense for the hosts.
City have now won four straight at home, the last three while blanking the opposition. The Bluebirds hadn't put three straight clean-sheet home wins together since February/March 2006, when City beat Stoke 3-0, Hull 1-0 and Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 in successive games at Ninian Park.
SportingLife.com's report on the match notes that after Oakes managed to claw out Wallwork's header, the Owls gained confidence and "pressed for a late equaliser. Substitute Deon Burton looked the most likely to level the game as his first effort at goal flew wide of the left-hand post." However, "it was not to be for the Owls as Cardiff hung on for their third consecutive league win."
In his report for the Urban 75 site, Paul Davies describes the match as
Yet another 1-0 massacre today, which shone a searching, unforgiving light into all the corners and crevices of this team, illuminating the good points and highlighting the bad. The lack of goals is a cause for concern, and whilst we should applaud the multitude of chances which were created in the first 45 minutes, the inability to stick them away may come back to haunt us against marginally better teams.
And what of "all the corners and crevices of this team"? One way of "illuminating the good points and highlighting the bad" is to have a look at individual player performances. Sludge Factory got that started with a post to the messageboard. He offered the following "player ratings":
Oakes...didnt have much to do, ok as a back up keeper
Mcnaughton...solid
Capaldi....cannot fault him today
Loovens and Jonhnson.....rock like perfromances from both of em
Rae, Mcphail...bossed the middle except for latter stages, Mcphail put his foot in many times
Ledley, Wittingham....these fellas are on form
Parry....ran like a greyhound today
Hasselbaink..well he scored the goal but didnt really do much
In reply, AntEvans wrote, "Thommo contributed very little. JFH was ok first half, though should have done better when getting to the byeline. Oakes was dogshit for most of the game. Others all battled well." Taffster had a word to say about Capaldi's play:
I wouldn't put our turn in form purely down to an improvement in Capaldi's game but I think there's a connection. Our form last year dipped when we lost our full-backs. Both Gilbert & McNaughton were out for spells from Dec '06 onwards when we fell away. Before that our best play seemed to stem from attacking full-backs.
Maybe Jones has slowly got this team to play tidy football in that mould hence Capaldi looking better. Or Capaldi has improved his game to suit Dave's tactics hence the team getting better. Here's to it continuing.
Cardiff Ultra had a thought on Capaldi as well: "Agree with all the ratings per Capaldi, thought he was rubbish in the last 20 minutes. He was constanty ball watching and letting their right winger get in loads of space, it was no coincidence that most of Wednesdays attacks late on came down his side."
About how well Oakes did in his return, there was some disagreement. Cardiff55 noted, "Don't forget Oakes made 2 excellent saves today." Dai Hard wasn't having any of that, though. "Oakes should not be playing at this level." AntEvans opined, "One decent save second half. Where's the other? A good keeper would have held that shot in the first half." Charlo wrote, "i thought the first half save was damn good too - the striker was very close to him when he hit the ball so little time to react, and it was low on the ground."
McPhail came under scrutiny on a thread started by The Alien. He wrote, "I thought he was excellent in the middle of the park. Probably the best game he's had for us." Ferrari Andretti agreed, saying that "his passing is excellent and goes unnoticed. Gives us so much in terms of vision and composure on the ball." Balls of Steel concurred, "I'm normally a critic but he's been playing really well lately." Dano had a bit to say:
Mc Phail seems to be defining his role within the team, he also looks like he is a little more willing when the opposition decide to bully him out of a game, something that Mc Phail struggled to deal with on a number of occasions last season.
I wasn't at todays game, and i've been very critical of Mc Phail in the past. I've never doubted his technical ability, but more so his willingness to battle out certain situations, and come out on top.
Mc Phail has certainly shown an edge over the last month or so, previously he would wilt under spoiling tactics, and it was those tactics that would un-balance his game to the point of him becoming a passenger. That doesn't seem to happen anymore.
Mc Phail is starting to look more assured and confident, he's realised that it's his job to win personal battles and impose himself.
Olderblue added, "I thought McPhail had a good game for about 70 minutes, the change should have come then in my opinion, as we needed fresh legs in the middle of the park. I thought Rae played well."
Bluebirds Sign Blackburn Keeper Enckelman in Loan Deal
Friday, January 11, 2008
Cardiff City have found a goalkeeper to replace the recently departed Kasper Schmeichel. According to a BBC Sport report, the Bluebirds have signed Blackburn Rovers backup keeper, Peter Enckelman, in a deal that will bring the 30-year-old Finnish international to City for the rest of the season. The BBC story notes that Enckelman "joined Blackburn from Aston Villa four years ago for £150,000, but has made just two Premier League starts for Mark Hughes' club."
In another BBC story, "Enckelman Has to Fight for Place," Dave Jones is quoted as saying, "He's good enough to be at a Premier League club and comes with experience and a good pedigree. But I'm going to play Oakesy because I think he deserves it and Peter has to prove he is better than Oakesy." So, there you go. Schmeichel leaves and Oakes moves up to number one. Enckelman's replacing Oakes in the backup role then, not the starter Schmeichel.
Enckelman is most famous for something I'm sure he wants to forget. It happened awhile back, when he was in goal for Aston Villa against Birmingham City. Have a look at this inglorious moment here.
Messageboarders were less than overjoyed by the signing. Pencoed Blue reported "shocking stats, 106 appearances in 11 years." The Lone Gunman seemed a bit baffled, "We've signed a goalkeeper who has played three games in the last four seasons? Is this true?" Berlin Blue observed, "It's worse than that, he hasn't played at all for 3 years." Blues Fan wrote,
Whilst he probably will suck, there are two points to remember.
1) DJ recently said in an article that he has got faith in Oakes - and that the loss of Kasper won't be a huge blow.
2) He could actually be good - he's never really been rated by Blackburn, although neither was Koumas.
I'd have to say I'm less than enthusiastic myself. This keeper has been around for awhile and not seen much action, and it looks as though he won't see much in a Cardiff shirt either. We're stuck with Oakes and that's a worry. Can he keep a clean sheet 35-40% of the time as Schmeichel did? I doubt it.
Ledley Makes a Top 20 List and a "Dream XI"
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Independent has come out with a story, "The Budding Stars of Tomorrow: 20 Best Players Outside the Premier League," that surveys
"the talent outside the top division." Penned by Glenn Moore, this top 20 listing includes Cardiff City's own Joe Ledley as number three on the list, behind only Alan Hutton of Rangers and Michael Kightly of Wolves. Here's what Moore says about Ledley:
Left-sided midfielder who can also play in the centre or at left-back; capped at every level before making his full international debut at 18. Locally born, he wants to play for Cardiff in the Premier League and recently turned down Wolves to pursue that aim. He will make it, even if Cardiff do not.
Everton, Tottenham, and Wolves are listed as interested in acquiring Mr. Ledley's services. While I can't say I'm jumping up and down about the Independent's putting Ledley in the showcase as they have, it's a bit encouraging that the article also says that Premiership clubs are a bit wary of second-tier talent as not that many have made the jump of late. Moore notes that a factor here is "the failure of players to make the step up. Of the 13 who moved last January only Matthew Upson and David Dunn are Premier League fixtures." He adds that "big summer signings as Nugent, Curtis Davis, Robbie Earnshaw, Diomansy Kamara and Michael Chopra, who collectively moved for deals that could total £30m, have made minimal impact." Whether any of this will deter the big clubs when it comes to pursuit of Ledley remains to be seen, of course.
Joe Ledley features in TEAMtalk's "Championship Dream XI" as well. Their story has Ledley in central midfield alongside Glenn Whelan of Sheffield Wednesday. He is praised here for "his versatility - he can play on the left or in an advanced midfield role - made it hard for us to choose a position for the 20-year-old but we had to get him in somehow. The Bluebirds' regular match-winner and arguably the most skilful midfielder outside the Premier League." TEAMtalk adds, "it's easy to see why Everton are tracking him. The most exciting Welsh talent since Ryan Giggs." Oh my. That does sound good.
Imagine Cardiff CIty Serving Two Masters
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Cardiff City are the greatest club in football the world has ever known. There's little to dispute that. But what made Cardiff City so great? Surely, there's the glorious FA Cup win over Arsenal in 1927. That happened so long ago, though, that it's unlikely anyone is still around who remembers the occasion. More recently, City's greatness came to light during the club's magnificent forays into European football. Take the 1968 Cup Winner's Cup, for instance. City dispatch Shamrock Rovers, N.A.C. Breda, and Moscow Torpedo to reach the semifinals against Hamburg. After drawing 1-1 with the Bundesliga outfit in Germany, the Bluebirds bow out 3-2 at Ninian Park in the second leg. With just a little luck, City could have made the final and battled AC Milan. A few years later, the club was back in the headlines, getting past Pezoporikos and Nantes to set up a quarterfinal against mighty Real Madrid. City won the first leg 1-0 at Ninian Park before losing 2-0 in Madrid. In all, the Bluebirds participated in no less than 14 Cup Winners Cups, reaching the semifinals once and the quarterfinals twice. All of that came to an end after the 1993/94 competition, with the reorganization of Welsh football, and City haven't had a way back to Europe since.
Now comes word that the Welsh FA has hatched a plan to clear a path to Europe for City, Swansea, Wrexham and the handful of non-league Welsh clubs tied to the English football pyramid. BBC Sport has the story, "Cardiff Chief Dismisses Euro Plan." The "chief" in the headline is Peter Ridsdale, of course, and he doesn't like the idea, which would have City "field a second team in the Welsh Premier League to qualify for Europe." Ex-FAW secretary Alun Evans has advanced the plan. It "calls for Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham to be permitted to field teams in the Welsh Premier League. The suggestion is that those three exile clubs would continue to play in the English Football League but field second teams in the Welsh Premier." Ridsdale doesn't like it. He's quoted as saying, "I'm not convinced that if we had a second team playing in the Welsh League, that our future in the English pyramid system would be secured."
So, what to make of all of this? On the messageboard, Nigelblues wasn't too impressed with this latest brouhaha. "The FAW trying to get Cardiff into Europe skit is as regular as April Fool's Day and pretty much the same thing. Bore to distraction by it now, sadly, as I'd love to see Cardiff in Europe again." Father Dougal wondered what the FAW might be up to:
Why are they sticking their noses in our business? They have a cheek if they have spoken to UEFA without our permission, Ridsdale asks if they have spoken to the Premiership and the Football League, well I bloody hope not!! Knowing the FAW we will be playing in the LOW before you know it!
I am sorry but I want nothing at all to do with the FAW. As long as we carry on in the English Football League I couldn't give a monkeys about Europe.
Spike Island was a bit more charitable in his view of the FAW's plan. "It is there job as the ambassadors of Welsh football and we are a Welsh football club." He added, "The FAW may not have the greatest track record of doing the right thing but as the poll on this board suggested earlier the majority are in favour of Cardiff gaining entry to European competition through this route." Lord Ninian offer the following:
I have along memory and Alan Evans was the driving force in setting up the League of wales in the first place and forcing the English pyramid clubs out.Remember the Court case v Merthyr et al that the welsh league lost and cost them around £100000 in legal fees?
I remain of the opinion to this day that we could have remained in the European competitions if it were not for Evans as Eufa are generally not interested in the inner workings of Leagues.
To get back to your point I would not trust Evans any further than I could throw him, much as I would like to see City back in Europe so for once I have to go along with the cold water that Ridsdale has poured on the idea.
Canton Bluebird puts things bluntly enough. "Lets nip this ridiculous idea in the bud. I've never heard anything more stupid, than expecting UEFA, FA, FL to go along with the idea of Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham qualifying for Champions leugue via their reserves in a different league." Blue Beetle wrote, "We should endeavour to join the English FA and have done with it once and for all. It's always seemed ridiculous to me that we are in the English League yet answerable to the Welsh FA." Berlin Blue offered the interesting view that "this ridiculous proposal by the FAW was made to stop us defecting to the English FA," but "will have achieved the opposite effect." By this he means that "what the FAW have done is give Cardiff City a legitimate excuse to break it links with the FAW and join the real FA: TO PROTECT THE CLUB’S LONG TERM FUTURE."
It would appear that the best thing for Cardiff City to do is to go ahead and win the Championship and promotion to the top flight of the English pyramid. Once there, City might as well go ahead and finish in at least a UEFA Cup qualifying spot. Then we'll see what the English and Welsh FAs have to say about Cardiff City. Not sure this will happen in the next year or so, however.
Could Purse Be Off to Charlton?
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Could Darren Purse be on his way to Charlton Athletic? In a story posted today, Yahoo! UK & Ireland Sport is reporting that "Charlton are leading the race to sign Cardiff captain Darren Purse with Southampton and Colchester also in for him." Nigel Harris has a comment on the possibility of Purse's leaving in a story posted to his Bluesy's Blues blog. He notes that "Gossip and rumours would have it that Charlton Athletic are about to launch a bid for Cardiff's captain and centre-half Darren Purse with a fee of £500,000 being mentioned for the man allegedly attracting Premiership bids of over £1M last summer before signing a new Bluebirds contract." Mr. Harris seems somewhat open to the idea. He observes that, "although Purse is a good and experienced pro who enjoys Cardiff and seems very settled here . . . if Dave Jones can bring in a cheaper, experienced option or an up and coming alternative, maybe a loan, then it could be benefical to do so."
I'd not want to see Purse go myself. Granted, he's not having his best ever season but he's about all the backup City have right now behind Johnson and Loovens. I'm with messageboarder Ork1927 when he writes, "If everyone rumoured to go actually goes (and I don't think they will as its gone strangely quiet) then who will we have left." He adds, "With Gunter and Kasper already gone if we lose even two of Parry, Capaldi, Thommo and Purse then we are really down to the bare bones."
Meanwhile, there is other news regarding player comings and goings. Jason Byrne is leaving Cardiff City, and is headed to Bohemians, where he will sign a three-year deal. Nigel Harris has a story on the move. There isn't a lot to say about this deal. On the messageboard, Eric the Half a Bee sums up Byrne's stay at City well enough:
He managed 2 league starts and 8 substitute appearances, not forgetting a start against TNS in the FAW tin pot thingy. 1 goal. While his chances were limited, he never gave the impression of being good enough at Championship level. I think once he even came on as substitute and was then taken off, though I may be wrong.
That one goal was a big one, though, an 87th-minute game winner at Wolves back on January 20 of last year. The win was City's first since the previous November and helped set off a mini-revival that lasted into the month of February. After that one glorious moment, though, Byrne quickly settled back into the background. Now he's on his way back to Ireland.
It's Tranmere or Hereford Away in the Fourth Round
Monday, January 7, 2008
Cardiff City have drawn Tranmere Rovers / Hereford United away in the fourth round of the FA Cup, with the match to be played the weekend of January 26-27. This must have been a suspenseful draw for City fans as the Bluebirds' number was the very last one of the 32 drawn this afternoon (actually, this morning here in Ohio). For the complete fourth-round draw as well as a list of upcoming replays, go here and then scroll down the page a bit.
Tranmere and Hereford battled to a 2-2 draw on Saturday, with Rovers coming from behind twice to secure a replay. A BBC story, "Hereford Captain Happy with Draw," notes that "it was the fifth time this season" that the Bulls "have come up against League One opposition and they are yet to lose." At the moment, Hereford hold down the second automatic promotion place in the fourth flight, but find themselves 11 points behind leaders M. K. Dons. Still, their 13-7-4 record isn't too shabby. Tranmere find themselves ninth in the third flight with a 9-7-8 mark. They're three points off the playoff places.
If Hereford do win the replay at Edgar Street on Wednesday, January 16, that should be fairly pleasing to more than a few City supporters. Or at least that's the impression you get from reading the mailing list and messageboard today.
On the mailing list, Scott Thomas wrote, "Hereford, please!" upon learning that City had drawn Tranmere / Hereford. Mike Morris said, "Hereford for me. A nutters day out." Steve Kendrick added, "Aye. It would be great to go a ground where one of the last true FA cup shocks
took place before it goes under redevelopment. Had many a good time in Edgar Street with the Hereford lads, lived and worked there few a years when I was a young un."
On the messageboard, Dom D'Orgeval opined, "I hope we get Hereford anyway, will be a great trip." CSider1 observed, "I always thought Hereford was subbuteo-esque compared to NP when going up there as a kid, compact I would describe it as!" The Don said, "Hereford for me every time! . . . Hereford has always been a great day out. Not far to travel and the atmosphere in small packed edgar street will be great!"
More Chasetown Match Reports and Photos
Sunday, January 6, 2008
More match reports on yesterday's 3-1 FA Cup win at Chasetown are now available. There are more photos as well. Let's have a look.
The Observer's Jamie Jackson has a report entitled "Whittingham Wrecks Chasetown's Dream." He writes that "for half an hour the shock was definitely on in the tiny village near Sutton Coldfield," and that "until Peter Whittingham - the best performer in the first half - equalised in added time before the break, it had been the FA Cup tie all major clubs dread." It's great, playing "the lowest-ranked club to reach the third round." You get called "a major club"!
Paul Newman has penned the Independent's report, "Whittingham's Winner Fails to Spoil Big Day for Chasetown." Newman minces few words in saying that "until Peter Whittingham equalised in injury time at the end of the first half Cardiff were facing the biggest humiliation of their lives." He adds that Chasetown's
"performance off the pitch matched their endeavours on it in keeping alive the spirit of the world's oldest cup competition." By this he means that, "having refused to switch the tie away from their tiny Staffordshire home, Chasetown spent £30,000 in order to stage it and will have made only a moderate profit from their 10-match run in the competition."
The Telegraph's report, "Chasetown Celebrate History in Defeat," plays up the money agnle as well. Author Colin Malam observes that
The pity of it is that Chasetown will not make a mint out of the occasion. Because the BBC decided not to televise the match live, the club missed out on a fee of £300,000 and had to settle for the £18,000 from Match of the Day highlights, plus £9,000 from Radio Five Live and other incidental contributions.
Mr. Malam includes a tip of the hat to City for its role in making the day possible:
Chasetown were anxious just to break even after spending £30,000 bringing their facilities up to scratch for the game. Cardiff, to their eternal credit, did everything to help by contributing stewards and printing tickets for the game. The Championship side also allowed the Chasetown players to clear their dressing room of kit afterwards.
This report names Aaron Ramsey the man of the match, with Malam saying that City "were well served by the adhesive ball control of central midfielder Aaron Ramsey, making his full debut at only 17."
The Times Online's Pete Oliver has a report as well, entitled "Gallant Chasetown Finally Run Out of Steam." He too sings the praises of Aaron Ramsey. "Aaron Ramsey, at just 17 perhaps too young to contemplate the implications of defeat for his team, capped an outstanding display by putting Cardiff 2-1 ahead 15 minutes into the second half and the game was finally up." This report includes player ratings and, not surprisingly, Ramsey towers over his teammates, picking up a 9. Whittingham and Gavin Rae got the next highest, both collecting 7s. Seven other starters got 6s and McNaughton a 5.
"Aaron's a Chase Ace" is the title of the Wales on Sunday report. Here we read that "the tiny Staffordshire side would have officially caused the greatest upset the famous competition has ever seen had they held onto the 17th minute lead given to them by Kevin McNaughton’s own goal." About Ramsey, the report has it that he "looked a real star in the making," while "some of his team-mates didn’t make for great watching, with Jones later admitting he needed to remind some of Cardiff’s stars what was at stake during the half-time break." This report names a man of the match and provides player ratings as well. Ramsey won the man-of-the-match nod, the citation stating that he was "always assured and never afraid to pick out a pass," and "his work-rate was just as top notch. The youngster took to the senior stage like a duck to water and was a welcome addition." In the ratings department, Ramsey comes out on top again, getting the lone 8 with four Bluebirds picking up 7s - Capaldi, Johnson, Rae and Whittingham.
For more photos, check this page from Cardiff City Online. Michael Morris is the photographer.
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