|
15 Top Cardiff City Web Sites
More City Sites
Welsh Sites
World Football Sites
|
City Battle Table-toppers West Brom to 3-3 Draw
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Before today's match, most Cardiff City fans would have gladly taken a point from the game, considering that table-toppers West Bromwich Albion provided the opposition and the match was set for The Hawthorns, where City haven't won a league game in over 50 years. So, there's got to be some satisfaction in the result, a 3-3 draw that extends the Bluebirds' unbeaten run to six and keeps them in eighth place. Still, City fans might just as easily despair over the Bluebirds' leading 2-0 in the first half, then 3-1 with only 20 minutes to go only to see Albion rally for a share of the points.
Paul Parry put the Bluebirds in front within 30 seconds of the start, taking a Gavin Rae pass, getting past the Baggies' back line, and lifting the ball over keeper Kiely. Parry tallied a second goal just after the half hour, slicing in from the right wing to score on a well-angled drive. The Baggies got right back into the game a couple of minutes later, substitute Roman Bednar heading home from close range. Seven minutes into the second half, Joe Ledley restored City's two-goal lead, only for Martin Albrechtsen's header to bring the Baggies back to a goal down with just under 20 minutes to play. City clung to their one-goal lead until the 88th minute, when a Zoltan Gera cross deflected off Roger Johnson and into his own net for a most distressing own goal. When six minutes of added time failed to produce a winner, the two clubs finished with a point apiece. Speaking of the period of added time, the SportingLife.com report notes that Joe Ledley "had a golden chance to steal the points in stoppage time but he fired over the bar with the goal at his mercy." Ah well.
In a brief report posted to both the mailing list and messageboard, Mike Morris observed that "West Brom support and Mowbray's substitutions earned them a draw and nearly a win." He added that
the atmosphere in the ground was superb, loads of banter and a edge between the fans that was raw passion.
when ledley scored to make it 3 - 1 the baggies fans started a non stop chant which sounded similar to the "saints go marching in."
it was ongoing for most of the rest of the game, mowbray then made a double substitution with the instruictions to throw the kitchen sink at us. jones
unfortunately waiting 5 mins too late to make his sub. thommo should have come on when it was 3-1. jimmy couldn't hold the ball up any more and we kept losing possession.
we nearly made them pay a couple of times when we were able to break out but the pressure and the noise made it an incredible game to watch and City nearly came through. As it turns out an og cost us the points but the goal was coming. it would have been the result of the season had we held on.
the hawthorns is a superb ground creating an amazing atmosphere.
Messageboarders were split over what to make of the disappointing end to an otherwise rousing match. Calling the draw a "fantastic result," CantonBluebird wrote, "Well done to the team today, anyone who didn't expect WBA to put us under severe pressure toward the end, needs their heads read, they are arguably the best team in the division." The Broken Machine concurred, but was still left wondering, "3-3 is a good result, but how would you describe our last twenty minutes?" Bloonz seemed happy enough with the result, saying " very typical of the way we have been playing. 3-3 is good result. We were under constant threat from WBA all match. Look at the players they've got and then look at ours. The team has done well against the odds. Well done." Cardiff Ultra made a point of acknowledging West Brom's play:
Let in a couple of sloppy goals which seem to have been Oakes fault. The team did seem to panic and sit back once West Brom scored but that isnt DJ's fault, bottom line is West Brom are a class team and it was to be expected that they would throw the kitchen sink at us. At the end of the day West Brom are top for a reason and they did well to come back, sometimes you just have to give the opposition a bit of credit.
Leam Blue was dismayed by so much negativity on the messageboard. "Reading a lot of the comments on this board this afternoon," he wrote, "it is difficult to work out that we have gone to the team which by common consent are the best team . . . and have come away with a point. This result will not make or break our season. Get Real!!!" LukeBBW wasn't having it, though. "What is wrong with these people! We are leading by two goals twice, we're fighting to get into the playoffs, we all know anyone can beat anyone in this league, and we drop two points, yet you seem to be fu**ing happy. Leaves me speechless, really does." He added, "These things happen occasionally to some teams, not on regular occasions like us. Everytime we lead the last 20 minutes is a total and utter shambles. Barnsley, sheffield united, wolves, s****horpe, watford and now West brom, and it if wasnt because were lucky it would have been more."
Rich Munn tried to take a more upbeat view. "That was a great result. We'd have been ecstatic if we could have taken it before the kickoff. West Brom are the only team I thought would definitely beat us." Vic Flange added,
We've lost 3 games in about the last 16 or so. We are just outside the playoffs, playing some really good football. We got an away point at West Brom. We have got a great chance of getting into the 5th round of the cup. All this after the start we had to the season. Could be worse eh."
I could go on. The upshot seems to be, though, that today's game represents something of a microcosm of the season as it stands right now. Things going well but not quite well enough. Things getting better but still leaving you disappointed. Results better than expected but still not all you'd want. Still, I like the point that, all things considered, things could be worse. Go back just two months and you'll recall how bad things can be. In all it was a pretty fair day.
City Deal MacLean to Plymouth
Friday, January 18, 2008
Cardiff City have dealt Steve MacLean to Plymouth Argyle, apparently for the tidy sum of £500,000. That's not bad business at all, considering that City picked him up on a free transfer back in June. The thing is, though, that the Bluebirds aren't exactly flush with strikers now that Byrne and Feeney are gone and Fowler is done for the season. You have to wonder, then, what on earth the BBC Sport story might mean by saying that MacLean "has become surplus to requirements." Surplus? You're having a laugh.
The Herald, a Plymouth paper, has a story on the Pilgrims' new acquisition. Here we learn that City aren't the only ones short on strikers! "Argyle are short of strikers after the recent departures of Barry Hayles and top scorer Sylvan Ebanks-Blake. In addition, Nick Chadwick faces a four to six-week lay-off because of a knee operation so Sturrock has been trying all week to bolster the firepower in his squad." Of interest as well is the Herald story's noting that "Argyle are also thought to have made two unsuccessful offers for Cardiff's transfer-listed striker Steven Thompson."
With MacLean's departure come the inevitable messageboard assessments of his stay at Ninian Park, most of them on the harsh side. The Lone Gunman wrote:
MacLean has been another waste of time in my opinion. He's never impressed me at all. I've not been able to work out what his strengths are supposed to be. I can't say I've spotted any.
If it does go through, then given the fact we will get a transfer fee this deal will no doubt be heralded as another good bit of business by Messrs Jones and Ridsdale. Depending on the fee, then I suppose that's true to some extent, but in reality MacLean's simply been a failure here.
Maida Vale Bluebird agreed, saying, "Great news. He's not Championship quality – his good runs came in League One. Thanks, Plymouth!" Gavin_1027 took a somewhat different view. "But be fair to the guy he hasnt had many chances. I know he missed that penalty at the beginning of the season and missed a sitter a few weeks back, but I still think he might be able to do the job." Jamesp_1927 expressed some regret, too, at MacLean's leaving. "Quite sad really because Maclean for me shew great potential. He made so many runs and could read the game very well, he also brought players into the game fabulously. He didnt show that potential on enough occasions though I can only remember it against QPR and Preston away." AfricanBluebird took another view, claiming that "whatever strengths MaClean has were never going to be exploited at Cardiff because he lacked the one thing we needed, pace." GreyBlue summed things up as follows: "I'll reserve judgement on MacLean for now. Another forward brought in, dumped down the pecking order, not played, then disposed of as not good enough while others failed in front of Jones's eyes (though to be fair to Jones, I think MacLean was injured at one point)."
MacLean appears to be yet another striker who turned in impressive numbers playing in the lower divisions but who suffered a dip in form when his club moved up to the second tier. For fourth-flight Scunthorpe United in 2003/04, he netted 23 goals in 42 games. The next year he had 18 goals in 36 games for third-tier Sheffield Wednesday, but after the Owls won promotion that year he managed only 14 goals in 47 games as a second-tier player in 2005/06 and 2006/07. It's not so surprising, then, that he didn't do any better for City than the one goal in 17 appearances (seven as a starter, 10 as a sub).
Robbie Fowler Out for Rest of the Season
Thursday, January 17, 2008
According to Terry Phillips story, Robbie Fowler will not play again for Cardiff City this season. In his South Wales Echo piece, "Robbie Fowler Out for the Season," Phillips reports that "new damage was discovered when Fowler flew to Colorado in America for a minor hip operation designed to solve a long-standing problem." He adds that "it turned out to be far more serious – and medical staff had to carry out a ‘micro-fracture’ of the hip bone to cure the damage."
News of Fowler's season coming to an end was met with predictable reactions on the Cardiff City mailing list. Matt Gabb wrote, "What a highly predictable disaster he's turned out to be." John Marenghi said,
"Must be the last we see of him. Can't imagine we'll re-sign Hasselbaink either and Thompson will leave in the summer. So that's Maclean and Feeney up front next season then." David Abse wondered, "Do you reckon anyone at Cardiff was intelligent enough to insure against this outcome?"
Messageboarders had plenty to say as well. Atom Heart wrote, "Surely the single most catastrophic gamble in the history of CCFC. Most of the other duds came at a comparatively low cost an no one really expected much." Millarfromthehalfwayline had this to say:
Most of my contempt is reserved for the people responsible for signing him. Robbie is hardly a legendary model professional though, the guy hasnt looked fit for a long time before he got here. I heard Alan Green say to a City fan on 606 that it was common knowledge that his legs were gone, I guess the grapevine doesnt reach S. Wales.
Berlin Blue minced few words:
Fowler is ruining our season. . . .
We were heading for relegation as long as Fowler was in the team, and it’s no coincidence that we’ve started climbing the table since he’s been out.
The fact that he’s out of the team for the rest of the season is good news. But the bad news is that he’s still at the club – costing us £20,000 a week so we can’t strengthen the squad! . . .
Ridsdale should be sacked for signing Fowler and Jones should be ashamed of himself for playing Fowler when he was clearly not match fit and a liability to the team.
There's a lot to what Berlin Blue says about the impact Fowler has had on the season. He had 13 starts and made three more appearances as a substitute. Of his 10 league starts, City won two, drew five, and lost three. His last appearance of at least 10 minutes or more came on November 10 when he came on in the 79th minute of the 3-0 loss at Charlton. After that, he played only a couple of minutes at the very end of the December 15 match at Bristol City.
Perhaps not so surprisingly, City's impressive run since - seven wins, four draws, and two losses - coincides perfectly with Fowler's departure following the debacle at Charlton.
Hereford Win Replay, Face City in FA Cup Fourth Round
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A great many Cardiff City fans are happy tonight. Hereford United have defeated Tranmere Rovers 1-0 in their FA Cup third-round replay, a result that sets up a Hereford v Cardiff fourth-round encounter at Edgar Street, Hereford, the weekend of January 26-27. Simon Johnson netted the winner for the Bulls in the 71st minute. According to the BBC Sport report, "the Bulls wide-man picked up possession 40 yards out, weaved past a posse of Tranmere defenders, and curled the ball home with the outside of his boot." The win sends Hereford to the fourth round for the first time in 16 years.
City and Hereford go back a ways and Bluebird fans have plenty of good things to say about Edgar Street, away days to Hereford, the whole nine yards. There's been lots of talk on the messageboard in recent days about how much more fun there'd be in returning to Hereford than trekking up to the Wirral to face Tranmere. Hailesy wrote, "would love to go to Edgar Street for a proper derby feeling like in the old days." Bluebird John concurred, " Totally agree. Used to love the train trips up there." Shaky said, "Should be a good tie! They will be well up for it and we will have to match them and put in a good professional performance to go through!!" I wonder how much all of this positive feeling has to do with the fact that City will take a nine-game Edgar Street unbeaten run (four wins, five draws) into their fourth-round match.
There was more happiness too, if truth be told, at the news of another FA Cup upset tonight. That'd be Havant & Waterlooville's shock 4-2 win over Swansea. Havant & Waterlooville, a Blue Square South outfit, are over 80 places below the Swans in the pyramid, but they're the ones headed to Anfield for a fourth-round matchup with mighty Liverpool. Few City fans are tearing up at the thought that Swansea will be employed elsewhere.
The Championship - Is It Rubbish?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
A Guardian blogster, Barney Ronay, has penned an entry, "Fast, Strong ... and Not Actually Very Good," that states, "Don't be fooled by the success of Championship sides in the FA Cup. The nation's second tier represents all that is wrong with English football." Mr. Ronay goes on to pose the question, "The Championship: is it really any good?" His verdict is that it isn't. He claims,
Watch a little Championship football and you realise fairly quickly that the Premier League, with its rag-bag of imported modernisms, is little more than a baroque footballing façade hurriedly Blue Tacked on to the dingy structure beneath. At the lower level the caveman football of pre-modern times - direct, hysterically fast-paced and valuing athleticism and stamina above all else - is still very much at large.
Scott Thomas posted Mr. Ronay's story to the Cardiff City mailing list and, in doing so, got some discussion going about the current state of the division. Matt Gabb had this to say about Ronay's piece:
Superb article.
I think we are one of the sides in the division who does actually try and play a bit of football from time to time, but I've not been impressed by what's been on show this season. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the game on Saturday, but came away rather lacking in enthusiasm for some reason, I couldn't really put my finger on it.
Things have definitely taken a turn for the worse since we came into this division in Aug 2003.
Mike Harrhy observed, "Too many Championship supporters these days rely on the excuse that 'we're
proper football fans watching proper football' and refuse to acknowledge the reality of the shite being played at times." Phil Stead opined, " I enjoyed the atmosphere of the game on Saturday, but came away rather lacking in
enthusiasm for some reason, I couldn't really put my finger on it." John Marenghi responded to Mr. Gabb with this:
Agree but as you say at least we are trying to play some football - despite their higher position in their league I couldn't stand watching the style of football Stoke and Watford play every week (though I think Ricardo Fuller is a better player than that article gives him credit for). Seems to me it often comes down to how confident your defenders are on the ball - lots of sides in this division have defenders who just send the ball long (Loovens, Johnson and Capaldi are often cupable too - McNaughton seems to me less so, often looking to play to feet).
So, is the so-called Championship really rubbish? Granted, there aren't too many clubs playing Arsenal-style football, although City's regular 1-0 home wins of late do bring back memories of an Arsenal of an earlier age. The thing is, though, that raising the standard does seem to work. One need only recall City's brilliant play at the start of last season to imagine a way forward, even for the Bluebirds. Rise above "caveman football" and you've got a pathway to the Premiership. Or at least you'd like to think it could be that straightforward a proposition.
Rumours Have Earnshaw Returning to Cardiff City
Monday, January 14, 2008
Don't get me wrong. I'd love to see it happen. It's just that it's very hard to believe it could. I'm speaking, of course, of the stories out and about that Robert Earnshaw might be coming back to Cardiff City for the rest of the season, most likely in a loan deal. There's little doubt that Earnie's return would help out at the gate, and if Ledley and/or another City star were sold his arrival would help compensate for the loss. He might even be able to net a few and there's little doubt the club could use some assistance in that department. You wonder, though, whether it's all just hype to sell papers. How could City afford him given their current financial plight?
Chris O'Brien, at CCFC Sleeping Giant, has a story on the rumours, "Earnshaw to Aid the Play-off Push?" He notes that "Earnshaw has made only two league starts for the Rams since making a £3million move to Pride Park over the summer. He is also still waiting for his first goal with the club and reports suggest that he isn't happy in Derbyshire." No mention in the story, though, about how City might mastermind a move to bring Earnie back to Ninian Park.
On the messageboard at Cardiff City Online, Diapers1927 wasn't having it. "I would love this to be true but, let's face it, no one has offered any source for this apart from a couple of 'it has been rumoured' stories written by City fans on other websites." He adds, "It's certainly a weaker rumour than the ones that have recently linked Earnie with Wolves, Charlton, Stoke, a return to Norwich, Blackburn and (bizarrely) Spurs in the last three weeks."
Even if Earnshaw doesn't come back, there's still a kick in imagining his return. "He's a brave man if he comes back where he was idolised," Wayne S wrote in a post to the messageboard. "People will expect too much." The Lone Gunman opined, "Well this looks to be his level. I'd love to see a Thommo/Earnie partnership in action. I reckon that would have a few Championship defences worried." Welshwaters seemed a bit more skeptical of how a return would work out: "Look at the number of starts that he's had, probably wants to play some football . . . and how he loves to be adored and worshipped. Probably hasn't had much of that for a while." Ork1927 had his doubts too:
I'm torn on this.
A goal scoring, fast paced Earnie could potentially keep us up in the top ten.
But......
He has played about ten minutes of football this year, he's out injured and what is his state of mind going to be. Back where he started after two failed trips to the Prem (although one was really down to Robson).
It is bad enough seeing another team's GOD run around for us and not do the business let alone our own coming back.
Grasshopper captured one segment of opinion on an Earnie return when he wrote, "i would be gutted if earnie came back and was poor. best leave the memories as they are i reckon." Still, Sludge Factory couldn't resist imagining Earnie and Thommo up front. "That would get us some goals," he suggested. Gabbsthenewt agreed: "But yeah it would. It would be an improved Earnie & Thorne." Lennybluebird could quite get with the Earnie / Thompson hoopla. He said, "no way, earnie and thorne was the best partnership since tosh and clark,when thorne was fit."
Later this week I'm sure we'll see a story saying that City have failed in their attempts to lure Earnshaw back to Cardiff, or that there wasn't much to the story in the first place. The temptation is there, though, to picture Earnie scoring for fun as he did just last year for Norwich City. After all, the stats don't like - 30 games, 19 goals for the Canaries in 2006/07.
More Sheffield Wednesday Match Reports and Photos
Sunday, January 13, 2008
There's plenty of coverage available today on yesterday's 1-0 home win over Sheffield Wednesday, reports and pictures galore. So, let's delve into a bit of what's out there. First, some reports.
Darren Witcoop has penned a report for the Daily Mail, "Hasselbaink Confident of Play-offs as Cardiff Creep Closer to Target." Witcoop offers this quote from goalscorer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: "We believe we can get to the play-offs. People have been surprised about how quickly we've got here, but we're not. We've been creeping up nicely and nobody seems to have noticed us. That's what we want." He adds, "Sometimes we've been naive this season and tried to score the perfect goal. But now we're doing the dirty things and we're getting good results." Dirty things. Hmm. Sounds, err, good.
The Western Mail's Steve Tucker has a report entitled, "Hasselbaink Finds the Route to Goal." Tucker writes that "in the first half, in particular, the Bluebirds were in an absolute different class. Fluent, relentless, with some sweet, sweeping passing movement that really took the breath away at times." On a less ecstatic note, Tucker adds that "If there was one cause for concern it was the Bluebirds’ profligacy in front of goal with Wales international Joe Ledley guilty of a glaring miss just before the break which would have made proceedings a lot more relaxed."
The Yorkshire Post has a report as well. It includes this quote from Owls' boss Brian Laws: "We were a yard off the pace in the first half and allowed them to get on top. It was a mistake by our keeper who rushed out and left Hasselbaink with an easy finish that has cost us."
In a report for his Bluesy's Blues blog, Nigel Harris heaped praise on City's play in the first stanza: "Cardiff's first half display was excellent. A breathless start rarely let up until the interval with Wednesday rarely able to get out of their half and relieved to somehow still be in contention." Mr. Harris was less enthused about matters after the break.
"The second half was rubbish," he writes, "but at least it was tense rubbish backed by resounding and fantastic support."
Nigel Harris has photos from the match as well. Check them out here. Speaking of pictures, Michael Morris posted a few to the messageboard. You can find them here, here, and here.
Bleary-Eyed Navigation
You can get to the top of Bleary-Eyed Statto's front page by clicking here.
To get to the previous week's entries (January 6 to January 12), go here. For the next week's (January 20 to January 26), go here.
|
15 Top UK Footy Sites
Sights & Sounds
More UK Footy Web Sites
UK Media Sports Pages
Football Blogs & Fan Sites
|