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City Blast Wolves 2-0, Advance to FA Cup Quarterfinals
Saturday, February 16, 2008
It's been a while, 81 years to be exact, but Cardiff City are back in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. Wahey! City beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at Ninian Park today to advance to the last eight and to within a single win of a semifinal at Wembley Stadium. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was the star of the show, playing provider in the second minute by freeing Peter Whittingham up to put away the first goal, then netting a spectacular goal himself in the tenth minute of play. Down 2-0 so early on, the visitors were never at the races. According to the BBC Sport report, "Wolves never got to grips with the game and rarely threatened their hosts."
Today's win puts an end to City's four-game winless run (three draws, one defeat) in FA Cup home games. It's their first home win in an FA Cup game since November 26, 2002, when City beat Tranmere Rovers 2-1 in a first-round replay.
Mike Morris has a report on the match, entitled "Jimmy Floyd Rolls Back the Years." For Mr. Morris, "Wolves disappointed as an attacking force and only when Mick McCarthy threw Freddy Eastwood into the match just before half time did they even look like threatening." He adds that "City saw the game out easily enough and may have extended their lead as Paul Parry missed two great channces early in the second half."
Paul Davies has a report as well, at the Urban 75 site. For Mr. Davies, this was a "consummate performance." He elaborates in fine fashion:
Let us be clear here - this was a total tactical annihilation which left Wolves sobbing and licking their wounds by the side of Sloper Road in an unedifying heap - utterly outplayed and outsmarted by a team of warriors whose application and dedication was complete. Big up to the backroom boys who masterminded this victory, and a hearty congrats to all the CCFC players who made it look so comfortable and easy.
The quarterfinal draw comes up on Monday and will include the fearsome duo of Chelsea and Manchester United, Premiership sides Middlesbrough and Portsmouth, second-tier outfits Barnsley, Sheffield United, and West Bromwich Albion, and the lone lower-division survivor Bristol Rovers. My request? Bristol Rovers at home, please. Chelsea and Manchester United can wait until the Bluebirds get to Wembley.
These clubs are in the hat for Monday's draw thanks to some quite surprising results today. Bristol Rovers upset Southampton 1-0, while Barnsley shocked Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield thanks to a late winner from Brian Howard. In matches offering different sorts of surprises, Manchester United toyed with Arsenal, blasting the Gunners 4-0, and West Brom stomped hosts Coventry City 5-0. Other matches went more or less true to form. Chelsea dispatched visitors Huddersfield 3-1, while Portsmouth got a late own goal to ease past Preston 1-0 at Deepdale. The one draw of the round saw Sheffield United finish 0-0 with Middlesbrough at Bramall Lane.
Jones Puts It In Perspective
Friday, February 15, 2008
Cardiff City meet Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup tomorrow afternoon at Ninian Park. It's the fifth-round of this year's competition and affords City the chance to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in 81 years. That's right - 81 years. This has to be one of the biggest games City have played in quite a while.
To mark the occasion, the Guardian's Stuart James has a story on City manager Dave Jones. Entitled "Jones the Survivor Uses Adversity to Drive His Ambition," this piece delves into Jones's difficulties some years back, when he faced false charges of child abuse. This harrowing ordeal now "provides a sense of perspective during difficult times" and, as the story details, the manager has faced some "difficult times" this season at City. Back in mid November Jones was hearing it from the Bluebird faithful and may well have been dismissed had he failed to turn things around rather quickly. Beginning with a 1-0 win over Ipswich on November 24, however, City have righted themselves, picking up 29 points in 17 games and moving out of the near-relegation zone to within striking distance of the playoff spots. This upswing has given Jones some breathing room and a chance to reflect on how things have gone in recent months. It's perhaps a bit odd that his reflections go to the fact that he's "the second longest-serving manager" in the division and he's "only been here two and a bit seasons."
Reading between the lines of Jones's reflections you get the distinct impression that he's not one to bleed Bluebird blue, even on the eve of such a big game. You get the sense that he's well past worrying over satisfying City fans. There's the quote, for instance, at the end of the article. "Do you know what will be said here if we get to the final?" Jones added. "'We won't do well in Europe.'"
Ledley Sidelined by Hamstring Injury
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Cardiff City learned today that midfielder Joe Ledley will be out of action for a month or so with a hamstring injury he picked up at Coventry on Tuesday night. "Ledley set for 4 week absence" is the headline to a brief story on Mike Morris's site, Cardiff City Online. Mr. Morris reports that, while "there's been no official confirmation of Joe's injury . . . newspaper reports suggest a month out of action." There's no question, then, that "Joe will miss this weekend's cup game with Wolves and possibly half a dozen league games and possible further cup action."
Ledley will be sorely missed. To this point in the season he's been a nearly ever present, missing only two games, the League Cup match against Leyton Orient on August 28 and the league game with Watford at Ninian Park on September 19. He came on late in two games, against Brighton in the League Cup on August 14 and in the league tilt at Plymouth on September 15. In every other game he's been in the starting lineup.
About That Iain Dowie Sacking
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Coventry City sacked Iain Dowie night before last. Last night, with caretaker managers John Harbin and Frankie Bunn in charge, the Sky Blues battled City to a 0-0 draw. What of the move, though, to dispense with Dowie's services? Was it such a great move on Coventry's part?
On the Cardiff City Online messageboard, The Lone Gunman offered the following analysis:
Iain Dowie was given the boot by Coventry. . . . A very harsh decision in my opinion, especially given the fact that Dowie hadn't even been at the club for a full calendar year, but the Sky Blues' board have obviously decided that the results their manager's team was producing simply weren't good enough and have acted accordingly.
One thing Dowie's sacking does indicate is just how fortunate Dave Jones was to have kept his job when things were going badly here.
Iain Dowie took over the Coventry City hot seat on 19/2/2007. The team's Championship stats since that date are:
P 43, W 15, D 8, L 20, Pts 53.
By comparison, Dave Jones' Cardiff City side's Championship stats during the same peiod are:
P 44, W 13, D 12, L 19, Pts 51.
Two less points from one more game.
Of course, that form sequence includes the abysmal end to the 2006/07 campaign, when City picked up just 8 points from 13 matches by comparison to Coventry's 18 from 13. However, it is interesting to note that Cardiff have won just one more league game than Coventry this season, and yet dowie has been sent packing while Jones appears to have the safest job in the Championship.
It's a funny old game.
In reply, Stano wrote,
I think it's becoming very clear that his job is only under strain if there's a threat of us getting relegated.
It's obvious that there's no intention of a promotion push until the stadium is ready so DJ's clearly been told simply to ensure our safety from relegation.
Simply, to that end, even 12 months of poor results won't harm his position if we're still safe.
Elwood Blues put it all in perspective. I'll give him the last word. He said, "Harold Wilson once said tha a week is a long time in politics. A year is a lifetime in football management these days. To some boards anyway.
City Draw 0-0 at Coventry
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Cardiff City drew 0-0 with Coventry City tonight at the Ricoh Arena. The Sky Blues are without a manager, having axed Ian Dowie yesterday, but that didn't keep them from picking up a point in a match the Bluebirds should have won.
After an uneventful first half, City began the second half in promising fashion with Gavin Rae and Paul Parry missing great scoring opportunities in quick succession. Parry had a couple of more chances to put the Bluebirds in front shortly thereafter. City went on to dominate the half, Parry again coming close to netting a winner with a quarter of an hour to go but it didn't happen. The best Coventry could do in the second period came ten minutes from the end, substitute Robbie Simpson's 20-yarder giving Enckelman a bit to do.
In "No Goals in Ricoh Stalemate," a story Michael Morris has penned for Cardiff City Online, we learn that this was "not the greatest of games and City certainly didn't look as impressive at the stats show." For Mr. Morris, "City should have put the game to bed in the second half" but "they didn't look like a side creating chances for fun. The Cov keeper made some good saves to deny City and at the other end Roger Johnson blocked Cov's best effort on goal."
In a report posted to his Bluesy's Blues blog, Nigel Harris has summed things up as follows:
The two CCFCs played out the archetypal 0-0 bore draw. A Coventry fan to a late night radio phone-in wryly observed that it was a score that flattered both sides, so poor was this encounter. He had a very fair point but his side were never going to win it and never going to score either, The Bluebirds, still off colour, still could and should have done both.
The 0-0 draws puts an end to a run of nine straight games in which City managed to score at least one goal. This was City's longest such run since the Bluebirds scored in each of the first 12 games to kick off the 2006/07 campaign.
Cleansheetability and City Keepers
Monday, February 11, 2008
It's generally agreed that Cardiff City manager Dave Jones hasn't done too well in solving the longstanding goalkeeping crisis at the club. Since demoting Neil Alexander at the end of March, Jones hasn't been able to establish needed stability at the position. The Schmeichel fix worked wonders for a couple of months, but now, in these post-Kasper days, things aren't looking too good. We've seen eight goals conceded in the last four league games but no sign that any change is in the works.
What to make of it all? Is the situation really that bad? Does it really matter who's between the sticks? I'd suggest we step back a bit and try to assess keepers' performances this season and in the campaigns just past. One way to do that, I'd argue, is to measure their cleansheetability. O.K., it's a more frightful word even than bouncebackability but let's give it a try nonetheless.
Let's have a look, then, at what's been going on with City's goalkeepers this year, specifically with regard to their rates of success in keeping clean sheets. We'll go in chronological order from their first appearance.
* Turnbull. Six league starts, one clean sheet. A clean-sheet percentage of 16.7%. Clean sheets against Brighton and Leyton Orient in the Carling Cup give him an overall 3 for 8 for a much better percentage of 37.5%, but it's the league games that matter and 16.7% isn't good enough.
* Oakes. Now has 11 league starts and all of one clean sheet. That's a percentage of 9.1%. Not good at all. Add in his 0 for 4 in cup games and he's 1 for 15 overall. A percentage of 6.7%. Speaks for itself.
* Schmeichel. Started 14 and turned in five clean sheets. That's a percentage of 35.7%. Not bad at all.
Now, for comparison purposes, let's look at how things turned out in City's previous campaigns at this level - 2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07. To keep things simple (and save a little time), I'll just do league matches.
* 2003/04. Alexander had eight clean sheets in 24 games for a 33.3% success rate. Margetson had six in 22, a 27.3% rate of success.
* 2004/05. Alexander had five clean sheets in 17 games for a 29.4% success rate. Margetson had no clean sheets in 3 games. Warner had seven clean sheets in 26 games, a 26.9% success rate.
* 2005/06. Alexander had 14 clean sheets in 46 games for a 30.4% success rate.
* 2006/07. Alexander had 15 clean sheets in 39 games for a 38.5% success rate, his best figures for the four-year period. Forde had no clean sheets in 7 games.
Adding things up, we see that Alexander kept a clean sheet in precisely one third of his starts over four seasons, with 42 clean sheets in 126 games. His year-by-year stats show little variation from this one-in-three standard, his lowest and highest rates of success only four to five percentage points off his overall average.
Alexander averaged 31.5 starts per season during this span as well. At 68.5%, that's a bit over two thirds of all league games played over the four-year span. Stability, thy name is Alexander.
Between 2003/04 and 2006/07, three goalkeepers besides Alexander started 58 games but managed only 13 clean sheets. That's a success rate of 22.4%. Not nearly as good. Interestingly enough, this rate is also almost exactly what we've seen overall so far this season,
with seven clean sheets in 31 games, or a 22.6% rate.
This season Schmeichel's 35.7% success rate rivalled Alexander's but that rate will wind up covering only a bit over 30% of the schedule. The other keepers' combined success rate so far is only 11.8% (two
for 17), or only about half the rate of success of Forde, Margetson and Warner. All of this should add up to plenty to worry about for the third of the schedule that remains.
So, to sum things up. Even with Schmeichel on the scene for 14 games, City's overall cleansheetability this season manages only to match the standard established over the last four years by the tandem of Forde, Margetson and Warner. Take Schmeichel's contribution out of the equation and City's chances of turning in a clean sheet are
only one third of what they were when Neil Alexander wore the #1 jersey. If things are bad, these stats suggest they might be just a bit worse than we'd thought.
Dave Jones Finds Ninian Park Embarrassing!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Cardiff City manager Dave Jones is getting some well-deserved stick today for declaring that Ninian Park is an "embarrassment." According to a Mark Bloom story in the South Wales Echo, "City Boss Jones Admits He Is Embarrassed By Ninian Facilities," the manager is quoted as saying, "Take a look at Ninian Park. The one thing you don’t want to do is get promoted to the Premiership and be totally embarrassed by its facilities and not having the financial funds in place." Having said this, Jones proceeds to hold forth on the right and wrong way to go up, invoking the frightening prospect of "doing a Derby." He says, "The worst thing we can do is get there and come straight back down, like Derby County – I see no point in that whatsoever." O.K., fine, Mr. Jones, but did you have to bring Ninian Park into it?
In "City Fans Embarrassed By Their Manager," his blog post responding to Jones's comments, Nigel Harris isn't as exercised by the manager's put down of Ninian Park as he is by something else. He observes that the comments are "tantamount to an admission that he doesn't want promotion this season and, naturally, fans don't want to hear claims like that and believe Dave Jones should keep these opinions to himself or be positive about us in public."
As there's plenty of subtext to Jones's remarks, I'd go in a bit different direction and say that he's just a bit out of line in trashing the club's facilities as he does. From what I've seen of visiting fans' comments about Ninian Park, they're suitably impressed. "Proper football ground" is a common take on the place, one that suggests appreciation, respect, even a bit of wistfulness about the fact that grounds such as the palace on Sloper Road are in short supply, an endangered species among sporting venues. It's a shame that Jones can't at least frame his concerns about "doing a Derby" in a way that doesn't diminish the magnificence that is Ninian Park in its last years.
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 (February 3 to February 9), go here. For the next week's (February 17 to February 23), go here.
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