Back in the bottom three, but Cardiff maintain improvement under Warnock.

12 Responses to Back in the bottom three, but Cardiff maintain improvement under Warnock.

1. Dai Woosnam says:

   October 20, 2016 at 10:29 am

   A deep reflection on footballing philosophy from you there, Paul. And I so enjoyed bathing in the the sheer THOUGHT you put into those words.
   As for me, I confess to being reasonably pleased with the point. I am at a disadvantage, as unlike you and our Band of Brothers, I did not see the game here in Grimsby, but watched the Man City debacle at the Nou Camp instead.
   And, I submit, that was VERY relevant as to how we should see Neil Warnock.

   You see Paul, last night my astonishing near-conversion to the philosophy of Pep Guardiola, went firmly out the window. Extraordinary kamikaze behaviour by a whole team. And suddenly this recent verbal groan of Neil’s, resonated within me…indeed, bellowed out at me:
   ”All these young coaches with their passing, passing, bloody passing …”

   Yes indeed. Football is a game best played forward, alright.
   And a lesson I got from my televisual experience last night was that you have to play people in their right positions. Nothing will persuade me that John Stones is a £50m centreback: like Steven Caulker, he does not possess that vital ability to perform that last ditch tackle. But also unlike Caulker, he will never make a centre forward. Missed a great headed chance, that Caulker would have buried.
   No …both of those are really midfield players in my book.
   And although Sean Morrison will prosper under Warnock, and hopefully lose forever his dreadful desire to back-pedal, I will never be convinced that he is being played at the correct end of the pitch.
   Me? I’d have made Gunnarsson captain.
   But hey, we are where we are.
   We will do well to get a point at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Thankfully though, they have sold the astonishing Oliver Burke to Leipzig.
   DW.
2. Anthony O'Brien says:

   October 20, 2016 at 1:02 pm

   I have avoided reading any other assessment of last night’s game, preferring to wait for the MAYA blog, and as is the case at all times, Paul’s reportage is absolutely spot on. As the game progressed, however, a sense of disappointment and even of somehow being cheated began to overtake me — and that boiled down to Cardiff’s serious failure to produce any sustained attacking intent. It’s all very well to play Lambert as “the loan striker”, but he then needs immediate and rapid support from a teammate or teammates who can run on towards goal. And this assuredly did not emerge in terms of attack. It’s like expecting a six cylinder car to run effectively on one cylinder. It cannot and will not happen.

   I need to bring forward another point. One of the earliest contributions I made to this esteemed blog was regarding the way we habitually take throw-ins. We all (including the opposition) expect Gunnarsson to hurl the ball into the box, but he might occasionally try to do something different, assuming other members of the team move swiftly into positions where they can be found. Again, this does not happen. But I also blame Gunnarsson’s long throw in down the line as a prime cause of Sheffield Wednesday’s equalising goal. To throw the ball down the line into a group of players from either side is to enter into a lottery. There is no guarantee as to who will win the ball, where it might bounce, and what can afterwards transpire, such as the opposition scoring! I was always taught that a throw in should usually be thrown to a teammate’s feet (or perhaps his head for an immediate return to the thrower) but this also requires constructive movement from teammates, yet another missing element in Cardiff’s play and lack of creativity going forward. People will say that we gained a point last night, but ultimately we were lucky, as well s being predictable and pedestrian. I can understand why the manager did not change a winning team, but the defects were already apparent in the game against Bristol City. I was therefore hoping for team changes last night, either before or comparatively early in the game, but in the end the performance was as sterile and unproductive as the fare we’ve become used to. I acknowledge the importance of a strong defence, but I also believe in the old saying that attack is the best form of defence!
3. russell roberts says:

   October 20, 2016 at 4:55 pm

   Thanks Paul , bit disappointed overall by the night ,however it was always going to be tough to beat last Friday .

   Wednesday as you say are a good side and have been for a while , and if you think they may get into the play offs , it tells a story of how far away we are .

   What worries me though , we now come out of the trap very quickly with a huge intensity and effort , with older and not match fit players in the team we may struggle to last a full 90 minutes , so we need at least a 2 goal cushion before half time as teams will simply watch us punch ourselves out, and pick us off as did Wednesday last night , and to a lesser extent Bristol did last Friday.

   Chamakh I though was well under prepared , unfit, and lacking match fitness,he could take a leaf out of Lambert’s “on how to look after yourself ,whilst not playing regularly ” Lambert appears to be an old fashioned throw back professional footballer .

   We still lacks pace, support and supply to Lambert , which has to be NW priority area to work on.

   I also think Morrison is now playing second fiddle to Sol , perhaps Manga alongside him would be the answer , with Gunnerson made captain or even Sol. Another Trollope error making him captain .

   Thought Amos was again very good and decent signing ,how PT and his team could not see that and it still baffles me . I’m no football expert however you could see form archive footage of him playing for M.U. as a youngster that what he has in his locker and with the right handling and motivation he was a good one , Utd don’t just take on anyone and keeper opportunities are at a premium and have to be earned .

   Midfield still lacks that punch through the middle ,lacking any shots from outside the box ( even VT spotted that one some time ago )

   Great 4 points though over the two games , as you say Wednesday are the better side, Bristol I’m not so sure about . Imagine where we wold be if we had lost those two, and we would have with PT ??

   I’m hoping that NW with his contacts ,knowledge and network can grab some nice leggy , pacy youngsters in the January window , as we will need them , its a long season and old legs and past their best players ,ain’t going to get us through the winter months

   With all that said its nice to see the effort back,and Gunnerson showed that in bundles last night ,what a captain he would have made under Trollope ?.
4. MIKE HOPE says:

   October 21, 2016 at 12:34 am

   Great report as always by Paul but I am surprised by the negativity of the comments.
   Did we really think that in two games we could go from bottom three standard – which we clearly were – to top three – which we would need to be – to outplay and beat Sheffield Wednesday ?
   Perhaps it’s an indication of how much optimism Warnock has brought to the club .
   What has been achieved in two games is that we have been transformed from a team that is enjoyable to play against and easy to beat to a team that is horrible [ an adjectiye that Mick McCarthy seeks for his teams competitiveness ] to play against and difficult to beat.
   I think it significant that as the game went into extra time the Wednesday manager was signalling to his defensive players to stay back and for the goalkeeper to take his time with a goal kick.
   Warnock currently and I am sure correctly sees us as a work in progress and until we are fit enough to regularly get players up in support when the ball is played long to Lambert we will be heavily dependent on set pieces for goals.
   What disappointed me most was the attendance . The weather was good and the televised game against Bristol had been a good advert yet over five thousand fans seem to have absconded between the two games .
   Presumably they were prepared to pay £5 under the special offer but were reluctant to pay the full price.
   I think that the recent management enterprise and the players efforts need and deserve better support if Sir Vincent is to be encouraged.
5. Dai Woosnam says:

   October 21, 2016 at 2:43 am

   A very sound set of comments. Mike’s last para in particular should be echoed from the rooftops throughout Cardiff, The Vale and The Valleys.
   Sir Vincent must think that long-time Bluebirds fans are a fickle lot.
   More important now than ever to get after the next generation.
   I advocate free promotional tickets wing their way to all youth clubs, YMCAs, amateur soccer clubs…anyone anywhere in the catchment area (yes, even Open Prisons !!!) so as we can fill “Vincent’s Vision”.
   DW
6. Anthony O'Brien says:

   October 21, 2016 at 7:01 am

   Excellent comments all round. I am particularly impressed by the sense of fair play and balance intelligently expressed by the eponymous Mike HOPE, and though I was disappointed by Cardiff’s lack of attacking intent, I am glad that Mike has given reasoned argument as to why we should not feel too downhearted. Thank you, Mike.
7. Colin Phillips says:

   October 21, 2016 at 8:29 am

   Thanks, Paul, another thoughtful and accurate report.

   Nice to see people looked on the game with such positivity.

   I’m afraid I was quite depressed by the performance. I felt our ‘mid-field’ was totally outplayed and find it difficult to believe that we got a point out of the game.

   Keeper, back four, Hoilett and Noone (except for one instance in the first-half when the opportunity was begging for him to on the outside and get to the byline, when he did what he ALWAYS does, he turned back on to his left and his shot/cross was blocked) did OK. But Ralls, Gunnarson and Whittingham were overrun by the pace and slick passing of the Wednesday mid-field. As a consequence, Lambert must have felt like the Lone Ranger.

   Surprised that Warnock started with the same eleven to be honest, there were obvious problems with the mid-field against Bristol and I thought O’Keefe or Richardson or both would have figured in the starting line-up.

   Have fears on what to expect on Sky on Saturday evening. The energy that was shown against Bristol was nowhere near as apparent on Wednesday evening and with only a short break in the action some of our old legs will not have recovered. I’m hoping that the ‘off-the-field problems’ at Forest will have a negative effect on their performance but I can’t see us getting more than a point from the game.
8. The other Bob Wilson says:

   October 21, 2016 at 10:00 am

   Morning everyone, some thoughts on a few of the points made.
   Dai, I’ve seen Oliver Burke compared to Gareth Bale in some places and, although I don’t see him becoming the world star Bale is, I can see where they are coming from. I’d seen a little bit of him before Forest visited us late in 2016 where he was in their team from the start. It was the first time he had featured in the Forest team for nearly four months, but he scored a fine goal inside the first ten minutes and made a real impression with his strength, ability and composure – it’s fairly unusual to find a young player with all of these attributes and it’s that which persuades me that the Bale connection is a fair one – on the face of it, the fee Leipzig paid for him was too much, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him transfered for a larger fee and to a bigger club within a season or two.
   AMO. although Mike makes a persuasive argument about Neil Warnock’s first two games in charge, I edge more to you and Colin’s opinion than his. I’d qualify that slightly by repeating what I said in my piece. That is, our manager was bound to do what most other new bosses do when they take over a struggling club – try to sort the defending out first. There is an obvious reason why managers work this way – stop conceding and you stop losing, but there’s also the fact that transforming a side’s defensive capability without access to a huge transfer budget at a time when only a limited pool of players are available anyway, is easier to do than teaching your players how to get quicker, how to become more creative and how to acquire more flair.
   Even though we were at home both times, I think our central midfield three took to the field in our last two games with more emphasis put on what they do when we don’t have the ball than there was on what we do with it. However, to put it bluntly, the quality and pace of passing from that trio was embarrassing when compared to the slick way Wednesday moved the ball at times. The change in attitude in the last two games has been marked in terms of defensive organisation and resilience, but, apart from slightly more threat from attacking set pieces and the thought that Junior Hoilett can become a big player for us when he becomes fully match fit, we’ve looked as lightweight and insipid as an attacking force as we did when Paul Trollope was in charge – I’m hopeful that Warnock can improve things somewhat on the attacking front over the coming weeks, but there’s only so much that can be done with the players we’ve got.
   Russell, I was expecting one or two changes for Wednesday’s match for the reasons you alluded to at the start of your message – Neil Warnock doubted whether Lambert was able to play three matches in a week and also spoke about players needing to get fitter – it has to follow surely then that, having gone with the same side so far, there will be a few changes tomorrow, will Bennett and Hoilett be able to play three times in a week so soon after coming back from injury and not playing regularly respectively? Will all of our central midfield three, who were all struggling somewhat physically in the final third of Wednesday’s game be, up to more of the same at Forest? I reckon we could see O’Keefe, Richardson and Harris play some part tomorrow.
   Mike, while I’m not quite as optimistic about the coming months as you, I’m in complete agreement with you as far as the attendance is concerned. I was expecting a drop in the attendance, but not to that extent – I wonder if the televises Barcelona v Man City game was a factor in why around a quarter who were there on Friday decided not to bother this time?
9. Stephen fairhurst says:

   October 21, 2016 at 11:29 pm

   With apologies for coming late to the party but didn’t comment under the Bristol City report but waited to see the team against the very competent Sheff Wed side. Pressing strongly may be an over statement but the players are seemingly putting in a shift and not back pedalling as much as in previous games. The problem with the 4-1-4-1 tactic as mentioned in forums etc. means Lambert has to hold on to the ball to allow the midfield to come through. It did seem that similar to the Bristol game he was not holding it up but having to jump for ball out of defence and flicking the ball on but players were usually behind rather than ahead or to the side and unable to make up the ground, each attempt sapping the energy a little. Sheff Wed came stronger second half a result of the energy expended but being blunt a point was appreciated rather the capitulation from last season. Being in the family end I got a good look at Chamakh and I felt he was a bigger threat than Lambert, quickly playing back and running forward to re-receive the ball or collecting and placing a neat threaded pass forward. I did feel the other players were not necessarily on his wavelength and similarly players would make a break down the right for the ball out of defence to come too slow. I can see individual created goals from Chamakh in the future. Noone ‘s foul leading to the pen against Bristol was a case of him going to a ‘natural’ left side and confusing the defender with his skills but he was involved a lot in the game on Wed but again the transfer of ball to left foot to cross from the right side of the pitch was a tad predictable. My opinion is that Morrison was left with the captaincy to avoid upsetting applecarts and the like but his performance against Sheff Wed was at best described as having a ‘mare and his header towards the seemingly empty net went so far right I am not believing that he placed it towards that spot as it was easier to head forward and probably score. I think I would prefer Connelly or Manga instead and I hope the captaincy doesn’t mean he gets an undeserved place. My opinion is that Manga will be moved on but on his day he can defend, last ditch sometimes and can play. Can I echo other contributers to say I look forward to seeing your blog as it’s insights are making a better more informed Cardiff City supporter and I appreciate you allowing my two pennyworth and I’m from the days when two pence would buy you a suit and a night’s drinking!
10. Stephen fairhurst says:

    October 21, 2016 at 11:33 pm

    I should have the words ‘making me a better informed Cardiff City supporter’ in the appropriate place but I know all supporters do get a well written thoughful piece from yourself.
11. Dai Woosnam says:

    October 22, 2016 at 6:20 am

    Paul,
    Like Stephen there, I wish to add a coda to my words.
    I had meant to say something about the Thursday night ITV UEFA Europa Cup highlights, but forgot.
    (As it was 2.43 on Friday morning, I can be forgiven, I hope! Now at 5.45 on Saturday morning, my head is a bit clearer.)
    I wanted to refer to the Dundalk v Zenit highlights, and how I can imagine Neil giving the Dundalk centre half an almighty roasting, were he their manager.
    For that was a game the Irish minnows should have won. Against one of the Russian giants to boot.
    You’ll recall that the game was into its last quarter, and Dundalk were incredibly leading one nil, and would have been two up, if a header had not come back off the post.
    But then their centre half goes on a silly crossfield run just outside his penalty area. He has two possible let-out passes forward at his disposal, but chooses the kamikaze option of passing back to his keeper. The ball hits a slight divot, the keeper makes a horlicks of his kick, and Zenit score.
    The momentum of the game changed in a heartbeat.
    Suddenly, the Russians gain belief. They go on to get a winner and miss a penalty.

    I recall a story from the past…

    For the want of a nail, the horseshoe was lost.
    For the want of a horse, the journey was lost.
    For the want of a journey, the battle was lost.
    For the want of a battle, the War was lost.
    And because the War was lost, so it was that the KINGDOM was lost.
    …And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

    And gentlemen, that stupid, totally unnecessary pass-back by the Dundalk centre half was the horseshoe nail for little Dundalk. It should have been the greatest night in their history: beating recent winners of Europe’s second highest cup competition.
    But the kamikaze centre half, given at least two options of receiving that horseshoe nail (i.e. there were two passes that were “on” for him that were not backwards), instead chose the suicidal course.

    And yet, here’s the thing…
    The studio presenter and pundits issued not a word of criticism of the pass-back afterwards !
    What hope have we, when pundits are this lacking in common sense? None, I suggest.
    They ought to put the man from the top of the Clapham omnibus in the studios: he could not do worse.
    Incredibly, one pundit went after the centre half for panicking after the pass-back went belly-up !! Not a word on the absurdity of the totally unnecessary pass-back itself.
    YCNMIU*.
    I sincerely hope that Mr Warnock will give any centre half of ours making such a back pass, an almighty rollicking.
    And I think it’s now time to say goodbye to watching analysts pore over a game. Whether it be on MotD or SKY.
    Why?
    Because they are largely sheep.
    How well I recall the World Cup of 1970, and the realisation that in Brian Clough we had a guy who was a true original, and who could come at a game from a wholly different angle to everyone else.
    Did he just occasionally choose what Frost called “the road less traveled”** just for the sake of it? Oh, for sure.
    And was he sometimes wrong?
    Of course… none more so when he called the Polish keeper a clown in that vital 1973 World Cup qualifier.
    But by golly…he was a breath of fresh air, in the years before the daily two bottles of Sherry took hold. And I submit that we have never seen his like in all the years since. Show me the real DIFFERENCE in the mindsets and views of Carragher, the Nevilles, Shearer, Murphy, Dixon, Hartson, Keowne, etc., etc.? I submit there really isn’t one.

    *You Could Not Make It Up (even if you tried!)
    ** the great man’s American spelling.
    DW.
12. The other Bob Wilson says:

    October 22, 2016 at 10:15 am

    Good to hear from you again Stephen and thank you for your kind comments. You’ve identified what I see as the biggest problem City face until January at least – how to stop our striker staying so isolated all of the time? Neil Warnock alluded to this in his pre match press conference yesterday when he said he’d like to play two strikers, but appeared to come down on the side of opting for the increased defensive solidity having three out and out central midfielders gives us – understandable I suppose when you look at our league position.
    Interesting to read your comments about Chamakh because, while I’d say the majority of the comments on messageboards etc. about him tended to echo my opinion (not very good, but it’s unfair to be too harsh on him when he has had so little match practice), there were those like yourself who thought he did better than Lambert. Whatever the relative merits of our two senior strikers, I think we probably agree that, too often, the quality of the balls played up to them have generally been poor with too many “fighting balls” that can only be flicked on with the head to no one in particular or balls fired at them about a yard off the ground (Chamakh seemed to get a lot of them) – in some ways, this is a consequence of Warnock wanting the likes of Bamba and Morrison to stick to basics, but the service from the central midfield three hasn’t been great either with Ralls in particular letting his passing standards slip this season.
    Agree with you about that header by Morrison – once he managed to get to the ball first, he really should have scored, but. so far at least, he’s not been the aerial power in attacking situations that he was last season.
    Dai, I take your point that the summarisers on television are all much of a muchness when it comes to tactical appreciation – it’s as if ex players who want to work on the television have to do something equivalent to the London cabbies “knowledge” before they can get the job. That said, I tend to rate the pundits by how often they make me say “I didn’t think of that” – Gary Neville does it the most (his brother less often), then it’s probably Carragher, while I think Murphy talks a lot of sense and I like Jermaine Jenas. As for the rest, Dixon’s not bad, but I tend to fast forward if I’m watching a recording and anyone else is on.

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