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Paul,
I remain in awe of your historical knowledge of Cardiff in particular and football in general, and your above chronicle is further proof of your abilities. Also, I think you have used totally the right word when you talk of managerial “blarney”. Correctly or not, I also believe there has been an element of blarney about Neil Warnock’s words of praise for Kenneth Zohore. (readers, please don’t yawn or throw an angry fit if I refer once more to what has become something of a broken record on my part).
I honestly believe that Kenneth Zohore has been over-hyped. He is powerfully built, strong when running forward, and is now producing backward headers which are an improvement on what he was producing last season. Indeed, as Paul’s report points out, it was Zohore’s flick on which went to Mendez-Laing and led to Bryson’s goal. True enough, but Zohore’s flick-ons are essentially aimless, the ball simply going up into the air more in hope than anything else. The real skill lay with Mendez-Laing’s controlled lob and Bryson’s excellent finish.
When I wrote about Zohore recently I mentioned the lion-hearted bravery that someone like Nat Lofthouse used to show so many years ago in comparison with the positions Kenneth Zohore habitually takes up on the periphery of the goal area for dead ball situations. He does not rush in “where angels fear to tread”. Neither does he bully defenders when they are at his back (hence the up-in-the-air backward headers), I’d therefore like to quote something that Kevin Ratcliff said yesterday in commentary very early in the second half to explain why Zohore was not going aggressively for the ball: “Zohore is perhaps thinking about not being hurt. — It’s almost as if he’s afraid of ” the centre backs.
And yet when Bogle came on he immediately got his head to a free kick close to the Sunderland goal, Does this happen with Zohore?
Recently I read that Neil Warnock had said that he would be willing to sell Zohore if we are out of the promotion race early next year. This may well suggest, I feel, that Zohore is in a similar position to David Marshall, hoping for a move to the Premiership under a promise he will be allowed to go at some time in the future. Alternatively, it may well be another example of the manager’s “blarney” to boost Zohore’s confidence by portraying him as essential to Cardiff’s promotion drive. Who knows? It makes the team selection for Tuesday night’s game even more interesting. If 25,000 tickets are already sold for this game, as Paul asserts, then it should be a fantastic occasion with a tremendous atmosphere. A Cardiff victory would really be the icing on the cake.
Like Anthony I can only bow to your unbelievable football knowledge, the abiding memory of Sunderland games in the 70”s as a nieve youngster, was the intense atmospheres when we played them thier hordes of very older looking fans than ours running around our staduim , and finally gaining some territory into our old wooden floored Grangend, and a battle royal following as you can imagine, which we lost .
Listened to the game on the radio Wales ,eeeek. Ratcliffe just banged on about the wort of a 20 million striker which seeing him doing this and that he failed to see appreciate that although Ken had another ” no goal” game , he failed to recognise the fact the lad is always occupying two defenders time and is contributing by providing space and does provide for others , see goal Kevin , Mr Ratcliffe should realise the striker didn’t place the 20 million tag on his poor young developing head, the madness of the game has, I suspect its partly a wind up to get City fans to ring into their sad post match phone in.
I would like to have seen Tomlin play in this game as well as the very promising Bryson, what a steal he is , box to box midfield player who can score, Gunnerson and Ralls are okay getting in the box however thier shooting quality in particular doesn’t deliver more in the way of goals for me especially Gunnerson .
If I had a straight choice between Ledley and Bryson , the later would win for me in our current position and need.
Brave , and correct decesion to play Manga instead of Bamba , we need to use away games to try different tactics out as it provides competion for all places, and Bamba I felt was poor at Preston away ,
We now have competion in most positions, I am hoping that Bogle starts to pressure Ken as well as Ward, as he is more of a nature replacement than Ward , I see Ward as a wider striker or off a big front man , not as a main strike , and Warnocks tactics are direct, and rightly so in this league , we need the big man .
My view on pocession is simple, okay in the oppositions half only if your moving forward , and should be mixed with directness , even Jose see’s that when he chucks Fellani on for Mata, and hey it changes the game .
I am so chuffed we got through through the last 4 fixtures with five points , playing not as we were, we must have something about us to do so, perhaps some of Warnocks Sheffield steel.
Leeds at home, potential sell out ,evening game, top of the table clash , intense love affair exposed in full between the fans , oh heaven ,oh can’t wait , I am feeling nervy and its only Sunday.
Thanks Paul for providing another excellent report and summary and the window for me to rant on , lol.
A very nice piece Paul especially as Sunderland are close to my heart, not necessary the team but my 15 years in the area , my first wife, her family of mackems and my best friends from our footballing days in the north east.
Normally I am on the end of a loss when we play Sunderland, my ex wife and I are still very close mainly because of our children. But my friendship with the mates has no bounds as we regularly text each weekend to keep everyone informed on how our teams are doing.
Bar for the cup replay at Maine road when we won 3-1 and I was in the Sunderland end trying to keep my cheers as low key as possible while stood with my wife, mother in law, wife’s sisters, brother in law and about 10,000 mackems who sometimes don’t really understand that you may not always support their team and the 2-1 win in 2006 when we went downhill from there, I haven’t had much joy in the north east.
So yesterday’s result I could see coming but what I didn’t see coming was the resignation of my mates who all bar none said it was cardiffs game before we kicked off. I had never known that before as these people are the typical mackems who would die for the cause.
Again I was in the Sunderland end but how subdued it was, nothing like what I remembered and certainly not what I expected.
The evening panned out by drink and eats followed the same pattern until we decided that enough was enough of talking football and got down to catching up.
Without going into too much detail they were amazed that Sunderland even scored and the likelihood was that a penalty would be their only way of scoring.
I can empathise with the state of Sunderland as we have had this till the arrival of warnock. Owners who thought they knew the best way, owners who felt they knew the best managers and owners having seen their money disappear pulled in the purse strings. In our case the appointment of slade was made because of the lack of trust following mackay and it took some time for tan to rectify his feelings. What we have at Cardiff is everyone back together thanks to the tan and warnock relationship.
Sunderland are just passing the slade arrival stage. Personally I don’t see them in the bottom three for too long but they are a long way from the team that we beat in 2006 and went on to win the league. If they finish half way they will have had a good season and then they can built on from there. Does that remind you of last season at Cardiff.
Now to Cardiff, I was pleased to see the changes and I really believe this keeps everyone on their toes, but I feel sorry for damour as he hasn’t done much wrong.
Another few changes wouldn’t go amiss against Leeds and derby.
We should have had the game wrapped up inside the first half hour and we really need to take our chances better. At half time the mood in the Sunderland bar was nothing short of deathly quiet, so my mates were amazed that they started the second half on the front foot having been mauled so badly in the first half. Although the Sunderland penalty gave them room for optimism the lads just didn’t have the belief that they would go on and win the game and so it proved.
I didn’t think we played very well and still we were always going to go up a gear when necessary and so it proved. So it’s now time for the top two clash and should we win, which I am sure we will, it should lead us to a slightly easier round of games through late October and November and who knows
Hi Paul,what memories you evoked about Sunderland games of the past,I can remember the game in the seventies away at Main road a surreal atmosphere to say the least,an afternoon game due to power cuts a not a very big contingent from Cardiff,but a fair few from Sunderland if my memory serves me correct.
Regarding Saturdays game I have only seen short highlights so it is difficult to comment on it,but what I would say is that this team does not know when to throw in the towel,listening on the radio Ratcliffe notwithstanding who did seem less negative than usual it did seem that we had more of the ball and had numerous chances to put the game to bed,as I say not there so just an impression I got.
My main point regarding this game is Ken Zohore I do hope that he can get a goal soon mabey against Leeds tomorrow as it does seem that he has lost that spark that he had last season.Now I know that this can happen to all players during their careers but sometimes one goal changes all that,he might need a rest where he can reavaluate his role in the team,by all accounts that might have been on Saturday but Ward was ill but I would be very surprised if he didn’t play against Leeds.I only hope his head has not been turned by big money moves because the only way to get that move is to make an impression when you play certainly as a forward ,let’s hope it’s a blip and he shows everybody tomorrow that that’s all it is.
A really tough couple of fixtures to come this week this will surely tell us where we are in the mix of things,a big crowd is expected and who knows if we get the right result they may come back Saturday notwithstanding the special price for the Leeds game,This game tomorrow could be pivotal for the rest of the season let’s hope so anyway.
Thanks for the write up as always Paul. These two home games this week could tell us a lot about the direction this season is likely to be heading.
I was interested to read Barrie and Paul talk about that Maine Road match in 1972. I too was at that match on a wet Wednesday afternoon and for years I had convinced myself that I was the only City fan there amongst about 6.000 Sunderland fans gathered behind one of the goals. Internet blogs and forums have long dispelled that myth but that victory still ranks pretty high in my favourite City memory list.
Sorry – meant Clive not Paul.
Some great replies to my Sunderland review and I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to give them the sort of attention they deserve because I’m so busy.
Barry, it was so interesting reading about your links with Sunderland and I feel for those friends of yours who are going through a rough old time with their team – it’s something we are familiar with at Cardiff, but I suppose the bad times make the good ones so much more enjoyable when they come along.
As far as the other comments go, the combining factor is Kenneth Zohore. Although I have agreed with Anthony in what he has said about the player in some of our recent matches, I’m more in tune with Russell’s view when it comes to the Sunderland match – his current lack of confidence in front of goal was clear with a couple of poor first touches in promising positions, but, despite getting no protection from a referee who seemed to apply a bizarre interpretation of the rules which said always penalise the attacker when it was Zohore and Wilson in competition for the ball, but apply the normal standards when it is anyone else, I thought his all round game was back to his August levels – it was the best he’s played since the international break in my opinion. Clive, Zohore has only known extremes at Cardiff. For nine months he was largely regarded as useless and then, for the next nine months, he’s been praised to the heavens – seems to me that he could do with a run where he is able to operate somewhere within those two extremes. He’s only 23 and it must have all been something of a roller coaster ride for him – if he could have a middling type of form few weeks, I believe the team would still benefit, but, although I can understand why he would let his lack of goals get him down, he should try to remember that the team are still doing well and, certainly on Saturday, he played a full part in bringing about our latest win.
Finally, Anthony, I still had to approve your message, but it was there with all of the others this time, so, hopefully, the problem might have been solved.