So, Cardiff City go into the final international break of the season on forty six points with still another twenty four to play for after tonight’s 2-1 home win over an out of form Stoke City side that are now nine games without a win in all competitions.
For most of the season, it has looked debatable if City would end up with forty six points come May after the last game has been played. There have been long stretches when we were averaging less than a point a game and the main hope of avoiding the drop came more from the points deductions imposed on Derby and Reading, along with the fact that Peterborough and, to a lesser extent, Barnsley were having the sort of years that would see them trailed off at the bottom in other seasons than anything we were doing ourselves.
To have now got up into a position half way into March where relegation is still mathematically possible, but it’s only being mentioned because three of the bottom four need to go on superb runs while we equal the club record eight consecutive losses created a few months ago is some achievement.
In some ways what Steve Morison has done in turning the season around is reminiscent of what we saw after Neil Warnock took over in 16/17 when what had been a relegation battle became a comfortable wind down in the last couple of months of the campaign.
We ended up in twelfth place with sixty two points that season and, realistically, I think we’ll struggle to match that points total now, but, maybe we can finish as high again. To do so, City will need to extend a run which has seen them in top six form over two months into one that lasts three and a half months – it’s a big ask, but if anyone had set the target of forty six points by the next international break after we’d lost so poorly at Bristol City on January 22, that would have been seen as a huge, bordering on impossible, ask.
The climb clear of the bottom three has not been achieved through Champagne football with goals and thrills galore, but, realistically, when do sides in serious relegation trouble ever escape the drop by doing that?
Tonight’s game was one of the more enjoyable ones in our good run because we played some good stuff at times and our opponents were grateful to their keeper for some fine saves which saved his team from a bit of a drubbing.
That would have been harsh on a Stoke side which might feel they deserved something. from the game, but, for me, the one goal victory margin was about right as City came from 1-0 down to win 2-1 for the sixth time this season. Four of those six wins have come in away games, but, even so, tonight offered some evidence of our improvement at home – it’s now five wins and two draws in our last eight games at Cardiff City Stadium, the venue which saw us lose nine out of ten earlier in the season, and this, along with our rediscovered knack of being able to keep a clean sheet, is what has turned our season around more than anything elsey.
Tonight followed the script of so many of our home games this season as our opponents scored first fairly early on – too often that single goal has been enough to secure the three points, but, City didn’t panic tonight when they conceded first, they kept on plugging away, pressing Stoke high up the pitch and using the speed advantage they had over their opponents in many areas of the pitch to turn their deficit into a lead before half time as they scored twice in four minutes.
There were two changes from Saturday’s grim stalemate with Preston as Joel Bagan came back at the expense of Alfie Doughty who was unable to play against his parent club under the terms of his loan deal and Mark Harris, selected in the Welsh squad for next week’s Play Off with Austria along with Will Vaulks and Rubin Colwill, replaced Isaak Davies.
The two replacements had great chances to score inside the first half an hour or so as Bagan found himself space in the box to receive a cross from the right by the player who I rated our man of the match on the night, Cody Drameh. Bagan side stepped a defender and hit a right foot shot which keeper John Bonham spread himself to make a great save which turned the ball onto the crossbar and over for an unproductive corner.
Before Harris had his opportunity though, we’d fallen behind a couple of minutes after Bagan had almost given us the lead. I’m afraid it was another goal that those who don’t believe Perry Ng should be playing in the centre of defence will cite as evidence they are right, because the former Crewe captain made a couple of mistakes which eventually enabled Lewis Baker to score with a shot that was similar to the one which Joe Rothwell scored with to win the game for Blackburn at Cardiff City Stadium where he used a City player almost as a screen to make life difficult for Alex Smithies.
One difference was that Rothwell’s shot was right in the corner of the goal, whereas Baker’s was more central and as such those supporters pointing their fingers at Smithies for not stopping tonight’s goal might have a point – I’ve not seen a replay of it yet, so can’t comment any more on the rights and wrongs of the argument really.
Soon afterwards, Ng showed the positive side of him playing in the back three with a fine pass which exploited that superiority in pace I mentioned earlier as Harris raced clear only to miscue badly wide from a position where scoring was not simple, but he has managed it from similar positions in the past.
Harris did a lot better on thirty eight minutes when City scored an equaliser which showed we had more to offer than the long straight balls which Michael O’Neill referred to post game. While it was true that those type of passes caused Stoke problems, just as they had done in the first meeting between the sides in October where the lack of pace in their defence was again apparent, this was a fine move containing good work out on the left by Harris, a fine ball into space by the impressive Bagan and a neat finish across Bonham and into the opposite corner by Tommy Doyle who was much better tonight than he had been on Saturday against Preston.
Four minutes later, City we’re ahead with what was something of a gift goal courtesy of their high pressing which was more evident tonight than it has been in recent games.
Of course, the non stop Drameh was at the heart of it, but Stoke still should have done better – Joe Allen rather played centreback Taylor Harwood Bellis into trouble with a short ball back to him which left him with Drameh and Jordan Hugill closing down on him, but the defender’s attempt at a difficult pass forward was always going to be a risk and when Drameh was able to feed Hugill after intercepting the ball, the striker punished the error well with a shot placed beyond Bonham from the edge of the penalty area for his third goal for the club.
It had been an entertaining first half, but the second period was more attritional with City prepared to play more on the break as Stoke had more possession and forced a number of corners, one of which Smithies flapped at and got a faint touch to which sent the ball just wide of the far post..
Aden Flint, who, for me, is currently playing as well as at any time in his City career, made a fine block to deny a decent chance for Stoke substitute Josh Mata from around the penalty spot as well, but, for all that the second half was more like recent City performances with the opposition having more of the ball as we played like an away team wherever the venue, it was still us, with our superiority in pace to the fore, who had the better chances.
Harris in his last contribution before being replaced by Isaak Davies forced Bonham into action again and Flint may have thought he should have done better with a header from a Doyle corner than put it straight at the keeper. A Davies cross found Bagan in space and the wing back drilled in a fierce angled cross cum shot which just eluded Uche Ikpeazu, on for Hugill, Drameh did much the same from the other flank with Davies stretching to try and provide the contact which would have, surely, provided a goal, while Davies then forced Bonham into what was probably his second best save of an impressive night for him as he tipped over the substitute’s shot following one of those long straight balls that the Stoke manager referred to.
The closing minutes said a lot for the confidence levels of both clubs as City kept the play well away from their goal for most of the time as Stoke gave their supporters very little sign that they had an equaliser in them = there have not been many occasions this season when City could be said to have gained what was a predictable home win, but this was one of them.
TOBW – It is good to see the positive impact from the loan singings in the January window – Dromah, Hugill, Ikpeazu, Doyle and to a lesser extent Doughty have all played key roles to help turn round the team and I am sure some of our younger players like Davies and Bagan, who have both shown improvements since January, have benefitted. The recall of Wintle was another good move. Whilst Morison is getting a lot of credit for getting the new players to gel quickly I think the club also deserves some recognition for firstly for identifying the targets and then being willling to add their costs to the wage bill (I know some lower paid players went out on loan) as we all know how tight the clubs finances have been since covid. The summer will be a key recruitment period for the club as Morison shapes the squad for next season. My one hope is that players like Dereham get some game time over the next 2 months as we might need him next season
A few weeks back we saw opposition sides (plural) target NG in the air thinking this was a weakness but last night Stoke looked to have two players press him quickly to rush his decision making. There were a few shaky moments for him because of this but, as ever, when our fans start to think he’s got a mistake in him they start to blame him for everything even if he’s being put in the poop by his team-mates – I’m thinking of the moment where Stoke player was called offside in our box during first half. He’s still growing into the role but it allows Drameh to do his thing which is a key part of best performances this season.
Apart from pressing NG in the first half, the only thing Stoke seemed to have tonight was a series of corners between 75-85 minutes which almost stole a point they didn’t deserve. Cardiff City at the ground now owned by Bet365 (Stoke trying to get around financial fair play rules) seems to rob Michael O’Neil’s Potters of all momentum and both this season and last year they look a very poor side after that fixture. I’m not sure MO’N will be there next year to see if there is the rule of three for this effect.
The only disappointing factor of the night was not adding a third to do the performance more justice – Drameh and Bagan add so much but if they had the crossing ability of Davies then we’d surely have added another in the second half. Still, as you point out, 46 points this early and not having to rely on points deductions to be safe is very pleasing.
Final thoughts:
– Our fixtures after the Jacks are largely against sides battling for play-offs or still thinking about relegation. Going to be interesting to see where Morison looks to experiment tactically and allow youth (the group still on our books next year) to have greater minutes.
– We heard the best of the Canton last night (the “HANDBALL” stuff still makes me laugh) and the worst (that awful Hymns and Arias song). Difficult to be too critical when they’ve been loud even during our worst moments this year, but I really wish we dropped that senseless H&A song rather than, I expect, blast it repeatedly in our next home fixture.
Thanks Paul.
Agree that was one of our more impressive performances with our pace and pressing game well to the fore.
Apart from that spell of corners in the second half we looked comfortable holding on and managed the game well in the latter period. Uche played his usual holding and grappling game and nearly made things happen. At least when we bring subs on now it feels like we are posing different problems for tiring defenders.
Again very impressed with Drameh who was a constant threat with his pace and vision and must be one of our best ever loan signings. Along with Doyle who is also right up there too. Constant threats and attacking intent and think it’s rubbing off on a few others, eg Bagan.
Wintle continues to mop up effortlessly and with minimal fuss. Just begs the question as to why he was sent out on loan without getting a chance under McCarthy. Our midfield balance looked spot on last night.
Agree Paul that we should end up just above mid table with nudging 60 points and we would all have settled for that not too long ago. Just great to be enjoying watching our team play in this more adventurous way and with some real pace and quality – even if we have borrowed some of it via the loanees!
Morning everyone and thanks for the replies. BBIF, there’s no argument from me about the club having a good January window. For the first time in ages, we went for the sort of players our ageing, declining squad definitely needed, the sort of players many supporters had been crying out for over quite a long period. The good thing is that Premier League clubs are going to look at the loan spells for Drameh and Doyle that cannot be called anything else but successes currently and, probably, be more inclined to let their good young players come to Cardiff than they may have been before – I think we’re going to be vert reliant on the loan system next season and I’m fairly confident we will be able to do well again even if we cannot bring any of those currently with us back to the club.
DJ, the impression I got from Drameh in his first few matches with us was that he was very athletic, but his crossing could be better and he looked a bit of a liability defensively. Since then, the athleticism and sheer pace has become even more apparent and I think the experience of playing at a decent standard every week has helped him defensively – there have definitely been improvements there. However, I agreed wholeheartedly with a poster in a messageboard thread about Drameh that the only weakness he could see in him was that he needed to slow down a little and make more sure of his cross – in recent weeks, we’ve not scored the number of goals we should have done from the positions Drameh has created almost entirely from his own efforts.
Also, I agree completely about the Hymns and Arias song. Sadly, I feel we’ll be hearing an awful lot of it on April 2.
Huw, I think you make a good point about our subs – I’ve got a bit of a cob on about how Sam Bowen has faded out of the picture, but the truth is that players like Bacuna, Pack and Collins are really struggling to get any game time these days and, barring an injury and/or suspension crisis, you wonder how they’ll play any more first team football this season because you’d like to think that Morison will be giving youngsters a chance if, as expected, the final games of the season have nothing riding on them.