It must have been during one of City’s relegation fighting seasons in the early to mid seventies that I formed one of the beliefs which I have carried through my football supporting life. If your team is in a promotion or relegation battle, the best sort of sides you can face in the closing games of the season are ones that are in mid table with nothing to play for as they will not have the same stomach for the fight as you.
That’s a view I have held for half a century or more, an awful lot of football has been played in that time and I wonder if it proves my theory right? It needs some student somewhere to do a dissertation on the subject to do that – that’s not too much to ask is it?
Mind you, if that student chose the Championship in 2023/24 as the basis for his or her essay, Lord knows what conclusions they would draw! Using Blackburn Rovers as an example, the struggling Lancashire club travelled to Bristol City in midweek to face a team with no chance of going up or down and got trounced 5-0. This looked like a really significant result at the time because Blackburn now faced three matches against promotion chasing sides and one against a fellow struggler to close their season. In the first of those matches today, Blackburn travelled to third placed Leeds, who were defending an unbeaten home record, and won 1-0!
However, you can look much closer to home to find another team that are doing their best to make it so hard to come to any conclusions as to the accuracy of my theory. Cardiff City are another club whose season is over to all intents and purposes – while a top ten or top half finish would be nice, is anyone, bar Erol Bulut and Vincent Tan perhaps, really too bothered about where in the middle third of the table we finish?
Yet, City went to relegation haunted Birmingham on Wednesday and really put in a shift as they had to absorb a lot of pressure at times and battle hard to secure a 1-0 win which was probably just about deserved in the end. It was not a Bristol City v Blackburn type romp, but I would argue that it was more merit worthy in a way because of the sort of challenges City faced in what was a typically tight modern day Championship encounter.
So, you would have thought that it would be more of the same today from the team for the trip to the New Den to face a Millwall team that has been down near the bottom all season and had looked to be in real trouble before beating Leicester in midweek because they’d lost successive games at Huddersfield and Rotherham.
However, the Cardiff team that rubbished my theory on Wednesday did their best to confirm it today. This was classic on the beach already stuff as they performed in a way which was the epitome of couldn’t care less football.
In the first half of today’s match it was a decent watch, City aren’t a long ball team anymore and they’ve spent most of this season proving that, while also showing that they do not possess the requisite skills to have made the transition a wholly successful one. Therefore, with the creativity from open play needed for a truly effective passing side to prosper largely absent, the advance up the table under Erol Bulut has been achieved in attritional fashion with a large reliance on set piece goals – I believe that a passing approach is intrinsically an attractive way of playing the game, City’s passing football in 23/24 has proved that belief to be questionable at best.
Today though, on a bright sunny day of the type we should see quite often as the season comes to an end, but hadn’t this time around until now, City and Millwall played some decent stuff and it seemed to me that we had an edge when we moved the ball with the same purpose we showed at times on Wednesday.
It’s as if City have been able to show that, when the pressure is off somewhat, they aren’t quite as bad passers of the ball as people like me say they are. The one change made from Wednesday saw Rubin Colwill taking over from Aaron Ramsey whose season is presumably over after his hamstring injury in midweek – if it is, then, sadly, the gamble we took on him (and it was a gamble) failed in the first of the two seasons he’s contracted for and, as of now, there must be some doubt as to whether he’ll see out them both.
Colwill was very good on Wednesday, he was the game changer for me and for a while he threatened to do something similar today, but in the end, he was a barometer for his team as he faded from the picture in the second half and it was no surprise to see him substituted.
Millwall made a bright start and took the lead through Michael Obafemi when the on loan from Burnley striker was played through a square looking defence and shot powerfully past Ethan Horvarth who was beaten too easily on his near post.
City spent the next quarter of an hour looking like they could get back in the game and they duly did when Colwill’s free kick was headed in at the far post by Yakou Meite for only his second goal for the club – once again, I felt the goalkeeper, in this case Matija Sarkic, could have done better.
City looked like the team with more poise, but a big turning point in the game came when Nat Phillips was given time to take aim from twelve yards, but dragged his shot wide. Millwall turned the screw after that and four minutes added time helped them force City on to the back foot. Ironically, it looked like we may have the chance to break out and counter attack effectively at one time, but Colwill gave the ball away cheaply. It was a careless mistake, but he deserved better than to be left as the only defender we had out on the left as Millwall broke down that side and the unmarked Jake Cooper half volleyed in from beyond the far post from the resultant cross.
Although no one realised it at the time, the game had now changed. For years Millwall and City were challengers for the title of most physical side in the Championship, on today’s evidence both sides have changed somewhat since then, but Millwall definitely won the physical battle today.
Particularly after the break, City didn’t fancy the physical side of things – they were enjoying the weather which had them thinking about their holidays too much.
Joe Ralls forced Sarkic into a diving save with a well struck shot from thirty yards and it was encouraging to see Cian Ashford, being used on the left after his league debut as a right sided attacker on Wednesday, go on the outside and cross with his left foot only for the ball to be hacked away before another sub, Ollie Tanner could shoot – mind you, given the slipshod way Tanner performed while he was on today, he would have found a way to miss what would have been a simple chance anyway.
However, these were isolated eceptions to a trend which saw Millwall firmly in the ascendancy fo the second forty five minutes. Horvarth made a couple of good saves to keep his team in it, but he was beaten again in added time when sub Duncan Whatmore, looking so offside that he must have been onside, scored an easy third.
This seems a good place to mention that while there have clearly been areas where City have improved (you don’t go from bottom third to middle third in the Championship without doing that), defending isn’t one of them in my opinion – Cedric Kipre’s replacement Dimi Goutas is finishing the season in erratic fashion.
A last word on the attitudes of sides at either end of the table In the closing weeks of a season – Bimingham, who looked on their way down after losing to mid table City three days ago, today gave Play Off chasing Coventry their heaviest defeat of the campaign as the FA Cup Semi Finalists went down 3-0
Another win for the under 18s today at Leckwith when a late goal by Dan Ola helped them to a 2-1 win over Peterborough after Trey George had given them a first half lead.
Treherbert Boys and Girls club can still win the Highadmit South Wales Alliance Premier Division, but it must be a long shot now following their 1-0 loss at Aber Valley this afternoon.
Saturday saw my first ever visit to the Den because I had been told that it was no longer the hazardous trip it used to be for many years.
The four minute overground train journey from London Bridge to South Bermondsey station provides Away fans with a dedicated walkway between station and stadium, which contributed to an easy and stress free travelling experience.
Instead the stress was provided on the pitch by our second half performance. We were easily the better team for much of the first half, but MIllwall’s second goal in first half injury time, following a careless pass from Rubin, proved to be the game-changer.
Millwall started the second half in similar fashion to the first half, with all guns blazing.
This time though, it looked overall that we couldn’t be bothered enough to change it.
Although our defenders continued to win most high balls into our box from corners and free kicks, there was a lack of urgency when we had the ball. NG had one of his poorest games, mis-controlling the ball, being caught out with balls over his head, and playing simple passes out of play. On the other side, JC, who’d looked very good first half, also faded in the second.
I felt for Meite who tbf, was making runs and signalling for the ball, but it mostly was again passed slowly back and forth across our back four (which is why the stats showed we had 63% possession).
At least Bulut made his feelings known after the game questioning some players attitude – Tanner in particular when he came on, to me, had the air of someone who didn’t really want to be there. While he made one good turn in the Milwall area, his subsequent cross was overhit and high from a very good position. Soon after he had another crossing opportunity from a good position, but just lofted an easy ball straight into the keepers hands.
So Paul, as you say really, chalk & cheese from the Birmingham game and the first half of the Millwall game.
To me, Erol can only do so much. As the cliche goes, once the players cross that white line onto the pitch, it’s all down to them, and in the second half yesterday too many seemed as though they hadn’t wanted to cross that white line, but would have preferred to be somewhere else instead!
Let’s see where these players want to be for our two remaining home games against promotion/playoff contenders and see who wants the win more.
I meant to mention in my report that one second half highlight was the appearance of Cian Ashford as sub. He was positive and looked to take players on, despite limited support from his team mates. He certainly deserves more game time in our remaining fixtures, along with some of our other youngsters who I’m sure will want to be there more than some of our senior players appear to, based on that second half show.
Thanks as ever Paul for doing the hard yards.
Let me start by quoting you…
” I believe that a passing approach is intrinsically an attractive way of playing the game”.
Well guess what? So do I.
Difference being that I believe in the long PASS, and do not join the brainwashed millions in thinking that playing out from the back and forming little triangles is ‘football’. No it ain’t… it is ANTI football.
Every MotD sees examples of goalkeepers committing footballing suicide – gee, Vincent Kompany has now ruined the confidence of two fine keepers with his nonsensical diktats – and I won’t get started on the EFL Highlights, as that every week is real Fred Karno’s Army stuff… where clown after clown plays kamikaze football in their own area. Were it shown in the cinema, it would have an 18 certificate.
When Chinese premier Zhou Enlai famously said it was “too early” to assess the implications of the French revolution, it caused many of us to smile, and admire his wit. But by the same token, if in 200 years a Chinese footballing version of Zhou Enlai tells us that the decline in European football’s ‘pure excitement element’ was down to one thing, viz… those who deliberately abused the English language by disparaging the ‘long pass’ (made glorious from Hoddle to Ederson) through instead hoping they could LUMP* it in with Skinner Normanton’s hoofball.
Well, compadre… some of us will agree with that future Chinese historian because we resist such nefarious linguistic subterfuge to our dying breath.
Now, that matter over, down to yesterday…
There are 100 reasons why Bulut and his dreadful negative Bulutball should be binned for ever… and high on the list is his shameful lack of confidence in Jak. The most accurate long passer of a goalie we have seen at City for several decades, and a shot stopper of David Marshall class. The latest Bulut ruse was to sign a keeper not deemed worthy of a squad place at either Forest or Luton, and who is not a patch on Alnwick with feet or hands.
And a final point: you speak a profound truth re the ‘out on the beach’ approach often adopted by our inglorious boys after we’ve just pulled clear of relegation. It was ever thus… let me here illustrate it with a story from nearly 60 years ago…
In one memorable week in May 1966, I experienced two events that I have not gone more than a month or two in the intervening years since, without recalling both vividly. One was the epic six pointer known as the ‘Greg Farrell match’, where we were treated to the most (‘53 Cup Final) Matthews-esque wing play seen in 90 minutes of any of my lifetime visits to Ninian. And when I joined my joyous friends at Ninian Park Halt on the train back to Porth, one of them asked me if I was free to go to support them at their last away game at Deepdale. Wisely I said no.
‘Wisely’? Yes. Because the City players threw in their (beach) towel bigtime… and shockingly surrendered to a shameful 9-0 defeat.
A stain on our club’s history that can never be erased. I should have cut my links with the shower , immediately after that.
But, put it down to an addiction on my part, mug that I was, instead of Christmas shopping later that year, on December 17th 1966 I was still shlepping along to places like Portman Road, in this case to see City gain a point in a 0-0 draw.
Oh and before signing off… I nearly forgot. What was the second event? Ah, that in itself was just as memorable as the 5-3 Boro game.
And I refer to seeing the 24 year old Bob Dylan on his first visit to Wales, at the Capitol Theatre. And I am reminded of it every time I see Martin Scorsese’s magisterial 2005 documentary No Direction Home. Towards the end of the film, we see footage from that Cardiff evening, of a car travelling at speed past the long queue, from the theatre entrance in Queen Street, and turning left into Churchill Way.
And by freezing the frame… morbidly obese 76 year old me, is able to spot through the blurring, the uber skinny 18 year old me. Ah happy days… albeit those days were – seemingly in a heartbeat – to darken considerably with the shameless performance at Preston.
*pun unintentional, but I will take it…
TTFN,
Dai.
Thanks both. Dai, my mum barely ever swore. She once told me that swearing only showed a person’s lack of vocabulary and their inability to express themselves coherently. It made a lot of sense to me at the time and, although my resolve to give up swearing upon hearing her advice lasted no more than a few days, I did make a point of never swearing in her presence until her death in 1999.
I spent the early years of my life believing that my parents were such paragons of virtue because although it was something I got used to hearing on a regular basis once I was into early adulthood, I didn’t hear my Dad swear until I was ten and a quarter either. The reason I can be so precise about my age a that time is that I can recall t as if it was yesterday. It happened during a family Saturday night visit in May 1966 to my Dad’s brother’s house in the newly built Trowbridge estate where he picked up a Football Echo that was lying on the table, looked a the front page and exclaimed “9-0, they lost bloody 9-0!” – I can recall the revelation that my Dad swore just like everyone else did was quite a hard one to accept at ten and a quarter and I seem to remember I was quite annoyed with him for a while.
Blue Bayou, I’ve become very anti Erol Bulut in recent weeks, but I can’t pin too much of the blame on him for what happened on Saturday. One of the reasons I’ve gone off our manager is that he’s too quick to find someone else to blame (usually it’s the players) when we lose, but I think he was right to do so on Saturday. That said, it’s disappointing that Joel Colwill is till waiting to make his league debut.
I’m not sure why or how it’s happened, but the view that there is a degree of risk involved in playing someone in their late teens or early twenties in league football seems to have taken a hold at Cardiff City in the last fifteen years or so. In our last two matches nineteen year old Cian Ashford has come on and it’s been immediately apparent that he sees the football as a friend much more than many of his seniors in the team, who get picked week in and week out, do. Ashford improves the level of footballing ability in the City team when he comes on, as does Rubin Colwill and I believe his brother would as well when he finally gets his chance. This is not to say that all of this means that the three players will go on to have long and successful careers (Ollie Tanner’s miserable showing on Saturday only confirms how much he has regressed since last September when all sorts of great things were being predicted for him), but it is nice to see a few more on the pitch in our team who have a reliable technique.