Cardiff City’s season finished in fairly typical fashion this lunchtime at Norwich – they played some football that was easy on the eye at times, but they folded like a pack of cards the first time they were put under any pressure as, once again, I was left thinking how lightweight we are.
City were on top having forced home keeper Angus Gunn into three diving saves after ten minutes, then 3-0 down having been reduced to ten men after twenty three – in complete contrast to Gunn, the statuesque Ethan Horvarth had conceded three and seen Norwich hit post and crossbar before he finally deigned to dive for something.
Midway through the first half, it looked like we were on our way to a repeat of the 7-0 at Leeds or worse. Norwich have it in them to hand out that sort of thrashing, but, more than any other side in this season’s Championship, they give you a chance.
Therefore, instead of the hiding which we probably would have got from the league’s more ruthless outfits, we got a final hour or so where City were able to take some credit for making a decent and quite watchable game of it as youngsters Dylan Lawlor and Tanatswa Nyakhuwa got their first taste of league football by caming on as subs.
An end of term type atmosphere only helped add to the basketball feel of the second half as both sides took it in turns to attack – as I said, it all made for quite an enjoyable watch, but whether it had anything to do with the sort of stuff to come in League One next season is a completely different matter.
It was a surprise to me to see Ronan Kpakio starting at right back because he had missed virtually all of the second half of the season with the injury he sustained in the FA Cup tie at Sheffield United. In the event, he did pretty well – there were one or two shakey moments during our horror quarter of an hour, but he came out of his contest with Borja Sainz, who was in such prolific form in the first half of the season, with honours even.
City have been willing to give Kpakio games from the start of the season and were willing to use him in league games in the winter, not just meaningless end of season affairs, all of which makes me think that he is probably the one out of the group of highly rated teenagers at the club who should be considered a serious candidate to be a first team regular next season.
Whether Lawlor would have got on so early were it not for Calum Chambers being sent off is doubtful, but he was introduced after thirty three minutes and, just as in the FA Cup game at Villa, was quietly impressive. Joel Bagan had been brought on to replace David Turnbull as City adjusted to the loss of Chambers, but it wasn’t until Lawlor’s introduction and the switch to a back three that a semblance of order was restored to our defending.
Nyakhuwa had less chance to shine when he came on for the last twenty five minutes as it was for Kpakio which meant he had to play in a right wing back role which I’ve never seen him play in for the under 21s and i suspect he’ll be someone who City will be looking to loan out next season.
Best of the subs though was Rubin Colwill who replaced Joe Ralls at half time, in fact I thought he was superb. With Alex Robertson off for Chris Willock at the same time as the Kpakio/Nyakhuwa switch, Rubin played the final twenty odd minutes virtually as a one man central midfield and revelled in the responsibility.
However, there is a caveat to all of this, it was a very open game which played into Colwill’s hands in many ways and his critics, of which there are an increasing number, would say”it’s all very well doing it now, but where were you the pressure was really on in recent games?”. It’s not an unreasonable question, but I’m left scratching my head as to how someone can play like he did today, and at Villa, and yet end up as almost a bit part player in the matches in which our relegation fate was decided?
On to the game then, I’ll not take up much time with it because, in truth, it was the most meaningless one we played all season. Norwich awoke from their early slumbers on the thirteen minutes when a single pass found Jack Stacey in yards of space in our penalty area and his cross was converted on the far post by the unmarked Marcelino Nunez. Horvarth may have been somewhat unsighted by Kpakio, but the ball wasn’t far away from him as it entered the net and it didn’t look good that he was just stood there watching the ball go in.
Four minutes later Chambers was last man following weak play by Turnbull and he was always going to be sent off for bringing down Josh Sargent. It went from bad to worse when Nunez curled in the free kick past the stationery Horvarth – it was a really good finish, but, again you wondered about the goalkeeping.
Sargent then hit the upright as City remained clueless as to how to deal with the home team’s attacking movement and it was soon 3-0 when we were undone by a pass to Sainz who shot home from fifteen yards as Will Fish appealed for offside and Horvarth again decided not to get his kit dirty.
Horvarth was a spectator again when Ruairi McConville out jumped Yousef Salech to head a free kick against the crossbar a few minutes later.
The switch to three at the back and wing backs helped City limp to half time with no more damage and forty five minutes was enough for Ralls who may now have ended his time at the club with his contract due to run out in less than two months time.
City face awkward questions about Ralls and Aaron Ramsey this summer. It seems increasingly likely that the latter will not be in contention for the manager’s job as he has indicated that he wishes to carry on playing and does not feel him doing a player/manager job is feasible. However, there can be no circumstances whereby Ramsey’s two year deal signed in summer 2023 can be called a success (thirteen league starts during that time tells you why) and is it realistic to expect Ramsey to play enough games next season to justify another playing deal given his injury record throughout his career?
Sadly, something similar now applies to Ralls who, at one time, you could almost guarantee forty plus games a season from. The fact that both of them are among the best paid players at the club is another factor to contend with and the possibility has to be there that two players who are right up there in any discussion on City’s best central midfielders of the past twenty years will be leaving us in a few weeks time.
Just like the first half, City made a decent start to the second period and this time they got a reward as Lawlor did well defensively and then showed his passing ability to find Salech who went on a great sixty yard run past three defenders which was only ended by a foul by Callum Doyle – Salech put away the spot kick nervelessly to score our first penalty of the season.
After the game there was a message board discussion as to whether a back three of Fish, Lawlor and Bagan with Kpakio and Luey Giles would be the way to go next season. Others drew attention to Norwich’s fourth goal as a reason why this would not be on. Shane Duffy was one of two unmarked Norwich players who could have nodded in Jacob Wright’s corner and you have to wonder if the veteran has ever scored an easier set piece goal.
Salech took his goal tally for less than half a season to eight (plus one in the FA Cup) when he completed the scoring as Willock’s cross from a short corner with Colwill was headed on by Callum O’Dowda into the path of the Dane who shot in from around the penalty spot.
It came as a surprise to me that it was Luton who filled the third relegation spot as they went down 5-3 at West Brom after all of the other candidates for the drop drew their games. The Hatters seemed to have turned the corner following their win here in March and had lost just the once since then before today – you would guess that they’ll be the pre season favourites to win the League One title come August.
Like the seniors, the under 21s season was spluttering to an end with three straight away losses, but they played well in beating Watford 3-1 at Cardiff City Stadium yesterday. Freddie Cook opened the scoring with a header from a free kick and Cody Twose added a fine second following good work by Raheem Conte and Josh Beecher. It was Beecher who made it 3-0 early in the second half with an emphatic finish after he’d been sent clear by a Giles pass that you really should get to watch if you can. A tremendous shot from thirty yards late on from one of the Watford centrebacks meant there was no clean sheet for City who wind up their season on Tuesday with a visit from Burnley.
The under 18s finished their season today and the Academy’s Twitter site was very eager to mention that they had clinched a second successive third placed finish in their league (this is in total contrast to the club’s continuing reluctance to mention the word “relegation/relegated” in the public domain when it comes to the senior team and you’ll not be surprised to learn that the first team’s finishing position is not being acknowledged either!). It finished 1-1 for the Academy side at Barnsley with Hayden Allmark scoring.
Locally, Treherbert Boys and Girls Club are finishing their first Ardal Leagues South West campaign strongly – they beat Bridgend Street 4-0 at home yesterday. In the Highadmit South Wales Alliance Premier Division, Ton Pentre finished their campaign at the bottom of the table with a meagre five points from their twenty two games, but I daresay they’ll take some consolation from the fact that four of those points came in the closing weeks of the season to offer a little hope of better days ahead. In Division One East, Treorchy Boys and Girls Club finished a lowly ninth with twenty two points from twenty two games, but clear of the relegation places as they drew 2-2 at Nelson Cavaliers yesterday in their last match.
A pathetic end to yet another season of ineptitude and incompetence on and off the field exemplified by the statement that a review will be held concerning the way forward. What this means is that as usual we have no idea what to do next, unlike most ofher Clubs who have a replacement sounded out before the current manager is sacked. I’m also concerned at Ramsey’s ambivalent statement about the manager vacancy and his pride at what he and the players achieved in the last three games – pardon??!! This obviously paves the way for the Board (Bored?) to make yet another easy internal appointment without too much thought.
Finally, the last two summers have seen protracted negotiations with Joe Ralls with the Club seemingly desperate to keep him and the player holding out until he got the over jnflated salary he was looking for resulting, in my opinion, in the Club getting a very poor return on their investment on both occasions. Consequently, despite him being a good clubman over the years, I’m hoping that the time has come for a parting of the ways.
With the close season now upon us, it’s usually a time of excitement and anticipation but sadly, all I can envisage is delay, uncertainty and incompetence as usual.
Have a good break everyone and thank you TOBW for your always interesting and well written reports.
Thanks Paul.
Yes, a somewhat typical end to a truly dreadful season.
Watching highlights from all the games yesterday, it again confirms that we do actually deserve to be in this position. Cannot say the table lies at all!
Again, too weak defensively yesterday – powder- puff. However, great to see Salech continue to prove his worth – can we hold onto him though?
Paul and others have analysed to death our many problems this season, so no need to repeat again. The only consolation for me is that we do now have a good crop of youngsters coming through who are being given a chance. We now need the right manager to get the best blend of youth and experience to try and be competitive in the lower division. A good start and early momentum would help enormously, but it won’t be easy. For a start, both Plymouth and Luton look a lot better suited than us to bounce back up!
I just hope that Vincent Tan doesn’t keep us dangling until August to complete his review and restructure with a new manger in place. Curious how season ticket sales will go over the next few weeks without something positive to cling onto.
Thanks again to Paul and other contributors for all input to this site over the season.
Enjoy the break!
Thanks Paul for your thoughts on the final disaster in a season of seemingly perpetual disasters culminating in the inevitable. That this result echoed so many that came before actually took me by surprise after the first ten minutes, but then…….and what has been glaringly obvious since August last year is that we do not know how to defend. Norwich had a field day and the game was done for us. It does not seem to matter which combination of City personnel appear in defensive roles, we leak goals for fun. Do we have a defensive coach – perhaps not.
So what next? As most seem to agree changes are needed everywhere within the Club, but will Mr. Tan be prepared to be sufficiently brave and make them. He must realise that those who represent him have failed in their appointed positions, and by those same individuals who have made “football” decisions on suitable managerial and player recruitment.
Of the player arrivals for the 24/25 season I can but enthuse over two, and not turn cartwheels over many of the first team squad that already were on the staff. The youngsters’ performances yesterday were encouraging, really bright and if it is whoever comes in to manage is able to harness their talents with some more dedicated and committed performers, we can perhaps rebuild. But it is no foregone conclusion.
After many years of being a season ticket holder, I did not renew this past season. Because now Sky televise so many EFL matches, I probably have seen almost as many games as if I had been to the CCS every other week. I have not been alone. I fear for the take up of 25/26 season tickets unless some brave decisions are taken by Mr.Tan.
Thank you Paul for your splendid contributions these past nine months. Usually after such a period, something wonderful arrives, sadly, not on this occasion. Enjoy your summer.
Another fine match report to finish the season Paul.
The game was in some ways a micrcosm of our season – failing to score when we’re on top, and then conceding a pretty flimsy goal. Part of our promising start to me was our ability to play the ball out from the back pretty comfortably, despite the Norwich press. However, we initially wilted after Norwich’s opener.
I must admit I stopped watching around the 30 minute mark, with us just trying to resist waves of Norwich attacks, so I missed the tactical switch just after which resulted in an improved performance, so won’t further comment on the game.
Just a few observations from me though:
1. I was a little taken aback by Ramsey saying after the game he’d really enjoyed the managerial experience of recent weeks, praising the role of the coaching staff, and the players for taking the coaching on-board, and saying how important it will be to get the coaching staff right going forward. This was in contrast to a week earlier when he said he still considered himself as a player and was focussed on his rehab to return to playing.
I wonder what this means.
2. I was struck after the game by the number of Norwich fans being negative about their team. Despite winning the game, many of them focussed on the fact that they ‘lost the second half’ 2-1 to the bottom of the table team playing with only 10 men. Added to that they’re losing three of their best players. Just goes to show the nature of football supporters I suppose. I think only one of them mentioned that only champions Leeds had scored more goals than Norwich this season.
3. Although I believe we have a nucleus of a very good team next season, I am concerned about our defending. Yesterdays defending up to 3-0 reminded me of last seasons final game against already relegated Rotherham, where our defence was completely dominated by the Rotherham attack, which included Jordan Hugill, and we ended up with a rather similar scoreline (5-2) to yesterday. We’re far more likely to come up against the likes of Hugill & co next season, rather than the speed and skill of Norwich, although atm we struggle to cope with either!
All we need surely is a Sol Bamba/Cedric Kipre/Sean Morrison/Bruno Manga/Aden Flint type defender who is also comfortable playing out from the back.
Any suggestions?
Despite the general doom and gloom I and my fellow season ticket holders have all said we’ll be renewing for next season. New grounds and new adventures await.
Thanks again for all the work you’ve done this season Paul, and all your contributors, even though I often disagree with them.
Regards
BB
The MAYA articles written by Paul Evans(thanks Paul) have been the only good things connected to our club this season and that includes the efforts from our local journalists.
Paul has a flair for snappy headlines and his latest says it all.
Why has the quality of our football improved from the time when most of our players treated the ball as a hot potato to now when we pass it around quite effectively at times but the opposition usually scores most of the goals
My own impression as a clueless supporter is that we do everything a little too slowly.Both in and out of possession we are a yard short of where we should be.
This is a self perpetuating weakness because our players work and train with colleagues who have the same deficiency
It probably started when Bulut was in charge of training.
The kindest thing to say about Vincent Tan’s reign is that the “road to hell is paved with good intentions’
He is our benefactor whose Great Expectations for our club and himself have all gone ‘tits up’
As he seems willing to spend more of his money to put things right, the big question now is will he realise where he went wrong?
Does he accept that he should not have appointed himself as Director of Football.
If so will he appoint someone else in that role.
Personally I would love to see Craig Bellamy as our Director of Football as it would dovetail nicely with his other part time job as coach of the Wales football team.
None of this is going to happen so I would settle for Tan selecting a new manager from the teams involved in this year’s league One playoffs.
My choice would be Nathan Jones but we could do worse( and Tan probably would) than the managers at Stockport and Leyton Orient.
I am renewing my season ticket whilst standing by to be underwhelmed by news from the club
The 15-yr ownership of Cardiff City by Vincent Tan has been controversial. If the farcical rebrand was not bad enough, the years following its reversal has seemed to be like a planned death by stages. Well, that’s how it’s felt to me during the last 10 years. There have been times I’ve been angry; other times I have been apathetic. Now today the anger and apathy are in equal measures as a dysfunctional Owner and Board have birthed a dysfunctional football club. What is true is that if the head of a fish is rotten it will only be a matter of time before the whole fish will become so. These last 10 years at Cardiff City has been that self-same process. The fish is dead!
While much could be written about Tan’s tenure of Cardiff City, that is for others at another time with far more of it at their disposal than me today. Though money has been invested on players, cheap option after cheap option on the manager, who is supposed to weld them into a team for the rigours of a marathon season, was always doomed to fail. Who would appoint someone who was capable with a paddle in hand in a canoe to be captain of a P&O cruise liner? Clearly Cardiff City do. Many decades ago my long-time friend Arthur retorted thus, when I shouted during one City game: “We are like a ship without a Captain!” “What!” he bellowed. “A raft!” The Bluebirds are now that raft.
The Good Book states: “Where there is no vision, the people perish … ” Despite the odd sound-bite from Tan, seeking to prove the contrary, events have shown that there is no planning down CF11. In light of this, City are the archetypal crisis management club. It is the football equivalent of trying to put your finger in the dike to quell an on-rushing flood. This leads to poor decision making. When trying to effect such an action the bargain basement rarely, if ever, works. Moreover, during Tan’s reign (?) at City far too many players were signed who were not fit for purpose.
Twenty-two years is a long time. It was 22 yrs since our last Tier 3 game (the Play-Off Final at the MillStad against QPR), and now we are once more back there amongst the, wooden ha’ppenies of the football world. Though the Hammam years had its problems at least it had a degree of vision and the compass was set for the horizon. At present, Cardiff City are that, “ … saddest thing in all the world,” that Al Stewart sang of viz, “ … old admirals who feels the wind and never puts to sea.” [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59BeWSmPkCk ]
If I am honest, towards the butt-end of Omer Riza’s reign I felt sorry for him. The job was too much for him and emotionally it had obviously taken a big toll. Where was Cardiff City’s duty of care for an employee? But, who in their right mind would have thought it wouldn’t end in tears?
These last two seasons we have played an incessant 4231 with players not really suited to it. Its laudable trying to play like Man City but lunacy when you don’t have players of that technical ability. It seems to me that, the continual problem we experienced was that there were either gaps in front of the two full backs or behind them. Furthermore, the striker’s job has been thankless as his nearest team-mate was generally a good 20 yds away. Yet for two long seasons we persisted with it. That Robinson scored 12 goals and Salech 9 is bordering on the miraculous. In our chronic predicament since Sept 2024 all that was required was a simple, functional 442. Why was it never given a chance?
The fruit of dysfunction is division. Wherever you look at CCFC in the 2024/2025 season you see division. Piecing together snippets of information can be dangerous but why was the playing staff less than the sum of its parts? Rumours have surfaced that the dressing room was not as it should have been. The pitiful playing return this season may not be down to just on-field matters. Has there been more than a grain of truth in the rumours that have surfaced during the year. If you believe them it appears that mid-way through the season the Board had approached the Croatian, Slaven Bilic to become Manager. It also came to light that, allegedly, senior players had approached the higher-ups to keep Riza stating that the results would improve. Once the players’ made their alleged representations, allegedly, the start date for Bilic was asked to be put back to the Summer 2025. Perhaps not all playing staff were unanimously pro-Riza. This would certainly be a recipe for an, “us and them,” division in the dressing-room; a less than united front to take on the pitch. Did this scenario actually happen or are we trying to make sense of the season by clutching at straws? Who knows?
What of the future? Well, where Cardiff City are concerned I have resigned myself to believe that what needs to happen and what actually does are two entirely different things. At the basic minimum, the dysfunctional nature of the Club needs to be addressed urgently. Crucially far more football expertise needs to be added to the off-pitch structures; long, mid and short term plans need to be drawn up in every department of the Club whilst a manager / coach of standing, who can deal with the pressure cooker that is CCFC, is a must.
We have been told season on season that our next crop of younger players are excellent prospects. Yet none really have been so. Rubin Colwill, now long past a youngster at 23 years, has flattered to deceive. The need for a Category 1 Academy is as vital as ever but still it seems the issue does not cross Tan’s mind. However, this season’s youth players do genuinely appear to be quantifiably better than previous years. Failure to establish this move at Academy level and more PL sharks will be circling for cut-priced deals. A Category 1 Academy would result in more realistic transfer fees having to be paid for our youngsters and would some way in help to pay for itself.
Whilst the artificially low cost of season tickets has had a good affect, I shudder to think what gates we’d be getting if a more realistic £400, like some non-league clubs, was the cost.
Of the Norwich game suffice to say City, could and should have been a couple of goals up before the home team opened the scoring. That said the next 30 mins was embarrassing to watch. It could have been, “anything-nil,” at half time. True the sending-off turned the game but City’s resolve after the break was good to see. Ramsey’s two first half substitutions (Bagan & Lawlor) stiffened up the new 3-4-1-1 shape whilst Nyakuhwa readily impressed on the right flank. Colwill’s second half performance was, belatedly, his best 45 mins of the season but he could not have believed the space he was given.
Whilst Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s time at City was remembered for the negative, remarkably he was responsible for signing defenders Sean Morrison (278 apps / 33 goals) and Bruno Ecuele Manga (150 apps / 5 goals). Likewise, in years to come, few will remember Omer Riza’s months at City fondly, yet perversely, he signed one, Yousef Salech. In his 14 starts (and a smattering of substitute appearances) his 9 goals is remarkable for this team. Where would we have been if it had not been the, “project Simic,” but Salech City had signed last summer?
Many thanks, Paul, for your write up on the Norwich game and every game. They have all been greatly appreciated. The on-going excellence of your writing is beyond doubt as is your ability to find 101 ways of saying, “We are rubbish!”
As for me, I can do with the 3 month break from the comedy that Tan has turned us into. The problem is he still thinks we are Cirque du Soleil when we are more like Gerry Cottles.