If we thought we had a ropey record in the League Cup in the last dozen years or so, it’s nothing on Swindon Town’s, they had not progressed beyond the First Round stage since 2014/15 and they still haven’t after tonight’s game at Cardiff City Stadium which resulted in a 2-1 home win.
For forty five minutes, it all looked like plain sailing for City as, after a slow start, they went on to dominate and with a two goal lead at the interval, I quite fancied us going on to add a few more to complete a really convincing win.
I’d omitted to place enough relevance on an incident that occurred shortly after we’d gone one up though when Princewill Ehibhatiomham, Swindon’s teenage striker on loan from Southampton, burst through the centre of our defence, but then shot wide with only Nathan Trott to beat.
It turned that this was a preview of things to come as our centrebacks Will Fish and Calum Chambers were given a torrid time of it through much of the second half as City struggled to cope whenever our opponents from League Two upped the pace.
The match turned into a kind of summary of our season so far as a first half that was Peterborough like was followed by a second period that, for a spell of around fifteen minutes around the middle of the half anyway, was a repeat of our Port Vale showing as we become very ragged and brittle.
We regained some of our former control in the closing stages when the match must have made for entertaining fare for a neutral as both sides slugged away at each other as Swindon chased an equaliser and we opted to chase the goal which would have settled the tie, rather than opt to shut up shop like just about every City side of the previous ten seasons or so would have done.
It seems that’s not the way it’s going to be under BBM or maybe he’d seen the way we were defending and figured that attack was the best form of defence. We’ve only conceded two goals in our first three matches and one of those was a penalty, but those figures don’t tell the real story, we’ve been creaking like a rusty old gate at the back at times in the last two matches especially.
I’ve seen it said that the real reason why we’ve only signed a fourth goalkeeper for the first team squad so far in this window is that some members of the City hierarchy are so impressed by our youngsters that they see no need to sign any more players as our squad is good enough for the top two already.
Now, if that really is what those at the top are thinking, it would explain our baffling failure to add to a squad that is too small to last through a season that could run to sixty or so games with decent runs in the three Cup competitions we are in.
However, anyone who has a rudimentary knowledge as to the inner workings of Cardiff City since 2010 will know that if the people at the top are in favour of something football related, you can assume that it won’t work. This squad is not good enough for the top two, or even the top six, without the addition of on field leaders who are equipped to steer us through the sort of storms we’ve had to endure in our last two games with a sense of calm and resolve that we’ve not seen so far this season or, indeed, last season.
Get some such players in and this combined with the good things we’re doing, in home games at least, on the attacking front and, maybe, we can challenge for promotion, but, for now, we’re too flaky to do that.
If someone told me that the first goal we scored from a corner this season would see Isaak Davies provide the assist, I would say they were on the wind up, but as it turned out Isaak’s corners were a promising feature from tonight, as were the ones taken by Joel Bagan, another surprise selection in the corner taking stakes.
There wasn’t a great deal of worthwhile action in the first twenty minutes or so apart from a shot from twenty yards from Rubin Colwill that flew about a yard over, but then Davies’ corner was headed goalwards by Bagan. Goalkeeper Connor Ridley denied the full back his first goal for three and a half years, but his block fell into the path of Cian Ashford who tapped in from around four yards out.
Another Davies corner was headed inches wide by Chambers and Ashford, one of our best players on the night I thought, should have doubled his tally after being set up by Callum Robinson’s best bit of play in his first start of the campaign, but the winger could only shoot against the post.
City weren’t to be denied though and after a bit of a soft foul award, Colwill sized up a free kick that was about five yards further out, but more centrally placed, than the one he scored against Peterborough. I’d rate it as an easier place to score from and that extra few yards also probably helped and so, given that Colwill had also scored from a free kick in one of our pre season matches, it wasn’t really a surprise to see the ball fly into the top corner with Ridley nowhere near it.
Swindon made three substitutions at half time and were having their best spell of the game when the centre of our defence imploded again to leave Ehibhationham running in on our goal and this time he didn’t miss.
The next ten minutes or so must have made for a sobering watch for BBM as we were hanging on at times against an effective Swindon press that led to some hair raising escapades as we kept on passing out from the back.
It was a mystery how there were no more goals as both sides missed decent chances to score again, but, as it turned out, we survived the seven minutes added time with relatively few problems to make our way into tomorrow’s draw for the Second Round.
A few hours earlier, City’s under 21s began their league campaign with a game against Sheffield United at Leckwith. The Blades always seem to be strong at this level and with the temperature around 30 degrees and the team missing some players who were included in the first teams quad, it wads a testing opener for City.
In the event, a 1-1 draw was not a bad outcome at all for a City side that deserved their half time lead, but then came under a lot of pressure after the break. There were still chances for a one or two more goals for City in the second half, but Sheffield were deserving of at least a point and the outcome was a fair one.
City led through a well taken Troy Perrett goal after an effective press had won them the ball about thirty yards from the visitor’s goal and eventually the midfielder was able to carefully place his shot high into the net beyond the keeper. The goal was the catalyst for our best spell of the game and Jac Thomas was inches from scoring a similar goal a few minutes later as his shot flew inches wide with the keeper beaten. There had also been a disallowed goal for what was probably a correct offside decision as City took control following a strong first quarter of an hour or so by the visitors.
Right from the start though, the second half was a much tougher examination for City. They passed it to the extent that they withstood a barrage of long throws and corners from the visitors to begin the half and it was a shame that when the equaliser came it was during a period where we were looking pretty comfortable, but we were made to pay when we lost the ball on the edge of the visitor’s penalty area only to lose possession carelessly and one ball played in behind our back four saw Jevan Beattie got the better of Ilyas Debono to stab a shot past Dan Higgs, who impressed on the first viewing I’ve had of him.
The visitors came closest to scoring a winner a shot came back off the post straight into Higgs’ hands, but City had their moments as Luke Pearce saw his hot cleared off the line and Robert Tankiewicz’s attempt to chip the keeper from thirty five yards out sailed just over.
As always, Paul, you provide thoughtful analyses of what we have watched but this time I was more than surprised by your statement that “BMM figured that attack was the best form of defence” because time and time I found myself groaning with disbelief as our “defenders” in our penalty box, including the goalkeeper, passed, often clumsily, the ball across and across and back instead of even bothering to glance up to see if any of our players had managed to get themselves into some free space so that a pass to them might result in an attacking move. I have been told that I must get used to the present custom of “playing out from the back” but it is playing OUT from the back I want to see not playing IN or ACROSS the back! But perhaps we just haven’t got any “creative midfielders” to pass to? Anyway, there were times last night when what we were watching made me wonder whether we would be facing another relegation struggle this season.
Thanks Paul, as ever… for doing the hard work on preparing your detailed report.
And equally big thanks to Graham for speaking up for Common Sense on this manager’s love of circus football.
Poor old Vincent… you have fallen for it again dear boy. Eleven years ago you compounded your error on red shirts by hiring one of Fergie’s bench warmers as manager, hoping the magic might rub off that way . And we saw how that ended up, didn’t we…
Yet Vincent has decided to go down the adulation road again by choosing for his new manager a disciple of Pep’s… alas however BBM is less a disciple and more some kind of Moonie cult member, when it comes to worshipping Pep. It has taken me just three games to realise he is fully infected.
J’accuse Señor BBM of dereliction of duty. Surely to goodness, for a bloke who apparently lives and breathes football, he should have found the time by now to have watched the footage of every City performance of last season. But he clearly has not.
Had he done so, certain things would have been self evident. For starters, Jak Alnwick’s kicking of a goal kick and punts from hand are far more accurate than Trott’s, who even with his famed ball control with his feet, is no upgrade on Jak. You have wasted Vincent’s money there, BBM… with the loan fee and salary.
Had BBM watched those games he would have seen that desideratum was at least one big commanding CENTRE BACK… preferably two. How I envied the Swans when they had that Harry Darling/Nathan Wood partnership.
If BBM you had looked at those games of a year ago, you’d have seen that Chambers was a true liability as a central defender. And again so it proved last night… with him being done like the proverbial kipper for their goal from that fine player with a name that I am sure than Ian Holloway* has given up on trying to pronounce.
To be fair to Chambers, he could well do a decent job in midfield… but in the back four?… No way.
Last night’s City performance reminded me of Paul Trollope’s brief reign. Very depressing.
Bagan was our clear MotM… and I would like NG to be playing on the other flank asap. That will help to shore up the flanks of our defence and mitigate against the glaring weakness in the centre of it.
As for Robinson… is he a dimwit…? I ask in all seriousness, because I have never seen a chap get caught offside more than him.
TTFN,
Dai.
*talking of names… Ian Holloway is called ‘Ian Runaway’ here in Grimsby after he reneged on his fine initial promises… doing a runner when the Mariners’ results took a disastrous turn for the worse.
Oops… unlike City last night, I had a shaky start this morning what with ‘om’ for ON in my opening para, and ‘ild’ for OLD in my third.
Apols.
DW
Thanks both for your replies. To be fair to BBM, he did say after the Swindon game that we should have started knocking long balls to Salech after he came on, so it’s not build from the back at all costs. However, he expanded on why he wanted Trott to play longer passes and it was to get Swindon to stop their press as they, no doubt, would have done if we’d started playing it longer – the clear implication being that we could then start building from the back again when Swindon stopped pressing as much as they were doing in the minutes after they scored.
Trollope won two games in thiryeen I think it was in all competitions, whereas BBM has won two in three so far and I’d say that, despite showing some frailties, I’ve enjoyed the attacking football we’ve played in the two matches we’ve won – Graham, I thought we were much more intent on chasing a two goal lead in the closing stages on Tuesday than we were in hanging on to the 2-1 scoreline. Port Vale was bad I know and we wouldn’t have scored against them if we were still playing now, but I think we’ve been much more attack minded in our two home games. My concern is that I don’t think our defensive weaknesses can be improved enough by just coaching (even if it’s good quality coaching) – for me, we need an on field organiser back there, but who knows whether we’re going to sign anyone else? Maybe we can bring in a few newcomers on the proceeds from Calum Chambers’ move to Wrexham!
Paul,
What great news you just brought me…!! I knew nowt about Chambers to Wrexham.
Could it be true, I wondered. I went to the ‘search assistant’ at Al to seek out more… and this is what greeted me…
‘…
* Current Transfer Situation for Calum Chambers?Potential Transfer to Wrexham AFC
* Calum Chambers, currently with Cardiff City, has been linked to a move to Wrexham AFC.
* Wrexham is reportedly interested in acquiring Chambers, especially as they look to strengthen their defense.
* Context of the Transfer
* Wrexham needs to finalize a 25-man squad and has several players expected to leave, including Dan Scarr, which could create space for new signings.
* Chambers, a former England international, could provide valuable experience to Wrexham’s squad.
* Factors Influencing the Transfer
* The transfer would depend on Wrexham’s ability to offload current players and Cardiff’s willingness to let Chambers go.
* Chambers has expressed excitement about the youth-focused project at Cardiff, which may influence his decision to stay.
* In summary, while there is a possibility of Calum Chambers transferring to Wrexham AFC, it hinges on several factors, including player movements and Cardiff’s transfer strategy.
…’
Oh… if only it can come to pass… then we can make Rubin captain, so as to stop him having games when he does not seem that committed to the result.
Gosh, just when I thought that my esteem for the Hollywood Two could not get higher…
DW
What we have seen from Chambers so far made me wonder whether he’d been named as our Captain simply because he was older than the rest – and now I can follow Dai W in correcting / adding to an earlier contribution by saying now I intended to say then that it was time and time AGAIN that we had to watch passes not OUT of our penalty area but across and across and anyone looking at film of what we did again and again will soon know one of our greatest weaknesses and so work out how to exploit it! I hope tomorrow I can say I was wrong, and so it is still worth all the fuss and bother involved in still being a season-ticket holder although living in London!
Graham, I salute you. You are a true supporter.
You ask why Chambers was appointed captain: the answer surely is that BBM was hugely influenced by his three England caps and more importantly, realising he had played under Wenger.
I expect him to play out of his skin against Rotherham knowing that Wrexham eyes will be on his every move.
DW
BBM has said that Chambers is captain and Rubin Colwill vice captain because they were the top two in a vote by the first team squad as to who they wanted imn the role.
As for a possible transfer to Wrexham for our new captain, I’d like it to be true, but doubt that it is. Chambers struggled at centre back last season and that statement when it appears is often followed by something along the lines that he did a good job in midfield when he was switched there. I agree ot the extent that he was more comfortable there and, initially at least, he was a leading factor behind the improvement we saw through January and into February, but he became less influential as time went on and was back in defence by the end of the season.
Whether it’s related to the Chambers to Wrexham rumour or not I don’t know, but it was interesting to see us linked to a 26 year old who in the past three seasons has been part on a side that was promoted to the Premier League, played on a fairly regular basis in the Premier League and then moved to Ligue 1 in France. He’s played under BBM at Rochdale as well
https://thelutonian.com/osho-is-player-that-i-have-admired-for-a-long-time-says-rochdale-boss-after-hatters-loan-switch/
I can’t see that there’s anything to this as he’s too good and too expensive for us currently surely, but I’d gladly swap Osho for Chambers.
Thanks Paul for your words on the way the captaincy was decided. Actually I am kicking myself, because I’d seen BBM say just that… but alas my short term memory is shot.
As for Osho having played for BBM and that being the telling factor in our interest: I am reminded that it was Trott’s time with BBM at Rochdale that also was instrumental in him coming to CCS.
So judging by Trott’s uninspiring footwork and accuracy of long passes so far, then I’m not sure I’d put too much faith in BBM’s paeans of praise.
All that said, I genuinely hope that Trott and Chambers both have 8s out of 10 today.
DW