When I moved up to Tynewydd from Cardiff just before Easter, I spent the next month bemoaning a dodgy internet connection which meant that I saw very little of the televised away mathes at Sheffield United, Villa and Derby (not that I missed that much really!).
Once it was up and working, my connection, under a new, improved, provider, has proved very reliable until yesterday at least, when the connection grew more and more intermittent. It seemed okay again this morning, but around lunchtime started playing up and, by the time City’s game at Leicester was about to kick off, there was no chance of me being able to watch a stream of it.
I decided to ring my provider knowing that, in my previous experience, such calls can drag on for ages and so I may well have being doing myself out of listening to a good portion of the match. That was precisely what happened as the game was into it’s second half by the time I got off the phone after being told that the problem looked to be something that would need to be looked into by Openreach – at this time of year especially, this probably means problems with my broadband for the best part of aweek (all of this following on from the news that my shower packed up on Thursday!).
So, this is going to be one of those shorter pieces I have to do from time to time where I know less about what happened during the game than most who get to read it. What I can say is that the twenty five minutes or so that I was able to listen to sounded great as the first thing I learned was that Neil Etheridge (who now looks to be staying here rather than flying out to represent the Philipines in the Asia Cup next month) had just pulled off his third penalty save of the season as he guessed right to save a weak spot kick from James Maddison.
The England squad member had gone down rather easily apparently after being challenged by Sean Morrison and so, maybe, justice was done as Etheridge was helped out by a superb block and clearance from Sol Bamba to make sure Leicester couldn’t score from the rebound from our keeper’s save.
Judging by what I heard after that, City spent the last twenty minutes or so defending their goal more comfortably than they had done at Selhurst Park on Boxing Day and, for all of the world, it sounded like we would be picking up a second consecutive and creditable goalless away draw, but then Victor Camarasa came along and won the game in added time.
Camarasa’s goal is the only thing I’ve seen from the game up to now and it was good enough to deserve the very excited reaction it got from Rob Phillips on Radio Wales when the ball hit the back of the net.
Over the past month, goals from right footed shots hit with the side of the foot from distance have become something of a speciality at Cardiff City – Junior Hoilett won the November goal of the month award on Match of the Day for his winner against Wolves on the last day of that month yet there are those who say his goal at Watford was an improvement on that one and now Camarasa has come up with one, from neat build up play by sub Bobby Decordova-Reid and Harry Arter, which may be the best of the lot.
What I would say is that today feels like the best day of our season so far. Leicester have been inconsistent at home this season and, seemingly, have something of a tradition of losing to lowly sides in their final game of a calender year, but, having drawn on the ground of a side who were coming off the back of a win over Manchester City, we have now beaten a side who won at Chelsea a week ago and then beat Pep Guardiola’s team three days later.
Before Christmas, it was being widely touted that we were unlikely to pick up an away win this season and it was being taken for granted that we would be going down unless we started picking up something on our travels soon – well in the course of two games, we’ve quintupled our number of away points!
Okay, I know that stat doesn’t look quite as impressive when you just say we’ve gained four points from our last two matches, but it is a statement of intent from a team that spent much of the previous eight weeks or so making a statement that they have it within them to win home matches against sides who are unlikely to get caught up in the relegation struggle this season.
City now have eighteen points from twenty games and so if they can keep on gathering them at a similar rate over the remaining five months of the season are on their way to ending up with thirty four or thirty five points – that’s enough to have avoided the drop last season and probably in the one before that – with it being widely predicted that safety could be achieved with lower numbers than that this year, I think it’s fair to say we are confounding quite a few critics already.
I’m grateful to the messageboard contributor who posted a link to this piece in which Sky pundits picked their team of 2018. Paul Merson does a prediction column for the Premier League fixtures every weekend and, more often than not, he tips us to lose, but we’ve obviously made some sort of an impression on him – maybe there is a grudging acceptance among some at least in the media that we have a bit more about us than they thought we did a few months ago.
Truth be told, it’s not just the media who have been guilty of underestimating City – many of their supporters have done so as well. I count myself in that number as well – I’ve said a few times that we look the worst team in the Premier League by quite a distance when we have an off day and I think my concern about the manner of the Watford and Manchester United defeats came through pretty clearly in my reaction pieces for those games.
However, it can be difficult at times to appreciate what your team has going for it – I was guilty of that for much of last season when I was sometimes nonplussed by the fact that we were not just keeping our promotion challemge up in the face of all that pressure from Fulham, we were actually winning the battle for second place.
Because of the way we play, we are not a side that is easy to praise, but we are, undoubtedly, one that is better than they are often given credit for – as 2018 ends, we definitely have a better chance of staying up than a couple of teams in this league and as good a chance as at least two others.
Thanks, Paul, and commiserations over your domestic problems, goos luck with Openreach, in my experience you’ll need it, but I can recommend a very good plumber!
I managed to watch the game on Sky this morning so I have probably seen more than you. A bit difficult to assess a performance when you just get an edited view but there are some very encouraging comments, on a forum you visit, on the team performance yesterday. seems we performed better in defence and mid-field than we have in previous away games this season. Another heroic performance by Etheridge from what I saw and the goal was a beaut and capped a good performance by Camarasa. Our loan signing of him was probably a bit left-field but he has certainly grasped the opportunity. I am now wondering whether we will be able to hold on to them!?
Two more goals for Jarrod Bowen yesterday as Hull pulled off a surprise win at Super-Leeds.
Watched the Scottish Premier League yesterday and the thought crossed my mind that Steven Naismith might be able to do a job for us in the short term?
You and I (and probably most older City supporters) can probably be forgiven for underestimating our performances – chalk it up to experience! But I am now going to add something to the two things I have previously recognised as the key facets in our fight to survive in the premiership (team spirit and our brilliant supporters) – we are capable of some moments of exceptional quality when shooting from distance aren’t we? And Bamba’s tackle following Etheridge’s penalty save was truly sensational. I was only able to watch the Match of the Day highlights this time and while I agree with the pundits that it was a penalty – albeit a soft one – I am still left bemoaning the lack of consistency by referees in making decisions like this: as long as some referees seem to accept that slight pulling at a shirt does not merit a penalty then players like Morrison (and others) will continue to risk it. Having said that, I think Arter could easily have been sent off for his over-the-top of the ball challenge. The Leicester player pulled out – probably sensibly to preserve his limb from serious damage – and while he didn’t seem to have any justification for rolling around holding the protected limb – another referee might well have seen this differently and a yellow card at least might have been admonished. Hopefully, Spurs will be more tired than us on New Year’s Day – they certainly seemed to have less energy than us yesterday didn’t they?
Thanks Paul and hope your streaming soon returns!
I was restricted to Radio Wales and shouting at the radio – a bit old school but still a regular source of enjoyment (!) as only have BT Sport otherwise.
Otherwise I can only comment after seeing MOTD highlights where NW received the kudos of a Lineker post match interview.
To be fair it looked like a great defensive effort with a real intent and superb shot-stopping from Etheridge. Surely 3 penalty saves in first half of a Premier League season must be some kind of record? Hope nobody looking for a keeper in January.
Also have to mention Bamba’s fantastic intervention in the penalty follow-up which matched/ surpassed Bruno’s last ditch tackle on Zaha on Boxing Day. I too am quick to criticise individual defensive errors that these 2 – and others- occasionally make. Shame on me for they have put everything on the line this week and done us proud.
This week’s games typify what we are about and if we could just capitalise on Tuesday against Spurs that would put the icing on the cake.
Sorry to rub your nose in it, Paul, but I actually got to witness City’s magnificent win at Leicester in the flesh. At half-time I turned to my mate at the King Power Stadium and remarked that the game was getting to be like a Championship encounter; not due to its standard but rather to the growing ease the Bluebirds were exhibiting during the first period. In fact, the longer the game went on in the second half the more assured we were. Had it not been for two cast iron penalty shouts turned down and some iffy finishing the margin of victory could, and should, have been bigger.
On the issue of the Leicester penalty I’ll say this: contact does not equate to foul, otherwise grannies would be rolling on the floor of Mothercare in droves. If Morrison’s slight touch was a foul there would be 500 stoppages a game for free kicks. Sadly I can only see VAR cementing the confusion of this, ‘contact-means-foul,’ mindset. How referees and pundits alike are incapable of ascertaining a dive from a foul is beyond me. The confused thinking today on fouls was surreally compounded when three-player job on on Morrison and another case where the defender was used as a ladder were waved away.
As a game, this was the most assured away performance of this PL year. In fact, this was no fluke of a 90 minutes. We actually seemed equals on this stage for the first time away from home in 2018-19 season. Etheridge, Bamba and Camarasa have received the accolades but I’d like to say a word about our Ice-Man, Gunnars. He was as good at Leicester as he was bad at Watford. At the Watford game the Watford #7 unfairly chose to play 10 yrs further forward, thus taking Gunnars out of the equation, a fact the Warnock did not react to in the 90 mins. Gunnars was like a fish out of water with no one to mark. At Leicester, Maddison stayed, ‘in-the-hole,’ and the Icelandic captain had a fine game.
Vardy, Gray and Maddison weren’t allowed to dominate and were got better as the game wore on. Ndidi, a defensive midfielder who last season sat infront of their defence was pushed forward to accommodate Mendy in his role and perhaps they lost a bit of creativity.
And now onto our very own, ‘Manuel,’ Victor Camarasa. Can I own up? I loved his poise on the ball and ease of movement from the very off. He reminded me of a favourite from a byegone age. Older fans will remember a certain Peter King in the late 60’s/early 70’s. Camarasa is the nearest player I’ve seen in a City shirt to the former Worcester midfielder we’ve had in 50 years. If time allows catch him on YouTube. Camarasa is somewhat taller but the movement and grace on the ball make them two-peas-from-the-same-pod. I trust we can stretch to acquiring more of these technically gifted players from Iberia rather than PL artisans. Plug over. Suffice to say, our very own Spaniard is a complete footballer. His winning goal was a suitable accolade for a colossal performance. He was the best player on the pitch.
Brian Clough once remarked: “All goals are good goals,” but permit me to add that some goals are better than others. Camarasa’s 90+2 minute strike was excellent, capping a fine personal performance and one of the best away games in 60 years of supporting City. Yes … it was that good.
Morning everyone and the usual thank you for some great comments. Colin, I’m told my Broadband should be back to normal by Friday at the latest, but it was much better yesterday and I was able to watch the first two of Sky’s live matches yesterday without a problem before it started playing up again during the Man United v Bournemouth match. So, rather than listen to the Ole love in (give it time!), I watched all of the Leicester game on my computer via City’s website. I noticed there was a lot of criticism about Match of the Day’s coverage of the game from City fans, but, to be honest, I tend to take that sort of thing with a pinch of salt normally. However, I had noticed that the commentator had said something like “boy, haven’t they meritted it” when talkign about the goal and I did strike me at the time that this seemed at odds with what had been shown of the match. Having now seen the ninety minutes, I can only say that the few minutes shown on Match of the Day were not a fair reflection of the game because we were at least Leicester’s equal – I think the problem was that we did not have too many moments which could be shown on a highlights reel – they were more “almost” moments when a better final pass or a kinder run of the ball would have had us in with a great chance.
So, although we didn’t create that many oppotunities , we were “in the game” far more than we were at Palace – indeed, I’d even say that we edged the mdifield battle after I had Leicester down as completely outplaying us in that department when we played them down here in November. It was a really encouraging display which I’d say offered proof that we can stay in this league for at least another season if we show a bit more willingness to go for it in the transfer market in January than we did in the summer.
Mike, broadly speaking, I agree with you about the refereeing decisions in that the one cancelled the other out really. I thought the penalty was the sort of decision away sides struggle to get, but I don’t think we could have too many complaints about it really, whereas Arter’s tackle was a bad one in terms of how the laws of the game are interpreted these days and was definitely lucky not to see a yellow card – indeed, I think we were fortunate to get away with a red (which may well have been turned over on appeal for all the good that probably would have done us!).
Huw, I heard somewhere that the record for penalties saved in a season in the Premier League is four, so Etheridge must have a chance of at least equalling it – have to say that my preference would be that he never gets the chance to do that mind! I think you capture what may save us from the drop with your reference to the sterling defensive work done by Manga and Bamba in the past week. I reckon there are defenders at many Premier League sides who would most likely have just let Zaha go or been that bit slower to react to the penalty save than our two were -there are times when our manager’s preference for defenders who, first and formeost, defend is a source of frustration for me, but that sort of approach has been vindicated in the past two matches and the three points we gained through Manga and Bamba’s heroics may be absoluitely crucial come the end of the season.
Steve, I remember Peter King (the scorer of the best goal I’ve ever seen from us) well. He always struck me as someone who, unusually for a second tier footballer, did not have an identifiable weakness. I can see what you mean with your Camarasa comparison – before our last two matches, I might have said that King was maybe a bit more of a team player, but I don’t think that is a fair statement to make any more.
I’ve just put on Michael Morris’ messageboard that there’s been a fair bit in the media recently about Callum Paterson being a cult hero at City, but, for me, one of the great things about this squad is that I think we have a few of them – for example, Sol Bamba is definitely one I’d say and I’d put Camarasa in that category as well. Our Spaniard went under the radar a bit during the first few months of the season, but, people outside of our club are certainly noticing him now. I agree with you completely about Camarasa’s display on Saturday – even without his goal, he was the best player on the pitch by some distance in my opinion and this followed on from a very good showing at Palace – I hope we can find a way of keeping him at our club and, like you, would like to see one or two more Spannish players in our ranks because, as long as their attitude is right (and Camarasa’s certainly is), thay can be great assets who can often be bought far more cheaply than British players with less talent.
Paul – sorry to hear of your travails (I think I’d miss my shower more than my Broadband!) – making your filing your report even more heroic than usual.
And, thanks to Steve for his “I was there” embellishments on what was such a great day for City and supporters alike.
My guess is that, if there was a Referendum, there’d be a 100% vote for Victor to Remain.
That Peter King goal against Middlesbrough (Oct 1970):
https://youtu.be/3DNN_-DoRsQ
Extended highlights from that Middlesbrough game showcasing Peter King’s ease on the ball:
https://youtu.be/0iYYu3M4Itg
It was said by one BBCtv commentator that Martin Peters (WHU, England) was 10 years ahead of his time. I would just add that Peter King was 10 years ahead of Martin Peters.
Wiki:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_King_(footballer,_born_1943)
Photo:
https://www.mediastorehouse.com/colorsport/football/peter-king-cardiff-city-8651707.html
https://longballfootball.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/king.jpg
Lindsay, my problems with my shower have meant that I have recently rediscovered the delights of soaking in a bath after, I’m ashamed to say, a break lasting not weeks, not monmths, but years!
That’s the one Steve. I’m also always reminded what a great goal it was by Bobby Woodruff as well every time I see that video – those two marvelous strikes really should have won us the points that afternoon, but then Frankl Parsons took over!
Thanks for those brilliant links!
Yes, Paul. The King and Woodruff goals were the two best City goals in a single game I think I’ve witnessed. For the completists amongst us I was in the Grangetwon End (as it was then called before being truncated to the Grange End), right behind the goals about 10 yards up the concrete before the wooden sleepers took over. What a game but a disappointing result.
You can hear the “thump” as King hits the ball in the video and that’s a sound which I can recall noting when it happened – maybe the crowd went a bit quiet, but I think there was more to it than than. It sounds daft now, but that noise was even suggestive of something amazing about to happen.
Lindsay,
Victor is a Bluebird so he can live and work anywhere! Hey ho!
Great stuff, chaps.
Just three things to say :
A great pal of mine – formerly Pompey, now, by dint of residence, a Seagulls Season Ticket-holder, so Cardiff-neutral – always said that Peter King was one of his favourite players of that era.
In my memory, the best Cardiff goal I saw was by John Buchanan at Craven Cottage in ’76, versus Moore, Best, Marsh, et al. There was grainy footage on the BBC News that evening.
Paul – ditto your experience in the shower and bath debate…I gave up the long soak when I realised I would need a team of First Responders to get me out. Things have improved!
Morning Lindsay, I’m ashamed to say I cannot recall that goal by John Buchanan at Fulham. I do remember that we played very well that day and deserved the win. I can recall George Best scoring late on from a poor Phil Dwyer backpass, but there’s nothing in my memory for either of our goals – I’ve not looked it up, but didn’t Tony Evans get the other one?
Did you know that former City player Tony Pickrell’s son, Adrian contributes to this board (not seen him on here this season though, so I hope everything is alright with him) and he is still in touch with Peter King through the friendship between him and his father? The last I heard, Peter was still living in Spain (where he had taken up marathon running!) – I did meet Peter once at a school mate of mine’s birthday party (we couldn’t have been more than ten), but I was too star struck to say anything to him!
Yup – it was Buchanan and Tony Evans; I re-discovered the programme when I recently moved house, but have never forgotten that particular goal.
I later saw Nathan Blake score a corker there. (In the row in front of me that day were N.Kinnock and D.Abse, Ninian Park’s Poet Laureate)
Tosh apart, my three favourite-ever City players were Brian Clark, Evans (above), and Blake.
Speaking of such, I wonder where Ramsey will end up.
I knew something of Adrian Pickrell – I believe he’s still in touch with another former contributor to this board.
New Year Greetings to one and all.