It’s to Cardiff City’s credit that, following on from a season where they only kept their place in the Championship because of another side’s points deduction, they’d only had one defeat by more than a single goal margin before today as the 23/24 campaign nears its halfway mark.
City were beaten 2-0 at Middlesbrough in early October and, to be honest, it could have been a lot worse that night as they rather folded in the closing minutes and the margin of defeat could have been doubled with a bit more poise in front of goal from the home team. On the other hand, what had been a pretty tight affair for nearly an hour turned on an opening goal that replays showed was scored from an offside position, so there was a hard luck element to the defeat to cling on to.
Today, however, there were no bad calls by officials, there was no inspired defending or goalkeeping to deny us, there were no unlucky deflections or mishit shots that trickled in and there was no “worldy “ of a goal from thirty five yards to stun us. No, all there was at Southampton this afternoon was just about as comprehensive a 2-0 defeat as you could imagine.
Like Middlesbrough, Southampton could be accused of being profligate in front of goal as the chances to run up a huge score were missed. This might have been dangerous to the dominant home team if these chances were being missed while the score was still 0-0, but the Saints had got their scoring done early by netting twice in the first quarter of an hour and, for long stretches after that, the game took on the air of a training encounter..
City had their spells where they gave their three thousand travelling supporters some hope that they might mount a comeback, but it always felt like Southampton had gears.to move up through if needed and a goal for us would soon have brought another one for the home team – Southampton were the best team we’ve played this season I’d say.
The manager opposing him and the team he’s in charge of may be different, but Russell Martin has certainly got the measure of Cardiff City, as easy victory follows easy victory and it has to be said that for all that he has a reputation of not been the best when it comes to the defensive side of the game, just two conceded and four clean sheets in five victories suggests that he finds organising his defence against us a fairly simple procedure.
As far as today goes, it’s reasonable to say that when you consider that one of the teams involved this afternoon spent their summer transfer window buying and selling players for tens of millions of pounds, safe in the knowledge that there was also a parachute payment to fall back on, while the other was under a partial transfer embargo which stopped them paying transfer and loan fees for new players, there should be a pretty big gap between them.
Although we’ve now played all three of the relegated teams away from home, I didn’t get the feeling of there being two leagues within one that I did today when we played at Leeds and Leicester.
The great attraction of the Championship for me is the number of times when the have nots defy the haves and manage to overturn the much too big advantage that the relegated sides are given, but today it all felt quite helpless as far as City were concerned – or at least the passive, standoffish first quarter of an hour or so did.
Of course, it’s a bit rich a Cardiff fan whingeing about the advantages of parachute payments when his club have benefitted from them twice and I admit that my sour grapes are flavoured by the bitterness of my club completely wasting the advantages that those extra payments should have given them.
This applies especially to the second of our relegations where we concentrated on signing players with little or no resale value, players who, in many cases, lacked the technique to play the game in the way in which it was headed.
Although there aren’t many left from that 2019 intake now, their influence lingers on, especially if the intention is to play in a way where more emphasis is being put on ball retention. Last season, we tried to become more of a ball retention team, but, just as in 21/22, we had to go back to a more direct style of play because we were dropping too close to the relegation zone. We ended up knocking it longer because, to be frank, we weren’t good enough to play the way we wanted to.
Today Southampton combined a relentless press with quick movement of the ball over short distances that we struggled, and failed, to overcome. The Southampton press, especially in the opening minutes, exposed the shortcomings we still have when we try to play in a “modern” way.
Errol Bulut had shown that he wanted to play out from the back by again including Alex Runarrson in goal and occasionally his distribution could be questioned, but more damning were the big gaps between players which meant that we were trying to play modern passing football when the nearest team mate was often fifteen and twenty yards away – much better teams than City would find it impossible to play effectively with gaps that big between players.
So, while those opening minutes in particular exposed technical failings in the City team, I’d say it also asked serious questions about fitness levels – we couldn’t get near Southampton when they moved the ball quickly within our defensive third.
The feeling of annoyance about Parachute payment opportunities being wasted at Cardiff intensified when the two goal match winner Adam Armstrong took his season’s total to twelve because the damage had been done by one of those players who is very effective, at Championship level, but has failed to do the business at Premier League level (i.e. the sort of striker we could have signed at one time, but Kieffer Moore apart, never did).
Armstrong’s first goal on eleven minutes was beautifully taken and a little overdue as he took a touch and then curled a left footed angled shot beyond Runnarson from fifteen yards. Four minutes later it was effectively game over as the home side cut us apart down our right, the resultant cross was deflected into the air and fell, a little luckily, for Armstrong to nod in from about six yards out.
There are those who blamed Runnarson for not cleaning Armstrong out before he got the chance to put his head on the ball, but I wouldn’t – saying that, Runnarson wasn’t wholly convincing once again and the decision to include him instead of Jak Alnwick still looks like a wrong one to me if the defining criteria is ability, rather than some loan clause.
Again, City did not compare well to Southampton with their assortment of goalscoring under achievers up front – you can point to good aspects in the play of Meite, Ugbo, Etete, Robinson, Grant and Bowler, but the plain fact is that they’ve only scored one more league goal than Armstrong between them.
It was Grant who came closest for City today, first when he sent a close range shot wide after our best move of the game just before half time and then when he bamboozled the impressive Kyle Walker-Phillips and drove forward thirty yards before shooting a yard wide from the edge of the penalty area. Apart from that, it looked like Etete had missed a good chance in the dying minutes after he combined well with fellow subs Colwill and Ugbo, but replays showed that a lunging tackle made things awkward for him as he was left pleading for a penalty that was never going to be given.
However, there were at least three instances of Southampton close misses to every one of City’s and I would imagine that Errol Bulut is counting down the days until he can attempt to bring some better quality, particularly in midfield and up front, into his squad, while also hoping that we will not be kept waiting much longer for Aaron Ramsey’s return.
Away from the first team, I forgot to mention the under 21 side’s mad 5-5 draw at Charlton last Monday in my piece on the West Brom game – Ryan Kavanagh with a penalty, Joel Colwill with two, Cameron Antwi and own goal provided our goals in a game where we led by 3-1 and 4-2 as well as losing Cian Ashford when he was shown a straight red card.
Finally, just a quick word regarding the blog. I’ve mentioned before that I’m no longer in the position where financial help from readers is needed to ensure its survival, but, if anyone is still minded to show their support for my scribbles, they are very welcome to do so – payments are accepted by bank transfer, PayPal, cheque and through Patreon, contact me at paul.evans8153@hotmail.com for further information.
A big thank you to all of you who support Mauve and Yellow Army with your donations and to everyone who has done so in the past when help was really needed.
I agree with much of what you wrote Paul. It looked like the ref could have given us a free-kick for a foul near their penalty area early on, on Robinson, although it was at the end furthest away from us, but that was it. Robinson had one of his poorest games. He lost possession several times, having the ball knicked off him. And his awful cross under no pressure from a short corner early into the second half finally convinced Erol to take him off. The miss from Grant just before half-time was key imo. It was the best chance we had all game and could have made a difference pulling one back just before half-time.
That said, Southampton look impressive with the ball, and had more energy than us. I agree that on that performance they looked better than both Leeds and Leicester did. I still felt their defence looked a little shaky when we had our best spell early in the second half, but sadly it didn’t last long, and Southampton were worthy winners, and could have won by more.
Finally on the subject of Runnarsson, my friend who lives in London also said he’d heard a rumour that we’re looking at possibly loaning another Arsenal player in the January transfer window, so we’re playing Runnarsson to show intent as part of that. May just be a rumour though, as I’m one of the several who’d probably prefer Alnwick there instead.
Blue Bayou is right. Robinson has gone backwards.
Worrying times.
With QPR, Huddersfield, Sheffield Wednesday now putting some results together, we will be quickly pulled into the relegation battle.
Truly I have little faith in this manager. I fancy Mehmet has let his Turkish blood get the better of him, and hired a Pep wannabe who will waste more of Vincent’s money in the January window.
Will we get to 45 points? Far from sure.
TTFN,
Dai
Thanks both for the replies. Blue Bayou, I agree that something doesn’t seem quite right with Robinson this season – I know the lighter ball is harder to keep under control these days, but it’s hard to see how a professional footballer with the technique Robinson has could get that cross so wrong unless their mind wasn’t fully on he task in hand. As for Runarsson, that explanation makes as much sense as any I’ve heard. I’m assuming that as Alnwick was not recalled on Saturday, it will be Runarsson again against Millwall.
Dai, people will focus on the Play Off positions and how close we are to them, but, with the teams at the bottom finally stringing one or two results together, there’ll be plenty of clubs looking over their shoulders this weekend. I include us in that, but home games against two sides below us in the table gives us a chance to get to thirty points before Christmas – that should be enough to ensure we stay up, but I am concerned about how much we’ve started to look like last season’s team in our attacking play lately.
Paul, and all MAYAns,
Given that I am as unphotogenic as they come, I should be ashamed of myself for taking instant dislikes to people just on their looks alone. But I must ‘fess up… for I do it all the time.
And one such character who has long been in my crosshairs is Simon Hooper from Swindon. And I think half the problem stems from his amazing resemblance to a demon caner of a schoolmaster from my early childhood. And thus it is that I have quite wrongly been lacking Christian charity in refusing to cut this guy any slack at all.
My first recollection of him was when he booked our very talented coward, Josh Murphy, for diving on the very edge of our opponent’s penalty box… when it was a clear foul on him. This error (along with others), led to him and his officials being given the theatrical long hard stare by Neil Warnock as they left the pitch at full time.
And every game I have seen him officiate in since, he has made at least one howler… who can forget him refusing Wolves an obvious last minute penalty in the opening game of the season at Old Trafford, when the United goalkeeper committed GBH on the Wolves player attempting a header?
And now of course we come to the infamous incident in the dying embers of last Sunday’s game. OMG…
It just ain’t good enough for folk to say he had had a decent game up to that disastrous moment… for refereeing competence should be a given… these are not Sunday League referees, but folk who have a high degree of training and are well rewarded.
But I get what those acting as Hooper’s defence counsel mean… highly paid professional footballers make a plethora of mistakes every game… so why expect referees to be mistake-free?
But no… I expect no such thing. Au contraire… if a referee does not get the occasional free kick wrong… well, then I wonder if he is human.
No, my problem with Simon Hooper is that it is the NATURE of his blunders that antagonises me…
And that one with him blowing the whistle with Grealish clear, well, even by the ‘Hoopers bloopers’ standards, it was a true shocker.
The probability that Grealish would have fluffed the chance had he been allowed to run in on goal, is no consolation. It was a shocker.
But even more dispiriting was the behaviour of Erling Haaland. He’d had a poor game and cynically decided that by scapegoating Hooper, he could shift responsibility for the loss of two points on to this hapless oaf.
Sorry, dear Viking… we weren’t born yesterday. I hope you get a ban… perhaps even more than I hope Simon Hooper does too. But the truth is… neither of you will.
Now, changing the subject… we come to this apparently popular Cardiff City video blog. I had not seen it before, and doubt that I will see it again… but that said, there were no longueurs, and I watched it happily enough…
https://youtu.be/McDH02FhgdE?si=wXk4d0o7SwtXleez
These are my observations…
1. Gee, I never thought I would see the day when someone said ‘unbelievable’ more times than Chris Kamara…!!
2. Not that our inquisitor could get into a revolving door and find his way out, necessarily… for he clearly thought that Lewes rhymed with (Rodney) Bewes, and the Nationwide Building Society were sponsors of our 5th tier. And then when he tells Ollie that Cardiff deserves EPL status – what with us being a ‘capital city’ – he says the same should be true for Celtic… momentarily forgetting that for his ‘capital city’ reference to be effective… he needed to cite an Edinburgh team, not a Glasgow one…!!
3. And then our inquisitor tops things off by getting Ollie’s time-period playing on loan in York all wrong… and assumes he had played in the 2-3 defeat by the Swans last season.
So, perhaps not our inquisitor’s best day in the office. That said, he seemed a pleasant enough cove… and I wish his vlogging a fair wind.
TTFN, Dai.
Simon Hooper’s rise to seemingly be one of the Premier League’s highest profile refs Dai, it seems to have all happened very quickly and I must admit to being baffled as to why. For what seemed a decade, Hooper was a regular visitor to Car4diff City Stadium for Championship games and I had him down as not the worst, but by no means the best of the “regulars” we became used to taking charge of our games. I first noticed he was taking charge of Premier League games about four years ago- that came as a complete shock to me as I thought the Championship would be as high as he’d go.
As for that Ollie Tanner vlog interview, I’m listening to it as I type this. I don’t know a great deal about the people behind the vlog, but the one with Craig Bellamy as a guest was very good and I seem to remember the interviewer saying he was more of a rugby man. I may be wrong there mind, but it seemed to me that Bellamy knew him socially rather than through football and it’s more of a community type enterprse rather than a Cardiff City one.
Thanks Paul,
I will check out the Bellamy edition.
In June 2021, I dined at one of his favourite Cardiff restaurants, Valentino’s in Windsor Place, where the son of the Sardinian owner waxed lyrical about Craig as a human being.
About a decade – or a bit more – back, I also dined at Craig’s co-owned Pier 64 restaurant, in the Penarth Marina. Pretty good steak… alas I believe this place burned down.
One final point… could I ask MAYAns to read the tail-end of the comments section on Paul’s posting of A Very Modern Football Match… and you will see an interesting and welcome note from Brian Andrews.
TTFN,
Dai.
Buongiorno Paul and comrades!
Oh dear… that beautiful header from Kieffer last night has I fear put the kibosh on a loan move in January. The handsome boy at The Vitality may finally realise that there is more than one way to skin a cat. Still, I can take comfort in the knowledge that Bulut’s wingers would never be that far forward as to be able to cross the ball, in the way it was crossed last night.
I am still mad at Robert Page… he kept the best header of a football in Britain twiddling his thumbs till the 84th minute… and then he expected him to change transform our fortunes.
A bit like buying a fine vintage Rioja and pulling the cork and clicking your fingers and commanding it to ‘work your magic!’
The wine were it able to reply would point out that it had been imprisoned in a glass and cork hell for years… and needed time to breathe before it could work any magic…!!
‘84th minute’ indeed… you could not make it up.
TTFN,
Dai.
Paul et al,
Just watched the Spurs game in full.
And of course a totally unnecessary back pass presented the Hammers with their winner.
If only Bulut could take notice… but alas, he won’t.
If he did observe and learn from the weekly chaos in the EPL and EFL brought on by kamikaze football, then he would organise 11 v 11 training sessions where players are FINED for passing the ball backwards in their own half of the field. Circus football is for… CLOWNS.
One other thing… your encyclopaedic knowledge of CCFC makes me wonder Paul if you can pick a team of players currently shining for their clubs… players who have either been shunned by our club, or if apprentices, not given a contract. Tonight’s SKY man of the match would be the first name on the teamsheet… Jarrod Bowen. Let’s make him captain. And seeing that stunning banana kick goal a few days ago, Wes Burns could take the vice-captaincy.
I will close now… before my eyes do.
Off to count zeds.
Dai.
I decided to give myself a day to think about your question Dai, but it was a bit of a waste of time really, because my thoughts are virtually the same now as they were twenty four hours ago. I’ve always believed that City get worse at producing their own players, the further up the pitch you go – who are the home grown forwards that have come through the ranks in the last sixty years? Toshack, Earnie and Simon Haworth and I’m struggling to come up with better than names like John Parsons after that – Isaak Davies offers possibilities, but I’m less hopeful of him breaking into the first team on a regular basis than I was a couple of years ago.
However, in trying to put a team together, it was the midfield that presents the biggest problem. In recent years, I’ve watched a few young midfielders who I thought were first teamers in the making (e.g. Sam Bowen and James Waite) be shown the door at City. It didn’t turn out that way, so is it right to just label them as not good enough, or are there other reasons why they “fail” with us? In the case of the two players I named, I’d cite an unsympathetic manager and off field issues such as his father’s awful illness in the case of Bowen (I heard that the reason Ryan Wintle was loaned out so soon after joining us was that Mick McCarthy has decided Bowen would be playing regularly for the first team during the season) and lack of size in Waite’s case.
Here is a team with one or two subs I came up with, some of them are not really appropriate as they were not released as youngsters by the club and I must say that, in some cases, City were not to blame for the players leaving, but here is my team of “rejects”.
The best young keeper I’ve seen at City in he last twenty five years is George Ratcliffe who I watched on S4C playing for Pontypridd against Barry a few months back – he was released by us after having an injury which kept him out for months and I rate him as better than our current third choice, Luthra. However, Ratcliffe is one of those who has done nothing to justify my faith in him since leaving City in terms of where he is playing now – he could still make a good career for himself, but it has to be very doubtful that he will now. Therefore I’m going to cheat a bit and pick last season’s Championship keeper of the year, Ben Wilson of Coventry who we let go on a free a few years back – I notice he’s been dropped by Coventry recently though.
A back four was relatively easy, at right back I went for Tom James, currently of Leyton Orient, who has fashioned a decent career for himself after being released by us close to a decade ago – McCaulay Southam-Hales of Stockport could provide cover in the position. At centreback, there’d be my choice as captain, Tom Lockyer who never lets Wales down and is leading Luton in the Premier League now. Lockyer is another who City released because he was considered to be too small to play in central defence and the same applies to Declan Dally who was in a Wales under 16 team featuring five City players I believe, which crushed England 4-0 around a dozen years ago. Dally signed for Manchester United after we released him, but his career was ended by injury while still a teenager, so it’s impossible to tell how good he would have been, but the team he ended up at after leaving us certainly asks questions of our decision o release him. Alongside Dally in the Welsh team that night was Josh Yorwerth, a player with all of the physical attributes to make a commanding centre half and he had ability on the ball as well. Unfortunately, he also had some personal demons and I don’t blame City for his career not reaching the heights it should have. Left back has to be Joe Jacobson who is still going strong at Wycombe at the age of thirty seven. Okay, he’s played all but a season of his football in the lower divisions, but I’m sure he could have done a job in he Championship for some side or another over the past decade or so – I’d give him the Welsh cap he deserves in one of our upcoming friendlies if I were Welsh manager.
I would have put Portsmouth’s Regan Poole at the back were it not for the dearth of midfield players, so he sits in front of the back four in my team – again, you can’t blame City really for letting him go because there’s nothing to suggest so far that he would have become a first teamer with us, but, rather like Lockyer, he seems like a late developer to me and I think it’s still possible for him to make it into the Championship or better.
Another type of player you can’t blame City for losing are those who get signed by top clubs when they become eligible for a pro deal, so I’m going to pick Charlie Crew of Leeds as my other central midfielder – he’s already breaking into the Wales under 21 squad and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him being loaned out somewhere next month because he’s ready to be playing senior football already. Wes Burns would be my right sided midfielder and I’d put Rabbi Matondo on the left or as part of a front three – his start to he season with Rangers suggested he may sill be able to fulfil some of that talent that attracted Manchester City in his mid teens.
Jarrod Bowen has to be up front as you say, but it’s hard to come up with anyone to play alongside him. Chris Popov, currently of Leicester and another who wen to Manchester United, was in the the Welsh squad for the recent under 21 games and Gabriele Biancheri attracted plenty of attention after his move to Old Trafford, but a player who I always thought had something about him which suggested he had the ability to be effective at a higher level than he was playing at was Aaron Amadi Holloway who I was advocating as a possible pick for Wales when he was at Wycombe.
I’ve probably missed one or two good candidates and it’s hardly a team which would storm its way up the leagues, but I think there’s a very thin line between success and failure in football sometimes and quite a few of them could have done a lot better in the game with better treatment and more sympathetic management.
Paul, compadre…
Gee, what an answer. “Chapeau!’ to you.
As soon as I clicked ‘Post Comment’, I thought of Tom Lockyer and Joe Jacobson, but that said, I must confess that some of the names that you have come up with have me in awe of your knowledge.
If ever you get on to the BBC ‘Mastermind’ programme, I suggest you choose ‘Cardiff City 1963-2023’ as your specialist subject. Moi? Oh, it has to be ‘Anoraks, 9.99-19.99’ for me…!!*
Changing the subject…
Recently I was in the lift at the Premier Inn, Piccadilly Manchester, coming down to breakfast. And I met a delightful young family who told inquisitive me that they were from Ebbw Vale, when I detected a Monmouthshire Valleys accent. The eldest son aged about 12, was kitted out in full Man City strip… and when the dad asked where was I originally from, he said “Oh the Rhondda… my boy here plays for Cambrian!”
To my shame, I feigned admiration… sensing that the dad was as proud as punch that the boy was playing for an elite team. But in truth, I knew zilch about this team… but had the savvy from my Rhondda days (and remembering Cambrian Colliery from my relationship with the estimable Rose Day of Wern Street… to say ‘Ah, Clydach Vale…!! Well done.’
And the lift doors then opened and we went our separate way to separate tables.
The question I want to ask you though Paul is this: am I right in assuming that Cambrian boys team is the elite Valleys boys team? I had visions of this proud dad driving twice weekly early evening from Ebbw Vale to bring his son to training sessions.
*I like to attribute jokes, and not steal them. Alas I cannot recall who coined that gem.
TTFN,
Dai.
I hope I’m not missing the point, but I offer one name (among many) – Bobby Decordova-Reid. A four-year-contract became one year.
They make the claim to be “arguably the biggest and best football club in RCT” here Dai.
https://www.cambrianbgc.co.uk/
I think it has some justification as well, given the struggles of the team I always used to rate the best (Ton Pentre) – by league status, I suppose it should be Pontypridd, but I read this week that they’ve just been docked 141 points for irregularities regarding the payment of their players!
I first became aware of the club through the exploits of this team in 2017
https://clwbpeldroed.org/2019/01/13/cambrian-class-2017-league-cup-final/
City’s under 21a played Cambrian in some cup game in August I think it was – they won 4-0 with Rhondda boy Cian Ashford scoring all of them and there was a crowd of over a thousand there to see it.