Cardiff City play pretty well, but relegation gloom is settling over the club.

By and large, Cardiff City home games in the last five seasons have been occasions to be endured rather than enjoyed. Results have been very poor and my distinct impression over that period is that wins have been as rare as they’ve ever been in my sixty one a half years of supporting the club. Additionally, quite a few of the wins we have managed have been 1-0 borefests (ironically the rarity of such games this season, because we find it close to impossible to keep a clean sheet, will be one of many reasons for our relegation, if it comes to that). 

Wins have been thin on the ground then and so has entertainment, so it’ll sound churlish of me to describe today’s 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday as a good game of football with quite a bit to commend it, yet it has left me frustrated, somewhat annoyed, fearing the worst and losing faith in our manager.

Omer Riza is being criticised from all sides on social media tonight. I’d like to say that’s harsh and, to a degree, I think it is, because there is a tendency with this manager from some to pile into him while letting a squad of under performing players with a dubious collective mentality off Scot free. However, there are questions to be asked of Riza tonight when it comes to his non reaction to the three substitutions made by Wednesday at half time.

It’s funny though, Omer Riza has been portrayed as someone who is learning on the job, is under constant scrutiny from both the fans and Board and I think it’s fair to say that there’s a general feeling about that he’s not going to be at Cardiff next season whatever division we’re in.

Strangely enough, the Wednesday manager Danny Rohl came into his job around the same stage of the campaign as Omer Riza did this time around and, from memory, his team had only gained a single point when he took over as well. It’s history now that Rohl kept Wednesday up, and with a bit of style as well, and he’s regarded by some within the game as an elite level manager in the making. Indeed, such things were being said about him some time before Wednesday’s safety was confirmed in 23/24.

No one has ever said Omer Riza is an elite level manager in the making as far as Im aware and I’d think they were joking if they did. However, one thing was obvious through the first half today – Riza was winning the battle of the managers hands down.

There were a couple of reasons for this. First, Riza had made a bold selection with the youth and pace of Will Alvez, Cian Ashford and Isaak Davies presenting Wednesday with problems they were struggling to cope with. Behind them, Calum Chambers and Sivert Mannsverk were outplaying their counterparts with Cardiff players winning battles for second balls all over the park and at the back, the youthful centrebacks Will Fish and Joel Bagan were in control.

The second reason for Cardiff being in the ascendancy was that the highly regarded Rohl had got his selection totally wrong, as he conceded himself by making those three half time substitutions.

For a club that could still make the Play Offs, Wednesday were just not at the races in the first forty five minutes and City were worth more than their 1-0 lead. 

I wasn’t expecting as many as three changes from Rohl at half time, but I could certainly see him making one or two and I’m certain I wasn’t alone in thinking that. Omer Riza must surely have expected his rival manager to shake up his tactics or personnel and that probably it would be both of them he’d alter.

I’m doing something now that I don’t do normally in my reaction pieces and that’s give a link to our manager’s post game comments.

The first thing I want to say about the linked story is that I can understand why Riza didn’t make changes to his team at half time – they were playing well and they deserved the chance to continue the good work. However, what I feel fans will be annoyed at is the fact that Wednesday’s equaliser was scored in the sixty first minute and it felt like it had been coming for at least five minutes before it arrived. Riza correctly identifies the introduction of Shea Charles as the main reason for the change in the balance of the game and also mentions that Wednesday now had two in an area where previously they’d had one, but he did nothing about it – or, at least, he reacted too slowly to the changed circumstances.

With a three behind Yousef Salech who were very much attack minded, Wednesday’s extra midfield numbers gave Mannsverk and Chambers a bigger workload than they could cope with, but, even when our manager decided to make changes, you had to question them. 

Mannsverk would not have been at the top of my list of players to be withdrawn – David Turnbull for him was like for like and the damage had already been done by the time the Scot came on I suppose because it was now 1-1, but I would have far preferred Alvez, withdrawn at the same time as Mannsverk, to be the man Turnbull replaced as this would have shored up the middle of the park while giving us the option of having Turnbull push forward if need be.

Mystifyingly, it was Anwar El Ghazi who came on for Alvez. This sounds brutal, but, although there have been occasional flickers from the Dutch international, we’re now going into the final month of the season and he’s done barely anything yet to justify his one year contract – nothing happened today to change that view either.

Ollie Tanner came on, for Davies, after more than two months out injured, but was switched to right back soon after, where he struggled. However, at least that seemingly baffling decision was explained afterwards. The final changes saw Yakou Meite on for Salech and Rubin Colwill for cramp victim Ng.

To get back to the game itself. For all that Davies, Alvez and Ashford (why on earth has he featured so little in recent weeks?) excited to again demonstrate that, in some aspects of the game, we’re better than a relegation team (sadly, we’re clearly a bottom three team in others) there weren’t many opportunities to turn City’s first half domination into goals.

The one we did get came when Alvez drove in from the left, picked out Davies moving in from the opposite flank and he finished cleverly just inside the post from the edge of the penalty area with his left foot – making it look like the Wednesday keeper and defence had been ‘given the eyes” in the process.

This takes me on to set pieces, corners in particular. We had nine of them today to Wednesday’s one and it’s a measure of how ineffective we’ve been from them that Callum O’Dowda today became the latest in a long line of City players to be given the responsibility of taking them.

To be fair to the City captain, he took some bad ones, took some good ones (two of which maybe should have been headed in by Salech, who was also just wide with a very good second half header), but I’d say a majority of them were, more or less, over before they began as City were penalised for a foul.

Now maybe there might have been an error or two made by referee Sam Allison who fell some way short of the standard I’d seen from him previously today, but this happens week after week with this team and one of the reasons for our lower set piece goal rate this season must be that we’re always fouling the opposition (must of them are fouls as well) – doesn’t this get noticed by the analytical and coaching staff and why isn’t something being done about it?

By contrast, on an afternoon where City generally defended pretty well, they came up hopelessly short as the only corner they had to face saw Wednesday equalise. Wednesday lined up with all of their big men well beyond the far post, so it was obvious what was going to happen and yet it seemed like every one of them had the run on their so called marker and it was centreback Michael Iheikwe who scored from Barry Bannan’s delivery with a simple header.

Watching that equaliser, the word “naive” sprang to mind. There are times when our manager seems naive – going into a game in a relegation fight with such a young front four could be called naive because young players can give you an awful lot, but they’re, you know, naive aren’t they. The trouble is, City have been naive throughout a season when they’ve often had a nucleus of thirty year old plus players in the spine of their team – if this season ends in relegation, then the word naive should be there prominently displayed on it’s tombstone.

In the first of the day’s City v Wednesday encounters, it was the Yorkshire side’s under 18s who came out on top with Lennon Talbot scoring our goal in a 4-1 away defeat.

In local football, Treherbert Boys and Girls Club drew 1-1 at home to Pontyclun FC in their latest Ardal South West League match.

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4 Responses to Cardiff City play pretty well, but relegation gloom is settling over the club.

  1. Iain Stuart says:

    Hi Paul
    Another good piece. I have just about calmed down from yesterday’s dreadful second half display from us.

    However, our first half showing was one of the best we’ve seen this season, but I had the nagging feeling in the back of my mind, that our failure to convert our dominance of that 1st half, into more goals, was going to cost us. I said so to some of my neighbours in the Ninian Stand.

    As you say, it was obvious for all to see, almost immediately, that Weds were a different opposition, once those 3 subs came on. Again, I mentioned to those sat around me that it only looked a matter of time before we would concede, such was Wednesday’s turn around from the 1st half and then bang, a header from their first corner. I thought Ng should have done better in dealing with the ball that lead to that corner, that they scored from. Once again our soft underbelly was exposed and taken advantage of.

    I see Riza, post match, has been complaining about us not having a killer instinct. If it’s taken him until now to realise that, then he needs to question himself, as it’s been plain to see that, for literally, the whole season. We’ve had far too many games where we’ve just not been able to “go for the jugular” and finish teams off, due to poor finishing, poor final touches or crosses and trying to walk the ball in. At the same time our defence has made routine errors leading to games being drawn or lost. It’s been frustrating and disappointing and yesterday’s game epitomised that once again.

    Another aspect of the game, was that the referee didn’t help at all. His constant picky whistle blowing, lead to a bitty game, especially second half and he was equally as bad for both sides, hence the unified chants of ” you don’t know what you’re doing” from all sides of the ground. He didn’t help his cause for booking O’Dowda for an innocuous challenge early on in the game. A few words in his shell-like would have been more appropriate. Added to that, when oh when, will referees start giving yellow cards and penalties for the ridiculous manhandling that goes on during corners & free kicks? Mr Allison was sadly yet another, to ignore the shenanigans going on. Ignorance is bliss ?

    I’m really not sure, after yesterday, whether our squad has got the bottle or mentality needed, to survive this relegation battle. With the other clubs around us showing a bit more fight, I fear the worst.

  2. Huw Perry says:

    Hi Paul.
    Thanks for another excellent summary on another extremely frustrating performance.
    Agree with your sentiments – and those of Iain above. Great first half- one of the best we have seen – but poor second half and yet another missed opportunity to grab 3 points.
    Think we all could see the game change early in the second half as their subs changed things. Also allowed our old nemesis, Barry Bannan, too much time on the ball to stamp his class on proceedings. No coincidence that he provided an excellent corner for their equaliser.
    Our corners were again inconsistent and few chances not taken when they did present themselves.
    Also, not sure why we continued to jostle their keeper at every corner giving the ref the opportunity to penalise us. Again, if we can see the needless free kicks we routinely give away every game why can’t the coaches !
    And then the substitutions. Too late and wrong calls in nearly every case – for all the reasons you have explained.
    Every week is so painful, with the added frustration this time of other results not going our way for once, so definitely up against it now. Nobody in and around us is totally clear or doomed, but some are pulling off some good results. Looks like, yet again, we need something away from home now to give us any chance. Not hopeful though as we – players and management – never seem to learn the lessons.

  3. Blue Bayou says:

    Hi Paul, I’m not sure I should reply to the comprehensive comments already made so far by yourself and other contributors, as I agree with much said:
    1. As Isaak Davies and Salech missed good first half chances, I remember thinking that we would rue these misses when Sheff Wed had their moments in the match, which they were likely to, after having the majority of first half possession but with virtually nothing to show for it. I thought the intensity and tempo that they started the second half meant the manager had given them the hairdryer treatment at half-time.
    2. I’ve also previously been a fan of ref Sam Allison but also accept he had an off day, not helped by his very harsh yellow card to O’Dowda after just 4 minutes!
    3. This result, following on from our previous home defeat to a Luton side who were poor but worked hard makes me feel for the first time that we may not escape the trap-door this time. The teams near us are picking up more wins than us, and we’re running out of time to change the narrative!

  4. The other Bob Wilson says:

    Thanks all for the replies. Iain, good to hear from you agaiN. As for Saturday, I can remember watching City win yet another midfield dual in about the fortieth minute and thinkinf that Shea Charles, who had started every league game this season for Wednesday before this one, was bound to come on at half time and then it won’t be quite as easy for Chambers and Mannsverk – it was so obvious what was going to happen and yet our reaction to that substitution in particular suggested that we’d been caught completely on the hop by it!
    Agree with you about Ng and the goal. Having watched a replay of the incident, I don’t think it was a foul, it was just more of Perry trying to buy a free kick while not doing the basics – if we do go down, then the clear decline in Ng’s decision making this season has to be mentioned in any end of season review into why we were relegated. Glad you mentioned the ref was equaly bad for both sides because that was definitely the impression I had and I agree with you about the O’Dowda booking – I was interested to see a replay of it because i was thinking I’d missed something when I saw the foul first time aROUND, BUT i hadn’t – a very strange decision in an afternoon of them by Mr Allison.
    Huw, our corners baffle me, Saturday was not a one off – lately, it’s become a novelty to go through a game in which at least half of them don’t result in a free kick to the opposition (again, failure to perform well enough from set pieces at either end of the pitch has to be in there as an entry in any list of reasons for our relegation.
    To see us play so well in a first half at Cardiff City Stadium was another novelty, but as someone said in the podcast I listened to last night, all that happened in essence was our usual non event of a first half was delayed until the second period this time and I can’t help thinking that the so important Stoke and Oxford games will see more post match comments saying that we were looking good until we gifted the opposition a goal – I’m afraid that I’m fearing the worst now and have been since the luton game where they became the latest in a long list of teams to be played into form by a visit to the Cardiff City Stadium Benevolent Society!
    Blue Bayou, in a similar way to what you say, I’ve already covered much of what you say in my replies to Iain and Huw, so I’ll just say that I agree with you that Rohl probably read his team the riot act at half time and while I fully expected Wednesday to come out fighting after the break.You mention their “intensity and tempo”, but it was matched by a loss of those qualities from us compared to our first half shopwing. You would have hoped that doing so well for forty five minutes would have led to a ninety minute performance from City, but it seems we are incapable of that and, as soon as some of our lot realised they were facing a different Wednesday team compared to the first half, a few of their heads dropped.

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