Well, I found a stream last night that was delivering good quality pictures of Cardiff City’s game at West Ham and settled down to watch whether they could turn the improvement in their home results into something tangible on their travels.
Twenty minutes in, they had come through one or two hairy defensive moments and a worrying tendency to be off the pace in midfield to be still level at 0-0 and I got the first appearance of the dreaded buffering circle that is such a frequent accompaniment of any streamed game you watch, but, although an undoubted nuisance, it can usually be lived with as it proves to be a temporary interruption on most occasions.
Unfortunately, this time, it proved to be the forerunner of something far worse as within seconds, the stream was lost completely – not only that, there were real problems with my whole broadband connection to the extent that even simple Internet searching became a hit and miss experience which usually came down in favour of the latter.
I’m still none the wiser as to what went wrong, but everything is working fine now after one of those experiences which really brings home how dependent we all are on that bit of wire which brings the Internet into your home.
So, it was back to the old faithful of the radio for the rest of the match and given what I had been able to watch of it, the spending power of the two teams and our away record so far, it didn’t come as too much of a shock that it ended up 3-1 to West Ham with the commentary disagreeing with our manager’s post match questioning of how we had ended up losing it.
My main concern in the portion of proceedings that I was able to watch was how quickly and often West Ham were able to play through us in midfield with short, accurate passing which we seemed powerless to counteract. Nothing had come of this warning sign up until the time my Internet packed up, but alarm bells were ringing for me I have to say.
So, the first away match following a run of fixtures on the grounds of four of the current top six ends in a defeat which most of the media would have predicted by the sort of margin that we got in the end. However, could it have all been different if City had been able to cash in on the opportunity they were given with about ten minutes of the first half left?
From memory, we were only given one penalty (scored by Whitts in the 1-1 home draw with Stoke) in our previous season in the Premier League and, up until last night, there had been precious few signs of us being given one during our second campaign at this level. However, referee Graham Scott pointed to the spot when Junior Hoilett went down under a challenge from Marko Arnautovic and, judging by what I heard on the commentary and post match comments by the managers, it seems the decision was a correct one.
Now, a bit of research back through this blog to the match reports on the games when Joe Ralls took his first few penalties for City will show that I didn’t have a great deal of faith in his ability to score from the spot. Whitts missed four penalties during his time with us, but I was always pretty confident he would score when he stepped up to take one (many of which were in very high pressure situations) and Anthony Pilkington, whose absence from the squad for the best part of two seasons looks something of a mystery given the dearth of natural finishers in it, was another who I had a great deal of faith in from the spot.
To be fair to Ralls, apart from when he tried to be too cute with his second penalty in our home win against Norwich last season, he had always got the job done for us, but I can only say that it was not a shock to hear that Lukasz Fabianski had saved the penalty – apparently, it was an easy stop for the keeper who was always going to save a penalty that lacked power if he went the right way.
Ralls has had a difficult couple of months with his somewhat embarrassing sending off at Spurs and an injury which, apparently, was still troubling him to some extent when he returned from his suspension – I suppose other club supporters are just the same, but I’ve always thought some City fans love picking a scapegoat and Ralls is in danger of becoming the latest one.
Therefore, you have to wonder if he was the best candidate to take the penalty – the problem is though, who out of our starting eleven last night offers themselves as an obvious alternative to him?
Apparently, Victor Camarasa wanted to take the penalty, but, although I’ve not researched this, I’m not aware of any of the other ten on the pitch at the time having a record which shows that they have had consistent success from spot kicks in their career. Even if you expand the search beyond the eighteen in the match day squad last night to the twenty five named by Neil Warnock at the start of the season, there aren’t any names which really stand out to me.
Gary Madine scored quite a few penalties for Bolton, but his one attempt from the spot for us was hardly a success was it and, anyway, although he was on the bench last night, his failure to get on to the pitch when we were three down and, surely, in need of as many forward players as possible, rather tells it’s own story when it comes to the likelihood of him being able to take any penalties we are awarded from now on.
Ralls’ failure to score last night can be added to the penalties missed by Madine and Hoilett in those mad last few minutes against Wolves to make it three consecutive spot kicks we have missed now. Neil Warnock and members of his scouting staff are, reportedly, off to various locations tonight to look at possible January transfer targets, let’s hope that there are some players with good penalty records among them, because any team battling the odds like City are this season really need to take opportunities like last night’s if and when they come along.
So, City are still the not so proud owners of what must be one of the season’s strangest, and most concerning, stats – they have only held a 1-0 lead for a total of twenty one minutes this season and that was in a game they ended up losing 4-1!
Yes, that time between Sol Bamba’s sixteenth minute effort at Stamford Bridge and Eden Hazard’s thirty seventh minute equaliser is the only period in the sixteen matches City have played so far (Norwich were 3-0 up when Bruno Manga headed in what was our first goal of the season in the one Cup tie we’ve played) where we have led by the only goal of a game..
The fact that our squad, reckoned to be the weakest in the division by most pundits, have managed to win three games from being 1-0 down is a very impressive achievement which says a lot about their character and togetherness in the face of results which are consistently going against them. It offers hope in so many ways, not least in that we will have it in us to see matches through when we score what is always considered to be that very important first goal.
Unfortunately, the evidence to support the theory outlined in that last sentence is almost non existent and, surely, the fact has to be faced, that we have no chance of avoiding the drop if we keep on going throughout the remaining twenty three matches of our league campaign as we have been in the first fifteen?
Success in football is often defined by the number of 1-0 victories a team achieves over a season or competition. Success in Cardiff City terms for 18/19 will be a finishing place of seventeenth in the Premier League, but what chance do we have of achieving that if we keep on taking the 1-0 win out of the equation?
Just a few other City related items to mention, best of luck tonight to our youngsters in their Youth Cup tie at Hull City. They beat the Humberside club back in August, so let’s hope it’ll not be a case of “concentrating on the league” from tonight for them.
I’m afraid that concentrating on the league is the mantra we’ve got used to hearing from too many City managers in recent years following exits by the so called first team in the early rounds of cup competitions. With the draw for the Third Round of the FA Cup giving us a trip to League One strugglers Gillingham, we will no doubt be seen as Premier League giants killed by a lower league David in the all too likely event of us going out, but the truth, as provided by the club’s attitude over the past four or five seasons towards fixtures where there aren’t league points at stake, tells a different story doesn’t it – please City, can we treat the FA Cup with a bit of respect this season!
Also, can I wish a full and speedy recovery to City legend (this is one of those rare occasions where that description is merited) Phil Dwyer – the club’s Twitter account reported that he was “taken unwell” earlier in the week.
Once again, I’ll finish with a request for support from readers by becoming my Patrons through Patreon. Full details of this scheme and the reasons why I decided to introduce it can be found here, but I should say that the feedback I have got so far has indicated a reluctance from some to use Patreon as they prefer to opt for a direct payment to me. If you are interested in becoming a patron and would prefer to make a direct contribution, please contact me at paul.evans8153@hotmail.com or in the Feedback section of the blog and I will send you my bank/PayPal details.
Ta, ‘Bob,’ for your report.
I have seen all bar 2 games this season and, Man City apart, the early WHU assaults on the City goal (at the start of both halves) were as bad as it has got for the Bluebirds this summer and autumn. Without some excellent keeping by Etheridge and goal-line clearances it could have been 6-0 or 7-0. Yes, really. That said still being 0-0 after 25 minutes City could have been 2-0 up after a 15 minute purple patch. Hoilett had his best 15 minutes of the season and that penalty miss did not get the rewards they deserved.
On the Ralls’ issue. OK he’s not had the best of seasons but the hysterical ranting I’ve read overnight about how useless he is and that he should never take another penalty EVER has been surreal. His record from the spot is good and he was one of the reasons we were promoted last season.
Without restating the obvious our shortcomings were cruelly exposed by an average but pacy WHU team. Sure they scored their goals in a 15 minute second half period but 15 minutes was not the sum total of our problems. Our lack of investment this summer has hamstrung us. That’s the fact of the matter, even if there are those who will criticise those who have the temerity to bring it up. Square pegs in round holes will not work over any length of time at this level. Packing a team with 7 or 8 centre backs, central midfielders and a utility player stifles a team of flair and pace, the qualities that are essential to compete in the PL.
What of the future? Well if the failures of the summer recruitment are going to be addressed this January why wait 6 months to do it and make the hill that much steeper? A right back, striker, and creative central midfielder are, at the very least, still needed. What fist will we make of our dealings, I wonder?
A fit for purpose team last night would have scored a couple of goals and given the home team something to think about on the chances we created. But at this level you need ability and not just hope and spirit to survive. We have characteristics many teams can only dream about but the third part of the formula requires investment. Lack of investment tends to poverty and failure … a result no fan wants.
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Thanks for the report, Paul.
I have only read reports and comments on forums on last night’s game but I am very confused by comments Warnock has reportedly made. Did we really show that we were capable of winning away???
Paul – Good morning, such a disappointing result having reached half-time level and also missing a penalty.
I was not able to keep abreast of the happenings as they took place, but was aghast that we managed to concede three goals in that 12 minute period early on in the second 45 minutes. Not for the first time this season have we succumbed to consistent pressure and I fear we will continue to do so unless there is a change of personnel, or formation, or both in our back six.
I have the greatest respect for NW, but we really do need to know what is our best formation if we are to prosper in this division. Is it a back four, back five, wing backs, one or two holding mid-fielders and that’s just from the defensive perspective. And as for the attacking formation, is it Hoilett, Murphy, Harris or Mendez-Laing to support our loan striker whoever he may be. As I have stated before, Paterson, willing though he may be, is not the main man in the striking department. I think, as you, we are missing Pilkington.
I understand the unfortunate Ralls was booked again last night for not being quick enough in a challenge and that he was replaced when we were three down. Just not his night and perhaps he needs some time to contemplate the Premier League and develop a more composed approach. He still has much to offer.
I hope we are successful in obtaining the services of Clyne, but we have competition from Palace and Leicester, but I just wonder on what shape the team will be thereafter. We do need a genuine full back on the right and clearly NW does not believe Peltier is up to the task, and Bruno’s lack of pace is a liability in that position.
A proper full back is young Reece James at Wigan but he may be difficult to prise away as I believe he is there on loan from Chelsea. If we are after a wing back, I suppose we could always ask Chelsea for Victor Moses.
I believe NW is off to Europe with Mr Tan’s credit card in his wallet, but I don’t know his actual destination. Impertinent man that I am, when wishing him a Happy 7oth I did make a couple of suggestions for presents, striker and attacking mid-fielder, that would make use of our owner’s credit card, but I can’t believe he really wants any help from me. On the other hand…….
If there is any consolation from last night, we did score another goal away from home even if it was in the 95th minute. With Watford, Palace and Leicester all before year end, we will need a better return than that.
Oh, by the way, I enjoyed your very realistic and thoughtful responses to the enquiries from the Hammers blogger yesterday.
Hi Colin.
No. His statement that we lack, “a little bit of quality,” is wide of the mark. Furthermore, to make it seem that, apart from 15 mins, we were as good as WHU is really disingenuous. They had more pace, better control and were far more composed on the ball. They opened us up easily. Though we could have been 2-0 up after 35 mins that would have been more to do with the home team’s profligacy than the away team’s ability. To be honest, and again the deluded don’t want to hear it, we are far more than, “a little bit of quality,” away from being a genuine PL outfit. That said we may, somehow, survive this season but we should not kid ourselves that we are anywhere near the finished article.
Do you think Gary Madine could sue Cardiff City for the broken promises which presumably brought him to the club and for the public humiliation he receives for not being given a chance to prove his worth for the entire time he has been at Cardiff? I jest, of course, but I have to think there is some sort of animas in the way he has been treated, while Zohore, for example, was given every opportunity to play even when a blind man in a fog could see he lacks the necessary grit .
In respect of the penalties Joe Ralls took last year, every single one of them was poor — and yet lucky, if I remember correctly. Again, that shortcoming was pretty obvious, but we have to credit his willingness to stand up and be counted under pressure
I mentioned some time ago on this very site that, judging from the pre-match kicks at goal (always with the players’ stronger foot, naturally — and I feel inanely) the best forward when it comes to kicking a dead ball is Junior Hoilett. Assuming he doesn’t want the responsibility of taking penalties, Camarasa seems a s good an option as anyone else. If he wants to take the shot, and Ralls does not, let Camarasa have a go. Mention of Hoilett reminds, me of something else. It used to be his role to run at speed towards our corner kicks, but even this meagre step towards the unexpected has now gone the way of all flesh. How I’d love to see a bit of quick thinking and flair from our players. Ironically, the best man over the last few seasons able to go forward with genuine football intelligence (again as I’ve said on this site) is Pilkimgton. If new players come in, can we be sure they’re any better than our current personnel?
At the moment it’s now up to the non-playing staff to prove their credentials, both by picking a team where players are in their correct positions and have been selected for the right reasons, and by raising the morale which was pretty low by the end of last night’s game. The proof of the pudding will be on Saturday.
Having watched the game. Albeit with a lot of buffering. Due to that i saw up to the penalty then the game had restarted and it was 0-0. Oh dear.
Anyway. West ham were the better side for 30 minutes. Created chances where they had one cleared off the line. City are on there as a team and they must work as a team. for 15 minutes they did not.
Goal 1. Bamba could and should have headed it back to Etheridge. It cannoned off his head and Bennett was under it. Morrison decided for some unknown reason to leap with Joe and clear the ball. the problem was he failed as it was a poor header. He should have allowed joe to challenge and he could have dropped back for the through ball. Bad error.
Goal 2. Manga caught out of position so dived in for ball and missed giving Anderson a free run down the wing. Perez runs into the box with Gunners tracking who then stopped at 12 yards giving Perez a free shot. Take a look at goals conceded this season and a few times our midfielders stop tracking back.
Goal 3. Poor marking
All 3 goals were from errors and this is what we need cutting out. I can see where NW is coming from with his view. The crowd were getting jittery and complaining so if we had scored the penalty, and it was a penalty, they may have changed totally. We failed and the rest is history.
manga needs to be back in the middle and at the very least get Jazz in the side. Solid tackler with pace.
its hard to be optimistic but keep the faith and beat southampton and all will be well again.
Morning everyone and thanks for your replies. An interesting first post by Steve, I’m in agreement with him about Ralls, but have very mixed feelings about his contention in the last paragraph of his message. Essentially, I agree that Neil Warnock has been dealt a very tough hand when you consider that we are trying to do what teams like Burnley, Brighton and Huddersfield have done in past seasons, but with a smaller budget than what were largely considered to be modest ones by the standards of this league at those clubs. Furthermore, if it is true that we are looking at signing Jordon Mutch (one of our best players in 13/14, but someone whose career has gone into a steep decline since then) in January, then you have to wonder as to what sort of budget our manager has been allocated for the forthcoming transfer window – one that, once again, will be significantly lower than the large majority of clubs in the Premier League I would guess.
On the other hand though, I was listening to Elis James’ Feast of football podcast yesterday where it was revealed that the City squad had clubbed together to buy Neil Warnock and his wife an all expenses spared stay at one of the really top hotels in London as a 70th birthday present. The two former pros on the podcast (Danny Gabbidon and Iwan Roberts) said that this was almost unique in their experience and when you consider that we, despite all of the stories about us being,
perhaps, the worst ever Premier League team, would be staying up if the season ended today perhaps is an argument for saying that “hope and spirit” can take you quite a long way even at the higher levels of the game. I’m by no means fully convinced by that last week, but we’ve won quite a few matches through sheer bloody mindedness and a refusal to accept anything less than three points over the past season and a bit – there’s been a strong element of that in all three of our victories this time around as well.
Neil Warnock’s post game comments came as a surprise to me as well Colin given what other people were saying about it- Steve’s reply to you is much closer to what I’ve heard (I’ve still yet to see anything of the last seventy minutes of the match because none of the videos are working on the club website this morning, so it looks like I’ll have to wait for Match of the Day to appear on IPlayer).
Thanks about the West Ham site BJA. I’d read a couple of articles since the Wolves match that, despite our continued problems from set pieces, there had been a defensive improvement since we let in four at Liverpool at the end of October. After all, we had only conceded a goal a game in the two 2-1 wins and 1-0 defeats in the four matches since then, but, as Paul mentions, there were mistakes made for all three goals on Tuesday and although I’m probably getting a bit boring as I bang on about clean sheets and 1-0 wins all of the time, we cannot keep on going into matches needing to score twice to stand any chance of winning them. Although I’ve heard one or two ex players saying that Paterson is improving quickly in his all round game as a striker and Neil Warnock thought it was his best game so far as attack leader, I think you’re right about him not being a long term solution to our problem, so, if we’re looking for wing backs (can’t help thinking that Warnock will want an out and out right back mind), why not use Paterson there – he ticks the boxes when it comes to quite a few of the criteria needed to play there in the modern game.
Anthony, regarding Madine, as the only target man type striker on the bench, you would have thought the would have got some game time in the last quarter on Tuesday (especially as Paterson was one of the players withdrawn). I don’t know if Camarasa has taken penalties at other clubs, but he was certainly one of the players from Tuesday’s starting line up that I would have seriously considered if I had been asked to select a penalty taker – will we get another one before he’s due to go back to Betis though? Talking of Hoilett, one of the few things I did see from the game was him in a foot race with West Ham’s Antonio for a ball played towards the West Ham corner flag and it was dispiriting to see how the West Ham player quickly closed a significant gap between him and one of our quicker players, but I should qualify that by saying that Hoilett was given offside so may have realised this and was not going flat out. on the podcast I mentioned earlier, Danny Gabbidon said that although Neil Warnock has a reputation of being a defensive manager, he was more willing to take risks via an attacking approach than many other bosses he had throughout his career, but I’m not convinced that he would be a great one for the sort of off the cuff thinking you talk about – that’s a shame as far as I’m concerned.
Paul, I’d seen reports blaming three out for the back four for the concession of the first and second goals, but I see you think Bamba (who I thought had been playing better in the games leading up to Tuesday’s as well) could have done better for the first one as well. As for Jazz Richards, I’m not sure when he will be available for the first team again because he played for an hour in a Development team match about three weeks ago and has not been seen since – it might be that he won’t be fit enough to be considered until after the transfer window has been opened. For me, an awful lot depends on the type of player we can bring in next month because three wins in our last four home matches against the sort of teams we need to beat to stay up suggests that, while things can look bleak when we lose like we did on Tuesday, we are not as bad as we might appear at times – I still think it is odds on we’ll go back down, but I was a bit more optimistic going into December than I was going into November.