DW

Their fans may have taken to ‘out for the season’ Joe Ralls, but they positively ADORE Tolaj. And that game against us on Feb 21st saw him experience a muscle tear, which rules him out till the start of April.

So every game Plymouth have played since us, has been without their talisman. And boy-oh-boy, that chap is some player.

And talking of ‘some player’ brings me to John McAtee… to me, he is absolute ‘star quality’ and it is vital that Bolton try to ignite the genius in the boy if they want to catch us and Lincoln. He is struggling a bit there right now… and methinks Bolton are the last team with any meaningful chance now of the 3 teams that I thought would go up before a ball was kicked in the season… Bolton, Stockport and (dark horses) Bradford.

It is now just over 18 months since he signed for The Trotters… and his career has not ‘taken off’ since. The reason? Partly injuries, and more likely he has not got a manager who really inspires him.

He has a history of clashing with managers… back in his very early days at Shrewsbury aged just 19, he incurs the wrath of Rob Edwards at Telford United who ends his loan deal as soon as it starts and clearly loathes him. Some years later, when McAtee played an heroic part in Grimsby’s amazing late arrival in the playoffs and then successful winning of them, Nathan Jones seeing his brilliance signed him for Luton… but lo and behold, before his career could take off at Kenilworth Road, his bête noire Edwards was in the managerial seat there, and he wasn’t having McAtee under any circumstances… so loaned him out to Barnsley on a season’s long loan, and a year later in Aug 2024 sold him to Bolton… where he has not got that vital spark resurrected.

And why not? Simple… two words again… Paul + Hurst.

It was Paul Hurst who believed in him as a youth for Shrewsbury… and when Hurst was sacked by Ipswich and became manager of Scunthorpe, he signed McAtee… but his reign at Scunthorpe lasted just 8 months, before being sacked.

McAtee then plays on for Scunthorpe under two managers: the second of which (ex Bluebird Neil Cox) he butted horns with… so when Hurst takes over for the second time at Blundell Park, he offers McAtee (out of contract at Scunthorpe) a two year contact, and so they work together for the third time… and this time, it proves a marriage made in heaven.

You won’t believe how much Mariners fans love this boy… he walks on water here. And he speaks fondly of Grimsby folk… I promise you they saw a chap straight out of the Stan Bowles/Rodney Marsh playing style, and idolised him.

Listen to him in this vodcast that has just dropped: gee, what a raconteur he is…!! He has the same immaculate verbal timing as he demonstrated with a ball at his feet… go to 26.00 here, when he starts on the wondrous events at Grimsby.

https://youtu.be/DQaanHsEZlU?si=ybrazNw81Y_T1mh9

Pity Hurst was not managing him now… but guess what, when you said this in your last comment…
‘…
I’ve been thinking that Grimsby’s most likely derby game in 26/27 was against Scunthorpe, but, last time I looked their challenge to get back into the EFL had gone off the rails somewhat.
…’

And do you know which result had really caused an earthquake at Glandford Park (or whatever the stadium is called nowadays)? It was the astonishing 3-6 defeat on Feb 14th by Lincolnshire neighbours Boston United whose 4th consecutive win it was… an astonishing resurgence due to one thing: after sacking their ex-Newport boss Graham Coughlan on Jan 11th, they replaced him with a man called…
… Paul Hurst..!!

TTFN,
Dai.

i’d like Grimsby to go up Dai – don’t know why, but I have always quite liked that club. Can’t see them having a derby with Lincoln next season though -for most of 25/26, I’ve been thinking that the most likely derby game in 26/27 was against Scunthorpe, but, last time I looked their challenge to get back into the EFL had gone off the rails somewhat.
However, League One is almost as mad a league as the Championship is – Stockport’s two recent losses on the road have rather set them back in their challenge to us for the best away record in the division and I suspect Plymouth are now second to us on that score, but look what’s happened to them since they beat us and everyone was talking about about the possibility of a top six finish for them. Although defeat would have been a disappointing outcome for fans daring to think of a visit to Wembley, I doubt it if much sleep was lost by the team or the manager and his staff after their loss at Luton, but what on earth happened to them on Saturday? I had that down as one of the biggest away bankers of the day – after all, although Wigan at Cardiff City Stadium was the worst performance I’ve seen from a League One side this season, Rotherham over the two games we played against them are, by some way, the worst team I’ve seen.

Before signing off… like I think we discussed, the Vertu Trophy served up the most unfortunate result last night. Yes… we now have a Hatters vs Hatters final at Wembley. Betcha Ian Holloway is now ranting off-the-scale.

And that result last night and a win at Wembley will probably just be enough to keep Jack Wilshere in a job if the much fancied Luton don’t make the playoffs.
DW

Thanks Steve, no need whatsoever to apologise. You and I are long term posters on Mike Morris board and this is like a vicarage tea party compared to that – sixteen and a half years into MAYA’s existence and I’ve still not had to delete a single message from a reader. I’m quite proud of that record, but really it’s a reflection of the quality of contributors I’ve had during that time.
As a long term Treky, I appreciate the Borg reference and the reminder of the always very watchable Seven of Nine. I’d stretch the Borg analogy a little further and say that our opposition on Saturday are a bit like the Borg with their reliance on the system which works so well for them – especially if Jack Moylan, probably their best attacking player, who is, apparently, only rated 50/50 for Saturday, misses out.
City have the definite edge in individuality, but that also makes them more flaky = I’d loved to be proved wrong, but I can’t see Lincoln collapsing in a heap on Saturday like we did at Plymouth.
Lincoln will be happy to let us have 60 per cent plus possession just like they are with the other 22 teams in the division, but the danger for them is that we have the capability of making more of that possession than any of the others -that’s how we win I reckon, but we must also be far more “streetwise” than we were at Home Park.

[ From a Doncaster Rovers message board re their pitch: https://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?topic=296372.0 ]

But before some comments about the game may I thank Dai for his gracious and fullsome apology following the Plymouth fixture. There really was no need for him to do so. I know where his heart is and more unites us than separates. But that he did says much about him. It takes a real man to be able to offer an apology and it is accepted. But, again, Dai, there was no need to do so.

There are very few things in life that illicit as strong emotions as football. I guess Dai and I are more alike than different where Cardiff City and football are concerned. At root we both desire the best for Cardiff City and have a concern for the modern VAR-variant of the game.

Paul, the driver of the MaYA minibus, with occasional unruly passengers behind him, needs the patience of Job at times as he negotiates roundabouts, traffic lights and poorly lit roads on the journey. If I have added difficulty to passengers or driver I, too, am sorry and apologise.

To concur with Dai, the setting for the stadium is delightful, nestled as it is on the shore of a lake. Sad I couldn’t get to taste the fare on offer at the famed Whitby’s Fish & Chip shop.

Well, what of the game? Stung by last week’s result these last 7 days have taken an age to pass. As the match played out it was also clear that the players felt that loss deeply and were ready to put the record straight.

The early stages were bitty on a bumpy pitch but gradually City got their passing game together. The senior Colwill looked uneasy in his nominal striking role but as the game wore on he dropped deeper, made 20-30 yd runs and was a constant threat, tormenting the Doncaster defence. Cutting like a knife through butter, they couldn’t handle him.

Robertson’s sublime skill in controlling a Lawlor chip before beating the keeper; Lawlor’s simply ridiculous goal immediately after half time where he ran 80 yds and then calmly scoring; Ashford getting a touch to a Colwill Snr cross before Robinson deservedly made it 0-4 with the last kick of the game made it quite an afternoon’s work.

Whilst individuals may get the praise this was essentially a huge team performance, each cog well oiled, doing what it was there to do, not seeking personal praise, no matter how well they played, but rather pleased to serve the whole in the pursuit of victory. That victory was achieved with a style that made City fans pleased after last week’s pain. No-one epitomised that desire to serve more than Ashford and Colwill Jnr. Their effort and running was on a different level. It was phenomenal. The joy that their hard work resulted in was so evident at the end of the game. But all gave their all. Robertson and Wintle formed such a base for that which took place further forward. This was a team performance of distinction.

[ Doncaster Rovers message board on City game (p3&4): https://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?topic=296335.60 ]

The hit TV series, ‘Star Trek,’ features an alien species called the Borg. The recurring mantra they spoke was, “We are Borg. Resistance is Futile.” In short the collective made it impossible for others to overcome it. It almost seemed that so irresistible was City’s second half performance that Doncaster’s attempts at resistance to City’s controlled game were also doomed. One of the Borg characters was an entity called Seven of Nine. The actress who played the character, Jerry Ryan, said, of her role, “combining non-human qualities with an attractive human appearance,” was a great move by the producers.

A noteworthy saying of hers was, “I am Borg. But I am also an individual.” Nothing could have better summed up this City team performance at Doncaster. Though each City player caught the eye, in different ways, above all they served the team objective.

If the Borg’s Seven of Nine did football matches, Cardiff City’s performance at Doncaster was it.

Yorkshire is a part of the country I have barely visited in my life Dai. I’ve never been to Leeds, only visited Sheffield briefly for non football reasons and, thinking about it, I can’t remember ever going to a football game in the county. In fact, off the top of my head, the only football ground I can remember seeing in the county is Rotherham’s old home, Millmoor, which was certainly not a great advert for Yorkshire’s beauty!
I’ve been involved in a messageboard conversation about Lawlor’s goal – in particular, was it more down to defensive ineptitude than attacking brilliance? Grant McCann spoke after the game about how he appreciated that it was a great goal from a Cardiff perspective, but, he was so angry about his team’s defending. I think that’s fair enough, although he did lose me somewhat when he started going on about how one of his players should have fouled Lawlor at the beginning of his run, but, then again, I suppose it is part of the game these days. No doubt, there was some poor defending involved in the goal, but I argued that Donny players were faced with a situation they had not been prepared for by McCann or his coaching staff and so, once Lawlor had broken past the initial challenges and into the Doncaster half, defensive discipline was non existent and City were likely to score as long as they kept their heads.
That said, if it was just about defensive ineptitude, you would surely expect there to be further examples of when a lower division defence went to pieces to allow a centre back to run seventy yards with the ball before slotting it past the goalkeeper and, yet, to the best of my knowledge, there has not been a goal of tis type scored in the EFL, never mind just the lower divisions of it in the recent past – unless, of course, you count Lawlor’s goal against Leyton Orient!
I think I’ve seen that Mel Charles goal on You Tube at some time and it was a great goal, but I can’t include it in any thinking as to what was the best solo goal from the City in my time supporting them. Honestly, I can only think of one that is a contender against Lawlor’s on Saturday and that was Tony Villars’ in that relegation shoot out with Crystal Palace which, amazingly, was played fifty two years ago!
What Villars’ goal has going for it was that it was so important (in essence, it saved us from relegation). Ordinarilly, you would say that a pitch from 1974 has to be worse than one from 2026, but, this time, I’d say that is negated because Donny’s pitch was the second worst (only Burton’s was worse in my opinion, but I could be persuaded that Donny’s was worse because it was more bobbly) one we’ve played on this season. So, Lawlor had a very long way to run (certainly further than Villars) on not the best of pitches and yet he never looked like losing the ball. Of course, Lawlor’s goal has the advantage of still being very fresh in my mind in a way that Villars’ isn’t, but, even if I try to allow for that, I think I have to come down on the side of Lawlor’s as the best individual goal I’ve seen us score.