I sat down to watch Cardiff City’s game at Newcastle today with a sense of foreboding. Part of the reason for this was that City were missing two important players, Harry Arter and captain Sean Morrison.
As is always the case under this manager, it is easier to get blood out a stone before a match than information about possible absentees and the reasons why they wouldn’t be playing. As I type this, I’m still none the wiser as to why Arter did not play – presumably, he was injured, but there are stories emerging now that Bournemouth may want to curtail his loan deal early.
As for Morrison, early in the week there was a brief statement from the club saying that he was in hospital for a “procedure”. Well, it turns out that our skipper’s appendix had burst and his life would have been under threat if the required operation on it had been delayed much longer.
Morrison will be out for at least six weeks it seems and, while he has not been in the best of form lately and Arter did a passable impersonation of a headless chicken in last week’s draw with rock bottom Huddersfield, these are two big players for the club and without them, our line up looked a very weak one by Premier League standards as Bruno Manga moved into the middle from right back and Lee Peltier came in as an indirect replacement for Morrison – a central midfield combination of Joe Ralls and Victor Camarasa with Callum Paterson operating as a kind of number ten looked weak as well..
The other reason for that sense of foreboding which I mentioned at the start was a purely selfish thing – any sort of streaming using my sometimes problematic Broadband had been very much hit and miss in the hours leading up to the game and I was not confident that I would get to see too much of what was being described as our most important match of the season so far against the team that was a point and a place below us in the table.
In the event, the streaming service was patchy for the first twenty minutes and then packed up completely, so, this is going to be one of those occasional shorter pieces I’m forced to do because it seems daft to go into great detail about a game which I saw so little of – especially when so many of you reading this saw all of it.
From what I did watch, I was not altogether surprised by the eventual decisive 3-0 defeat we suffered. While there was no great threat to our goal apart from a Rondon header that Neil Etheridge did well to turn over the bar while I was watching, the way we were continually gifting back possession to our opponents suggested that even a Newcastle side with the worst home record in the four divisions would make us pay eventually and, shortly after the stream of the match had packed up for good, that’s exactly what happened.
With a couple more goals added after the break, a team that you’d class as representing one of the best bets to go down instead of us were comfortably better than City, just like another such team in Huddersfield was in our previous game.
While I accept that I shouldn’t really be drawing too many conclusions from a game I saw so little of, everything I’ve read and heard about it so far cries out that it was another one of those games where we look like the worst team in the Premier League by an absolute mile.
The table may tell you something different and there might be someone that has not gained a point so far compared to our one, but, in 2019 at least, we have been the worst team in the Premier League. After all, New Year’s Day saw us lay on a comfortable training game for Spurs, we then clung on for a home point against a bottom of the table side that had lost their last nine games and today a team that has given the impression that they were scared of their own shadow when playing in front of their home crowd were way too good for us.
The stats say that we had one on target effort today to go with the none against Huddersfield and the three against Spurs, but the truth is that I cannot remember us coming remotely close to scoring in the first two of those matches and I heard nothing to suggest that we did today either – throw in the traditional couldn’t care less third round FA cup loss as well and it’s now something like three hundred and seventy minutes since Victor Camarasa’s superb match winner at Leicester which tonight feels much longer ago than just three weeks.
As a side that played for much of the first half of the season without a natural striker, our need for one was blindingly obvious and there was indeed one involved today in Oumar Niasse who signed on a loan deal until the end of the season from Everton yesterday. Niasse was thrown in today without even training with his new team mates it seems and so can hardly have been expected to transform our play, but it’s mildly encouraging that he comes here with the good wishes of many Everton fans who say he made a good impression with them as an impact sub.
Niasse’s arrival does not mean that the move for Nantes’ Emilliano Sala is off though. While the Argentinian’s club record signing is dragging on interminably (the club have finally confirmed his arrival tonight), he has taken his medical, terms have been agreed and he has, reportedly, snubbed a late and more lucrative offer to go and play in China in favour of coming here.
So, hopefully, we will have two strikers with decent scoring records in the English and French first tiers respectively for the rest of the season, but, even if the Sala we were signing had an h on the end of his surname, he would find it next to impossible to hit the net with the sort of service his new team mates have been providing in the past month.
Neil Warnock said that the fee for Sala is going to be around £15 million rather than the oft reported figure of at least £3 million more than that, Even if we go with that lower figure though, Sala’s arrival would take the transfer spending by City to the £50 million mark for the past twelve months, but, realistically, if we are going to give ourselves a decent chance of survival, the figure will have to rise a fair bit more to bring in the right back and central midfielder we are crying out for.
Although the perception is that Vincent Tan is operating much more carefully this time around, Sala’s arrival would see transfer spending getting towards the sort of levels seen in 2013/14 – in fact, if we do get the defender and midfielder I mentioned then it may well exceed it.
Our manager said he wasn’t too displeased with his side today considering that nine of the starting line up were with City in the Championship last season, but, yet again, there was no place in the starting eleven for the four players brought in during the summer for a combined fee of about £28 million, while £6 million striker Gary Madine made his debut on loan to Sheffield United at Swansea tonight – all of this stands as an indictment against a manager who has done so well here in many other ways.
However, I found it a bit depressing to hear Neil Warnock almost talking down our new strikers as players with limitations because that was the nature of the market we have to deal in. While you can look at the spending levels of other clubs in this league and see Mr Warnock’s point, you would like to think that £50 million would still be enough to buy yourself a bit of class and the quality I believe is so sadly lacking in this squad, composure – but, instead, it’s almost as if the latter is discouraged at Warnock’s Cardiff!
So far, all of this transfer spending has seen just the one technical footballer come in (and he’s only on loan at present), while there have been plenty of workhorses, athletes and/or power players. No one should be surprised by this sort of transfer dealing because it’s the way our manager has gone about things since he first became involved in that side of the game back in the eighties, but it’s a method that has never worked in the Premier League for him and, as of tonight, it’s looking very much like it won’t do again.
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I unfortunately, on holiday in Thailand, watched all of the game. I don’t remember us having one shot on goal. We had control of the game for first 20 minutes but never threatened the Newcastle goal.
Newcastle were ordinary throughout and we were very poor. The makeshift back 4 did not work. Niasse not surprisingly did not get one decent ball.
I am not going to start criticising NW yet. We have 2 new strikers and winnable games ahead. Agree we need a right back and festive midfielder but don’t think we will get the later. Tan has put money on the table so he can’t be criticised.
100% require bit of experience and control. Arter was horrendously missed today, and Pelts and bennett, whilst trying their best we’re out if their depth. I’d love us to go back to Everton and bring Jagielka in, and then look at playing 3CBs and 2 winger/wingbacks
I listened to the game and it was depressing.
NW needs to put sentiment to one side and bring in a centre back and put Bamba on the bench. Prior to the 2nd goal Ratcliffe was saying how Bamba was immobile and off the pace. They get a corner and his conclusion was Bamba lost his man.
We need Jazz, there is no pace in the centre so get it at full back position. 3 slow players yesterday, again. From the commentary they seemed to target peltier with Matt Richie.
Also why tinker with the rest of the team. No Arter so just bring in Ralls.
Newcastle, as admitted by Benitez were worried about this game. Their exertions from the cup game and playing at home had their nerves on edge.
Surely same team as we have played for most of season. Injuries aside. Keep it tight until 60th minute then hopefully it is still 0-0 bring on Niasse to inject pace and a strikers know how up front to get a winner.
Paul, as you state, a change is needed. Could that be the manager?
Whilst we can all see there is no creativity we need to ask why. Hoillett and Mendez Lang, why aren’t they creating?
There seems to be outcry about the centre of midfield but wide players need to do more.
Ie. Better crosses, pick out players in the box or get to the byline..
Since the spurs game I can only see us going down as I cant see NW changing enough to save us. I hate saying that as he has already worked miracles.
Thanks for the write up Paul. Back in our last Premier League venture in 2013-14 I had known that relegation was a distinct possibility from the outset but it was a 3-0 defeat at Swansea in the February of that season when, in my mind, relegation moved from being ‘distinctly possible’ to ‘highly probable’. Sadly, I feel that same shift in view after yesterday’s defeat. Four straight defeats, four abject performances and no goals scored suggest that the next few months will not be easy watching for City fans.
Morrison’s absence and our decision to put what must surely be a hefty portion of our financial eggs in one basket in what seems to me the fairly risky signing of Emiliano Sala, doesn’t suggest to me that we will have the resources to strengthen the team in the other areas which are badly lacking at the moment.
As far as Neil Warnock is concerned, I had always felt that his tremendous achievement in getting us promoted warranted his being given another chance in the Premier League this season. But then, that’s me – I’d be far too un-ruthless to run a professional football club. A hard-headed football savvy board would have expressed its immense gratitude to him last May and then replaced him with a manager more able to match the demands of the level of we are now competing in. I’m not sure replacing him now though would be the answer and given Vincent Tan’s willingness to back him in the Sala transfer then I would imagine there’s very little chance of that.
Still, we can but hope. Hope that in four months time I’ll be looking back over these comments thinking how stupid I was not to realise that we were about to catapult ourselves to a comfortable premier league survival on the back of a hat-full of goals from our new Argentinian goal-machine !
If only our team were as good as the comments of our Blogmeister and other contributors! The lack of football creativity is worrying. Paul rightly points out that even a top striker “would find it next to impossible to find the net with the sort of service his team mates have been providing in thein the past month”.
Past month? Past many months! And as the other comments make clear, midfield and wide men are not doing what is required.
It’s good to hear that Sala has signed, but can one man make a difference? It’s doubtful. And can we be sure that he is the right man for the job.? He may well be, but only if the team acquires a novel infusion of creativity. Let’s hope all will be well in the end.
I take Paul’s point that “only one technical footballer has come in”, and the remainder of recent acquisitions are little more than workhorses. I said on this site soon after Camarasa arrived that he would turn out to be Cardiff’s best signing, and I stick by that. But, for whatever reason, he was disappointing yesterday. More skill, while maintaining the workhorse capacity, is obviously required.
In Spain the manager is usually described as “el técnico” and we need our own manager and his colleagues to look for more technical players, or at least to encourage our current crop to endeavour to practise instant ball control and accurate short and long passing under pressure. I’m not saying they don’t already do so, but it’s not highly evident.
What is worrying is the growing sense of doom which is emerging from the fans, and to some extent from the manager with his suggestion that we are having to rely on Championship level players. In the words of A E Houseman, we seem to be entering into “a land of lost content.”
One final comment. Congratulations to Rondon, not only for his performance yesterday, but for his sportsmanship when Bennett received a double blow in the face. I’d love to see the old Corinthian spirit of fair play come back into football, but — Is that a pig I see flying past my window?
If as seems likely relegation is more likely than not NW is more than likely to get us back at the first attempt, The team will be a lot stronger overall and hopefully more skilful by next season. Lets face it ……promotion was a bonus and all of us knew that survival was going to be very difficult if not impossible……..two miracles in a row are never going to happen and not after Leicester won the Premier league!!
Keep the faith in difficult times and don’t sack the manager
Send for David Wagner, rapidamente – while he’s still available!
Good afternoon Paul and others – Storm clouds are gathering apace. The news that Arter may be recalled by Bournemouth perhaps to be sold, Morison’s untimely indisposition ( and I’m sure we all wish him a speedy recovery ), and NW’s constant ramblings and mis-placed confidence in some, our fortunes for the rest of the season are not looking too encouraging.
Whilst I am delighted to learn that Sala has now signed, I fail to understand the loan capture of Niasse. Two new strikers!!. And why Everton friend as he has hardly set the world alight so far in the Premiership. NW has acknowledged deficiencies elsewhere in the team, but a second loan signing of the season prevents others from the English leagues coming to us by this method unless he had wind the Arter was about to leave. In many of his interviews he can often ‘play possum’. Is this another example?
I have yet to see any of yesterday’s debacle, but watching Sky’s Saturday show, it seemed from Phil Thompson that the Magpies first goal was a defensive nightmare, and the second not much better. We seem to be unable to protect our goal and certainly unable to crate genuine scoring opportunities. And as you rightly state, even the world’s best would find it difficult to score receiving the service received currently from our so called creative players.
We still have time to escape the drop, but some clear thinking is necessary from our Management team as to our best eleven, and some more expenditure on appropriate additions before the end of the month. My suggestion – try Dack of Blackburn and return for the lad from Nice, and play Paterson in his international position. My glass may then start to refill.
Thanks all for the replies, I meant to mention that people cannot criticise Vincent Tan now for not backing Neil Warnock in the transfer market now Robert. if the figures I hear about a wage bill (30k a week being the highest wage), I suppose you could say that makes life tough for a manager trying to recruit a certain standard of player, but when you consider the money he, effectively, gave to us in terms of his debt to equity switch and transfer spending in the region of 50 million in the past twelve months, I, for one, say that our owner would be much less to blame for our second relegation from this division than he was for the first.
Welcome to the Feedback section Gareth, Jagielka on, presumably, a short term contract is an interesting shout which i quite like the sound of, but would ha want more than we could afford to pay him I wonder?
PR, my concern with the centre of midfield stems from me thinking that so much starts in those positions and, as far as our wingers go, they are not seeing enough of the ball in areas where they can attack a full back as they should – I can’t tell whether Hoilett, Mendez-Laing etc. are in good form when it comes to crossing the ball at the moment because its barely happened lately.
Richard, that Swansea match did occur to me as well as I was listening to the last few minutes of Saturday’s game. Regarding Sala, I suppose we have to wait and see with him, but he would have to be an exceptional player indeed to be able to win us games while all of his team mates are playing as poorly as they have done in 2019 and there’s nothing in his career record up to now to suggest that he is.
Anthony, I specifically said the last month, because, before that we were averaging a goal a game which is not great, but was better than most of those in the relegation battle. Since the Manchester United match though, we have barely looked like scoring and, based on the evidence of the last three league matches, this is a problem which is getting worse with each passing week. I’m in agreement with you about more skill being required, but I don’t hold out much hope of that happening under this manager because, although it would be wrong to say Neil Warnock does not want players with better technique in his team, I believe there are a few other things above it when it comes to any list of priorities he may have.
Mention of our manager brings me on to the theme expressed by a few of you regarding his future. In essence though, I’m in agreement with another new poster on here (welcome aboard Roger) when he says don’t sack the manager. I say this not out of some conviction that Neil Warnock can defy those who say that he cannot manage at this level by keeping City up, but, because this is very much his squad now and I feel that, given its fairly obvious limitations, he is probably as well equipped as anyone to keep this group of players in the Premier League. If and when our manager leaves, there might be a desire from many (including myself) to see a move towards a way of playing where possession of the ball is encouraged rather than almost discouraged as it is now, but it would take a lot of new signings and a completely new coaching approach to see that happen and succeed, so while Lindsay’s suggestion regarding David Wagner might have its merits in the medium and long term, I think someone like him would really struggle if, as must surely be the case this late in the transfer window, he had to work with our current squad between now and the end of the season.
BJA, I agree with you a second striker at the expense of either of a right back or midfielder makes no sense and I hope and presume that this isn’t the case. there are plenty of pieces about Arter leaving in the media this morning and I do have a nagging doubt that there is something to this story, but I’m trying to take consolation from the fact that all of the speculation stems from just the one report in the Irish press – Arter was a long way short of his best last week, but I’ve always thought of him as one of the players in our squad that we cannot afford to lose.