It’s like deja vu all over again as Cardiff City trip up at home on opening day of the season.

8 Responses to It’s like deja vu all over again as Cardiff City trip up at home on opening day of the season.

1. Dai Woosnam says:

   August 11, 2024 at 10:32 am

   Thanks Paul for putting down a marker here with your first report of the season proper… by that I mean that you have set a very high bar for us mere MAYA mortals to try to match.
   What a sparkling opening sentence…!! And your level never dropped. ‘Hats off’ to you. Agreed with almost every word. Only your praise for Siopsis made me splutter in my cornflakes. I thought him hopeless… misdirecting his few forward passes, and then losing confidence and passing back to Goutas/Chambers… who passed the ball square to each other.
   So sad for Vincent that he allowed Mehmet to persuade him to go against his better judgment and give this clueless bounder Bulut a new contract. Furthermore, this manager does not play the two jewels in our crown – Macca and Jak – having replaced them with a journeyman who pulled up no trees with Arsenal and Villa, and a keeper who is Jak’s inferior in every department, and was – one very good save acknowledged – partly responsible for both Sunderland goals today. He has bought the wrong Willock brother, and is hellbent on selling Macca for less than £10m… when Palace are holding out for £65m for the vastly overrated Marc Guehi. No City player yesterday deserved more than a 6, and Ramsey, Siopsis, Tanner were lucky to get a 4.
   With this ‘play square, play backwards’ manager, we will be fortunate come May to avoid the recent fate of another team who couldn’t go down: Birmingham City. Did you see the Blackburn game on Sky last Friday night? How refreshing to see a team playing the ball forward, to attackers running at speed into space they create themselves. All the result of good coaching on the training field. God alone knows what Mr Bulut coaches? This manager makes Russell Slade seem like he had the positivity of a Jürgen Klopp.
   TTFN,
   Dai
2. ANTHONY MOR O'BrRIEN says:

   August 11, 2024 at 10:59 am

   Good Morning, Paul

   “A ball clicked to the far post from a free kick” is the anathema as far as Cardiff are concerned. Perhaps it was because the central defenders were not used to each other which contributed to the first goal but I felt myself wishing for McGinness

   “A ball clipped to the far post from a free kick” seems to be the regular anathema to Cardiff. To be charitable, our central defenders might have been new to each other but even so, I found myself calling out for McGuiness to be there. Incidentally, I hope he stays and is given the captain’s shirt in spite of his past injuries — which reminds me, it was good to see O’Dowda in action yesterday. In fact, to me he was our best performer.

   On the other hand, I think Colwell was too easily pushed away from the ball in what might have been an important development, and Rall’s corner kicks from the left hand side are too looped to be effective because they give defenders time to respond. A lower faster projectory might be worthwhile.
   On the whole, however, I think the Cardiff team today is already better than the tip-tap display of last season.
3. williams, Bleddyn says:

   August 11, 2024 at 4:10 pm

   was there, so optimistic, same shite different day, it was awful, have been supporter
   since around 1960, to say 62% of ball and 12 shots on or near , what effing match was i watching, was going to click on season ticket for me and my mate, thanks cardiff that wont be happening
4. Dai Woosnam says:

   August 11, 2024 at 5:43 pm

   Oops…
   Meant to add two other comments…
   I note Paul you talk of a number 8…
   Oh… how modern football reporting has be a bit flummoxed…

   Hope to God you never go down the xG road. I confess that every time I see a football writer using this performance metric in their reporting, I lose interest and quit the article.
   But I am less dogmatic when it comes to writers who talk about a number 10 and a number 6 (the two most popular numbers used to describe a modern day position in a team). But a bit puzzled. The number 6…. does that mean a Bobby Moore/Norman Hunter type role in the team? Primarily defensive, but occasionally surging forward like a ‘Crazy Horse’ Emlyn Hughes? I guess it must. It is in contrast to a number 4, which is an attacking midfielder in the spirit of Billy Bonds, Billy Bremner, Patrick Vieira.
   But a ‘number ten’ has changed has it not in the common parlance?

   It seems to mean nowadays an attacker who ‘plays in the hole’. Yes it used to mean that too in the old days… but back then it meant a bit more. The ‘number ten’ was regarded as the ‘schemer’… the brainbox who had carte blanche to roam the entire top two thirds of the pitch to make it happen. Examples being a Glenn Hoddle and before him, an Ivor Allchurch. But nowadays it seems to mean in some people’s minds a much more attacking role behind the centre forward.
   But isn’t that the number 8…? Please clear up my confusion Paul.
   And one other thing re these numbers: surely, the formations dictate a different role for that number? I mean to say a number ten in a 4-4-2 has a different role to one in a 4-2-4.
   Maybe this is why I find formation numbers a similar minefield to avoid like the plague.

   And finally before I forget… has the City crowd for an opening home game of the season EVER been so flat as yesterday? I think not. I hope it is not the instant ‘buyers remorse’ re the new contract for the manager I suspect it to be.

   DW.
5. Dai Woosnam says:

   August 11, 2024 at 5:49 pm

   Apols… typos abound… the fourth line in my last should be ‘has ME a bit flummoxed’. Too embarrassed to read on. My standards have alas dropped now I have passed my 77th birthday.
   DW
6. Jonathan Wilkins says:

   August 11, 2024 at 8:38 pm

   How can you win a game with two holding midfielders? No creativity in midfield our build up play slow and ponderous no change from last year. I got no faith in Erol Bulut he is a one trick pony. He played Colwill on the wing he is a number ten. Only player who stood out yesterday was Chris Willock.
7. Mike Hope says:

   August 11, 2024 at 11:52 pm

   After so many depressing visits to Cardiff city Stadium last season I lost all confidence in Erol Bulut as a Championship coach.
   Nevertheless I found myself as optimistic as any other City fan as he returned with a new contract.
   I liked the fact that he seemed to have rejuvenated the enthusiasm and confidence of Callum Robinson and had signed some players who I thought would improve us as a team likely to score goals.
   As an added bonus l particularly liked that he had signed a talented player who had the principles to jeopardise his financial future to help people facing unimaginable suffering.
   This is not the forum to dwell on this,certainly Not on Yahoo!
   I liked the team,if not the substitutes,selected for the Sunderland game and with attacking players like Chris Willocks,a fit Ramsey and a ‘new’Robinson we now had the potential to score goals from open play.
   My optimism continued as we kicked off and unlike last season we attacked and at no time dropped into away team mode to silence our supporters.
   Then Sunderland scored and not immediately but pretty soon afterwards Paul’s brilliant article headline came into force and l was back in last season’s despair.
   Unfortunately this feeling was exacerbated by the substitutions and Bulut’s post match comments.
   To cheer myself up I am treating Saturday as one step forward and one step back so with 45 games still to go and better players to become available this will still be a season to enjoy more than suffer.
8. Huw Perry says:

   August 12, 2024 at 6:48 am

   Hi Paul.
   Thanks for the report and welcome back to another season – Deja vu indeed! All set up nicely for a morale boosting start to the campaign and then it all went the same way as last season.
   Sunderland mugged us again – as they did a few short months ago. They, along with many others, have worked out how to play against us and to capitalise on our inevitable errors. If we keep giving away sloppy fouls and possession cheaply then better teams have the pace and ability to take maximum advantage.
   Agree with your summary in that we started promisingly, with slightly more positive passing forward – not always backwards – but that familiar feeling set in once we gave the first goal away.
   On a positive note, I thought Willock looked good and Chambers looked comfortable – notwithstanding the general poor defending which led to the goals. Worryingly, however, others looked off the pace and our old problem of playing through the lines/ final ball/ shots at goal all very disappointing.
   We clearly now have a large squad and, on paper, numerous options and skilful players. I just hope the manager can quickly find the right balance and combination in midfield and forward positions to justify our pre-season optimism. Agree that one or two of the youngsters who brought some much needed energy and positivity to games at the end of last season could have been given an opportunity in the second half.
   Sure he will be exploring such options in the next game v Rovers.
   Anyway, good to be back in the usual routine, even though, as all those round me in the Ninian Stand agreed, we must be mad to put ourselves through this again!
   Cheers.