Luton not Cardiff’s equals on a day when they could have the thrown the towel in at half time.

6 Responses to Luton not Cardiff’s equals on a day when they could have the thrown the towel in at half time.

1. Dai Woosnam says:

   February 15, 2026 at 10:01 am

   Thanks as ever Paul. I am up early desperately trying to find the time to put to bed my overdue newsletter, but want to quickly comment on your fine report.

   To extend your boxing analogy… Jack Wilshere talked before the game like boxing manager Freddie Cunningham 7 years ago when he was convinced that his World Heavyweight holder AJ would have no problems in defeating a fat Mexican-American challenger named Andy Ruiz Jr. And we all know how that ended at Madison Square Gardens… in a sensational defeat for Joshua by TKO.

   And TKO it certainly was for a poor Luton team yesterday. And it could have been more. Amazing to think that the penalty was Luton’s only effort on target.

   The after-match comments by both managers on the BBC SPORT website were illuminating. To his credit, Wilshere ate an HP sandwich… ‘Humble Pie’ that is.

   As for our man… why is it btw, that I refuse to write ‘BB-M’, but follow the herd in dropping the hyphen…? After all, I used to revel in typing this recent City surname always remembering its linguistic diacritics… (Yakou) Méïté…*

   … I confess to have real trouble understanding the guy.

   It is not his thick Cork accent… I can decipher every word that comes out of Roy Keane’s mouth… and even better, I don’t need subtitles to watch those tearaways in THE YOUNG OFFENDERS television drama series.

   But for some reason I have huge problems deciphering a good 25% of BBM’s verbal output. One wonders if his players have similar problems? Or could it be just as José Mourinho was Bobby Robson’s translator, maybe Lee Riley or Kevin Gibbins perform the same role for BBM…?

   The problem for me with BBM… is that his vocal delivery is somewhat unevenly paced… and thus several words are almost stuck together and gush forth in a mini-torrent… all too much for an old-timer like me to assimilate on first hearing.

   Anyway, I thought I would present you with this link… it is a Luton vlog, containing a charming prank fans on the supporters’ bus played on one of their unsuspecting number, a lad of 14/15 years of age… as they travelled from Luton along the M4.

   They tell him that Welsh border police stop buses at random to check passports, and their bus could well be one that is stopped. The poor kid is mortified when made to believe that he is the only occupant of the bus who has come minus his passport… and he is sent to hide down in the bus toilet… and told they will knock the door when the bus passes the border control point, so he can return. Otherwise he is told, if found, he will be removed from the bus and arrested as for attempting illegal entry.

   The kid buys every word… and goes to hide… while all the others (all in on the joke) are peeing themselves laughing.

   It genuinely is very funny…
   https://tinyurl.com/3wmdhuu4
   and also from a football point of view, a very fair assessment.
   Talking of which, so is this Luton vodcast, even though the guy gets a couple of things wrong when it comes to describing the penalty.
   https://tinyurl.com/5y246pbu
   Interesting point he makes about the dimensions of the respective pitches. For the record, the pitch at Cardiff City Stadium measures 110 by 75 yards (100.6 m × 68.6 m), while the pitch at Kenilworth Road, home of Luton Town, measures 100 by 65 yards (91.4 m × 59.4 m).
   Do you reckon he is on to something?

   *No need for your answers to my rhetorical question of course. The answer is obvious: I, just like you all, am a human being, and by definition, thus not consistent.

   TTFN,
   Dai.
2. Royalewithcheese says:

   February 15, 2026 at 12:53 pm

   AI Dai alert!!

   So you refuse to write ‘BB-M’ because his accent’s too thick for your hearing aid.

   And the human being in you has no sympathy for the lad on the bus who was evidently a bit lacking upstairs.

   Has Dai been hacked?
3. Dai Woosnam says:

   February 15, 2026 at 2:49 pm

   RWC is as ever displaying the late Ken Dodd’s bequeathed Tickling Stick with an admirable lightness of touch. Vive Chris…!!
   Before signing off, it occurs to me that I should have acknowledged the very disappointed Luton fans acknowledgement of Osho at the end. Quite touching.
   And also I should have added that next weekend’s game at Home Park will be a proper test for our defence, given the imperious way Argyle brushed aside Blackpool 4-0 at Bloomfield Road.
   And ominously Laurent Tolaj will be back to lead their attack.
   DW
4. Royalewithcheese says:

   February 15, 2026 at 3:28 pm

   Crème de la crème, Dai.

   “That’s French for evaporated milk”.
5. Steve Perry says:

   February 15, 2026 at 5:54 pm

   As ever, Paul, thanks for your report on yesterday’s Luton (h) game. The issue of consistency you mentioned is worthy of further scrutiny. That consistency, implied by some managers as if an ethereal force decending from on high to bless Team A and not Team B as the reason their team is not higher up the league table, made me smile. Consistency, surely, is the fruit of and not reason for a team’s position. Cardiff City are top and Luton Town not, due to what decisions have been made by the Club off the pitch and what has happened on the pitch. Clearly the team that are top are consequently more consistent than a team lower down the league.

   My Grandmother used to say that there was more than one way to skin a cat. Gruesome that some may find that action, City provided not one, or two but three ways to skin the opposition that was Luton Town.

   Each of City’s three goals, a genre of their own, were equisite in their simplicity and type. Turnball passed the ball, first time, into the net; Colwill (J) drilled home a peach beyond the hands of the keeper whilst Ng’s finish was a veritable cannonball into the top right of the net. So 3-1 it was. The visitor’s only shot on target was their penalty.

   Jack Wilshere’s pre-match comments were not validated by the events on the CCS pitch. Better to say nothing and let your team do the talking. Sadly, he was left a forlorn individual remonstrating with the fourth official and Grandstand linesman (sorry, no assistant referee for me) alike for demanding a list of fouls and cautions. True Luton had some good players, but for all of their manager’s words they were quite blunt at the sharp end.

   City were the opposite. In addition to the three efforts that nestled in the visitor’s net, two others hit the post apart from Willock and Robinson coming within a hair’s breadth of adding to the tally. It could have been even worse had a penalty shout for handball been given. During the first half, when City’s superiority was most marked, it was akin to a Formula One racing car easing past a family saloon. Osho and Chambers were near faultless, Robertson has proved me wrong and has really settled in to the No 6 role. Kellyman found pockets of space almost at will whilst the younger Colwill, our very own Duracell bunny, goes from strength to strength. Watching parts of the game back today I was surprised at how much work he did to provide the assist for City’s first.

   https://x.com/i/status/2023019702797435204

   In short, this was a pleasing performance all around the pitch. City had too much fuel in the tank and still more remaining at the close. Now sitting in pole position, with 15 games still to play, the transformation at CF11 has been remarkable as we inch towards the run-in.

   We had no right to have even dared to have a manager like BB-M but, continuing with the grand prix theme, now our very own Max Verstappen can not be allowed to slip through our grasp.
6. Steve Perry says:

   February 15, 2026 at 7:24 pm

   Dai and others,

   On the theme of the ridiculous, a la passports to enter Wales, I happened to be on a skiing holiday in the Tyrol, when the Winter Olympics was to be held in Innsbruck. Was it the 1980’s? Just before that New Year City had beaten Peterborough 5-2 at home. I learnt the result after reading a British newspaper the day following.

   On the second day of the skiing I completely floored the Austrian skiing instructress. I could only turn to my left on my skis. She walked to her right thinking I was going to my right but the inevitable collision resulted in a crumpled heap on the snow. The following day I suffered from an almighty nose bleed but the highlight was on New Year’s Eve.

   Being with a group of teachers from the SE of England we persuaded them that in addition to the British New Year coming in later than the European New Year the Welsh New Year came in 10 mins later than the that one. Three New Years for the price of one. I kid you not.

   We also went ice skating with a British Olympic female rower. But that story is for another day.