One thing those three games where we took one point out of nine and dropped out of the automatic promotion positions should have told us was that we should expect, not be surprised by, late drama in our matches.
At Sheffield United, it worked in our favour as Anthony Pilkington’s late, late equaliser rescued a point which we did not deserve on the balance of play, Wolves were able to cling on to their 1-0 lead at Cardiff City Stadium because, incredibly, we missed twice from the penalty spot in added time and an eighty seventh minute stunner from Villa settled Tuesday’s game in their favour on a night where we found ourselves up against an in form keeper.
So, that should have been enough to teach us that the situation when a game is at, say, the eighty five minute mark is no indicator as to how it will finish up in this season’s Championship as it reaches it’s climax.
However, judging by messageboard comments at the time and post match remarks by some who were there, I wasn’t the only one who was resigned to the loosening of the grip we had on one of the automatic promotion positions less than a fortnight ago continuing.
For much of this season, a 0-0 draw at Norwich would not have been too bad an outcome on a ground where our record is far from the best, but such a result would have left us level on points with Fulham with a worse goal difference and our game in hand on them, temporarily, used up before the Londoners entertained local rivals Brentford in an evening kick off.
In other words, while one point would have meant our losing sequence had been halted at two games, it wouldn’t really have been enough for us. It wouldn’t have meant we should give up on a top two place and focus on the Play Offs, as some were, remarkably, saying even before we traveled to Norwich, but it would have meant that a so important factor at this stage of any campaign, be it sporting or political, momentum, would be continuing to go against us.
To be fair, for those of us who were not there watching the game in the flesh or through the IFollow scheme on the club website, there had not been a great deal in the first 95 per cent of the match to suggest we would win, as our goal drought stretched well beyond the two hundred and fifty minute mark – Radio Wales’ coverage remained fairly downbeat in their assessment of how things were going, while the Sky reporter at the game couldn’t stop telling us how well Norwich were playing whenever she got the chance.
Also, the BBC’s stats were confirming something which was coming over loud and clear in their radio coverage – referee Tim Robinson was finding far more reasons to penalise us than he was the home team. Now, I’m not going to add Mr Robinson, who I’d not heard of before yesterday’s encounter, to what is a fairly long list of substandard officials we’ve had this season just because he awarded almost three times more fouls against us than he did Norwich (it ended up at 23-8) when I’ve not seen the game yet, but those figures do mean that, what was a tough task anyway was being made all the harder because the match officials were making far more decisions which favoured the home team than they were for us.
So, I suppose, there were grounds for the pessimism that was being felt and, speaking for myself, this had started even before the game when I saw the team Neil Warnock had picked. Of course, with ongoing problems with my Internet connection meaning I still haven’t got around to watching any of the Villa game yet, I’m not really in a position to assess how well or badly those selected to start on Tuesday did, but the decision to replace Marko Grujic and Callum Paterson with Craig Bryson and Loic Damour in our midfield disappointed me.
A midfield three of Aron Gunnarsson who, rightly or wrongly, has copped more stick than I can remember him receiving in the past three years after our last three games, Bryson and Damour looked ill equipped to end our chronic habit, which some tell me is all part of some sort of masterplan, of passing the ball to the opposition and also it seemed to be lacking in any tangible attacking threat, both in terms of creativity and goalscoring potential.
On the other hand, although I’ve been unconvinced by him so far in City colours, Gary Madine for Kenneth Zohore was a decision which I found hard to be too critical of – the latter was some way short of his best against Sheffield United and Wolves and, apparently, didn’t pull up any trees at Villa, while the latter, whatever I and others may think of his contribution up to now, should be given the opportunity to prove himself given what he did in a struggling Bolton side in the first half of the season.
There have been occasions this season where Neil Warnock’s team selections have been criticised before kick off by many, including myself, only for those critics to have to eat humble pie two hours later after another three points were added to our tally and I’m sure that given the way things panned out, there will be those who will claim the same thing happened yesterday, but I’m not so sure about that.
Certainly, the fact that it was Zohore who provided the late goal out of the blue (more on that shortly) which offered the first clue that yesterday may turn out much better than many of us had become convinced it was going to, offers some fuel to an argument which says he needs to be left out of the side from time to time to give him a bit of a wake up call.
Also, although I’ve not seen anyone else anywhere with much that is good to say about Madine’s performance, Neil Warnock singled him out after the game for praise by saying that he played a part in ensuring that there was space behind the centrebacks for Zohore to exploit when he replaced our January signing with just under twenty minutes to go – our manager figured that the home central defenders would have been able to handle Zohore quite easily if he had been in from the start.
However, did our manager really put on another selection and tactical masterclass yesterday? After all, his hand was forced with the swapping of Sol Bamba for Bruno Manga just past the half an hour mark. Bamba’s withdrawal was caused by an injury he has been playing with for most of the season apparently and our manager said he expected him to be okay for the Forest game next weekend, but he also admitted that he is lucky to have someone as good as Manga to fall back on – for my part, issues about concentration and his occasional struggles when asked to play right back notwithstanding, Bruno is too good to be left on the bench every week.
Also the introduction of Paterson for Damour at half time was hardly an endorsement of the original selection after a first period which our manager conceded the home team had edged, but it did show a positivity which had been lacking in our selection and approach in our previous two defeats.
It was the final substitution which made the biggest difference though – Zohore had already shot into the side netting when he moved on to a Sean Morrison header in the eighty sixth minute after a Gunnarsson long throw had only been half cleared by the home defence and nodded towards goal. Angus Gunn in the Norwich goal pushed the ball to one side, but the striker was able to fasten on to it and hit a scruffy looking shot towards goal which rolled in at the near post.
My first impression on watching it was that it was a bit of a fluke, but subsequent viewings have partially won me around to thinking that it might have been a clever bit of finishing by Zohore – whatever the truth on that, Gunn would not have been happy to have been beaten on his near post in the manner he was.
It might have been Zohore who ensured that our goal drought remained a mini rather than major one, but, after a few performances which suggested that the enormous workload Junior Hoilett has been subject to since last summer was finally catching up on him, the winger was back to something like his best yesterday and, if Zohore’s finish may or may not have been a good one, there could be no doubting the quality of his strike from twenty yards which confirmed our win in added time – it’s simple really, Hoilett plays well and our chances of three points go up exponentially.
It had been another of those wins which have typified City from about October onwards – not a performance to match what we were producing early season, but we found a way of getting the three points and this time we managed to do it while also making a bit of a dent in the advantage Fulham had been accumulating recently in terms of goal difference.
I had raised the possibility of us being back in second position by the time Fulham next played in my post Villa match piece and also mentioned that, in my opinion, with our trio of games against genuine top two and Play Off candidates over with, it was the Londoners who now had the tougher run in.
One of my reasons for saying this was that their next opponents, Brentford, were on a fine run and still challenging for a top six finish. It is my view that, on their good days, Brentford can play as well as anyone in this league and they showed this yesterday by taking the game to Fulham and looking more likely scorers for most of the ime. Also, just as Hull were denied a penalty for handball in their recent home goalless draw with Villa when Jack Grealish practically punched a free kick away, so Brentford missed out on a spot kick when a shot from a set piece clearly struck Stefan Johansen’s raised hand, but the set of officials, all imported from the Premier League apparently, either ignored or missed the offence.
For all of the nice things said about Fulham and their style of play, it seems to me that, lately at least, they have been doing just enough to win – on Tuesday they had beaten Reading 1-0 with Johnasen’s goal coming, according to BBC’s reports, against the run of play and it looked like being the same yesterday as their excellent loan signing Aleksandar Mitrovic scored again to put them ahead with only their second on target effort in the eightieth minute.
My problems with Internet connectivity are not the only unfortunate consequence of my recent house move I’m afraid, because one of my cats, Felix, the son of Allsorts my other one, has been missing for the last week. I’ve done the normal stuff like putting notices through neighbour’s letterboxes and last night a lady, who had been walking her dog fairly close by, knocked my door to show me a couple of photos she had taken of a cat which she thought could have been Felix.
Although I was far from coonvinced it was him, there was definitely a pretty strong resemblance in one of the pictures, so I jumped straight in my car to go to the place where she said she had seen the cat. As I started the car, the radio came on and the first thing I heard was Rob Phillips bringing his Radio Wales phone in programme to an end with the news that Mitrovic had broken the deadlock at Craven Cottage, but then, after a fruitless search for the cat, the first thing I heard when switching my, retuned, radio on was Jason Mohammed signing off on 606 by saying that Brentford had just equalised with three seconds of added time left – I’ve been a fan of Jason’s since he reacted so nicely to my dog jumping up on him while he was working when she was taking me for a walk in Llandaff Fields about three months ago and now I have more reason to like him!
More late drama then and, ironically, the man who did all City fans such a huge favour was Brentford sub Neal Maupay who was responsible for probably the worst miss I’ve seen in the flesh in my life last November during our 2-0 win at Cardiff City Stadium in November.
Would I swap Maupay’s goal yesterday for finding Felix? Of course I would, but Fulham dropping two points was not a bad consolation prize as I think the truth is that, despite the huge lead we had over third place not too long ago, we are now closer to promotion than we have been at any time this season – a point clear with a game in hand when your rivals only have nine points to play for is a very handy position to be in.
Villa, predictably, beat Leeds on Friday night (I’d be celebrating promotion already if our last four matches were all against this season’s Leeds side!) to keep their faint top two hopes alive, but the truth is that they and Fulham can win all of their remaining matches and it will make no difference as long as we come out on top in three of the four games we have left. Derby (who followed up their defeat at promoted Wolves in midweek with a 3-1 loss at Burton) away will have plenty riding on it, but yesterday’s results mean that Forest will be all but safe when we play them, likewise with Hull, and Reading are unlikely to have any relegation worries when we face them on the final day of the regular season, so the opportunity to take our points total into the nineties is certainly there and, with Fulham going to Millwall on Friday, that might well be enough for us.
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Hi! Paul.
Felix has probably linked up with one of those tarty valley bitches, he’ll soon be fed up with her and hopefully will return home soon. I sincerely hope so.
On to less important issues. At last a clean sheet, it’s been some time.
Agree with you about Manga he should definitely be in the side but not at right back. please.
A surprising selection by our Neil but perhaps he thought that our Gary (Madine) could soften up the side for a cameo performance from our Ken.
The goalposts yesterday were on our side for once.
I was following the game on the BBC website and I couldn’t believe the foul count. Was Mr. Robinson one-eyed or are we a team of dirty bastids?
The Brentford equaliser was a “Brucey Bonus” for us but by all accounts well-deserved.
We are now back in a situation where automatic promotion is down to us.
PS – so glad that Burton stuffed Derby.
Good assessment, as always.
I watched on iFollow, which for some reason actually had commentary this time and replays. The commentary was supplied by a Radio Norfolk presenter and their “pundit” ex Norwich (and Hereford) player Greg Downs. I mention this as both were apoplectic at the number of clumsy / cynical fouls that City committed, particularly in the first half and it has to be said, I believe they were justified to some extent.
We were constantly niggling into the backs of their players and tacking through them. Nothing dangerous, but fouls by today’s definition and enough to disrupt Norwich’s play. With the crowd baying for blood, Damour was finally booked for stepping on a Norwich player after another clumsy challenge. I believe that was he why he was off at half time, i.e. to avoid the second yellow.
Neil Warnock may maintain that Gary Madine softened up their centre backs, but my assessment is that they weren’t very good in the first place, but were still better than Madine, who never looked like scoring. Zohore, on the other hand, was someone they couldn’t handle at all and that made all the difference.
Just another observation in that I was amazed that NML actually came up against a full back who was as fast as he was in Jamal Lewis. According to Wiki “he was a national champion athlete competing at an elite level over 1500m and 800m before choosing football”. Decent player as well and one to watch in the future
AKA
TOM PEPPER
Haven’t I always said that Zohore is brilliant?
I feel disappointed FOR —-not BY — Gary Madine, but his day will come.
Sorry to hear that you cat is still AWOL but Colin Phillips has got it right. Remember that male cats tend to develop Bill Clinton or Harvey Weinstein characteristics at this time of the year, at this “Season” in other words.
Stay confident. And that applies not only to your cat but to our promotion prospects.
Thanks for your report Paul and hope Felix finds his way back home soon.
Snatching victory from the jaws of mediocrity has been a recurring theme in so many matches this season that it’s almost become a thing of beauty in itself. We’ll probably feel a tad disappointed and let down the next time we blow the opposition away with an exhilarating display of attacking football, it’s just not the Cardiff City way.
Seriously though that was such a big win for us yesterday. I must confess to being one of those who felt that if Fulham got a better result than us yesterday then automatic promotion hopes were probably over. As it is, it’s now Fulham who have to endure the same kind of ‘what if ‘ syndrome that we had after the Wolves game. Of course it could still all change again but if we can get a better result than Fulham’s next week then we’re almost there.
Thanks Paul for the report I do feel for you and internet connections as it has become almost an essential activity for a lot of us.
I could only pick up radio commentary in parts due to my location .
The general view it was a game of misses , with the canaries having more possession with little threat.
Madine had to start as Zohore at Villa had one of this disinterested games, Madine though adds bite with less skill they are chalk and cheese strangely the one who tries harder with the lesser
touch gets the stick , he’s good to have as I think he wears defenders out ,to allow Zohore to grab opportunity from the battered defenders, let’s not forget he’s Madine gas made a few good opportune moments from
the bench to provide goals (ie Pilkington).
Although this feels like a stumbling period after our win run its critical we consider who we stumbled agaisnt and why:
Sheff Utd :looking for play offs ,good team ,once top of the league, played them soon after the Int break.
Wolves and Villa: bloody tough fixtures to havd had together, should have drawn the first, won or drew the second.
Norwich : last home game saw them win handsomely, and we won through desire ,effort and skill at the end .
All though this blip period we suffered a huge upheaval in midfield ,loss of Ralls come back of Aaron, Patterston, Bryson in and out . In my view the midfield lost its mojo and rhythm and mentally Wolves game must have been tough to manage .
Gosh we havd done well
Total sympathy regarding Felix.
Six years ago we had Millie stolen. We spent £300 printing posters and putting them up all over town, plus placing ads in the local press. To no avail.
I don’t suspect Felix is walking back to Fairwater. If it is not theft: then there are two possibilities.
First, your beloved cat could have jumped into the open back door of a local commercial van (not possible with our Millie, who, although friendly, was not that brave). Second, and more likely, could have entered a neighbour’s shed, and is now locked in.
A friend of mine in Malta was once mortified to return from holiday to find a neighbour’s cat, dead in his shed.
It is vital that you do what I did…please print out an SOS on your computer, begging everyone in your street, and everyone in any houses backing on to your street, to check their sheds immediately.
Even without water, cats can survive over two weeks in such accidental captivity.
Now to far less serious matters…
To the Bluebirds and possible automatic promotion.
Do you know what…
That cunning ploy of Gary Rowett’s to postpone the game, may prove to be what makes us miss out in the end.
We were on such a roll, just before the international break, and Derby were on such a downer. We would have won that game.
Okay, as Colin rightly says in his comments above, thank God that Burton stuffed them yesterday, but that apart, that fortunate win over PNE with the Tom Lawrence free kick, has put new wind in their sails.
If they deprive us of two – or all three points – in the rearranged fixture, and those points prove vital, then I am off to Haiti to get some voodoo doc to work on an effigy of Gary Rowett. I know that the media love this guy, but to me, he is a slightly more talented managerial twin of Steve Cotterill: that is to say that both are “hail fellow well met” types when the going is good, but have a singularly dark churlish side when Lady Luck momentarily deserts them.
I have not forgotten Mr Rowett’s less than gracious comments re Cardiff City following the 0-0 game at CCS earlier this season. And his was a cunning stunt* to get his club secretary to invoke the Derbyshire Police (no less) in calling the game off.
Of course the decision was a farcical one: and one which the Derbyshire Police immediately washed their hands of, by using the familiar words of denial favoured by their recidivist customers… i.e.”not us, guv…”.
Neil turned up that morning at the hopefully soon be renamed PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL Stadium. And showed what a disgraceful bit of street cunning it was on Mr Rowett’s part. The pitch with undersoil heating could have stood in for Wembley on Cup Final day. And all the surrounding roads were clear of snow. Later on that day, other key games took place in the East Midlands.
But then Neil goes and spoils it.
What does he do?
In an effort to show he is as always an Honest John, he answers YES when asked if he would have tried the same low trick if he had only ten fit outfield players, like Derby.
And with that answer, immediately our case collapsed.
And any future legal case against Derby and the EFL …went up in smoke.
* yes, you guessed right re my choice of words…!!
Thanks Paul and hope Felix returns soon.
Only followed game on bbc website and stats didn’t look good. With time running out I had written it off as a commendable draw – in any other circumstances. However, our late goals were a real nice surprise and then later on a “Bruciie bonus” indeed. Well done and thanks to Brentford- looking at the highlights they should have won.
Not really able to coomment on City’s individual performances etc, but NW is mixing it up a bit to keep opposition guessing – as well as us supporters! We may only play in a limited way, but we can do it with fresh legs and attitude every game which must make us really frustrating for any opponents.
Feels better being the “hunted” again. Psychologically important being just ahead of the pack as we near the tape. I think anything can still happen but as long as we can keep grinding out results you never know!
Paul, and compadres…I was there yesterday, sitting among my usual Carrow Road neighbours. We were mutually respectful between ourselves, and I decided to remain relatively schtum at the moments of our Bluebirds’ triumph.
The result probably was flattering, but, an indefinable sense that we had greater confidence (greater than the Canaries, that is) meant that it somehow wasn’t really a surprise in the end.
A couple of really sweet moves around the 15/20 minute mark boded well, but the lack of a clinical finish (mirroring Norwich’s season-long problem) left us looking blunt and ordinary.
Overheard half-time bar-talk was of Warnock’s team of spoilers – cumulative fouls disrupting any chance of flowing football.
Certainly the excellent Maddison was kept quieter than I’ve seen him all season.
Damour and Bryson – a yellow card waiting to happen – looked very mundane footballers. Bryson made me think of the kinds of question a kid might ask – “what are Brysons for?” and “what does a Bryson do?”.
Etheridge – so sound.
Junior H – always a joy, except for every one of his final deliveries – until that spanking goal!
Bennett and Peltier – both OK, actually.
I, too, felt happy that Manga was Bamba’s substitute (check that turning-circle, Sol – supertankers have been known to be niftier…but, he’s a great man, I know.)
Anyway, it was good to be there – and, bless those Bees from Brentford!
Thanks everyone for your replies. Lindsay, your indefinable something is interesting, because it’s something I’ve seen in other sides at the top of the league. Indeed, my mind goes back to Neil Warnock’s Sheffield United side which all but sealed their promotion in 2006 with a 1-0 win at Ninian Park in a game where we definitely gave as good as we got and could easily have won, but we didn’t, the team that had been grafting towards similar such wins for the past eight months or so did – you and I mention the word “indefinable, but I suppose what it comes down to really is belief, when you’ve been getting the decisive goal(s) in such matches eight or nine times out of ten, you expect to get it again, whereas Norwich were just hoping for it.
Huw, I agree with you about hunter and hunted – becoming the former after being the latter for so long and with so little of the season left, cannot be seen as a positive in any way no matter how hard Neil Warnock tries to spin it that way.
Dai, you mention Steve Cotterill, he’s someone who doesn’t seem to be well liked in the game – I can remember Cheltenham teams of his visiting Ninian Park on two successive Saturdays, one in the league and one in the FA Cup, back in 2000, they were a tidy outfit, but there was a real physical edge to their play and they finished both matches a man down and on the end of a 3-1 defeat. Cotterill’s had a decent career, but, in recent years especially, there seems to have been a readiness to get rid of him very quickly and I wonder if that may be down that unpopularity or am I just imaging something that isn’t there. Anyway, speaking as I am to someone who has some form when it comes to spotting young managerial talent, I think Gary Rowett is headed for the Premier League sooner rather than later. Granted, I’d call his record at Derby good, rather than spectacular and a pragmatic style means that he will always run the risk of supporters losing patience with him quicker than they would with lesser talented, but more “ambitious” managers, but I think he has something about him. As for the postponed game, as you say yourself, Neil Warnock said he would have done the same thing himself and my guess is that a large majority of his managerial colleagues would have done so as well – I’d be inclined to think of what happened as a kind of compliment while trying my hardest to get the City team in a frame of mind whereby we show Derby that they were merely putting off the inevitable!
Russell, I like your positivity, all the more so because it seems to be so well reasoned.
Richard, it would be nice to test your theory about how we would react to a game where we “blow the opposition away with an exhilarating display of attacking football” mind wouldn’t it!
Having now seen more of the game Anthony, I think Madine did some good things on Saturday (he was sleeping at the corner from which Norwich hit the post mind) and he had one shot which looked to have power and direction on it before it got blocked by a defender – I’m still not wholly convinced, but I thought there were better signs from him on Saturday.
TDA, I believe Lewis has committed to Northern Ireland hasn’t he? I’ve seen him once or twice before and was impressed – I hoped there was some Welsh connection given his surname.
Good point about the clean sheet Colin, it had been seven games without one which equaled our longest run of the season of league games where our opponents scored.
Finally, thanks for the various comments about Felix (who’s still missing I’m afraid). Colin, Felix has been castrated, so won’t be having too many feelings in the direction you suggested – indeed, according to woman from a cat charity I spoke to on Saturday, her experience was that my cat could well still be hiding somewhere close by, because neutered males tend to get a tough time of it at this time of year from Tom’s looking to have their wicked way! Dai, I distributed fifty fliers to houses on my street in which I asked for people to check their sheds and am waiting for some posters to be done which the owners of some local shops have agreed to display, but I’m hamstrung to a degree by my substandard Broadband which I’m told won’t be completely sorted until a week tomorrow. Since I moved here, I’ve bought an Amazon Fire TV device to be used to help me get sports coverage at a much cheaper price than I pay now, devices for improving the strength of the Internet signal I get and a printer and I can’t get any of them to work. I’m assuming that things will sort themselves out in eight days time, but all logic suggests that any fault(s) are far more likely to lie at the door of my current Internet provider and the equipment they use than it does with the new items I’ve purchased. Either way, for now, I’m stuck with a weak signal, which sometimes disappears completely, leading to television watching which has me guessing as to what is going on in the mess of colours swirling around in front of me – it would be frustrating enough having to wait more than a month after moving before normality was returned on the Internet front under normal circumstances, but when you are trying to trace a lost cat as well, it is just downright annoying.
Good morning Paul and others – May I also join with everyone in wishing Felix a safe return. Many years ago, my beloved Clyde ( his sister was named Bonnie by the way ) disappeared and for three days of searching, calling out, I had no response but then, one morning looking slightly the worse for his time away, he appeared on the patio. So do not give up hope.
I am not sure how others prefer to have their news of progress on away matches when there is no TV coverage, but much as I want live and instant reporting, I decided that I would not listen to Radio Wales, but watch Sky’s Gillette Soccer Saturday. With a few minutes to go, my wife predicted that we would score. That scenario seemed unlikely following the occasional reports from Carrow Road by Sky’s female reporter. I must pay more attention to my lovely lady. Such joy at our late goal compounded by our second from surely our player of the year.
Time for a glass of Sicilian red to celebrate and to settle down to watch our rivals do battle with their West London neighbours. Poor decisions by the officials caused me some anguish, not helped by Fulham’s loanee scoring, but hey-ho, Brentford’f last second’s equaliser resulted in a bellow from me of “YES”, just as loud as if we had scored. And I’m ashamed to state, this rather pleasant bottle of Sicilian red was empty!! l
So it’s in our hands again. I trust Messrs Bamba and Ralls will be OK for the run in, and that Millwall will do us a favour on Friday. As the song goes ” Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cos every little thing is going to be alright”. I wish!!
Paul – better late than never.
As a man who, five or so years ago, marked the first three months of widowhood with the ‘rescue’ of a pair of seven-week-old feline siblings, you have 100% empathy from me (that would be 120% if I was the Gaffer at a Championship football club).
Good to know – and no surprise – that the MAYA Brotherhood, hard-core Bluebirds all, also have innate compassion in the broader sphere.
Here’s to the safe return of Felix!
Paul, I used to respond to students who said “better late than never” (Lindsay above) when they they handed in a piece of work after the deadline with “Better never late” but I am sure you will be too busy making a fuss of Felix when he arrives late to be so sarcastic. Best wishes for Felix’s safe return. As far as lateness is concerned for City I have had confidence of their ability to play right to the end all season but I was glad that our play at the end did not earn us a penalty!