It started to go wrong for Mick McCarthy and his Cardiff City team two hours before the five thirty kick off time for tonight’s game at Sheffield Wednesday, a team that had dropped to the bottom of the Championship after this afternoon’s games.
City’s concerns were at the other end of the table and Bournemouth and Barnsley were leading by the time it was 3.30. By half time, Reading were ahead as well and I wonder if Mick McCarthy gave any thought to making changes to the starting line up he must have already decided on because all of our rivals for Play Off spots looked like winning – as, indeed, they did.
I say that because those three other sides picking up three points each meant that tonight’s match became virtually a must win one for City as they dropped eight points off sixth place with only twenty one more of them to play for.
As it was, the selected side had a depressingly negative look to it. A natural footballer, Jonny Williams, came in as the only change from Saturday’s mediocre, but slightly unlucky, loss at home to Nottingham Forest, but, being Cardiff City, a club which places so little store in something like footballing ability, another gifted footballer in Harry Wilson had to make way for him of course.
It’s probably not a fair question to ask anyway because pre game work on our opponents would have involved personal instructions for all eleven players in our side and late changes would have probably thrown much of that into confusion, but it’s also true to say it would have made no difference at all if McCarthy had packed his side with attacking players because Wednesday were so good and we were so abject that we probably would have got the same sort of stuffing anyway.
Last season it was a 6-1 defeat while wearing our cursed all orange strip that exposed the fundamental limitations within our squad which, all things considered, we do a pretty good job of hiding most of the time, this season it’s tonight’s 5-0 hammering at Sheffield Wednesday.
Thankfully, I’ve never watched the whole ninety minutes of the Loftus Road match, but as Rangers had plenty of attacking quality last season and Wednesday’s goalscoring record this season is feeble, this feels worse than the New Years Day massacre in London.
Wednesday may not have the forward power, but, in Barry Bannan, they have someone who has been one of the Championship’s best midfield playmakers in recent years. Tonight, while being given a pretty easy time of it by our almost non existent, and undermanned in the first half at least, pairing of Marlon Pack and Will Vaulks, Bannan picked us apart with a technical quality and range of passing we couldn’t hope to match.
As I was watching Bannan shine against us, as he has done on many occasions in the past, I found myself wondering who out of our recent managers would have been interested in signing him for City if he had become available while they were in charge?
Given the type of football their sides played, I don’t think Russell Slade, Neil Harris and Neil Warnock would have been. As for Paul Trollope, he wasn’t here long enough to hazard a guess really though I suspect he might have done. I think Ole would have signed a Bannan type player, but my instinct is Malky Mackay might not have done – Dave Jones definitely would have.
My point in bringing that up is to try to illustrate how City have progressively become the sort of side where a midfield organiser who takes a lot of touches of the ball like Bannan does would not be wanted.
Back in January after Neil Harris left the club, there was talk about how we could now finally get an “identity”. I was among those hoping for such a thing, but, as I’ve mentioned on here once or twice since then, I’ve reluctantly come round to thinking that we had an identity already and have had one for years.
Because our way of playing can be effective, our identity has seen some opposing teams selecting bigger sides than they would have done against most other clubs because they felt they had to try to match us physically (Derby and Luton are two recent examples of this, for all of the good it did them)..
The evidence of this season and other seasons is that this is the wrong approach. Tonight, we had nothing to offer in reply to a Wednesday side that had ex Owl Andy Hinchcliffe proclaiming their performance as the best he’d seen in the Championship this season – Wednesday were good, no doubt about, but they had nothing to beat because, increasingly it seems to me, if you pass the ball well, deal with the physical stuff and defend set pieces adequately against us, we have so little to offer aside from crash, bang, wallop football that we can hurt you with – there was plenty to be embarrassed about tonight, but worst for me, was that, until Harry Wilson came on and provided a small amount of movement and skill, all we had to offer in attacking sense were the old faithfuls, the Vaulks long throw and corners and free kicks against a struggling side (what is it about them this season? Our record against them is awful) who were running rings around us in terms of quality football – without Wilson we looked incapable of creating anything in open play.
It’s funny, I read a few posts on City messageboards around the time that we sold Callum Paterson about how this was a sign of a ditching of the style (that hardly seems the right word mind) which we’d had used since Neil Warnock’s time here – Paterson was all energy and no technique, a Jack of all trades positionally, but a master of none of them in terms of ability etc, etc. However, the superb volley he scored for Wednesday’s second (which he didn’t celebrate) and the perfectly weighted pass he provided as an assist for Jordan Rhodes’ goal to make it 4-0, revealed a level of skill and touch that not too many of our current players can match.
Could any of our players have come up with anything to match Adam Reach’s left footed strike which made it 3-0? Wilson, who eventually got on (more on McCarthy’s substitutions later on) and hit the post after one of very few effective passing movements by us, possibly, but he’s probably counting down the days until his loan ends at the moment, and Will Vaulks might on his right foot, but I’m struggling to think of anyone else.
Wilson hasn’t been as good as hoped this season and I’ve found myself expressing frustration at his inability to grab games by the scruff of the neck, but it’s instructive to have seen some of the things he does with better players around him in his appearances for Wales this season.
Wilson could have done more for us this season on a personal level, but, frankly, we haven’t been good enough at getting quality balls played through to him in positions where he could inflict most damage. Nothing confirms this more than the exception which proves the rule – that lovely pass from Marlon Pack to Wilson for his goal against Birmingham stands out like a beacon as our pass of the season because it has so few, if any, genuine rivals.
I thought Wilson’s attitude was pretty good after he was introduced along with Sheyi Ojo and Max Watters with only twenty minutes left and us trailing 5-0. I’d mentioned before that I found Mick McCarthy’s team selection depressing, but maybe disappointing would be a better way of describing it actually. However, depressing or disappointing, it applied with bells on to his substitutions tonight.
I assumed we’d see at least two changes at half time, but no, as he’s done a few times before he waited seventy minutes before doing anything and this with his team being humiliated.
As I mentioned before, Wilson did quite well when he came on, Watters again barely got a kick because he plays in a way that runs contrary to City’s identity and as for Ojo, once again he did nothing worthy of note and yet he’s always one of the subs McCarthy uses. I’m sure it’s not the case, but it seems at times as if our manager has a note pad he consults during matches which includes the words “seventy minutes, bring on or take off Ojo”.
Going back to that question about Barry Bannan, I didn’t mention what I think Mick McCarthy would do if given the chance to sign him for the simple reason that I honestly don’t know. On the one hand, he’s signed Jonny Williams who I’d say is definitely not the sort of player we’ve made a habit of signing in recent years, but then I look at the sort of football we’ve been playing under him and I’m not hopeful that we will see a rebuilding job aimed at providing that new identity I believe we really do need now.
I’m not surprised that Mick McCarthy decided to play to the strengths of the squad he inherited. He said he was a pragmatist when he was first appointed and he’s been proving that for close to three months now, but, despite his good record in terms of results, we’ve been pretty awful to watch much of the time – in fact I’d say we’ve been more Warnock like now than we were under the man himself.
So, I’m not hopeful of seeing what I believe is a much needed remodeling of our squad, particularly in central midfield, during the summer because I doubt our manager will be minded to do something like that and also because I see no evidence that the decision makers in the Boardroom are either. After all, their recent managerial appointments have all continued with what, sadly, has become the “Cardiff Way” in a manner totally contrary to what was talked about originally when that term first appeared.
Finally, while there’s still a chance of a top six finish, after tonight’s brutal exposure of our limitations, I’d rate it at five per cent at the very most, so, with the Daily Mail claiming we’re one of ten Championship sides to be hit with a transfer embargo recently, how about giving some of our young players a real chance in the first team, as opposed to the odd few minutes here and there Rubin Colwill has been getting lately?
Clearly it’s easier for them in the under 23s to look the sort of players I think we definitely need, but the likes of Sam Bowen, Keenan Patten, Kieron Evans and Isaak Davies are braver in possession than many of the current first teamers, while Tom Sang has shown a composure, mental bravery and eye for a pass while playing right wing back that our four senior central midfielders (all of whom started the game today, albeit two of them were out of position) lack. While the club have been quiet on the matter of our playing style, they have outlined that they want to see more opportunities given to youngsters, so let’s do something about that in our final six matches – especially if we really are in a position where we’re going to have to sell to get out of an embargo.
Honest report. Thanks
I stated after forest game MM has to go.
Mercenary at best. Results have been shocking since he was given contract. What makes it worse is that performance levels are so much worse.
Look at 11 players that started yesterday, how many should stay. Imo. 2. Sang and Moore.
Why should mm go. 4 players out of position. Sang, Ralls, bacuna and Williams up front.
That’s pathetic from any manager nevermind one with years of experience.
Dont sack him. Get Bellamy in and make McCarthy his assistant. Perhaps he will resign.
Looking at yesterday’s game.
It’s too easy to blame the defence but.
Goal 1. Vaulks crosses from right with plenty of time and space. Ball goes out of play. Wednesday pass out from keeper and pass through us like a hot knife through butter. Get corner. Another. Boom goal. Vaulks should have put them under pressure not concede possession.
Goal 2. As above without goal kick and corner.
Goal 3. Great free kick.
Goal 4. A pathetic corner. They break. Vaulks turns his back on bannan on half way.
5. Too easy.
Teams defend from front. We defend from the front of the stand behind our goal.
Vaulks was disappointed he was left out of Wales squad. If Morrell was selected in his place I can understand why. Vaulks has no technical ability. He is weak, slow and passes to the seagulls above him.
I didn’t want MM but accepted it to end of season. Contract should not have been given and certainly not when it was.
Is that the sum of our ambition. We reward for staving off relegation.
You keep saying about identity. Let’s go for one. Ambition. Not stale, stagnant and hoping something might happen. That’s what happened with Warnock, as great as it was for one season.
Its what’s happening now. Lump it in the air and hope it goes right.
Chuck it in from throw and hope.
Come on, any fan deserves better than that.
Looking forward .
We have a massive problem as we have too many players who lack basic footballing skills. Unless we get rid of them all any player coming in gets dragged down to that level. Ie. Wilson.
It’s easy to criticise Wilson but with 10 players around him who dont know how to play he will always struggle.
I noticed yesterday when we have the ball players are not moving.
Basics not there and we are going backwards and will continue to do so with journeymen managers.
Follow the Jack’s model. Young managers with ambition starting with Bellamy. Yep we suffer to start as he will need to clear 10 to 15 players to rebuild.
No idea why Bellamy is mentioned. He will never return whilst Tam is owner. He also has zero track record and a disturbing reputation for bullying which seems to have been swept under the carpet.
Obviously MM should not have been given an extended contract until season ended. However, we panicked when Celtic were rumour we to be interested. He is here for next season so accept it. He will be judged on performances when he has own team out there.
Style of play has been dreadful for years with acceptance being based on couple of promotions. Current squad is woeful in terms of passing ability and pace. Loans are no answer so yes I agree youngsters have to be given a chance. Need to get Reading and Brentford out of the way and play them in final 3 games.
Don’t know where rumour of transfer embargo comes from unless it is linked to ongoing Sala case. It looks like FFP is going to be scrapped by authorities.
Good report – thanks.
I agree with Pr, MM should only have been a stop-gap to stabilise performances and move us away from the threat of a relegation battle. He is not the answer long-term and should not have been given a contract extension before the end of the season. The Cardiff way has become Neolithic football played by functional automata, incapable of stringing three passes together. It has been this way since Dave Jones left. How I miss, Chopra, Bothroyd, Burke, Whitts and McPhail and playing with a swagger.
Good morning all. After enduring last night’s display, there were three obvious weaknesses to do with our ‘style’ of play. Firstly, we must stop losing scrums against the head on our put in at corners. Secondly, Vaulks continually throws to the back of the line out when we get anywhere near the opposition try line although throwing short might mean somebody having to put over a decent cross kick which we don’t seem capable of doing. Finally, when our backs kick ahead, it’s invariably too long and would need players such as Bacuna to break into more of a jog to put the opposition under pressure.
More specifically, Alun Wyn Flint at centre back last night was appalling leading a trio of incompetents at the back. Allowing the player he was marking to head home from a corner without really having to jump was spectacularly unimpressive. NG must return at right back to allow Sang to move into midfield as he actually seems to be able to pass the ball and I don’t know what the solution is on the other flank as Ralls regresses with every game. The midfield is completely disfunctional (note to MM – Adam Reach is out of contract soon) so it’s hardly surprising that Moore has looked dead on his feet for some weeks trying to deal with a service that varies from non existent to up and unders. We have lacked a fox in the box ‘Chopra type’ of striker for years so I hoped that signing a striker such as Watters would remedy this but despite showing his scoring prowess in the U23’s, he is either 1) ignored completely, 2) left on the bench whilst Harris, who doesn’t look like a striker to me, is sent on or 3) is thrown on for a few minutes as a lone striker when Moore is too knackered to move any more.
Quite frankly, last night’s mess has been on the back burner for a few games and the problems we now have are monumental. With many fans also starting to turn aginst McCarthy already, he has a massive job on his hands to restore confidence in this set of players and show that he is capable of a rebuilding job.
Fair minded comments from Paul and the others — all adding up to a scathing assessment of players and manager. The “Cardiff City way” has been thrust upon us for several years and, truth to tell, has relied more on luck than anything else even when the results have been successful. As Paul says, the team’s shortcomings were ruthlessly exposed yesterday.
I appreciate Pr’s comments today and after the previous match. In fact I was calling on this very site for Craig Bellamy to be our manager a long time back, but I also think that the case put forward from Robert Thomas has a degree of sense. However, the argument that Bellamy (as of this moment) is not the man for us rests primarily on Bellamy himself. He has made it clear that the team he would want to manage does not have the players he would need. Even so, he has been a shrewd observer of Belgian football for many years in a close relationship with Belgian players developed at Manchester City and has obviously learned a lot from his time in Belgium.
Technically he has what it takes to be a successful manager in his own right, The stumbling block might well be his outspoken and often aggressive personality but we should remember he volunteered to play for Cardiff at a time he could have joined any of several Premiership sides. (His voluntary work for youngsters in Africa is also in his favour)
It is often said that Bellamy could not work with Vincent Tan, but this is debatable since good results and exciting football would bring in the fans == and this surely would be agreeable to Mr Tan. Furthermore, there are signs in his own country that our owner is drawing back from some of his financial activities. God help us if he ever gives up on Cardiff City but I hope the powers that-be running Cardiff are awake to the possibility that Craig Bellamy might be our saviour when we need him most.
Hi! Paul and fellow commenters.
Paul I’m amazed at your devotion to writing such a detailed report after every game. For several weeks I think my report would be along the lines of “same old, same old -seelast weeks report”.
I think City achieved almost the impossible yesterday evening, they made Wednesday, up until yesterday at best a mediocre Championship side , look like Guardiola’s Barcelona.
I can find no positives to cling on to. We were abject. Even the ability to complete the simplest of passes was beyond us.
Agree with the criticism of Mick, he iis as much of a dinosaur Mr.Warnock. You just knew that when Wilson was warming that it was Jonny who would be coming off.
I’m afraid a change of manager will not cure our ills. Unless there is a complete change of ethos at the club we will soon be down among the deadmen.
The cost of a season-ticket is looking mighty expensive at te moment!
Good morning Paul and devoted followers.
Was last night “one of those nights”, a “blip”, a “one off” and any other expression to excuse an humiliation? I think not as I believe for the last few performances it has been coming, but what was surprising was that it was the league’s bottom club to give us the spanking. And what a spanking.
From the off, Wednesday were sharper, quicker in thought and deed, and knew where we had weaknesses – everywhere. I appreciate that we did not have our strongest rearguard, but from my vantage point, those that wore the shirt last night did not have a defensive plan and Paterson’s goal was just about a replica of Garner’s goal against us three days earlier. There were countless examples of poor marking that once again I question just who on the pitch was responsible for the organisation that was so desperately needed.
TV coverage does not, of course, reveal all touchline antics, but from what I observed, MM seemed shell shocked and, if so ,did not seem able to give instructions necessary to shore up matters. There are few Managers who would have been so ineffective and less animated with such carnage taking place. That gives me a cause for concern as does his comments afterwards that his half time chat was about giving his selected eleven time to put matters right, so no substitutes just yet. Hogwash!!
Our best eleven has to contain Wilson even if he has not performed to the high level that he does for Wales for he is the one City player who genuinely is able to create, and finish scoring opportunities. Moore needs a rest, and Watters needs a chance. Ng has to come back, and revert to a two man defence whilst Morrison is injured, be it Nelson and Flint or Nelson and Brown. But as most of us know, we have major problems in midfield and the training ground is where we really must sort out who are are most effective trio or quartet and if that means a couple of long established players losing out to thrusting youngsters, I for one will accept that scenario. The time has come.
MM’s vast experience is about to be put to the test. He best not disappoint.
Thanks Paul and all.
I also marvel at Paul’s ability to knock out his detailed reports so quickly and efficiently. Even more so when think we all felt so depressed.
Have to agree with all others – except I assume we won’t be changing managers anytime soon due to the recent contract that MM signed.
For me we seem to have regressed from only a short few weeks ago where 3 man defence, wing backs, aggressive midfield, Wilson supporting Moore and Ojo/Murphy on the wing seemed, to all observers, to be a winning combination.
It now seems that the loss of Morrison and Bennett to injuries, along with dropping of Ng and a knackered Moore up front running on empty has caused our downturn.
I agree that giving Sang and Brown their opportunities has been good, but you would assume that some combination of our pick n’ mix midfield and attackers would be able to keep our level of performances going. However, far from it, as we are now back to Harris and Warnock – at his worst- football.
Paul is right in that teams have worked us out and if they can front up to our set piece routines and play at pace around and through us creatively, then we have nothing much else to offer. I am feeling embarrassed to be on Sky tv with more eyes on us watching Vaulks reaching for the towel 10 times per game!
Give some youngsters a chance and try to salvage something from what’s left of the season.
Thank-you, Paul. Your writing outlines clearly the gruesome nature of last night’s game. There’s nothing to disagree with in your well written offering.
It was on April 27th 1971 that I travelled to Sheffield to see City take on Sheff Utd in a season defining game that would virtually guarantee top flight football the following season for the winners. The previous Saturday a visiting City had gained a welcome 2-1victory at Norwich. That Tuesday night, 50 yrs ago, the Blades had 6 shots on target, if my memory is correct, and scored five in a 5-1 win. They went on to gain promotion. My reflection of that game was that City seemed hard done by regarding the score-line, City, finishing third, faced another season in the second flight. Last night against Sheff Wed, despite the home team, again having six shots on target and scoring five, without reply, there the similarities ended. The latest visit to the Steel City resulted in a truly awful, embarrassing performance. It was simply not acceptable. Had the home team not started the second period in a more defensive mind-set than the first 45 mins, as City went 4411, the score-line could have been 9-0. When a Scoular team lost by that margin he was quoted as saying in the Daily Express: “If I were a City player I’d been embarrassed to walk down the street!” Those words from history are as valid for yesterday’s 5-0 loss as that trouncing at Preston in May 1966.
Yes, Mick McCarthy has steadied the ship and achieved what he was asked to do, ie prevent relegation, but haste in securing his tenure for another 2 seasons may yet hamstring the Bluebirds. City’s Achilles heel remains; any team with a modicum of movement or pace will find us out, even if that team is bottom of the league. A couple of seasons ago I remember Barnsley, despite being in the bottom-three, giving City a football master-class at CCS.
Yesterday evening City, yes you’ve guessed it went 3412, whilst the home team also favoured a similar shape. On looking at the personnel before the game I was staggered to see that City had chosen no less than SIX nominal central midfielders (Sang, Ralls, Vaulks, Pack, Bacuna & Williams) to go with the three centre backs of late. Only Williams could in anyway have joined Moore in the attacking bracket. So we had two central midfielders at wing backs; another two in the centre of midfield whilst Bacuna (another central midfielder) again mystifyingly played in the #10 role and Williams (yet another central midfielder) played alongside Moore. Balanced this team was not. It was like a golfer selecting three woods, six 1-irons, four 5-irons and a putter for his golf bag. What he was to do if he ever got in a bunker or was within 50 yds of the pin was a moot point! Yesterday, City was that collection of clubs. They were not fit for purpose so unbalanced was the team selection. As I’ve stated a number of times on this blog, for the wing back system to work properly you need to be as happy to be a winger as defending. Bennett is a wing back whilst Bagan (at this stage of his development) is a left back. It is only due to Sang’s ease on the ball and ability that he has made a good fist of the right wing back birth. Mr McCarthy, please put him in the centre of midfield for the rest of the season and see him blossom.
Had McCarthy torn up his script after 20 mins, changing shape and some personnel, which he should have done (at 2-0 down), we might have had a bit of a chance. That we had to wait until the 72nd minute, at 5-0, for substitutions was ludicrous.
The novelty of City’s shape and aerial bombardment has now worn off. We have been found out and we look what we are. Moore has not had a ball that has given him a chance of controlling it, let alone score from it for weeks. When was the last time we got to the byline and put in a cross for him? Last night Mick out-Harrised Harris … too many square pegs in round holes.
Again we saw the opposition opt for a player, Bannan, playing deep and he controlled the game. It was so obvious to me that someone, Wilson, needed to be on him but, by the time he did, Bannan’s 72 mins on the pitch had decimated City. Good Championship player though he is, he is not the player Sky were trying to make out he was, rather City gifted him his easiest game of the season.
As we face the last six games it seems we are more likely to drift and finish 12th than re-group and finish 7th. Overall I suppose some would view finishing in mid-table a fairly satisfactory season’s work. However, for me, where we were after beating Derby 4-0 (8th and just 2 pts away from 6th) the Swansea victory apart, the last six games have been thoroughly disappointing. My feeling is that had Malky MacKay had this squad this season we would have been higher up the league. Overall I thank-you Mick for 2020-21 but you have a massive four months’ work ahead before the 2021-22 season starts.
Morning everyone. In Feedback terms at least, I have thought for a while that a bad defeat for City brings two things, number one, a greater number of responses and number two, some really high quality replies – this has been proven again following Monday’s thrashing.
Rather than refer to all of your replies individually, I thought that, this time, I’d set out something which occurred to me when news of the transfer embargo that has been imposed on us first broke, but, before I do that, here’s a couple of link to a statement made by the club yesterday on that subject
https://www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk/news/club-statement-060421
Also, here’s the view of the Chairman of the City Supporters’ Trust, Keith Morgan, who id an expert on football finance, regarding the situation;-
“Companies House has allowed a 3-month extension for filing accounts due to the pandemic, so Cardiff City Football Club’s accounts for year ended May 31, 2020, due to be filed at the end of February 2021 now can be filed as late as May 31, 2021.
However, the English Football League has chosen not to give a similar extension for filing of accounts with them so non-filing has triggered an automatic transfer ban for non-compliance which will be lifted as soon as accounts are filed which will before the next transfer window in any case.
Separately, of course, if the accounts when filed show losses above the allowed level, the transfer ban may be extended.”
So, it would seem, that the imposition of the embargo is not as serious as it first appeared. However, embargo or not, yesterday’s news did set me thinking about what sort of transfer window we’ll see when it opens again for the summer. Given the financial hit football as a whole has taken as a consequence of the pandemic, it seems to me that we’ll see far more players being made available for transfer this year, be it through the non renewal of contracts of players who would have been offered one in different circumstances and teams who will be in a position where they could, quite literally, have to sell to survive.
It’s likely that the transfer window of summer 2021, and probably a few more beyond that one, will be very much a buyer’s market, so, say for example that City were faced with a situation where they had to cash in Keiffer Moore for example, the circumstances caused by Covid may well mean that we would be be disappointed by the size of any offers we received and the sort of fee we would end of accepting for him.
The plus side of such a scenario would be that there would have to be a surfeit of good quality players available at prices far lower than they’d normally fetch. So, if you were a club with a little money to spend, you may find that money going a lot further than the same amount in any other year.
I read a couple of days ago that Newport County have twenty one players out of contract this summer. Now, I’m not saying should flood their squad full of County cast offs and I think twenty one will, doubtless, be at the higher end of the numbers individual clubs release, but it does give you a bit of an indication how many players will be on the market this summer. As or how this will effect the City, I’ve been thinking that, if Mick McCarthy was minded to carry out an overhaul of the playing staff and look to change our playing style, it would be quite a long haul done on a gradual basis, but I’m not sure that would be the case in the circumstances we’ll see in the coming months – it would be risky and there’s be no guarantee we’d be any better off than we are now, but it could be done.