Doubtless, anyone reading this first paragraph will be questioning my sanity by the end of it, but I swear Cardiff City had more chances to score in their match at Hull City today than they had in their previous six league games put together. Yet, at the final whistle, it felt to me that we looked closer to not just being a relegation side, but one that has the potential, if that’s the right word, to finish tailed off at the bottom of the table like the really poor Rotherham side which thrashed us 5-2 on the final day of last season.
Defeats like that one went ignored by many who were more concerned with entreating the man who’d presided over that shambles to stay, but we were shockingly bad at the back that day and, if anything, our defending was worse today. On top of that, we were guilty of so many cheap errors in the middle of the park and, again, our opponents looked fitter than us, while it seemed to me that they were physically stronger and more determined than us.
Even in the area which carried a clear improvement, all the opportunities which came along at fairly regular intervals did was show how ill equipped we are when it comes to taking them – it should be added that, if what I’ve read about them this season is right, Hull are a team that plays in a way which is risky in the extreme (I’ll try to explain what I mean later) and I’d like to see us do the same as we did today in terms of pressing in forward areas and working ourselves into promising situations against other opponents before I lose the feeling I have that today could have been a one off in that respect.
It’s fair to say a final score of 4-1 was harsh on City (early in the game, one of the commentators I listened to said he could see the score ending up 4-4, but City had already shown signs of their profligacy in front of goal and his prediction turned out to be as optimstic as it sounded at the time). Hull’s first two goals had an element of luck to them, the third came from a big deflection and the fourth was a late, needless, penalty conceded in madcap fashion by Perry Ng, someone who epitomises the nightmare we are now in – he’s someone who has proved himself well capable of performing at this level in the past, yet this season, he’s not worth his place in the team.
Similarly, on this weekend thirteen years ago and on the same ground, Joe Ralls announced himself as a Championship footballer as a seventeen year old with a memorable goal, but, sad to say, I’ve seldom seen him play worse than he did today as he was guilty of a series of silly, careless errors of a type you just don’t associate with him – it was a surprise to see him stay on for the whole match.
Callum O’Dowda was poor for a third straight game and Jamilu Collins was run ragged, albeit by someone who was in inspired form.
As for our new signings, well it’s hard to look at any of them and think they can inspire us to the win that is becoming desperately needed in the next two or three matches. Jesper Daaland and Will Fish have looked the best of them so far, but the former is probably out for a few more weeks yet with the freak injury he picked up against Middlesbrough and the latter, who started the match today with his head bandaged, only lasted forty minutes before he was forced off with another injury (he was “feeling” his hamstring apparently), so there’s a possibility that he could be missing for a while as well.
In Fish’s absence, Ng moved over from right back to play in the centre and Andy Rinomhota came on to play at right back. All of this meant there was a big defensive onus on Callum Chambers, but, in an incident which summed up how we were bullied by our opponents all over the pitch, he was “rolled” so easily by Hull striker Chris Bedia who was only denied by one of too many good saves made by Jak Alnwick.
Chambers can pass the ball with poise and wasn’t terrible here by any means, but he’s finding life in the Championship for the first time at an “ordinary” team, as opposed to Aston Villa, a bit of a culture shock and, if we had more fit centre backs, you could see his place in the team coming under threat.
Alex Robertson didn’t struggle as much as Ralls, but he was guilty of giving the ball away carelessly on occasions and it was his poor pass which led to Hull’s penalty, Chris Willock livened things up a bit when he came on, but, like Anwar El Ghazi, he’s not looking like the sort of a player to dig you out of a relegation fight and, finally with the newcomers, Wilfried Kanga at last had a presentable chance to score, but blew it by showing a lack of technique that rather typified Cardiff City forward play since Keiffer Moore left.
So far at least, Jak Alnwick’s form is holding up (it really needs to at the moment!) and, for someone who looked miles away from first team contention a few weeks ago, I can see Rinomhota getting a starting place in the coming weeks (it was a shame a couple of decent chances fell to him instead of someone else, but I thought he did well and he strikes me as the type you do need in a relegation scrap), Rubin Colwill showed some lovely touches and can open up defences, even if he was disappointingly awry with his crossing on at least two occasions, and Callum Robinson is still our only league scorer after his powerful strike today put us ahead for the first time in a league game this season for all of three minutes.
Those four apart though, there was little cause for optimism today – El Ghazi does have an assist to his name now mind, as his pass sent Robinson (who looked offside to me) through in the inside right channel and he took his chance clinically and confidently.
Hull right winger Bachir Belloumi had already caused Collins (who was often left to fend for himself) problems when he swung in one of those crosses that goalkeepers cannot commit to either way because it looks like a striker will reach it and get a touch, but it didn’t happen this time and the ball bounced into the net with Alnwick helpless. City were unlucky when Hull went in front on thirty five minutes when Belloimi’s pass bounced off Fish’s head straight into the path of Marvin Mehlem who sent the winger through to delicately lob over Alnwick.
Hull had their best spell of the game just after half time as City were at their most slipshod and this was typified by a shockingly simple third goal. City, as they have done all season, made it easy for their opponents to play a short corner and show that greater desire to win the ball again to set up Oscar Zambrano for a shot which bounced off Chambers to leave Alnwick completely wrong footed.
Alnwick denied Belloumi a hat trick with his best save of the afternoon and, curiously, after that City went on to dominate the next half an hour. Hull, whose manager Tim Walter, apparently, insists that his defenders alone should play out from the back as his midfielders all stay further forward, would surely have been severely punished by a side with more confidence in front of goal as they lost the ball in really dangerous positions with an undermanned defence. However, City were a poor second to Hull when it came to a sure touch and natural movement in the attacking third. Too often, City players got too close to each other as one would either get in the way of the other or block an intended pass or shot – that should be basic stuff at this level, but we couldn’t manage it this afternoon.
It was never really a siege on their goal, but Hull lifted it in the last minute of normal time when Ng went clattering into sub Abu Kamara who was in the process of botching a decent chance and Bedia tucked away the penalty.
A few words about Omar Riza in his first match as caretaker manager. I’d used the easy, flippant, line about us choosing an attack coach to be caretaker boss of a team that had scored one in six games, but, it can’t be denied that City were much improved, from a very low base mind, when it came to the attacking side of things. Riza can’t be blamed for shortcomings in our attacking players that were present before he joined the club, just like he can’t be held responsible for the cheap and entirely avoidable individual errors that you just cannot make at this level.
However, the size of the task facing the new City boss looks too big for an apprentice manager and I’m more convinced than ever that we need someone who has at least some experience of managing at this level for a season or so at least.
So, City’s one point from their first seven games represents their worst ever start to a league season, but, according to the club hierarchy in a meeting with the Supporters’ Trust and other fan representatives this week, they are going to take their time making a new managerial appointment because there’s no crisis – sorry,but that’s the sort of complacency that has got us in this mess.
It was a bleak weekend all round, as the under 21s went down 2-0 at Sheffield United yesterday against a side which is dominating the Northern section of the league, while goals by Jac Thomas, Leeyon Phelan and Mannie Barton were not enough to save the under 18s from a 4-3 defeat by QPR at Leckwith in a game where they trailed 3-0 at half time.
In the Highadmit South Wales Alliance League Division One East, Treorchy Boys and Girls Club were beaten 1-0 at Cwrt Rawlim FC in a mid table clash, but Treherbert Boys and Girls Club were able to avoid a clean sweep of defeats when they beat Pontredawe by a single goal in the Ardal South West League.
