From the best to what I would think most supporters will regard as the worst within a week. If Cardiff City’s 2-1 win over Ipswich last Saturday was a season highlight, then the 2-0 loss at Swansea this lunchtime will be thought of as the nadir of our season.
In saying that, I don’t fall into what I’m sure will be a majority – it says so much about our limitations, but I think we’ve played worse this season (Leeds at home, Norwich away and even the win over Millwall spring to mind), but what I will say is that, as was pointed out to me when I tried to put a similar type of argument on the message board I use after the game, I was reminded that I was talking about a derby match against what ninety per cent plus of supporters regard as our biggest rivals and I concede that, given that context, today was up there with recent embarrassments like Swansea 3 Mick McCarthy’s five centre backs XI 0 and Cardiff 0 Swansea 4.
Some of the stuff I read online from City fans last week about the upcoming fixture sounded like Cardiff arrogance. Yes, we’d won four on the trot, but only in the last of them was I convinced by our performance and even then we offered nothing in the way of a goal thread for about two thirds of the time. Swansea, clearly, are nothing special, but, even though we’ve improved from last season, we aren’t either – I think it’s likely that the end of season table will tell us that today was an encounter between two lower mid table sides that weren’t separated by many points.
So, today’s outcome didn’t come as a huge surprise, but the nature of it did. It’s funny what you think of when watching a football game – after about five minutes, I found myself humming one of John Lennon’s last singles, Nobody Told Me (there’d be days like these). I was doing so because it seemed to me that the City team were shocked and taken aback by the intensity of their opponents and the passion of the occasion, they had not seen it coming.
Another thing which popped into my mind while I watched us start as if we’d been woken up by the whistle for the kick off was the phrase “rabbits caught in the headlights” because, having been startled by the occasion, it was as if we were hoping someone would make it all stop when the only people who could do that was those on the pitch wearing blue – – was this down to the sort of arrogance I mentioned above? I doubt it, but, not for the first time in recent seasons, I find myself questioning Cardiff’s preparation for a south Wales derby..
A team surely realises they might be in for a problematic afternoon if, within twenty seconds of kicking off, they are facing a corner given away by a pretty desperate defensive intervention to deny their opponents a shot on goal. That’s what happened to us and the first fifteen minutes were like a siege on our goal.
Now, I’m not saying that Swansea didn’t deserve their win, they did and we could not have complained if the victory margin had been greater, but whereas in the past Swansea have passed off the park while playing some quality stuff, it was not like that today – all that happened really was that they were like a team that understood and lived with the importance of the occasion while also getting “stuck in”.
We did neither of these. Actually, I should qualify that slightly because Yakou Meite pushed his head into Harry Darling’s and very nearly followed Callum Robinson in getting sent off in the early stages of a south Wales derby in Swansea.
Referee David Webb decided a yellow card was sufficient punishment, but Meite could so easily have been heading for an early bath as evidence of how Cardiff had got this game wrong yet again.
It was hardly as if Darling, who has previous in this fixture for behaving like an overhyped idiot, was innocent as he shoved Meite to the floor (Darling was also yellow carded in the incident which suggested that Mr Webb thought he was the instigator), but Meite should not have reacted like he did and it almost seemed to me that he spent the rest of the first half more concerned about his feud with the home centreback than trying to help his team establish a toehold in a game they were being dominated in.
Darling was a very prominent player in the first half with a couple of over dramatic falls to try and get Ryan Wintle a yellow card and a second one for Meite as well as heading against the crossbar when he should really have scored.
Although I look back now and think that, for all Swansea’s dominance, a sometimes nervous looking Ethan Horvarth didn’t have a great deal to do throughout the game, yet when Swansea’s opening goal came after thirty four minutes, it felt well overdue.
There was some controversy about it and, predictably, Erol Bulut chose to feature it prominently in his post match remarks – to be fair, I’ve not heard all that our manager said after the game, but what I have done is not very convincing or accurate in my view.
The point at issue was did Swansea winger Placheta foul Perry Ng as Kyle Naughton’s cross went over their heads? For what it’s worth, I thought when you look at the sort of thing which referees decide is acceptable for penalty area challenges these days, City were very unlikely to get the decision in their favour – I’d have blown for a foul if I were in charge, but what I regard as an offence and what the authorities do these days seem two very different things.
To be honest though, I was more concerned about how Josh Wilson-Esbrand, who was a shadow of the player he has been in recent matches, carelessly conceded possession to Swansea and then how Ng was left with two players to mark on the far post. As I mentioned earlier, Naughton’s cross was always clearing Ng and Placheta and this left Liam Cullen completely free on the far post to slide in what was a good finish on the half volley.
Meite had to be subbed at half time because there was every chance he would be sent off otherwise and Bulut also decided to take David Turnbull off as Callum O’Dowda and Rubin Colwill were the replacements.
Bulut was stretching things a lot I reckon when he claimed the changes he made led to a “much better” second half showing by his team, to return to what I said in post game message board conversations, “less awful” seemed more realistic.
Colwill did add some poise and control to a midfield that had completely lacked those qualities in the first forty five minutes. However, despite the earlier than expected return of Aaron Ramsey meaning that we had some footballers on the pitch who could help put Swansea under some pressure in the closing minutes, the sad truth is that it was another of those games where it’s hard to think of a time where our opponents would have been seriously concerned that they may be about to concede a goal. Indeed, Colwill wasted the best chance we had when he was well off target with a shot from about twelve yards out – Colwill may have improved this season, but his finishing is not of the standard it was in 21/22..
Even if we accept our manager’s bizarre version of events, the truth is that the game should have been over and done with five minutes after the break when Swansea were awarded a penalty after Ng was adjudged to have fouled Brazilian winger Ronald.
This time I have some sympathy with our manager’s view that if it wasn’t a foul for the first goal, it shouldn’t have been one for the penalty. Ng was pulling Ronald’s shirt though, but he started doing it well outside the penalty area. As it was, the penalty decision counted for nothing as Cullen went for the corner and placed his shot a foot wide as Horvarth dived the other way.
The Sky commentators were of the opinion that the penalty miss could be the boost City needed to get them playing, but this was the Cardiff we had to endure through most of December and January unfortunately and at the end I was wondering if Swansea have had an easier home game than this one all season?
Cullen headed a very presentable chance wide, but sub Jason Lowe gave the score line a more realistic look as he broke clear to score in the ninety sixth minute – maybe Nat Phillips could have done a bit better here, but, by the end, I rated him, Dimitrios Goutas and possibly Colwill as our only players who were not some way below an acceptable level of performance – although the likes of Ramsey and O’Dowda do have the excuse that they are on their way back from long term injuries..
To finish on the game, I’d say that what happened today will see the old line about the jacks getting what the derby is about more than us resurrected – I still think this was a match between two pretty ordinary sides, but Swansea’s attitude was the main difference between the teams as their opponents looked as if the whole thing was too much for them..
The under 21s were in action against Bournemouth at Leckwith yesterday afternoon and, like the first team, suffered a 2-0 defeat which they could have lost by more. Better news for the under 18s mind – they were 5-0 winners at Charlton, but no details yet of scorers I’m afraid.
In the Highadmit South Wales Alliance Premier Division, Ton Pentre’s run of good form came to an end with a 5-3 loss at league leaders Cwmamman to leave them in sixth place nine points off the top having played wo games more. Treherbert Boys and Girls Club were not in league action and remain in third place, two points behind Cwmamman having played the same number of matches.
Excellent summary Paul.
Going into yesterdays game we were the only Championship team to win their 4 previous games, but as is often said, form doesn’t matter in derbies. I’m sure both sets of players would say beforehand that they wanted to win, but in the first 30 minutes, only Swansea players showed that on the pitch. Unlike when Bristol started in a similar fashion (to Swansea) in the Severnside derby, when we stood firm and saw out their very bright start, against Swansea we were blown away, frequently caught in possession and giving the ball away. Erol Bulut explained this after the game saying our midfield went into hiding, so putting pressure on our player with the ball. If so, why the complete change from our performance 7 days earlier against Ipswich? That’s what many fans will find difficult to fathom.
Although David Webb wasn’t the worst ref I’ve seen this season, I’m sure the one-sided nature of the first 30 mins of the game persuaded him to give some soft soft free-kicks to Swansea, and mostly gave them the rub of the decisions.
The replay of the penalty decision showed both players were holding each other, and then Ronald decided to throw himself theatrically to the ground, which the ref bought.
To be consistent, he should have given Cardiff at least one penalty for the number of times that NG and Goutas in particular, were having their shirts pulled in the opposition box.
We were much better second half, although Swans defence generally dealt well with our aerial threat, and while Colwill was a bright spark, he was also responsible for missing our best chance, blasting high over the bar from a great position with time and space.
Our next opponents are Sunderland at the CCS on Good Friday. They ended a run of 6 defeats with a 0-0 draw at home to QPR yesterday. We previously ended a run of five defeats in six with a 0-0 draw against Blackburn, before winning the next four games, so Sunderland will be no pushovers.
Let’s see how Cardiff players respond on the pitch this time!
Good work yet again. My reaction for the goal was affected by the distant figure of Josh Bowler (or is it “Howler”) an ambling figure in the distance, leaving two men against our one unlucky and fouled defender. I once said he Mr Bowler had an artificial right leg. He invariably cuts in onto his left foot, or if he has been forced to the line and in desperation, tries a cross with his right foot, as happened recently. This said, why doesn’t he play on the left wing?
Paul, compadre…
Thanks as ever for such a comprehensive report. Your thoughts are admirably ordered in their construction: in contrast to mine, which are more jumbled than usual… but equally as sincere as yours.
I want to say something startling at the outset, and let no Bluebirds fan wilfully misunderstand me. And it is this: whilst I wanted us to win throughout the 90 mins + extra time, I now – after the event – take distinct pleasure in us being so comprehensively beaten.
Now, if someone had told me at 23 years of age that this day would come 53 years later, I would have said back then ‘shoot me now… do not let that day happen’. I would have been saying those words through the genuine tears I shed after we had been destroyed 5-1 at Bramall Lane in that vital end-of-season promotion decider in 1971.
I loved our team so much, that seeing them cave-in under pressure, really hurt. But fast-forward 53 years and the situation is diametrically different.
I detest our negative style of football, and do not trust our manager’s word, nor am I drawn to his personality. And coming down to earth with a bump (a week after the hyperbole-inducing defeat of Ipswich) might be positively providential given the Vincent was being almost railroaded by some in the press into giving him a new contract… this manager of a team whose apparent finest moment came in a game when we never tested their keeper from the 15th minute to the 88th.
Please God… even if freakishly we won every remaining game of this season and sneaked into the PlayOffs, do not give this man the reward of a contract.
Give the job to Ramsey… methinks his injury-free days are over, so it would help justify his salary.
As for the Swansea game: I wrote here in these MAYA pages nearly two months ago that having just seen Swansea play a full 90 minutes, they looked a very useful team, and we would do very well to get a point.
How right that proved. Indeed, we were so lucky to avoid a five goal defeat… and I reckon that if we were to draw up a composite team from the two, then judging by this debacle, not one Cardiff player would ‘make the cut’.
NG must have had his worst ever game in our colours. He should be fined by Bulut for tugging on sleeves, and also for diving trying to claim the same (for their first goal). Because Goutas had stupidly vacated central position to go out to the touchline (following the excellent Ronald lobbing our ‘Josh double barrel’ and this Man City loanee being very casual in his desire to run back), NG felt forced to shuffle across, and realised too late that he had left Cullen unmarked… hence his theatrical dive… after being far more lightly touched than the reverse situation when they got their penalty.
So much was wrong with that performance. Why did Bulut put Wintle on Darling to defend their corners? Why has Turnbull at 24 got no pace? Why were our two central defenders always so far apart, that you could ride a coach and horses through the gap?
Why is that loanee left back asleep at the wheel… at least, defensively? He is disturbingly away with the fairies half his time. I was stunned to see an esteemed MAYAn say last week that he wanted us to sign him. (I thought… what, this chap who I had twice seen in quick succession in the Ipswich game, be fed a gentle pass as he stands near the touchline, and fail to concentrate as it ran under his foot and out of play? No, this guy is no Cody Drameh, that is for sure.)
Then we come to the keeper. I gave him a pass last week… but I was far too premature. Gosh his kicking is hopeless, is it not? Only one long pass of his found his man in the whole game. Get fit soon please Jak.
As for Grant… never has so much energy been expended by a player for so little result. He exasperates, but one cuts him some slack for his sheer degree of industry. Siopsis is a shadow, of the player he was in his first two months, and Phillips though decent, is not in the same class as Mark McGuinness, who should be our captain when Ramsey gets in the manager’s seat.
As for Méïté… he was a fool to let himself be wound up by Harry Darling, but that said, if any of the two deserved a red card for that fracas, then it should have been their Harry – a player I rate quite highly – since he performed a forearm smash on our Yakou, (first yellow card), and then when our boy earned a yellow by foolishly remonstrating and simulating a Glasgow kiss on him (which turned out to be a Glasgow ‘peck’ rather than kiss)… Darling should then have got another yellow by theatrically throwing himself to the ground.
I felt sorry for Méïté… two big central defenders and just him up there on his own. He needed support… but Bulutball does not understand the need for a second front man, and the importance of playing in the opponent’s half.
Right… time to count zeds.
DW.
After the Wales rugby team lost on Saturday against Italy, Warren Gatland offered his resignation – I wish our Manager had done that after our humiliating loss earlier in the day and the resignation had been accepted. As long as a replacement appointed in charge of what players do on the pitch stops the current thoughtless continuous passing across and back without looking for moving forward possibilities, since more often than not the ball reaches the goalkeeper who belts it upfield and it is usually then collected by an opposing player.
Under Bulut we have made our style of football ‘more pleasing on the eye’ in that we have progressed from‘treating the ball like a hot potato’ to being comfortable on the ball provided the opposition gives us sufficient time and space.
Our M,O is to keep all our players behind the ball when the opposition have possession rather than gamble on winning the ball in the opponent’s half
The result of this policy is that we seem to do everything a little too slowly to be successful in the Championship .
It must be difficult to improve this part of our game when our players are practising with colleagues who all have the sae weakness!
When Bielsa was Leeds manager they apparently had regular training sessions playing ‘murder ball”
These were 30 minute nonstop games with the ball constantly in play—-no throw-ins etc
I got the impression on Saturday that we played our normal game whilst Swansea played murder ball.
I think we should have coped with this much better than we did.
Our inability to play at a fast pace was always going to be a problem but no team can play murder ball for 90 minutes and our failure to exploit the demoralising effect of their penalty miss was particularly disappointing and something that does not give me confidence in our manager
Hello Paul and others – Sorry to be a little late to the party, but I have had some difficulty in making any comment that would add to your usual excellent review of Saturday’s lunchtime proceedings. Disappointing though that was, events at the Principality Stadium made for a thoroughly miserable rest of the day. And Gatland’s offer to resign rejected by our rugby hierarchy hardly warmed my cockles. Whatever.
But back to our men in blue. I gather that the 1600 or so City fans who made the journey west were “escorted” to the strangely named stadium, and I presume “escorted” back. There can be few worse return journeys to make under these circumstances when your team have performed in such an abject manner and no doubt having to endure some form of ridicule in the first mile or so of their journey home.
Just why did it go so wrong? I was fulsome in my praise of the midfield last week, but the same trio in the first forty-five minutes were all over the place, and not helped by those behind or ahead. There have been far too many times this season where we have been slow starters, but on Saturday we were positively pedestrian, even to the extent that we could well have been a goal behind once again in the first sixty seconds.
Reading Dai’s comments, he makes reference to my praise a week ago of our Manchester City loanee. Yes, Dai, he was poor but I have seen enough of him to believe there is a player in there somewhere and with the right encouragement, could well be an asset in the future as a left sided wing back. However, there needs to be a better understanding between him and whosoever is ahead of him, be it Grant or O’Dowda. But as for Meite, he had a stinker, and walked a stupid tightrope for the whole period after his coming together with the cunning Darling whose name must be the least appropriate for any sportsman. I believe Meite is not on loan and was signed on a “free”. Sadly, I am not alone amongst my City bunch who think he is a complete waste of time.
I think (and hope) our Play Off aspirations have ended and that the remaining matches will bring some form of relaxed viewing. I am far too long in the tooth to sit for ninety plus tense minutes.
Thanks all for the replies after what you hope is a seminal defeat that will lead to much needed changes to how Cardiff City operate on the pitch – after Saturday’s humiliation (I don’t think that’s too strong a word), you’d think there would be a reaction to it, but then you remember that there wasn’t after the three or four similar such embarrassments suffered at Swansea hands in recent years!
Blue Bayou, I think that after September’s detour where the jacks had a manager who didn’t rate the fixture and lost the dressing room along the way, they had their usual intensity back for a Cardiff game on Saturday (in fact, I would say that they had more of it than usual, whereas, after taking advantage of Swansea’s distraction six months ago, we were “back to normal” with the fixture). I’ve long thought that Swansea as a football club and a city hates Cardiff far more than we hate them (hate might not be the right word, but it’s natural for them to get up for a City v Swansea game, whereas it’s less so with us – that’s how I react to it anyway).
Nevertheless. no one at Cardiff can enjoy the piss take that has happened at least once a season since we got relegated where Swansea City have a great day out at our expense and you’d like to think that the players have enough professional pride bot to accept it so passively. I don’t mean react as pathetically as Callum Robinson and Yakou Meite (I agree with you about him Brian) have done on our last two visits there.
Under Dave Jones we had flaky teams that you could well argue under achieved when you considered the talent of some of the players we had, but those talent levels ensured that we were able to cope far better with Swansea’s intensity and there were enough occasions when we were able to earn a deserved win to keep results on an even keel. However, since Vincent Tan took over, we’ve played “anti football” (don’t think that’s down to our owner really, it’s just happened that way) and become the sort of team good Swansea sides of recent years (I don’t rate their current team in that category) with their ability to dominate possession loved to play against – we no longer have the individual or collective football ability to hurt Swansea like we did ten to fifteen years ago.
I agree with you about the ref, I thought he was a bit of a homer from start to finish, but he can’t be blamed for us being so awful, in performance and tactical approach, from minute one and I don’t think the decisions he may have got wrong affected the outcome that much.
Anthony, you are so right about Bowler. I alluded to his culpability in the first goal in my piece, but, thinking about it now, I should have done more than that – over the last couple of days, I’d say he more than any other City player has been the subject of criticism. It’s a shame in a way because I think he is someone who with a different attitude from the manager might be able to show the sort of individual talent I talked about earlier, but, as it is, his season with us has become one of the best arguments against the inverted winger I’ve ever seen!
Dai, I know exactly what you mean about almost wanting us to lose because the Cardiff City of recent years is a very hard club to like and I’m very fast coming around to your way of thinking regarding our manager (more on him shortly), but they’re my team and so I have to root for them even if they could be prosecuted for crimes against football in recent seasons!
Regarding Josh Wilson-Esbrand, I’m somewhere between you and Brian when it comes to him. My thinking on him is dominated by the fact he is under contract with Manchester City until 2027 – they gave him a five year contract which strongly suggests they rate him very highly. However, I agree that the way he has committed a parks football type faux pas by letting a very simple ball run into touch under no pressure in three of his games for us suggests he has concentration issues (“away with the fairies” is a much better way of describing it!). Wilson-Esbrand was one of a few City players (Horvarth was another, as were Siopis (who, as I said elsewhere, reminded me of Will Vaulks on a bad day), Wintle, Bowler, Meite and, surprisingly, Ng) who looked overwhelmed by the occasion.
Graham, it’s been coming, but Saturday has turned me into a full blown anti Bulut man – his post match comments were just self delusional as he, yet again, threw everyone under the bus to try and save himself from criticism. However, if it is true that, as mentioned on a stream I watched last night, his instructions to his team were to sit back and let Swansea have the ball, then you have to wonder as to his tactical knowledge and the level of research which is carried on by he and his staff into upcoming opponents. In a way, those instructions to his team shouldn’t come as too much of a shock because they are so typically Bulut if we look at the evidence of the last seven months or so.
I’ll give him credit for what is almost certainly going to be a much higher finish in the table than last season and, as Mike says, we do pass the ball more than we used to (I’d still say we’re not very good at it mind), but for every Ipswich, Swansea at home and Huddersfield away this season, there are seven or eight Millwall’s, Leicester and Leeds at home and Norwich and Swansea away’s. When all’s said and done, my main problem with our manager is that the football his team plays is so bloody boring and I’ve now reached the stage where I’m hoping he’s not going to be here next season.
Mike, you make an excellent point regarding Swansea’s “murder ball”, when you say that they couldn’t maintain the pace they started with. I thought the element of control we had for a short period late on in the second half was more down to Swansea sitting back safe in the knowledge that our inability to create much in open play (I read on the messageboard this morning that even Rotherham, whose record marks them down as one of the weakest teams that Championship has seen in recent times, have scored more goals from open play than us this season – everyone in the Championship has!) meant that the three points were virtually in the bag, but, on second thoughts, there could well have been an element of tiredness involved. Unfortunately, however, we weren’t good enough to even come up with a worthwhile goalscoring opportunity, let alone an equaliser.
Brian, while I wouldn’t suggest that it was part of the Bulut masterplan to let Swansea be so dominant and us so passive in that first half an hour, I can easily believe that the sit back and let them have the ball approach I mentioned above was because it’s what we do more than nine times out of ten – for reasons I can’t begin to fathom, Ipswich ten days ago appears to have been an exception, as was Huddersfield away, but I’m struggling to think of many others.
Vince Alm was on that stream I listened to last night and he’s had enough of Swansea and the South Wales constabulary’s attitude to the fixture at what I still call the Liberty Stadium. Besides their much higher prices than their fans pay when they come to Cardiff City Stadium, the number of away fans are limited because they claim there is not enough room for all of the coaches Cardiff bring in their car park – hence the long walk to the ground you talk of. Apparently, Cardiff v Swansea is the one remaining bubble match in the country and, with us almost certain to be meeting again next season, Vince Alm said he was determined there would be changes for them.