Oh when the Saints, come marching in, oh when the Saints come marching in, we better hope we have their number, or Bulut might just end up binned This Saturday sees the visit of Southampton to the Cardiff City Stadium for a game that has far more importance to the visitors than it does our own beleaguered team.... or does it??? Obviously the Saints are pushing hard for a top 2 spot, having recovered from a slightly wobbly spell of form to rack up 3 wins on the bounce and scoring plenty along the way. However, I don't think it's any exaggeration to say that our own gaffer Erol Bulut may well literally be staring down the barrel of Vincent Tan's firing pistol should our last few games not go so well? Our south coast visitors arrive at the CCS in 4th spot and on a roll as they chase down the top 3 sides, with 2nd placed Leicester just 4 points better off, so all to play for once again for those automatic spots. Last time out saw the Saints run out relatively comfortable winners in a 2-0 victory at St Mary's, however, their gaffer and arch pain in the Bluebirds' butt Russell Martin was gracious enough to admit that we had improved since he was last in the dug out against us and actually gave his side a bit more of a game this time around (was it really a compliment though, or a double edged insult?? Always hard to tell with him). Bulut's Bulletin Just as our managers fate begins to come into sharp focus, lady luck has turned her back on him by inflicting a catastrophic amount of injuries upon our already thin squad. No fewer than 12 players are now reported to be definitely out or extremely doubtful - as per the breaking news story from our roving reporter Ninian Opinion yesterday on the 'Bulut and the Future' thread. With no further updates since then, it seems almost inevitable that we'll see a few more youngsters in the squad and even potentially starting, though both Callum Robinson and Josh Bowler could come back into contention and are being monitored. So, just what will our starting line up look like? It's anybody's guess to be honest. What Are The Odds On That? We're joined this week by one of the last players to score in a victory against the Saints - and in the Premier League no less, in our season when we did the double over our visitors. Welcome back again big man!! No surprise that our high flying visitors are odds on for this one. Sneak Peek No sharing the love this week as we've pretty much exhausted most of the players that have played for both clubs across the various threads.... whilst I can almost feel the disappointment I'm hoping that this little bit of breaking news will offset that momentary dip. I can provide an exclusive peek at our new shirt sponsor for next season. My inside sources have let me know that this deal has literally only been brokered in the last month and has come about due to the jaw dropping efforts being put in by many of the squad as the season draws to a close. Remember though this is a secret so.... So, can our threadbare squad see off Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (if there's only 4 of them we must be in with a shot surely)? Will our tyros terrorise Martin's St Mary's mob?? Can Erol save his skin by downing a few un'lucky Saints??? All I know is, I'm hoping these are the scenes as the visiting fans make their way back to their coaches at around 5:15pm tomorrow, and I'll be there with my little pick and shovel to see!!! Bloooooooooooooooooooooobirds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ 13/2 eh? Methinks Sparkey is going to lose some money tomorrow. Another cracking thread Brizzle. To be honest I like the look of that new shirt.
Anyone recall Southampton coming to NP in March 1978 looking for promotion back to Division 1? Well it was an early evening kick off if I remember it right (something to do with saving energy costs of the floodlights possibly?) and Alan Ball et al were beaten 1-0 by a City team as usual fighting off relegation via little Ray Bishop. Saints did go up and City survived by a solitary point to send Blackpool down!
As always Brizzle. I've a lot of time for The Saints for personal and footballing reasons but never want us to lose to anyone. Can't see us getting anything tomorrow though. Whatever happens, I hope they make it back up. Thank gawd nobody has posted that Chris Rea song. Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds
City gone out to 8/1....... Can't pass that up - I must be mad............. please log in to view this image
So, here we go then... Just getting ready to set off, hopefully there won't be too many tractors on the roads to hold us up.... Could be as many as 4 or 5 youngsters in the squad today... Be interesting to see just how much use we make of them and whether we avoid using the likes of Diedhiou for this one.
I remember a midweek game against a star studded Saints side, Mick Channon missed an absolute sitter….open goal, a 2-2 draw Masky
Cardiff City XI: Horvath; Romeo, Goutas, Phillips, Ralls; Siopis, Turnbull; Tanner, R. Colwill, Ashford; Meite. Subs: Turner, Wintle, Sawyers, Diedhiou, J. Colwill, Conte, Lawlor, Antwi, Giles. One youngster starting (I won't put Colwill snr in that category) and 5 on the bench. There would have been easier games to have them involved in.
Masky fears no-one generally, but expecting a battering with this team....double underpants on today to protect a surging down below and potential leakage! Masky
We won. Bulut in Tan out Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds
