Ahh, isn’t it good to be back? Whilst the International break brought a heady mix of joy, excitement, frustration and pride, nothing quite compares to club football does it?? Well, actually, in our case, perhaps the break was more welcome than we’d like to admit, despite the small upturn in fortunes just as we headed into the forced halt to league action? Omer Riza has done an ‘OK’ job overall since taking up the interim post with 4 points gained from a possible 9, however, when taken into the context of what went before, I guess ‘OK’ could be classed as a little understated? Quite whether he is doing or has done enough to convince the board that he remains the best option is yet to be seen, but the longer the search for Erol Bulut’s successor goes on, the more likely it is that Riza will remain in post, unless of course we return to the terrible form shown prior to his ‘temporary’ appointment almost 4 weeks ago. Managerial trials and tribulations aside, this weekend sees us welcome our southernmost divisional rivals to the CCS in the form of Plymouth Argyle. Who Are You? Let’s get this out of the way then – obviously the most famous face in the Argyle camp is their head coach and manager of the month nominee Mr Wayne Rooney, the rotund OAP botherer. He signed on in Devon back in May after Plymouth managed to avoid dropping back into League 1. His record in the dugout thus far can only be described as a mixed bag. Praise should be forthcoming for the job he did at Derby in very difficult circumstances, however since then I don’t think it’s unfair to say that Birmingham’s relegation to League 1 was very much as a result of the disastrous period Rooney was in charge there, and these inconsistencies have continued in deepest Devon with the Pilgrims only recently starting to climb the table off the back of 3 straight home wins after a very rocky start. Rooney however will probably be missing from the dug-out for this one following his red card in their dramatic last gasp win v Blackburn last time out. Squad wise, as mentioned below, Ex-Jack Morgan Whittaker is well known face to us Bluebirds as is his strike partner and another Ex-JB Michael Obafemi, both of whom notched in that dramatic win against Blackburn prior to the international break. They have also recently signed veteran forward (does being 33 make you a veteran??) Andre Grey on a short term deal after on loan Slavia Prague loan man Muhamed Tijani picked up a serious hamstring tear. So it’s fair to say they are well stocked in the forward positions. In midfield, Sweden U-21 Rami Al Hajj was signed from Danish side Odense along with Dutch U-21 Ibrahim Cissoko who joined on loan from Ligue 1 side Toulouse, both have proven their worth on occasion already this season. At the back, yet another former resident of SA1 was Rooney’s first signing, Nathanael Ogbeta joining after his deal with the Jacks expired. All told I believe 10 new faces have arrived at Home Park since Rooney took up the hot seat there. Last Time Out & Form Last time out saw our beloved Bluebirds humbled at Home Park as the Pilgrims notched their first win under new temporary gaffer Ian Foster (and their 1st win in 6!), consigning us to our 3rd defeat in 4 games after a contest that saw the Bluebirds edge possession but little else. We actually took the lead through who else but Perry Ng, only to be pegged back with goals either side of half time from Ryan Hardie. Ex-JB Morgan Whittaker (who has made a habit of scoring against us) making sure of the 3 points for the pasty munchers with a decent finish late on. WARNING – Some scenes depict dreadful defending and goalkeeping which some viewers may find distressing! Form wise, the Devonian outfit sit in 14th spot mostly thanks to those 3 home wins on the spin, with them having picked up just a solitary point away from home in 4 matches. Fingers crossed that tally doesn’t increase this weekend. In, Out Or No Sign Of Them About It would appear the club have emerged from the International break with no issues as such reported by way of injuries. There were some reports of ‘illness’ for Rubin Colwill & to a lesser extent Cian Ashford after they pulled out of Wales’s U-21 friendly, however, the cynic in me suspects that on this occasion the ‘Giggs’ rule has been invoked and club has taken precedence over country. That aside, our busiest International player appears to have been Manolis Siopis, who turned in an excellent performance for an hour or so at Wembley last week before following that up with another solid showing, playing the whole match against the Republic of Ireland. Rumour is that both Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham & Declan Rice were left feeling disoriented and confused after Siopis left the field because they’d finally had their leads unclipped and were able to move more than 2 foot away from a player in a Greek shirt! Odds are, with his exertions for country likely taking a toll, our Greek pitbull will probably start on the bench again on Saturday. Prior to the break we saw the return of Jesper Daland from injury. I’d anticipate a start may still be beyond him, though I’m sure many would like to see him and Goutas paired up in the heart of defence rather than maintaining a reliance on Calum Chambers who’s still finding his feet at the club (sometimes seemingly having 2 left ones rather than a pair)? Predicted Starting 11 Alnwick Ng Chambers Goutas Bagan Tanner Colwill Ralls Robertson Robinson El Ghazi Mano et Mano - or should that be Mano ate England for dinner??? The Odds Bods Ahhh, the man who’s throw was “top drawer” as our incredibly catchy FA Cup Final song went…. (still makes me shudder a bit when I think about it). Looking at these odds though, I’m not sure I recall the last time we were evens for a result – Riza must be doing something right eh, especially as Rooney is always one of the pundits favourites!! Top Boy Top Trumps With us now finally ‘in the goals’ I figured another look at the respective current top scorers would be in order. To be fair to Robbo, his strike rate of 2 goals from 8 shots isn’t half bad and he is far outweighing his XG (I know some of you are a little bit stat phobic but I love it!! ). Hopefully now he’s getting a run in the team he can improve upon his overall record of around 1 in 5 for us. Cissoko on the other hand, whilst having scored a goal more, it’s taken more than double the amount of shots that Robbo has taken to achieve it. Whilst his more defensive side outweighs Robbo’s own numbers, I believe Cissoko is employed more as a ‘wide’ forward than an out and out front man (though I wait to stand corrected). Match Day Melody I could be slightly mistaken here, the mists of time may have dulled my memory slightly but this song immediately jumped to mind when I consider our visitors, just purely because of the chorus. “Pasty lunch? Oh, it was left outside” – classic lyrics. OK, maybe that’s a stretch too far, even for me (always preferred a Clarkies to a Ginsters anyhow)??? How about this one instead? Alas I will actually be in Devon whilst this one is being played, hopefully that's a good omen though, and I'll be sure to pack my City shirt for Saturday morning!! Blooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds!!!
A slight digression from Saturday's game. Just reading about our list of injuries. They all seem to be hammys, several requiring surgery. OK, Tsunoda's was while on loan, but is there something off with our strength and conditioning? It's been raised before, but the numbers of the same injuries are worrying. Fortunately, other than a January return for Tsunoda, they all seem to be scheduled to return in the next 1-5 weeks.
Seems to be a recurring trend in many clubs plus acls. Too much football, so the players say, and the game is played at a much faster pace although many pitches are like bowls greens compared to years ago. All contribute to greater strains on joints and key muscles. It could also be that players are over trained now thus adding to the strains. Years ago didn't clubs win the old Div. 1 using 15 or 16 players over a whole season? Nowadays they use 16 in a single game and change half the next game for "squad rotation" Sounds like club medics and physios are getting money for old rope.
Oi. Don't throw me under the bus. Indeed, another great thread. Given all the players with hammys are unavailable for the game, my comments are germane. Colwill will (that's hard to say) be a miss for Saturday. Him and Ashford should be back for Tuesday. Who will Riza play as a 10? Robinson would be the natural choice, but that leaves us short a 9. I'd leave him where he is. Does he put turnbull in there or push Robertson forward? The latter is settling in to a role in front of the back 4 providing some creativity and link up. So it wouldn't be sensible to move him. 10 looks to be the key role for Saturday u.less Riza changes shape. 433 maybe?
I would have said Robinson as the 10 and play Reindorf but I see he played in the under 21's 2.0 win yesterday so Riza unlike to play him twice in 48 hours. Hope he gets on the bench at least. I don't get why he is being held back when our other options are Katanga Kanga and not so Mighty Meitie. I'm even wishing Etete would get fit as he is a better option up top than those 2 - and that's saying a lot. On the subject of sh1te strikers - the absorber of oxygen Ugbo has not scored in the league for the Wendies this season. There are troubled fans there questioning their £2.5m outlay. What a surprise.
Excellent thread except for the bit that suggests the club game is better than the international game. I do however concede that on that subject and on this forum, I'm a total outlier. Shame too that the thread immediately went on topical safari thanks to that farming bloke from Cheshire . Anyway, let's hope we can halt the Pilgrim's Progress. I don't like Wayne Rooney. I shall be watching on the sky thingy that I invested in. Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds
I hope the bus that got Remote didn't suffer too much damage. Hope you enjoy your Sky viewing of the game Clingo. And hope we enjoy it at CCS as well. At least you can give us the multi camera view of any controversial decisions.
I see the Pasty Lovers have sold over 3k tickets for their second local Derby - after the Wurzels. Going to be lively.
Some friends of mine from Ivybridge are coming up to support the Pilgrims. They're popping in to see me "on the way home". I'm not telling them
Cardiff City: Alnwick, Ng, Goutas, Chambers, O'Dowda, Robertson, Turnbull, R Colwill, Tanner, El Ghazi, Robinson. Substitutes: Horvath, Fish, Daland, Collins, Bagan, Rinomhota, Willock, Méïté, Kanga.
An interesting choice with the two in front of the back 4. Both 'ball players'. 7 attack minded players on the pitch. 8 if you include NG. Riza 'going for it'? Some notable absentees from the squad. A very defence orientated bench. Willock the only player to change the attack, unless you move O'Dowda forward and bring on Collins or Bagan. Given how many subs you can carry, its surprising not to see a couple 21s on the bench. Kpakio and Reindorf would benefit from the experience and add balance. Collins and Bagan on the bench but no cover at RB. Surely you only need one of them. Then Meite OR Kanga. You don't need both.
Listening to a youtube comentary. Radio Devon chucked me off. Him and Tanner seem to have a real understanding. Just hope Riza doesn't go all defensive again. As I posted upthread, there's not much on the bench from an attacking perspective though.
What's happened to us? We look a completely different outfit. Superb on the ball, creative and incisive. It's a great watch.
