Gosh, what a week eh? A frustrating draw at home to Watford when in reality we should have wrapped up all 3 points, a new striker in the door & the sad news of our gaffer’s dad passing away, oh and of course not to mention the restless natives who naively want to protest ahead of a big game for the Bluebirds in many senses…. This weekend’s early kick off sees us welcome our near neighbours from down West to the Capital City for what should be another fraught encounter. Thankfully there is no triple double on the line but the bragging rights remain all important, though personally I think the 3 points are even more vital than having a few weeks of gloating, but I’’ll happily accept both if they happen to come our way Welcome to the Capital YJB’s Swansea City's former home - striking similarities in quality to their current ground! Who Are You? Our little cousins were formed in 1912, originally as Swansea Town (a name they kept until 1969 when they were given pretend city status). They’ve had a very turbulent history, most famously going from the old 4th division up to the 1st in a 4 year period, with that maiden season resulting in a creditable 6th place finish (not quite achieving the same heights as us Bluebirds but a decent achievement nonetheless). However, equally as notable was their then rapid decline, tumbling right the way back down the divisions back to the 4th tier and an eventual winding up order. Their previous home ground of the Vetch Field closed in may 2005 with a capacity of just 11,475. The Swans then moved to their current home (a joint Council/consortia funded project) the now named Swansea.Com Stadium, which has a slightly larger capacity than their old Vetch Field home, ‘boasting’ 21,088 seats (not to brag but even Ninian Park had a capacity of 21,508 when it closed). Their record attendance of 32,796 was set back in 1965 at the Vetch in a game v Arsenal. Interestingly the Bluebirds own attendance record was also v Arsenal with a crowd of 57,893 packing out Ninian Park. They are still coached by the ever likeable Luke Williams who has now been in charge for just over 50 games. In that time he has achieved an ok win rate of 35.3%. Their current top scorer by some way is Liam Cullen, with the Welsh International bagging 8 league goals so far this term (including the 1 against us back in August). Next on their scoring charts comes Zan Vipotnik, with the Slovenian claiming 4 goals to date. Defensively the JB’s have doubts over favoured defensive pair Ben Cabango & their little delicate Darling (if he does play, I wonder how many dives he’ll make this time around?). Last Time Out & Form Last time out saw the Bluebirds grab a draw on enemy territory, coming back from behind after a 1st half goal for Swansea in an opening 45 that saw City under the cosh throughout. The 2nd half was a different story though with the Bluebirds easing into the game, grabbing a deserved equaliser on 79 minutes through our own current top scorer Callum Robinson and then looking the better side in the closing stages, pushing for a winner that sadly didn’t arrive after Swansea’s substitutions failed to match up to our own. Of course, last time we faced our West Walian rivals at the CCS we finally managed to stop the rot in this fixture and secure a long overdue win against our little cousins. Current form sees the Swans sitting in 12th place, but over the last 6, they appear to have slipped slightly with 2 wins from their last 6, both of which came at home. Away from home, their most recent result on their travels was a dreadful 4-0 hammering at Portsmouth and in their most recent match (a 1-1 draw at home to West Brom) they were grateful for a 92nd minute equaliser to save them from 2 defeats in a row. Their away record overall this season places them as the 12th best team in the league, so pretty much average, with 14 points from their 13 games, just marginally better than the Bluebirds own 10 points from 13. Attack wise they are also ranked 14th with 30 goals from 26 games. Defensively they are ranked 8th best with 23 conceded in their 26 matches. In, Out Or No Sign Of Them About Omer Riza is finally getting a few options back with several players returning to the fray after injuries and suspensions, plus (contain your excitement) a new arrival! Probably the most important news is the return of Callum Robinson after suspension following his very harsh red card v Coventry. Robbo of course was the Bluebird that helped secure a share of the spoils in SA1 in August and is pretty pivotal to making us tick in the final 3rd of the pitch. In saying that, it will also be hard to leave out young Cian Ashford who is on a bit of a roll right now following 3 goals and an assist in last 5 games. We can expect Callum Chambers to retain his midfield place and he could be re-joined by Manolis Siopis who is apparently over his illness that kept him out of the Watford game on Tuesday night. New signing, striker Yosef Salech who arrived from Swedish outfit Sirius on a 4.5 year deal for a fee reported to be worth up to £4 million with add ons is unlikely to make this squad despite being eligible having not played since November when the Swedish season finished, though perhaps a place on the bench may not be out of the question? Predicted Starting 11 Alnwick Chambers Daland Goutas Ng O’Dowda Robertson Siopis Robinson Ashford Willock The Odds Bods Young Ollie is a little bit excited by the odds methinks! Match Day Melody As a token of our close relationship, I figured we could spread some love for our visitors rather than hatred this weekend! Though if that doesn't take your fancy then we may just be singing the blues come the final whistle whilst our visitors return home from their trip to their Capital. Blooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds!!! (P.S. Apologies for being a bit late with this one - another busy day in the Brizzle household!)
Well done Brizzle and thanks for the effort. Excellent as always. Hope we win. Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds
And from memory, I'm pretty sure Ali DID play Hit The Road Jack after we beat them with Chopra's late goal in 2010? I must admit I miss Ali's sense of "devilment"
And the ability to encourage, with some feeling, the crowd to "make some noise" before each home game. The current announcer is absolutely useless. If there was a Bring Back Ali March I would gladly support it. Great work again BB.
He played it when Chris Coleman was manager at Coventry. He also played the Steptoe & Son theme music when West Ham came down along with this quip
Cardiff City: Alwnick; Rinomhota, Goutas, Daland, O'Dowda; Chambers, Ralls, Robertson; Ashford, Robinson, Tanner Subs: Horvath, Fish, Bagan, Ng, Siopis, Colwill, Willock, Meite, Salech
A few interesting selections. Rino over Ng, two defense minded holding mids. Tanner starts. Salech to get a baptism of fire off the bench. A variety of other options off the bench. Nothing earth shattering , but solid enough. We need to convert chances today. It's what cost us last time out.
The bench has the defensive tools to see out the game if required, but I'm dubious about it having the content to win it - unless Salech is a wonder signing.
Looks like we're trying not to lose it... Good to see Robbo back though. The d!ckhead Darling is fit for them along with Cabango, both wums alike... Reckon they've been ready all week and it's just been a poor attempt at mind games from Williams there!
Willock is too "fiddly" for me - he twists and turns himself inside out before passing the ball on - he slows the game right down. Tanner on the other hand is direct and has the pace and aggression to cause disruption and I'd prefer him to Willock for a game like this.
