Must say I also thought Whitts did well - maybe even his most controlled contribution this season. You could argue he didn't have to do much to be better than he's been this year, but he was a cool and calming influence at St. Marys. I thought Medel was much the better for having him in there with him. His poor deliveries have been the subject of much discussion on here, and most of us feel if that aspect of his game dropped off, his lack of pace would force him out of the side - so it proved. I hope his withdrawal from the fray this past month or so has done the trick - there is no doubt he can have a huge influence when he's on song.
That is an indisputable fact (not like the him joining Forrest fact) . It's also the only explanation for why MM persisted with him in the side for so long. Only Bellers has ever produced anything like the same quality from set plays and it's much more infrequent from him. Witts can produce match changing moments, he just needs to work hard enough and play with enough confidence in open play to be worthy of his place in the 1st 11.
Law of average says you have to EARN your next win , which is as likely as unlikely. Cardiff has to play WELL for the final 4 cause youve used up your luck , imo.
Come on, I appreciate you probably havent been watching us all season but we have easily had as much bad luck as good this season. Off the top of my head with no thought at all - Everton away and Sunderland home is 3 points lost to 90+ minute goals, one with a wicked deflection and one a gammy miskick off a shin. I know i am nitpicking on a minor part of your post, and I agree we were lucky last weekend (and at home to Norwich springs immediately to mind) - but we have had some shockingly unfortunate moments this season, on many seperate occasions, which more than cancel out the occasions we have been jammy. We do need to step it up against Stoke though, I agree with that.
" Which is as likely as unlikely " thought I had myself covered there but your right . I'm as worried about Cardiff as I am about any team below us though which is not a lot teams lately lol. Firing Malkey and Laudrup put us here , both needed a bit more time , just an opinion though .
Fair point, and like I said I am aware I was nitpicking. I would be astonished if you went down - it just isn't going to happen. The fixtures you have left and the experience in your team, you will be fine (damn you all ) It is going to be Sunderland, Norwich and one of us, Fulham and WBA In my opinion.
People don't seem to realise having a world class keeper isn't luck any more than having a world class striker is. Saurez can change results single handed, so can Marshall. Against Saints the 1 on 1 was a top class save (Gallagher was offside, not given, luck?), the Clyne save should have been made by most good PL keepers.
WBA IMO will be well away from it. They will get @40 points IMO looking at their fixtures. Norwich may well beat Arsenal on final day if they need a win and Arsenal are not in the top 4 hunt. I can't see them getting anything from their other 3 games but who knows? Fulham look like they have the easiest run in. Spurs need to beat them on Saturday lunchtime and if they do that'll be a great incentive for City before our game v Stoke. Sunderland do look on paper as good as down BUT that was said about Fulham who then won 2 on the spin. Problem for S'land is that they have Chelsea, Man C & Man U as well as 6 pointers versus City, WBA & Swansea.
Ive said for months that all roads leading away from Cardiff relegation go through one of best keepers around . I would like to see a highlite reel of his best saves but might not have the time to watch the 5 part series .
Watched the full stream mate I agree with Ninian in the sense that we are totally lightweight in the middle. Not slating Whitts set peice threat whatsoever.
Agree Re: Sunderland - Lose the 3 you expect them to lose and that puts them 7 points behind 4th from bottom - meaning they have to effectively beat us, WBA and Swansea and hope that none of us pick up points in the meantime. They are down. Not comparable to Fulham IMO as Fulham had enough games in the bank to turn it around after those comments were being made. WBA Look very vulnerable atm. OUr 95th minute equaliser hurt them, so did Spurs'. I just have a weird feeling they arent out of it yet, especially IF we get the victory we so badly need next Saturday. I doubt very much that Arsenal will be out of the top 4 hunt (Everton still have to play Man City). If I were Norwich I would be putting all my hopes on a result at Old Trafford, as that is genuinely looking the easiest of their four games left. I just dont see them doing it. I would say that, barring a collapse form us AND Fulham, Norwich are all but down. WIth my head, it really is looking bad for us on paper. With my heart, we can get a result on Stoke, at which point all bets are off and its anybody's guess!!! I would actually be fairly confident if we beat Stoke, as I feel that we can beat Sunderland if we have to and Newcastlle are a shamble atm.
To be fair to Norwich they did draw with Man city at home, so shouldn't be taken lightly by Liverpool or Arsenal. The counter argument is that Liverpool are class and Saurez LOVES playing Norwich. He's hit about 10 in 3 or 4 games including at least 2 hat tricks. I expect Arsenal will need to beat Norwich to make top 4 and Wenger has never failed including trying to poison Spurs (maybe not personally) one season to achieve it. It wont be a big surprise for Norwich to nick a point from those last 4 but 0 has to be the most likely scenario. We have a total of zero from the same 4 fixtures already and didn't really threaten to get a point from any of them. Our GD took an 11 goal hit in the process too.
As far as we're concerned, if we don't take all three points on Saturday, it'll start to be all mathematics and sliderule stuff. As an aside, I haven't noticed Villa mentioned - is nobody considering them? I can remember Villa beating both Norwich and Chelsea just after our no-score shambles with them at the CCS, and thought they were well away. Hadn't considered them in this dogfight, but just realised they've lost their last 4 games on the bounce - the wrong time of the season to get into that sort of run. OK, so they've already got 34 points on the board which most of us thought could be enough, but the recent results amongst the bottom clubs suggests that something like 36/37 may now be the cutoff point. Probably a single win will do it for them, but they've just been beaten by both Palace and Fulham. You'd think a couple of home fixtures against Southampton and Hull should get them off the hook, but both are very decent sides. They also have 3 tough away games - at Swansea next week, then they finish up on the road at both Man City and Tottenham. Are they another contender for the trap door or have they got too much for the rest of us to catch?
Real dilemma for our manager. Does he play an attacking formation like he did versus Palace or go for a tighter 4-5-1 formation hoping for a gutsy 1-0 win? No brainer for me. If he goes for it, then we'll be likely to lose as City just do not have the strikers to score or midfielders to bang in long range efforts. Stoke are a classier version of Palace. Very difficult to beat, have lots of confidence and don't forget the Odemwinghie & Mark Hughes factors. Plus Walters has a habit of scoring here, did so for Ipswich I recall. Expect therefore IMO a fraught, tense afternoon with lots of dogged football on display.
Think Villa are still at risk oldsparkey because as you say the timing of their poor run is really unfortunate. Bit like us really. Just goes to show how bad the bottom half of the Prem is this time when mid thirties might be enough.
They probably need 2 points. It's hard to imagine them not getting them and they're as likely to beat Spurs or Man C as they are Hull or Saints.
Oh absolutely. I would be terrified if we 'went for it' - it would demonstrate that Ole does not learn from his mistakes. Both Palace and Hull comfortably beat us at CCS because they were happy to cede possession to us in their third and sit back, be patient, put our ball carriers pressure and break, knowing that we would buckle under pressure. I would bet a penny to the pound that Stoke will come with the aim of doing exactly the same thing - cede possession, be organised, put pressure on our midfielders and murder us on the counter. We have to be solid above anything else. Even if that means being 'boring' or playing 'percentage football' - ironically half the reason we beat Southampton was because we accepted that they would have the majority of the ball and didn't attempt to go blow for blow with them (the other half of the reason was David Marshall). We must approach Saturday with a similar mentality. I couldn't care less if its the most boring game of football ever witnessed and we win after a 97th minute backpass owngoal - I just worry that if we take the game to Stoke we lose 7 or 8 times out of 10.
We will have to either nobble or cut off the supply to Crouch. He could have easily scored 4 last Saturday. He misses a lot but you know he will always be on the end of things and notch some. Then there is Odemwingie to consider hanging around Crouch and picking up knock downs and other bits and pieces. Pity we didn't have a big, strong centre forward where Odem could have enjoyed the same role. Hang on, wait a minute, we did have someone with the physical characteristics but he was injured and then crap. May well have been crap before he got injured, no one knows. It is going to be a tough one and I hope we are on the top of our game and they get a little complacent being safe from the drop zone. However, i can't see Sparkey (their's not our's) letting them get into that mode. he will have them well up for it.
It is make or break, and to be honest, I think we're down. However, having watched the outpouring of emotion from the players after their win at Southampton, I think don't think we'll fail on account of a lack of passion. If we fail over the remaining games, it'll be about the players and/or the manager getting it wrong - just how football should be - about what happens over 90 minutes on the pitch. A bit like it used to be.
