please log in to view this image Over the moon that Hutchinson and Burn had good games. Pity McCormack didn't have his shooting boots on or it could have been all three points.
Managed to work the match in to the end of my holiday and now just back. Altogether a fair result. At times we dominated the game and had good chances to finish the game off with a good shot from Pringle blocked and a miss from McCormack at close range that looked a certain goal. We played some good stuff at times, Burn got us into trouble a few times but worked hard throughout the game and his good work probably cancelled out the bad. LVC I thought had a quiet game and defence overall was better. I noted we caught them offside many times so that must have been worked. There were still a few anxious and chaotic times but overall better (imo) Players were knackered at the end of the game. It was a hot day and that did have a bit of a say on how the match went. Before they equalised we had taken the foot of the gas and you could see it coming. Best chant of the day when we were one nil up was "you should have gone to rugby" Glad it's all started again. I'm out at Wycombe Tuesday
Blinking heck. last on as usual (well, nearly). And a snippet only, so thank you FL5. Lovely left foot again from the Pringle for Smith's goal though.
For those who were at the game: Judging by Gentleman Jim's commentary it sounded like the majority of their attacking threat came from Pilkington down the right against Voser. Did he look out of his depth? Did Pringle offer much cover? Also saw mixed reviews of Jazz on Twitter but the club had him in their shortlist for MOTM. How did he play?
Thanks for the report, COYW. Was the midfield a flat four rather than the infamous diamond? Which way round were Cairney and LVC - who was central and who was on the right?
In a Cardiff report Russell Slade their manager said if I was not for the excellent saves our keeper made the points would have been theirs. COYW what is your player ratings for our team.
Gosh so many questions ! Certainly Cardiff targeted Voser down the right and yes he made a few mistakes but was not out of his depth and I would say he did a reasonably good job. Jaz I thought had a quiet game but then again he did what was needed and it was just a solid performance. Have to say at the moment I keep mixing LVC up with Cairney as they look the same from a distance but LVC played right and Cairney a more central position. One thing I did think was our tactic was to get the ball high over to Smith and as the game went on it was a bit too easy to see where we we going with it. The Dembele substitution was a good one and he had a good chance to score himself if he had taken on the shot first time and then he made a chance for McCormack right in front of the goal. Yes they had chances and Lonergan made some good saves and in fairness we could have lost but we also had good chances and were so close to winning it. Defensively we were better, spirit and determination better, must say also O'Hara made us play better (he's the closest we have had to a Murphy and I think he'll prove a crucial player in the season) I'm not sure how good Cardiff are so we shall see when we play better teams how things are going but I think we will get better as the team gels, there's certainly signs of good potential and a point keeps things positive.
Most home teams have to take the play to the opposition and that generally leads to away teams counter attacking, this is what we attempted to do against Cardiff and there were times that we were able to control the game, but were also periods when we had our backs to the wall. Overall a good draw to take with only a wonder goal taking the points from us. But we will be the Home team against Brighton and will have to create and take those chances to make it an easy game.
I feel our next 6 matches will give us a much clearer picture on our present formation, we really must strengthen our defence to allow for future changes. The Dunk deal seems to have gone very quite. (Burn + 3mil could be a solution).
I really hope we get the Dunk deal done this week. Not just because we could really do with him but because I don't want him to play against us on Saturday.
That actually hadn't even crossed my mind but it makes sense on their part. What a kick in the teeth it would be for Brighton if we beat them on Saturday and then took one of their best players.
I still think that Dunk will be ours, they have had an offer of £2 million accepted today for a German centre half from the bundesliga, unfortunately although I think Dunk will be ours by September I can't see it happening this week and he will be against us next Saturday
If you're right about his replacement being lined up, don't be so sure. If a deal has been agreed for him to join us, they might prefer just to leave him out for that one. I'm sure you're right that they won't sell him in enough time to play against them, but that doesn't mean they'll put him in the position of playing against the team he's on the verge of joining. Either way, we'll wait and see.
