More a misunderstanding as McLean let the ball get through, but it was a good finish through a ruck of players. Cardiff had hardly threatened before that.
Our joint second highest ranked player along with Mario (7.8) behind Cantwell (8.2). Great win in the end which takes us 7 points clear of Swansea who play tonight and 8 points clear of Bournemouth in third, though Brentford have two matches in hand.
Yep worst case scenario after games in hand played out is we’re three points clear. But I think on average Brentford would be getting four points from those two in hand, so we are probably four or five points clear at this stage. Must start winning a bit more comfortably!
I really thought that was going to happen yesterday Rob, two goals up and in comfortable control of the game. But in the second half we, once again, seemed to lose our way. Not sure why this is happening, early in the season it was the reverse situation, most of our goals came after the break. Still, we are in a very healthy position despite this so onwards and upwards.
Yeah agreed, it is a shame Hugill didn’t score - got himself in some great positions. Two goals in as many games would have been fantastic for his confidence. As for Barden - what a great conundrum for the club. Suddenly I wonder whether signing a ‘keeper has dropped down the priority levels... I always think (assume) that developing young goalkeepers is the trickiest thing, because they can be stellar in training but then it comes down to only a couple of decisions in a game to decide their level and the pressure counts. So you never truly know until they play a few adult games in anger.
I think the best thing for Barden's development would be for him to go out on loan and gets regular game time. On the little I've seen he could be our third choice GK if all our keepers are fit, but could see this stalling his development.
We need to take into account the current disruption in the squad: "Pleased and proud of that performance. Such a difficult week,” said Farke. “We had nine covid results, four players, we had players out through flu. Emi Buendia was struggling with the flu a little bit this week as well and you can imagine at the present time when you have someone showing symptoms you might associate with corona there is a little bit of panic." Throw in Pukki's strange injury which is thankfully thought to be short term (he may be available for Bristol City), Martin and Rupp out with flu symptoms and Sørensen moving back to LB and it was a good performance. I like the fact that we have improved our game management after we take the lead. Cardiff were limited to 3 main chances in the second half, one of which they converted when the ball broke their way and Ralls produced a good finish through a ruck of players. We were still going forward without taking unnecessary risks and the commitment and concentration was excellent. The new players have gelled now and good partnerships are giving us a solidity and strength to produce consistent results. It was also good to see Omobamidele finally make his debut in a brief cameo - he's earned that.
Couldn't agree more Rick. Inability to hold onto a lead and see a game out has dogged us in previous seasons. It's pretty clear the aim is to improve in that particular respect, so Well done! to the lads yesterday.
Cardiff now look set to name former Binner's manager Mick McCarthy as their new manager in the next few days. wouldn't it be funny if he got them to the play-offs and promoted to the premier league along with Norwich this season? Bet the Binners would love that