Was looking at your three goal scorers, not prolific by any means, best on 8 according to the BBC, not sure how upto date that is, but I was then wondering why Bellamy was not in there, and after checking his goal tally of 4 was wondering whats up with him? Surely Bellamy should be the top scorer of the Championship? is he not fit or what?
In order for players to score they must play in their best position and the rest of the team have to support that but as everyone knows Whitts is played in the wrong position and he is not scoring. Bellamy likes through balls not balls to him directly and will chase long balls, playing wide means he is not in the penalty area as he should be to pick up loose balls. I mean we do not score many from corners yet he takes those, if he was around the area he would pick up goals. Whitts used to take all corners. Despite the good work Malky has done he has not enough experience of how we play best with fast attacking sides. The safety first approach has a reverse affect on us, it is far from safe. jck
The idea of an open forum is to give everyone a fair chance to have their say, some make personal comments but most do not. It does not cost anything to be polite and anyone who abuses the forum with negative personal comments only show themselves up not you. jck
To be honest Phil, until Campbells arrival i don't think we had an out and out goalscorer as such. Given our position in the league it's hard to criticise the manager but I feel Whitts is not playing either to his best or in the best position, also not scoring from free kicks and that's either down to being ****e at them which we know to be untrue or we're not getting many given us, maybe to focussed on crossing the ball to the detriment of runs into the box, still hoping for an auto spot failing again in the play offs would be to much to take.
dragonphil, Bellamy brings much more to the team than just his potential goals. He has a great mental attitude and that is rubbing off on the younger players. He is an excellent role model of a professional footballer in the dressing room, on the training ground and during games. It would be hard to put a value on that to an aspiring Championship club.
I appreciate that Bellamy brings more than his goals, and he's the same for Wales, but surely you should be capitalising on his scoring abilities, when I think of Bellamy, I think of how prolific and deadly he was at Man city, under Hughes, and of course Liverpool, so was very surprised to see he has only 4 goals. Clearly he's not being used to his strengths, which is a shame, as I would like you to put some distance now between the chasing pack, as you go down the home straight. On the point of Whittingham, this guy is a legend for you, and has always been asked to play out of position time after time over the seasons, though I remember his tremendous goal tally of about 24 goals in 2009 I think, not sure if he was your top scorer that season, hopefully either Bellamy or Whittingham will hit some form as you chase down the title, both these boys have the needed experience in front of goal and MM should be exploiting that, both these boys deserve the Premiership too!..............
Bellamy isn't an out and out goal scorer, but I agree that he should possibly have one or two more under his belt. We've had goals from all over the park this season but we've rarely looked really threatening in the last few games. I'm becoming increasingly concerned about our manager's stubbornness, although it's nothing compared to DJ. At present I can only see two or three of the current first team featuring in the premiership on a regular basis. I realise that we've got to **** up pretty badly to fall into the play off spots but I sometimes wonder how many of this crop actually want to succeeed.
Bellamy had 9 goals for Liverpool last season, and his last full season for Man City he scored 11 goals, so something is wrong? To me it's down to management, and remember if he can get 9/11 in the Premiership, surely he should get more in the Championship, whats the service from your midfield like? clearly it could be better!..................
Answer to last question, yes Phil, service not great lately as Whitts too far back and wingers not getting past their full backs. In fact I have had similar thoughts about Bellamy's goal tally also.
Service is nothing compared with Liverpool or Man City. Players don't match his intelligence. We keep being told that he's too good for the chamiponship and there might be something in that. However, Cardiff, over the past few games have been diabolical in general.. that doesn't help. it's less about him than it is the team.
If Whittingham is playing too deep, then that's obviously down to MM, he must surely know he'll not get the goals from him that way, sounds as if MM is playing some what of a negative game, does he not have confidence in your defence? Only reason I can think of, but your definitely not blazing the trail you were early season, maybe the pressure is getting to MM, or perhaps there are other issues, with the team?
Somewhat ironically Phill our games this season have been like your past seasons in the Championship, one nil safe games. Maybe we will trailblaze in the Prem like you have if we get there. Clearly the Premiership ain't what it used to be.
Since the Brighton game we have played not to lose rather than to win, the hope being to grab a quick goal and hold on. Unfortunately the midfield can't handle this way of playing so good, and it follows that the defence comes under more pressure and we ultimately concede. It' is reminiscent of problems we had under Jones, funnily enough some comments made of whitts reminds me of comments made about McPhail back then, the defence can't handle what's thrown at them and without Hudson we seem to suffer more. If we go out with the intention of winning the game we should get the points necessary from the last 10 games to see us through, if we continue with this negative play then it could be touch and go. We have the players to do this and with a 6 point lead over 3rd place and a game in hand we should not be playing with any fear of losing.
That's true, and there will always be games like that, @Boro was similar, but throughout, if we play to win, as we did against those teams, we will accrue the points needed. Much better than playing not to lose with a hope to win attitude, although that is down to set-up rather than players attitude, as can be seen by the difference when we went a goal down against the foxes.
it does seem a bit strange, bellamy is more of a creator for us, but even so his goal record isnt good enough. it doesnt matter if we go up though. anyway phil, i think i read on the swansea board that your wife is ill, get well soon.........
At Newcastle he was desperate to play upfront as a striker which he never was, here he is unselfish and works for the team rather than trying to grab the glory. He is not here to prove anything it is rather to galvanise the team around him and that is what he does. The guy is a legend and always will be in the hearts of Cardiff fans and Wales. Our goal difference seems pretty good to me so someone must have scored a goal or two at some point. It is true we do not rely on one or two players to score our goals like some teams but at least we have players all over the pitch who can add a few goals each. No Welsh team has ever become Champions in this division so it cannot be that easy at the top in fact chasing a play off place was far easier as you can see from our record we did that most seasons. It is no good being worried in a lowly play off spot and being worried at the top with a 4 point lead and a game in hand. The team know what is required so does Malky and so do the fans so really we do not need any advice on that score. jck
Thanks Swamp, we are staying positive about it, and hope the advances in medical science cure her!..............
