Game #39 (#40 for our hosts) sees our battle weary Bluebirds head north for a Bank Holiday day (and most likely night) out at the seaside up in Lancashire's premier fun packed resort Blackpool. The 1st thing of note is that they have a grass pitch a 'la Rotherham, so fingers crossed it's bloody well dry otherwise we could see another test match'esque abandonment! On the stadium front, Bloomfield Road is one of those old grounds that has undergone huge renovation in its time, and for this old girl of a stadium the majority of that seems to have come since the turn of the Millennium. Sadly for Seasiders fans one suspect that they have lost a little bit of nostalgic magic to go with over half their capacity in that time but I guess that's modern stadia for us "little guys" in a nutshell eh? Anyhow, we travel north off the back of 2 very frustrating results (or rather 1 result and 1 non-result) in the shape of our water inspired abandonment when 1 nil up against the Millers and the last gasp kick in the nether region defeat to our little cousins down the road, so Sabri & Sol will undoubtedly have had their work cut out this week trying to pick the squad up and get them ready for this trek. Hopefully with over 1,700 Bluebird disciples making the journey up, just the mere sight of such incredible support will be enough inspiration in itself, but we hsould have no doubts the SAS duo will have been working their magic. Blackpool of course sit 2 places and 4 points behind us in the chasing relegation threatened pack, so a victory for our gallant team will work wonders for helping to cut the seaside squad further adrift and with a fading view of safe ground. Defeat however would really begin to set off alarm bells for the Bluebirds and have us in peril of being overtaken by Huddersfield with both teams of course managed by former City gaffers (oh the drama of it all). The game earlier this season saw the 2 sides play out a 1-1 at the CCS in a game dominated by the Bluebirds and that wasn't without controversy. During the game ex-Bluebird flop and Masky man crush Gary Madine decided to seek retribution on Perry Ng for an earlier challenge in the game and appeared to stamp on our lads leg, causing uproar from the City dugout. By all accounts Madine had been heard to say he planned to "do" Ng as the teams went down the tunnel at half time and so the Bluebirds coaching team pre-warned the ref Josh Smith to be on the lookout for just such an action. Of course, the official then failed to take any action against Madine when the stamp occurred and lo and behold, Madine went on to get the equalising goal, cancelling out Kion Etete's fine strike, his 1st goal for the Bluebirds. Just to make matters worse, guess who we have to ref this one, of course it's the very same Josh Smith, so no bad omens there then!! The corresponding game last season saw the Bluebirds (who were them managed by Mick McCarthy) come away from Bloomfield Doad with a 0-2 win. Goals from Keiffer Moor and a rare one from Leandro Bacuna seeing our boys come away with all 3 points in fine fashion. Hopefully we'll see a repeat again this season. Bacuna strike matters, what a wonderful phase (of play).... as he puts us 1-0 up last season. Despite the current gloom surrounding our boys due to recent results, Blackpool's form has continued to be even worse than our own thankfully, with Mick McCarthy failing to inspire the kind of turn around that he did with us in his early days. That's hardly surprising though given some of his tactics being employed. yet again we have a sneaky pic from the oppositions recent training session and it's clear he is once again utlising a 5 man defence. Mick working on his now legendary Five Haw One formation with his central defensive unit. Early Bluebirds Team News We could be seeing a pretty patched up side heading north for this one. Alarmingly Callum Robinson may well be out for the remainder of the season as beyond his injury, the time it will take to get him back to full fitness may exceed the time left in the season. Joining Robbo will be Kion Etete who hasn't recovered quickly enough from his hamstring issue and likewise Callum O'Dowda who is struggling after having to leave the field at half time during the derby game last Saturday. Slightly better news comes in the form of Perry Ng who also limped off late on Saturday. It appears he has managed to train this week and should be in consideration for the team again (phew, I can almost hear Clingo's smile and sigh of relief from here). Could we see Connor Wickham take a more active role this week or will his balloon be burst yet again with him left on the bench sucking through gritted teeth? Connor Wickham struggles to contain his delight on a recent team bonding trip (ok, I know, I shouldn't joke, it's no laughing matter!) Prutton & Co Predict Well, after almost being proved correct with his 2-2 prediction last weekend, the Sky pundit has once again reverted to type and is predicting a defeat for our boys in blue by a 1-0 scoreline, despite the hosts only picking up 2 wins in their last 10 and 1 in the last 6. In saying that though they have picked up 2 wins and 3 draws in their last 6 home games so maybe he does (frighteningly) have a good reason for his doom laden prediction again this week?? The bookies (marginally) beg to differ however with odds as follows; Home Win 7/4 Draw 11/5 Away Win 8/5 Fun Fact (though maybe not ALL of it from our point of view) Blackpool hold the unusual record of being the first club promoted from all four divisions via the play-offs having climbed from League Two to the Premier League in a nine year spell, beginning with Divison 3 play off success over Leyton Orient. The club then beat Yeovil Town 2-0 in League One play-off final, with Robbie Williams netting one of the goals. Finally Ian Holloway lead the club to a surprise play-off success in The Championship play-off final (can't really recall that one) despite heading into that particular season as relegation favourites. Sharing The Love This week sees a former striker who held the record for Birmingham's last top flight hatrick from 1981 through to 2008 when Mikael Forrsell netted 3 against Spurs, several goalkeepers (we do seem to have a LOT of them in common having mentioned George Wood on the home thread plus Tony Warner who didn't manage to get a game whilst at Blackpool) and a home town hero for the Seasiders who went on to promotion in his 1st season as a Bluebird. So, will our Bluebirds be rock solid at the seaside? Can we blacken Blackpool's mood even further?? Will Kaba get another towering header as he waltzes away from Blackpool's defenders??? All I know is, if we lose this one I may have to go bury my head in the sand until the 9th of May!! C'mon the City!!!!!!! Bloooooooooooooooooooooobirds!!!!!!!!
Sorry Brizz. Forgot to say thanks for another outstanding match thread. So, thanks for another outstanding match thread Brizz.
Weather forecast for Blackpool today is sunny with light winds. Hopefully not much chance of Rotherraingate 2 then.
No, it won't be a weather problem this time, but if we're 1-0 up at half time be prepared for a herd of donkeys getting of the pitch during the break.
That's not the team on Wol - no Ralls and O'Dowda is in there.............. Cardiff City XI: Allsop; Ng, Kipre, McGuinness; Romeo, Sawyers, Wintle, O'Dowda; Philogene; Kaba, Wickham. Subs: Alnwick, Simpson, Rinomhota, Colwill, Ojo, Harris, Davies.
Definitey could be, but it looks like an attacking lineup anyway with 4 of the bench forward playing/striker options.
