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Game #11 of the season sees the Bluebirds return home after what seems an eternity for the International break and the visit of high flying Burnley.
After suffering defeat away at Huddersfield last time out and the inevitable dead cat (dog) bounce, the Bluebirds will be hoping for much the same as we see Mark Hudson taking the reins for the first time after replacing the now deposed Steve Morison.
Hudson of course has a track record for taking temporary charge of teams having done so at Huddersfield previously.
If he can instill some passion like the below, then we could be in for a fun ride!!
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Burnley come to the CCS in good form, unbeaten in 7 games (8 if you count the league cup), scoring 15 times in those 7 games and conceding 8.
The Clarets of course are managed by the likeable and much heralded Vincent Kompany, with the familiar figure of dyed in the wool Bluebird Craig Bellamy as his trusty assistant.
As you'd expect of a recently relegated Premier League side, they have a very impressive squad, boasting attacking prowess in the form of Jay Rodriguez and the battering ram that is Ashley Barnes, as well as a stable midfield containing Josh Brownhill, Josh Cullen and (ex )Jack Cork. The exciting Nathan Tella has also been added on loan from Southampton.
Defensively Burnley suffered the loss of previous linchpins in James Tarkowski and Ben Mee as well as losing Nathan Collins to Wolves for £20 million +, but still have Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Charlie Taylor and Welsh International regular and gobby ex-Jack Connor Roberts in their ranks.
With 8 of their squad starting 7 or more of their 10 games so far, everything points to a pretty stable line up being favoured by Vinnie Kompany, which could well have contributed strongly to their current 4th place position and suffering just 1 defeat so far this season.
The last outing v Burnley at the CCS resulted in a narrow 1-2 defeat for the Bluebirds, way back in September 2018 during our last short stop in the Premier league.
That game saw Josh Murphy score what I believe was his first (of too few) goals for Cardiff. Of the whole squad that day, only Joe Ralls and Mark Harris remain with the club, though Sean Morrison of course remains at the club informally during his rehabilitation from injury too.
Welsh International Sam Vokes scored what proved to be the decisive goal.
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Josh Murphy netting one of his 10 goals for the Bluebirds. Still reckon we got sent the wrong twin!
Head to head there is little between the teams, with the Lancastrians just shading things with their 30 victories to the Bluebirds 29 and the spoils being shared on 26 occasions.
Early Team News
Will it be a case of new manager and clean slates? Certainly Gavin Whyte has come in for some praise from Mark Hudson for his attitude and his impact whilst away on International duty. Could we see the recently ineffective Ojo dropped in favour of the Irishman as a result?
It appears Rubin Colwill is once again a doubt. Many of his niggles and slight injuries are being put down to his growth spurts, though in this case, one suspects that being used by the Welsh team recently may well have contributed to this particular instance too.
It is believed that Kion Etete and Ebou Adams are now back on grass and training with the team so potentially we could see them on the subs bench. This could be a particularly exciting prospect for Adams who is still yet to make his Bluebirds debut in a competitive game.
There has been no further word on previous Burnley target Isaac Davies so odds are it is still too soon to expect to see him in the squad this Saturday.
All eyes will however be on the defensive line up and formation. Will we see a return to a back 4 or will Huds go with a 5 / wing backs?
Pre-match the manager has been quoted as saying "I think Burnley is a big game. We know how well they are doing at the moment, so we need to be right at it come Saturday.
"They've made a big change to the playing style, and they seem to be in a good vein of form at the moment.
"We've had some good time on the grass, and the players have taken it on board. They are in good spirits. The lads have all come back in today, but we've had time throughout the international break with the players.
"We've got three or four players who aren't quite yet able to get on the grass, but we're getting there."
So no insights gained there then!!
Prutton Predicts
Unsurprisingly the Sky man has gone for a Burnley win, though the narrow 0-1 margin may surprise a few people.
The bookies also favour the Clarets with the odds for a home win being 21/10, a draw 11/5 and an away win 11/8.
Sharing The Love
With appearances for the City as a player AND manager, Jimmy Mullen is probably the stand out person to have worked with both clubs.
Having played over 100 games for the Bluebirds, Mullen also had the pleasure of taking the reigns on two occasions as manager of Cardiff. He'll also be fondly remembered by Burnley fans having led them to 2 promotions in the space of 5 years whilst in the hot seat at Turf Moor.
Special mention once again also for Whitts, who as well as being a true legend for the Bluebirds made a few loan appearances for the Clarets too.
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Captain Mullen (I believe) center front row. This was the first Bluebirds shirt I ever owned, bought for me by my big brother as rare Christmas gift!
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Ex-Bluebird and Claret Steven Thompson warms down after another St Mirren training session. Just don't annoy him or you could get skewered!
So, can we beat Bellers & Co? Can we score more than the Turf Moor mob?? Can Huds get us heading in the right direction??? All I know is the Stig can't help us, so we have to help ourselves......
Bloooooooooobirds!!
