Interesting, thanks Sparky. Particularly that "control of the middle of the park is vital". I think this is our strongest area by some margin and don't see any central midfields being able to control whatever combo of Tettey/Johnson/Vadis/Hoolahan/Howson we put out if they play to their level. IMO we're actually weakest out wide, which is how we've conceded this season and where we have looked vulnerable. What scares me is a ball whipped in onto Kenwyne Jones' head (we've seen that in the 90th minute before...) We also have a habit of spurning good chances, which is fine if you create plenty like against Ipswich, but could really costs us against a better defence like Cardiff if we're not clinical. Will Adeyemi play? Be nice to see him, he should get a warm reception from the travelling fans. He desperately needed first team football, which he wasn't going to get at Norwich, but it was a real shame to see him go as a born and bred Norfolkian coming through our youth ranks. Score? I think most likely result is 1-1, or maybe 2-1 Cardiff. I'd be extremely surprised if we get hammered as our defence has looked very robust even in our worst performance against Wolves (aside from crosses). It would have to be a major off day...
Rob - if Dikgacoi starts, Adeyemi wont. Having said that, Dikgacoi has looked seriously overweight to me so far. He missed a lot of pre-season games including our successful training camp in Austria through visa problems. From what I've seen of him so far, he needs a few more full 90s to get there. I can see Ole starting with a Manga/Morrison CB partnership and that is a bit fraught with danger first time out. For that reason, I think Ole will go with Dikgacoi to provide some protection at least for an hour - after that, Adeyemi might get a shot. As far as the midfield goes, we desperately need pace injected. The secret weapon we've been denied so far this season is Noone. He's been under the knife for a groin problem in the summer but has been back in training and is rumoured to be ready. I can't see Ole starting both Noone and Pilks, but if he does, we'll either win 5-4 or lose by the same score.
Cheers Sparky, well hopefully Adeyemi will get a decent runout after halftime then. I don't know about Noone, but I would say Pilks always worked pretty hard defensively and looked after his fullback quite well
Nice to have an opposing fan who is both sensible and pleasant. Thank you very much Oldsparkey. I would not be unhappy with a draw from this match, so long as we play well.
No probs pal - there's enough crap chucked around on these forums for those that want it - it's a bloody pain sometimes but football chat can come to the surface without the testosterone fulled rhetoric that some deem necessary. From our standpoint, the game on Saturday against an obvious rival for the honours this season should be a decent pointer to where we're going. I just hope that your midfield ability doesn't swamp our own efforts in that area of the park, and we get drawn into another back to the wall Rorke's Drift effort trying to win it on the break. We have the skills within the squad to open up anyone in this division throughout the 90 minutes, not just wait for cavalry charges on our part when opposition attacks break down - we just haven't put it together yet, and in all honesty it's about time we did. Questions have been asked of Ole even since he came to us last January. He was given the benefit of the doubt trying to salvage something last season, but this time around it's his team not what he was left with. Time for him to deliver.
OS - What is the general feeling among Cardiff fans this season? Is it a near pre-requisite that you go up one way or another, or will finishing just short be acceptable? The angle I am coming from is that CCFC were in the top flight for one season following a long, long absence, so if the fans are 'demanding' a quick return, is it justified in your opinion, given the fact CCFC have not traditionally been a top flight side, or even a yo-yo club over the last 30-40 years?
Thai - on my phone right now so will answer more when back on my laptop. The short answer is that most will be disappointed if we dont finish in the top 6 whilst some are expecting nothing less than auto.
Cheers for your input Sparkey. It'll be an interesting game on Saturday. I think we'll have the likes of Hooper, Howson, O'Neil and Olsson back for the game, so we've certainly got options if things aren't going our way. Hard fought 1-1 draw for me.
Petty well mirrors the feeling among our fans. Going to be a very interesting season for both our clubs I feel.
Back on the laptop now (I can't type on that bloody phone). This business about "expectations" and what the supporters should really face up to is very interesting. As you say, one season in the sunshine for us shouldn't be sufficient for supporters to think it's our right to reclaim a Prem league spot on the bounce back principle, but it goes much deeper than that. Despite all the adverse publicity our owner has managed to engineer through his total lack of understanding of "club football" and its' supporters, as well as the (mostly) unjustified criticism leveled at him for matters Malky/Moody, the guy has invested big time in the club. This has brought its' own pressure and the expectation level has gone through the roof. In fact to counter that, a couple of the guys who sit around me have said in no uncertain terms that they want to stay in the Championship, and I can understand that to a certain extent. It was when we played Wigan a few weeks back. It was a Tuesday night under floodlights and the competitive atmosphere was back after a season of Saturday and Sunday struggles. We won the game 1-0 and as the clock ticked down some (including me) said wasn't it great to be back in the Championship. Of course, we'd still take promotion mind - especially as Vince has come out and said that IF we get back to the Prem, he was prepared to consider a compromise colour change for next year. We're not sure what that'll be, but Barca shirts look very nice....
I was saying pretty much the same to a fellow fan today - we've got the atmosphere back that was missing for most of last season!!!!
Tell me about it - I was buzzing after the 'Derby', something I had not felt much in the last 2 seasons. That winning feeling is just great. How good would it be if we could win the league and not get promoted
We didn't lose that because of the PL it was the football. Atmosphere was pretty dire in 2008/09. Out if interest sparky are Cardiff looking like they might struggle with the wage bill and financial fair play? Not really sure what you furnaces were like before but obviously Tan can put much money in unless he's willing to risk everything a la QPR.
Not sure of the precise implications of all this FFP stuff, but I think QPR would suffer for the financial loss made in their Championship year (wasn't it rumoured to be over £60M?) - it's a question of book balancing not just overall financing, and Tan is pretty good at that, much better than Fernandes. Tan seemingly has a bottomless pit from which to draw, but the sale of Medel, Caulker, Mutch and Campbell will have brought £25M into the club this year and we've spent nothing like that on replacements. True to say that Prem wages have to be sustained (unless reduced under relegation terms in player's contracts) but the ones that have left the club were probably far and away the biggest earners. For all his faults and quite a few have been highlighted this past 2 years, Tan hasn't become the businessman he is without investigation the implication of all his financial dealings. I don't believe we'll have a problem in that direction.
Yes, it wasn't good then either. To be fair, I think it was the 'style of football' that CH was giving us that killed the atmosphere. I see on the BBC football gossip column that Citeh have managed to wriggle out of their FFP troubles - http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...llow-city-to-dodge-ffp-sanctions-9725033.html
Didn't like to say that in the interests of poster harmony, but I only like my lasagne Al Forno, not my money........
Looks like a fully fit squad for Saturday apart from Howson, who apparently is 'not far away'. Hooper trained this week. Probably be fit enough for a place on the bench if picked.
