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Game #10 this weekend (#9 for our hosts) sees the recently rejuvenated Bluebirds on the road once again for yet another trek up north, this time to Yorkshire and Huddersfield Town at the John Smiths Stadium.
The stadium was opened in 1994 and was awarded the RIBA Building of the Year award in 1995. As a bit of a stadium geek, I recall being rather enamoured by it when it first opened (though I've never actually made it up there).
Interestingly the official name for the stadium is the Kirklees Stadium, but I don't believe it's ever really been widely referred to in this manner thanks to the joys of sponsorship and naming rights.
Our hosts for this weekend have been having a bit of a torrid time so far this season, with them currently languishing in 23rd place and with a paltry 4 points to their name. Even if they were to win their game in hand, it would still not be enough to see them rise above lowly Swansea based on the current league table and worse still, if Robbie's (aka Nobby, aka Ronnie, aka Roxy) Sky Blue CCFC were to win their 2 games in hand, the poor old Terriers would be firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.
This position is all the more surprising given their fine form last season led them to the Championship play-off final, only to see their hopes of a return to the Premier League dashed by the Tricky Trees from Nottingham (now that IS a fact!).
Following their defeat, Huddersfield saw manager Carlos Corberan resign and, compounding matters have also lost several key players, with the likes of Lewis O'Brien and Harry Toffolo joining their play-off final rivals Forest.
To further pile on the misery, their poor start this term has seen the board quickly lose patience with replacement manager Danny Schofield after just 9 games, making you wonder if rumours of a return for the ever popular David Wagner may well be in the offing. All I know is that we don't want any dead cat (or in this case dog) bounce happening this weekend!
Despite their turmoils, they do however still possess some good, solid performers at this level, with ex-Bluebird Danny ward spearheading their attack more often than not, whilst still having aptly Terrier like Jonathan Hogg in midfield and dependable Tom Lees at the back.
Rising Welsh star Sorba (the Greek) Thomas is also still a part of their regular line ups and already has 3 assists to his name this season.
The evergreen Jordan Rhodes likewise is still a capable player at this level and is joint top scorer on 2, along with Danny Ward and Faustino Anjorin, their on-loan Chelsea midfielder.
The Bluebirds if course still have a score to settle with the Terriers, having lost out to them on the League Title during the 1923-24 season by the closest ever margin (I'm sure some of you on here can tell me all about it from your firsthand accounts).
In the final match of the season, Cardiff faced Birmingham at St Andrew's while Huddersfield hosted Nottingham Forest. A win for the Bluebirds would guarantee the club its first title regardless of Huddersfield's result while a draw would leave Huddersfield needing to win by three goals to win the title on goal average. Cardiff's match remained goalless for 70 minutes when the side were awarded a penalty after a goal-bound header from Gill was blocked on the line by the hand of Birmingham defender Eli Ashurst.
Regular penalty taker Jack Evans had suffered misses in previous months and Gill was reluctant to take responsibility. Top scorer Len Davies instead stepped up to take the penalty, the first senior attempt in his career, but he sadly sent a tame effort at the opposition goalkeeper who saved comfortably.
Despite the miss, Cardiff were still on course to win the league title as Huddersfield led Forest by a single goal. However, in the final 20 minutes, Huddersfield scored a further two goals to win the match 3–0 and overtake Cardiff to win the title on goal average by 0.024 of a goal. The result remains the narrowest margin of victory ever recorded in the top tier of English football.
It was also the first time the championship had ever been decided by the method of goal average.
Fred Keenor later remarked on Davies' missed penalty, commenting "There is no doubt that the excitement and the knowledge that so much depended on the shot unnerved Len a little. Under ordinary circumstances it would have been a gift goal, but Len Davies muffed the kick and the ball rolled gently to the goalkeeper, who calmly gathered and made an easy clearance. In the dressing room at the end of the match, the Cardiff players signed a congratulatory telegram that was sent to Huddersfield.
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The final league table. A proud but painful moment in Bluebirds history.
Putting the above "recent" history to one side, last season saw the Yorkshire-men run out 2-1 victors, with their goals coming very late in the game (88 & 96 mins) to see them maintain their run to the play-offs.
After the game Steve Morison claimed that for 80 minutes we'd executed the perfect away performance. let's hope we can play for the full 90+ this time around.
Overall Huddersfield have the advantage in our fixtures, winning 30 compared to the Bluebirds 28 victories, with 23 draws.
Early Team News
According to the gaffer, Joe Ralls is definitely out of contention for this one after leaving the field on the first half through injury during the mid-week Boro game.
Fellow midfielder Ebou Adams moves ever closer to fitness and whilst it wouldn't be a huge shock to see him named on the bench for this one, just to give the poor guy a psychological boost, a return after the International break is more likely.
After being taken out of the firing line and squad completely, Max Watters may get a place on the bench but this may depend on the fitness of Kion Etete, whilst both Callum Robinson and Mark Harris could rightly stake a claim for maintaining their places in the starting 11 after fine showings from both, however, a start for both will also be dependent upon Steve Morison's chosen formation.
The formation will also have a big say in what happens across the backline. Jack Simpson will be hopeful of retaining his starting place but is unlikely to displace either Cedric Kipre or Perry Ng if the Bluebirds move back to a back 4, especially after the latter's sublime goal on Tuesday night.
Joel Bagan's absence from the squads since his concussion may well continue but some would like to see him come in for the attack minded, but defensively shaky Niels Nkounkou.
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Perry Ng wheels away in delight after scoring his first Bluebirds goal with a sublime run and finish.Bit worried that Mark Harris is looking at him as a big, tasty cartoon like chicken leg however!
Prutton Predicts
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To be determined as Davey boy is apparently still in bed and dreaming of another Bluebirds promotion.
EDIT
Mr Prutton has finally got his act together and has predicted a 2-0 defeat for the Bluebirds, despite acknowledging our good effort in mid-week.
The dreaded bounce is predicted by him, so let's hope we can again prove his crystal balls to be faulty and come away with all 3 points!
Sharing The Love
Not too many to mention this week, but this chap deserves some special praise again just because of his hero status at our beloved club.
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Brian Clark joined the Bluebirds after a spell at Huddersfield Town where he'd scored 11 goals in 32 appearances.
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So, can the Bluebirds tame the Terriers? Will we down them just as easily as a pint of John Smiths?? Will our Ng Midget keep up his purring displays whilst ensuring the Terriers misfire??? Will our defence be able to ward off Ward and Co and earn the Bluebirds a second victory on the bounce away from home ahead of the International break????
All I know is another 3 points would be huge and would likely lift us firmly into mid-table and even the edge of the play-off spots, somewhere I'm sure we'd all have been happy with at this point in time under the Morison revolution.
Bloooooooooooooooobirds!!!!
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should have known that!
