Date: Saturday September 3rd - KO: 15:00 Competition: Football Leauge Championship Venue: The Den, London SE16 - Capacity 20,146 The Den: A place where Bluebirds have been known to fly (or as Buzz Lightyear would say, not so much flying as "falling with style"). Game #8 of the league season sees the Bluebirds make a journey down the M4 to the home of Millwall FC, after what can only be described as a very disappointing week having picked up just a single point from 2 home games. City go into this one 1 point and 2 places above their hosts, who have fared even worse than the Bluebirds in recent weeks, suffering 3 straight defeats after picking up a point in the incredible comeback down in West Wales. Goal scoring hasn't been too much of an issue for them (although when your opposition score for you it does help a little ) with 7 goals in their 7 games, however, the 11 conceded suggests a possible weakness in defence. Their squad boasts a wealth of Championship experience and includes former Bluebird Scott Malone as well as the seasoned strikers Benik Afobe and Tom Bradshaw amongst their numbers. This season has seen manager Gary Rowett bring in some creativity in the shape of George Honeyman from Hull to replace the outgoing Jed Wallace as well as exciting youngsters Charlie Cresswell (who is their top scorer with 2) and Jamie Shackleton on loan from Leeds (lets hope the latter has a worse sense of direction with crosses and shots than Ernest eh?). Gary Rowett was chuffed to bits when he was told he could retain his company car following his departure as Derby boss! The corresponding fixture last season saw the Lions run out 2-1 victors, with the Bluebirds netting a late goal from Joel Bagan as consolation. Of the Bluebirds 18 strong squad that day, only 8 are still currently available to Steve Morison this time around, indicating the much changed team and approach this season. Surprisingly the Lions have the edge overall in this fixture with 22 wins to the Bluebirds 21 and 29 games drawn. Early Team News New signing (and hopefully the last piece of the jigsaw) Callum Robinson is apparently available and there are no "new" injuries to those within the squad, meaning Adams, O'Dowda, Etete and Davies are likely all still sidelined for this one. It would be no surprise to see Robinson start on the bench with Watters continuing to hold down his starting place, but how much longer that will continue remains to be seen. After reasonable performances in his last 2 games, club skipper Joe Ralls may retain his place in midfield but it will be interesting to see if Romaine Sawyers returns to a starting berth after pulling a goal back for the Bluebirds in mid-week against Luton Town and thus moving himself to the top of the scoring charts for the team. Prutton Predicts The Sky pundit has, for a change predicted a narrow 1-0 defeat for the Bluebirds. Understandable given their recent form overall but this Bluebird is hoping Pruttons own poor prediction form continues unabated this weekend. The SkyBet bookies have the Lions as favourites too, but what do they know!? Matchday Odds Home 21/20 Draw11/5 Away 29/10 Sharing the Love We can't really do this section without mentioning our very own Gaffer Steve Morison. The Bluebirds manager is a bit of a Millwall legend, having appeared over 300 times for the Lions, scoring 92 goals in that time, including the winner in the 2017 League 1 play-off final to help lift the Lions to the Championship and leaving him in third place on the all time scorers chart for the London side. A jubilant Steve Morison after being told by a fortune teller that he would one day manage Cardiff City Oddly, former Bluebird boss Neil Harris also enjoys legendary status with the Lions having netted 138 goals in 431 appearances, making him the clubs all time leading scorer. City legend Brian Clark departed South Wales in 1972 after a 4 year spell at the club, joining Millwall a year later. He netted nineteen goals in his two-year stint in South London, returning to Ninian Park for a final season in 1975. Clark helped the Bluebirds reach the Second Division in 1975-76, and retired three years later as a City icon. Mark Kennedy began his career with Millwall, making his senior debut in 1993. Kennedy became a mainstay in the team during his three-year spell, gaining attention with an impressive goal against Arsenal at Highbury, which earnt him a move to Liverpool in 1995. Thirteen years after arriving at Anfield, Kennedy made the move to the Welsh capital. During his time at Ninian Park and Cardiff City Stadium, the left-back made over 75 appearances for the Bluebirds, including in the 2010 Play-Off Final. Capped 34 times by the Republic of Ireland, Kennedy had a brief spell with Ipswich Town before retiring in 2012. Current City right-back Mahlon Romeo, who has made a positive start to life in the Welsh capital since joining the Bluebirds on a three-year deal this summer made 198 appearances for Millwall before making his move to the Bluebirds. Lastly, we shouldn't forget that another ex-gaffer for the Bluebirds, Mick McCarthy also played for and managed tomorrows opponents, making 35 appearances as a player and managing them between 1992 - 1996. (Question to ponder, has any other club provided the Bluebirds with as many managers as Millwall??) So, will the Bluebirds faithful once again be so jubilant that they feel like they have wings? Will we leave our hosts lion on the ground in dispair at full time?? Which of our players can be the mane attraction??? Will we take pride when walking away from the Lion's Den???? All I know is that we'll back the boys come wind, rain, shine or (just for Rowett) even snow.... Blooooooooooooooobirds!
A great introduction to the weekend Briz. Hoping SM can find the right combination up front to take a few of the chances we create. Plenty of options available. Will it be the tenacity of Harris, the exuberance of Ojo or Philogene the graft of Watters or a bit of class from one of the Callums, if both fit? Could this be the game where the goals begin to flow giving us the momentum for a climb up the table? Not long to wait.
Id go Allsopp Romeo Ng Kipre Bagan Wintle Ralls Colwill O Dowda Robinson Ojo. If O Dowda is unfit id play Philogene.
That would work, though might be a bit harsh on Nkounkou. Would love to see Bagan thrive in the role and bar his concussion would have had control of the shirt. Dont think Nkounkou has done anything wrong though. As an aside, what I havent got used to yet is Romeo, Nkounkou and Kipre turning up in the oposition box from open play.
Definitely far removed from the last few seasons fare.... Looking at the stats from games (without checking back in detail) I don't think there are many so far this season where we haven't had more possession and where we've limited the opposition to relatively few chances. When you look at the Luton game it's pretty clear where we are "failing" (or perhaps just not quite gelling fully yet). Hopefully, once Robinson is up to speed he can provide a bit more guile and confidence and that then becomes infectious across our whole forward line.
Some info on previous games; Millwall won their last league game against Cardiff in February, last registering consecutive wins over the Bluebirds in victories in 1999 and 2003. Cardiff have won one of their last 12 away league games against Millwall (D8 L3), a 2-0 win in September 2012 under Malky Mackay. Cardiff won their last league game in London, beating QPR 2-1 in March. They’ve not won consecutive trips to the capital since September 2012, the second game of which was against Millwall. After a run of five consecutive victories, Millwall lost their last home league game 1-0 against Reading. They’ve not lost back-to-back league games at the Den since April 2021. Cardiff have won just one of their last seven away league games (D1 L5), beating already relegated Derby 1-0 on the final day last season
Cardiff City XI: Allsop; Romeo, Ng, Kipre, Nkounkou; Wintle, Rinomhota, Sawyers; Philogene, Watters, Ojo. Subs: Alnwick, Ralls, Sang, Simpson, Whyte, Harris, Robinson. O'Dowda obviously still not fit. Whyte and sang on the bench. Robinson set to make his debut off the bench. Edit. Just noticed, Colwill not even on the bench.
Ok, 20 minutes in, 3 shots, 0 on target yet. We're not dominating possession today though, so maybe we'll have one of those games where we pinch a win rather than deserve it??
Looks like a bit of a slog from us so far. Need to shake it up a little I reckon but can see SM sticking with it for a little longer before making changes... 55 - 60 minute mark is my guess.
