A win but far from convincing against a terrible side. One moment of quality the difference. Should have been 2-3 but our strikers aren’t clinical enough. Missed Robinson. Good substitution by Hudson which questions though whether he picked the right starting eleven. Papering over the cracks? Watford will be a different proposition. Sang should play in midfield instead of Rhino or Ralls.
What the managers said... Cardiff's interim manager Mark Hudson: "I thought we dominated from start to finish. After the really tough week we've had as a group it shows unbelievable character from within that dressing room to stick to a gameplan and to be brave enough to put it into action. That's something I'm really proud of, and they should be too. "It was a difficult week, but football gives you ups and downs and you have to stay as level as you can. The derby defeat sat with them for a while, as it should, but their application was second to none in training and I'm delighted for them that we got the win we deserved." Rotherham's Matt Taylor: "Our performance on Tuesday (at Coventry) was excellent and I think it was pretty apparent for everyone to see that it took a lot out of the team. "We weren't there today. We couldn't get pressure on the ball, we weren't aggressive enough and it was a comfortable afternoon for Cardiff. We need some bodies back quickly because I wanted to change shape, but I can't do that if I've got no wide players in the squad."
True. Rotherham were sh1t. Didn't appear interested. Tough on Sang getting hooked. He was doing okay. Alfa was a bit rusty but brought more organisation and solidity to the back 4. O'Dowda similar at left back. However midfield went awol when Sawyers came on. Lost some bite when Rhino departed. I look forward to when Adams gets his chance. Up front, loads of effort but little finishing ability. No change there and our biggest weakness, as ever. Robinson can improve that but not a prolific striker. Ojo had his best game for quite some time.
https://www.skysports.com/football/...nship-highlights?postid=4766356#liveblog-body May not work for everyone.
Excellent finish. Clean sheet. No shots against on target. Three points against a team higher in the table than us. Overall a dominant display despite the score line. I don't see what's not to like TBH.
Still no one to call a striker. Could have been 3 or 4 with some decent up top. Good approach play but no cutting edge until Philogene's clever work.
If anyone’s got the time add up the corners we’ve had this season (10 today). We’ve been so used to Flint Morrison etc knocking in plenty but now we’re completely impotent which is a real concern. I just don’t get the endless stream of crosses easily dealt with rather than short ones and training ground ones.
True Nin. Like men against boys when crossing. Either not enough people in the box or in the wrong place or unable to compete in the air. A fundamental flaw in how we play. Harris' effort and work rate is great but he will never be a regular goal scorer. Ojo is a winger or attacking midfielder. O'Dowda is a winger or attacking full back. Robinson ticks some boxes but again is not a regular scorer. Etete, who knows? Isaak Davies is a winger or support striker. I've discounted Watters. This has to be addressed in January for us to move forward.
We have missed Colwill & Davies. They both need a big post World Cup season for us. Watters and/or Etete out on loan in January with that elusive striker to come in. Hughill speculation again no doubt but were missing that presence up top. Adams hopefully will make up time as I can’t take much more of a sterile central midfield in particular Sawyers.
Agreed we need to start taking far more short corners. The one we tried against Coventry almost came off but we didn't bother after that. I believe statistically teams are more likely to score from short corners than just whipping it into the box. Yes we could and should have scored more today but on the flip side we were excellent defensively and never likely to lose the game. When times are tough, staying solid and looking to win games from a solid base is tried and tested.... Robbo will probably get double figures this season (my guess is he'll end up a 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 type record by end of season). If our wingers and midfield can start picking up a few more goals we'll be fine. I'm definitely still looking upwards rather than downward.
Like the Brum game, that was another 1-0 when we should have had at least 4. We should have a positive goal difference by now, not -6. A much better performance than last week was always on the cards when you compare the Swansea side to Rotherham and also the fact we played the game with 11 players this time. The bottom line is our finishing power is woeful. I really like Harris for his committment and effort and pace, whereas Ojo is the complete opposite. He has the skills but lacks those attributes of Harris. He'll come up with a goal on occasions but he should have had a hat trick yesterday. I'd back Harris up front rather than Ojo, and if we had one player with the combined attributes of both we'd be flying. Midfield still needs work. If Romeo was needed at RB then I'd have kept Sang on instead of Rhino in front of Ralls and Wintle - Sawyers again added nothing of merit. At the back Kipre and Ng look to be an improving combination. Knouknou at LB is exciting going forward but leaves huge gaps in a back 4 - only a back 5 to provide cover can accomodate his charges upfield otherwise put Bagan or even Sang over there. I must say I liked what I saw from the side yesterday, but the poor quality of the opposition was a big factor.
