Oh sweet home Cardiff City, where the seats are so blue (mostly), sweet home Cardiff City, 3 points coming home to roost.......... Ahh, here we are again, back to our 'home comforts' and a game against tricky opposition in the form of Preston North End, though when I say comforts, I guess that should be 'discomfort' because once again, as the season has worn on, our home form has been 'patchy' to say the least and overall in the 'home form' table we sit a lowly 16th. Contrast that with our 7th place away form and you start to realise that we really do need an upturn in fortunes on our own turf. Will this weekends game be the one to help us do that, who knows, but with new recruits bedding in, the return of Rambo to the fold, plus coming off the back of an excellent away win at Watford and maybe, just maybe it could be? Of course, Preston will have plenty to say about that, especially as not only do they sit 2 points and 3 places higher than is in the table but they too are coming off the back of a morale boosting win against high flying Ipswich. If there's one glimmer of positivity that we can take from that result, it's that our turncoat ex-striker Mr Moore absolutely had the Lillywhite's wobbling a little by the end of their game after coming on and bagging 2 goals in reply to Preston's 3 first half unanswered strikes. Start for Famara Diedhiou anyone???? Last time out saw us bag a win at Deepdale with an incredible late, late (Coventry style) show, scoring 2 goals in added time via Karlan Grant and Ike 'goal machine' Ugbo. Really hope we don't leave it so late this time around! Bulut's Bulletin With a handful of the new arrivals getting a few minutes under their belts last weekend I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of them start this weekend. After some visa issues and a good showing by Jak Alnwick, I wouldn't anticipate seeing our new keeper just yet but with an injury doubt to Mark McGuinness we could possibly see Nat Phillips come into the heart of defence, though Perry Ng is reportedly ok after going off last weekend (phew). Midfield could see a shake up, but after a solid showing last week I wouldn't bet on it. Rubin Colwill is finally starting to find a little form and with Joe Ralls only just recovering from a knock and Rambo not getting any minutes last weekend I suspect Erol will play safe at the outset, safe in the knowledge he has some 'big guns' to call on if things aren't going our way. Up top I really do wonder if big Fammy will get a start, especially after seeing Moore terrorise the North end backline last weekend. What Are The Odds On That? Fresh from house hunting in the Forest Green area, just so he can be a little closer to our resident Ng stalker, old Perry is keeping his feet firmly on the ground and isn't too convinced we can follow up last weeks good away win. With Preston's pretty ropey away form though, I reckon he could just be being modest and doesn;t want to alert them to what's about to hit them!! Well I Never Did you know that the first KFC in the UK was apparently opened in Preston of all places - way back in 1965? I know I've met a few tasty birds in my time from up that way but certainly didn't know that (though KFC definitely pales into insignificance when compared to a Clarke's pie eh??) North End were actually part of the inaugural Premier League back in 1992 but suffered relegation and have failed to make it back since. Sharing The Love Just a small sample this week as Mrs Brizzle is waiting to go out to dinner! We have a fan favourite winger and 2 strikers who's time with us really didn't register too much in all honesty!! Paul Parry Starting out at Bristol City as a youth player, Parry found himself moving to Hereford on a YTS deal (remember those days?) where he impressed Bluebirds gaffer Lennie Lawrence enough to fork out a reported £75k in 2004 for him to make the move to Ninian Park. He’d go on to play almost 200 games for the Bluebirds, including appearing in the 2009 FA Cup Final but would eventually leave us in a £300k move to this weekend’s visitors Preston. One of those rare times we made a profit on a player!! Kurt Nogan Despite being born in Cardiff, Nogan initially came through the ranks at Luton Town before moving on to the likes of Brighton, Burnley and Preston, where he maintained a good goalscoring record at each. In the year 2000 he made the move to his hometown team with rumours rife at the time that the club were having difficulty in raising the transfer money, with the move actually ending up being funded by a wealthy well known fan! Sadly Nogan’s time back home ended in disaster with just 1 goal scored in 18 games, his time with the club (and career) was cut short following an awful achilles injury that ultimately forced him to quit the professional game. Tony Philliskirk Did he really play that many times for the City? I always thought he’d only played a handful of games but there you go! Joining in 1995 from Burnley I really don’t recall anything much about his time with us to be honest, I couldn't even find a shot of him in a City shirt!! So, can we 'double down' and pick up our 2nd win of the season v North End? Will Erol unleash the beast that is Famara Diedhiou and cause panic for Preston?? Or maybe Rambo's return will inspire us to victory??? All I know is I'll be there for this one so they bloody well better not let me down!!! Bloooooooooooooobirds!!!!
The usual masterpiece. Cheers BB. Have you put it on the Peeston board so they can compare with Themaclad? I say "they". In reality its just Themaclad as he is usually the only one posting on there. In fairness he does a great job in keeping their board alive.
Thanks Brizzle. A fantastic read as always. Hope you and Mrs Brizzle enjoy dinner. Another tough one to call against the Lilywhites. Blooooooobirds!
Cracking review as usual BB but apologies for me being so be pedantic but Preston haven’t been in the top flight since 1961
It's about time we scored goals in quantity as well as just trying to keep them out - today would be a good start.
I can't find a picture of Tony Philliskirk either but as an aside, he also spent a couple of years as a referee towards the end of his playing days. He accepted a training offer in 1996 as part of a PFA scheme to encourage more former professionals to take up the whistle, progressing as far as the Northern Premier League.
Seems a bit of an odd selection to me.............. TEAM NEWS Cardiff City XI: Alnwick; Ng, Phillips, Goutas, Collins; Siopis, Wintle; Bowler, Turnbull, Grant; Etete. Subs: Horvath, Romeo, Ralls, Ramsey, Diedhiou, Meite, Colwill, Wilson-Esbrand, Tanner.
I suppose it depends on how training went this week. Erol also said that some had been away so had less training. To get skill on the pitch, you'd have thought Turnbull next to Siopis with Colwill or Ramsey in front of him would be the way to go.
