Oh woe, oh, woe, just when will the agony end? I hate to use them as a parallel example but it seems we have become an extreme version of the Wurzels under ‘streaky Johnson’…. We’ve gone from horrendous start under Erol Bulut, to decent purple patch and now woeful run yet again under Omer Riza and we are now looking like genuine relegation candidates after yet another dreadful showing against fellow strugglers Oxford Utd on Boxing Day (the 2 late goals we scored did nothing but give the scoreline a more respectable look). I never thought I’d say it but thank the Lord for Wayne Rooney – if it wasn’t for him and his even worse managerial record we’d be firmly rooted to bottom spot – as it is, we are starting to get cut slightly adrift and if we can’t arrest this slump VERY soon then we may as well start planning for League 1. Our game this Sunday isn’t going to give us much hope either as we head to Hertfordshire for a tricky trip to Watford. Who Are You? The Hornets are riding high this year and are once again pushing hard for a play-off spot under ex-Man Utd player Tom Cleverly. Rather than write a whole heap more stuff I am going to be a lazy so and so and just copy and paste some of what was written for our postponed home game that should have taken place just over a couple of week’s ago….. Cleverly had a decent playing career representing the likes of Manchester United, Everton, Aston Villa and his current club Watford, among others. He also made 13 appearances for England and represented Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics. He was forced to retire last year due to injury and took his first step into coaching as Watford U18s manager back in July 2023. He stayed in the role until the dismissal of First Team manager Valérien Ismaël in March, when he stepped up to take control. Since taking the job Cleverly has a win percentage of 44.12%, winning 15 games out of the 43 he’s been in charge for and he remains the only manager in England’s top four divisions to be unbeaten at home. The Hornets' key player this season has been Giorgi Chakvetadze, who joined the club at the start of the 2023/24 campaign from Belgian side KAA Gent. Chakvetadze impressed this summer, representing his country Georgia at their first ever European Championship and helping his nation progress to the round of 16 stage. A versatile attacker who operates effectively both out wide and in the number 10 role, he has the third most chances created in the Championship this season, creating 40 chances so far. Top scorer so far this year is Ivorian Vakoun-Issouf-Bayo who despite being sold to Udinese was loaned back to Watford for the rest of the season. Udinese of course are owned by the Pozzo family who also have a large stake in Watford too, Bayo has 9 goals so far this term. He is very ably backed up by Edo Kayembe, with the Congolese scoring 6 so far this season. Another eye catching name in the Watford line up is Moussa Sissoko, the dominating midfielder re-joining from Nantes. He was without doubt an excellent player first time around for the Hornets and despite his age, he has clocked up 19 appearances already this term. Defensively, they have an OK kind of record (very mid-table) and have the likes of Scot Ryan Porteous, Algerian Yasser Larouci, Chilean Francisco Sierralta and Englishman Matt Pollock forming a ‘league of nations’ back line but attack wise they have the 6th best attack in the league based on goals scored. The game of course will also be a return for current Bluebirds boss Omer Riza who spent time at the Hornets before joining City. He started as a youth team coach there before becoming Assistant First Team Coach at Vicarage Road during the 2023-24 campaign. Last Time Out & Form Last time out (postponed home game aside) saw the Bluebirds come away with a 1-0 victory at Vicarage road with a goal courtesy of a fine Josh Bowler strike. The win came despite the Bluebirds being 2nd best in terms of shots, possession and accuracy of passing, however, the goal when it came was worthy of winning the match. Should City manage to come away having avoided defeat it will extend our unbeaten run against the Hornets to 4 in a row. Just as an added bonus (because I posted the above highlights in the previous postpones thread) here are highlights to our prior visit to Watford which culminated in a fine 1-3 victory for the Bluebirds. The goals being spread between a neat Kion Etete finish, a typical Cedric Kipre hammer shot and a magnificent overhead kick (at something like his 100th attempt) for Sory Kabba. Form wise things look ominous for the Bluebirds, with Watford suffering just 1 defeat in their last 6 with that defeat coming against high flying fellow promotion contenders Burnley at Turf Moor, however the Hornets are unbeaten in 17 at home now. They have recently beaten other promotion hopefuls West Brom and in their last outing squeezed past fellow strugglers Portsmouth by a 2-1 score-line with the winner coming on 95 minutes in a game that also saw Kwadwo Baah sent off for goading Pompey's fans and players with his celebrations at the end. He will miss the game against us as a result. In, Out Or No Sign Of Them About Just what can Omer Riza do to get this team out of their slump? Right now it seems that no matter who pulls on the shirt we still can’t get our act together sufficiently to end this lousy run. Riza now seems to be wedded to the idea of 3 centre backs and wingbacks, so I can’t see any real change in formation, and despite bright showings again from both Kpakio and Ashford off the bench, I can’t imagine either being trusted to start against such high flying opponents, and therefore, with so many injuries still impacting us, I just can’t see many changes being made. Predicted Starting 11 Alnwick Chambers Daland Goutas Rinomhota O’Dowda Robertson Siopis Robinson El Ghazi Meite The Odds Bods Oh how we could do with this guy’s managerial nous now….. if only he’d been a little more humble and less flippant of our owner and team, things could have been very different. Match Day Melody Sadly our heads are still in a bit of a spin and this weekend to add to our misery we have our… Blooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds!!! (P.S. Please excuse the reference to the Wurzels, I just had to partake in a little bit of baiting, just so we can have some fun this week as I’m sure the team won’t give us any! )
Well done yet again Brizzle. If Plymouth get anything today at Oxford we’ll be propping up the league as I can’t see anything but a Watford win today. Okay there’s still time to get out of trouble but I’m not confident about any decent January signings. A couple of wins would make such a big difference but the problem is, where will they came from. Our inept board are basically useless, the owner doesn’t seem to care and the manager can’t motivate the players. So where will it end? Sadly League One is beckoning.
Brizzo - it's a great shame and surely a matter of the circumstances we find ourselves in that your excellent matchday threads now fail to attract the interest they merit - and I include myself in that. Full marks for the effort you continue to put in and I'm sure everyone on here appreciates it even though many now tend to look in rather than comment - and once again I include myself. The buzz needs to be brought back and only changes to the on and off field circumstances is likely to achieve that. Lets hope it starts today - and I've got some money on City winning this with a one goal handicap @ 10/1.........
TEAM NEWS Cardiff City XI:Alnwick (C), Rinomhota, Chambers, Goutas, Daland, O'Dowda, Siopis, Robertson, Willock, Ashford, Robinson. Subs: Horvath, Fish, Bagan, Kpakio, El Ghazi, Colwill, Tanner, Méïté, Kanga.
Not looking forward to this game I suppose Riza doesn’t reckon Watford away is the game to start Kpakio but encouraged to see Ashford start. Tanner returns to the squad
Shows what I know again. Fair play, Ashford has played his way into the team, just hope he doesn't get bullied too much... Hiding to nothing today so hopefully the boys just go for it.
Nice one Brizzle and thank you for the memorable match day threads in 2024. Another tough gig today. Let's hope Riza can find a way to lift his own and his team's spirits. I'm sure the travelling fans will try to do just that. Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds
And here's to you Mr Robinson. There will now follow an onslaught of Hornets. Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds
Looking at how our possession stats are falling like a stone, I'd suggest we have 11 men behind the ball already.
Right that'll do. It's my predicted score. Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds
Bonkers result Such a difference from that pathetic display at Oxford. All the players put in a shift. Watford had stacks more possession but just one shot on target. Now got to capitalise in our upcoming home game v Coventry.
So much added time I thought the officials were going for an immediate replay. Outstanding effort by the lads.
