Sorry fellas; 21 years young over here ( How I wish I had your wisdom and accrued knowledge ) Just playing guys; when I started seeing City games with my Dad (Rest in Peace buddy) we were in the old Division III. Would get a couple of thousand against teams like Chesterfield, then me and Dad would pick up the pink Echo on Monday(?) and have a good read. In fact back in the late 90s I was one of the little kids playing at half time, they even chose my photograph to go in the paper! (Dizzying heights have never been scaled again) Beautiful beautiful memories, some very special times linked in with Cardiff FC and old Ninian Park. My friends tell me I'm lucky; I've only ever seen Cardiff City FC on the up - and LONG MAY IT CONTINUE! -I've long distanced myself from certain threads on this board- but this one is lovely and right up my street -
Remote. I was in Cardiff last weekend and had my first pint of Brains dark in a long while down the Old Brewery on St Mary street. Didn't recognise the place! Went to the Old Arcade and that hasn't changed much, went into the Bluebell (now the Goat and something) and then to the Rummer. Memories... If I recall, you poop yellow after a few pints of SA!
The Old Arcade, blimey. I've had a few in there before / after rugby games. Brains dark was my poison when I was a lad. The Brittania Hotel in Porth (well, Brittania actualy). Was partial to a pint of Hancocks HB as well. Starting to get all misty eyed. Not sure of the effects of SA, but guinness does funny things. The only time I get a pint of Dark or HB these days is at the Crown in Rhayader when holidaying / fishing.
Sussex...I can match you. 62 now. Moved to Cardiff in 1979 and went to my first match that year and was hooked. So I've only been supporting the BLUEbirds now for only 33 years!! I thought we were excellent on Saturday. Played Burnley off the park. Everyone had a great game and I think Kimbo will be a great aquisition. Played a safe game and tracked the full back well. However if he is given license to show off his skills I think he will cause a few teams some problems. I wonder if Malky will change the team for Saturday and opt for a more defensive format. I hope not. Some say attack is the best form of defence and if we attack Bolton the way we destroyed Burnley we should come away with another three points.
I agree i hope MM sticks with a winning formation, instead of the dour away formation he has opted for so far this year. But come what may i think we will only become stronger and stronger as the season progresses. Kimbo did look good and we still have what looks like the strongest bench in the championship.
with you on that ronny. he has to stay 442 after the last few results. As for the bench...... While MM still has the same number of bodies in the squad, as said elsewhere, there is no doubt that the quality is significantly higher. Not significantly so in the 11 (with a couple exceptions) but certainly in the 18 and undoubtably in the wider squad. With the competition for places, the impact when someone gets a chance through injury (Connolley, KimBo, Mason, Conway) is great and players are trying to impress when they get 10, 15, 20 minutes off the bench. There are also players that give you something different. Rudy has had a couple influential cameo's, making the run to draw the defence that allowed HH's winner against Ipswich and the knock down for Gunnar who himself has had 2 off the bench. In past seasons, we've run out of fit bodies, steam and options. This season we've already seen the benefit of the added quality. To think that when fit, Mutch, Smith and Bellamy have got to fight their way into the 18 let alone the 11. We've had a few bad performances on Sky in the past few seasons. Time to put that right, and we all know the formation we'd like to see to acheive that.
Good thread Sparks. Another old bu££er here with City memories back to the Hamburg game in 1968 - my first CCFC match although I had been to Ninian for a few Wales games before that. I thought we were excellent Saturday - the whole side and subs. The minimum score out of 10 I would give would be a 7 with at least 4 getting 9's. Kimbo had a terrific debut considering he was probably playing within himself - great passing, movement, vision, speed of thought, strength and stamina. I counted him losing the ball only 4 times and one of those was his shot that went just wide and 2 other occasions he won the ball back in the next tackle. This lad could be a class above and Bellamy will certainly benefit from playing with him - assuming Bellers can get back in the side. What a superb all round squad we now have - the 18 from Saturday (including Frei who will put the wind up many a defender at this level), the 4 stars out injured with the likes of Ralls, Velikonja, Harris, McPhail and some good youngsters still to be called on. It is the strongest squad I can recall in all my years as a City fan. No Johnsons, Taiwo's, Etuhu's or Emmanuel Thomas' or that has been numptie we loaned in at left back the season before last - can't even remember his name.
I dont think its necessarilly the formation thats the problem but our mindset. We have been far too defensive. We need to attack the opposition from the start and have pace in the wide positions to allow us to do this. Having Cowie wide right doesnt allow us to do this. We played 442 Saturday but it wasnt your traditional (Dave Jones or Mike Bassett ) system. Kim and Noone both came inside and along with the excellent shift put in by Don Cowie we won the midfield battle giving Whitts the ability to spray it around. Id keep one out and out striker the difference being id axe Helgusson for Mason , bring in Frei to one wing , Noone on the other with Cowie , Whitts and Kim in the middle. Sort of 451 but a very attack minded one. From what I saw of Frei I think we need to use him while he is with us.
in hindsight i think kim was lucky that we dominated the game, at times he left taylor completely on his own on the left and could have been exposed horribly by a better team....... he did ok and kept things simple in his first game but he is a player who we probably wont see the best of until next season...... but agree with hilts this is a very fluid system that you wouldnt expect from a bruising scottish centre back.... top marks for being so positive and it would be a huge shame to chuck this winning system out of the window and play negatively away from home........
It underlines how far we've come in the last few years. We ended up with the latter names as that was all we could get to pad the squad. MM has been fortunate this season to be able to shop in Waitrose rather than Lidel (?). Just think what he could do with shopping at Harrods or Fortnum and Mason. He has spent the money wisely I think. I do feel for Ralls as I think he will be a good player for us, but he isn't going to get a look in this season unless we get a string of injuries. Nice to be able to say we'd need to have a string of injuries before we get to a player who is better than most of the names you listed from the past Blue. Happy days.
CCFC Too true mate. If Malky is able to further strengthen in January then that is the time for Ralls and one or two other youngsters to go out on loan to get valuable playing experience in Div 1/2 or Blue Square Prem. That would toughen them up a bit.
Evening Bluebirds. Just been watching the FLS on Iplayer, and must say I was impressed with the way your boys played on the weekend. The defense, and midfield in fairness kept the best player outside of the PL at bay, which is no easy feat. It would appear MM has hit the nail on the head with the formation/side. Noticed you have been a little defensive at times with a little reluctance to attack. He certaintly showed he's found the perfect balance for attack/defense now. I think the think you have been missing is "toegetherness", or "chemistry". MM has bought a few players and the entire squad has twigged. I remember 3 years ago, when you had the best squad you'd had for years but they were mainly loanees with limited time to"gel". You now have a weaker side, on paper than you did back then, but they are a stronger side on the pitch due to the "chemistry" they now have as a unit. I can't see you not gaining promotion this season, and no reason why you shouldn't win the league as you appear to ave the stongest squad there. Based on that, good luck for the rest of the season, and see you next year.
I fair, and in my opinion, accurate summing up there Chico. However, this is a path we've trodden many times so I hope you'll understand the reluctance of some of us to share (at least outwardly) your forecast. I don't think we are the finished item just yet and MM will still have a bit to do to ensure we finally make it this time round. Thanks for your good wishes.
Nice to see you posting Clingo, think everyone was worried about you for a while. You've been here many a time, but from what I have seen, you are a lot stronger than previous years. While I understand you'll be reluctant to be too optimistic just yet, I think you'll do it.
Thanks Chico. I think the most important thing for us is the one you correctly identified, and that's the change of ethic at the club. I was a fan of DJ and I think he was right for us for where were at the time, but MM although still clearly finding his way tactically, has completely changed attitudes at the club and is keeping our promotion ambitions on track in (in my eyes anyway) a more honest way.
