On the last visit to Cardiff,nearly 20 years ago,the Queens Hotel was our sanctuary from the danny dyer style war zone which was cardiff city centre after Nathan Blake had dumped us out of the FA cup. My girlfriend at the time and now wife of 17 years took some persuading to return to the place but a weekend away in Beirut and she'd generally be up for it What a pleasant surprise to find such a changed city Gone is the quite frankly nasty intimidating and unwelcoming atmosphere of 2 decades ago and the replacement is a charming vibrant and friendly city,the bars down by the bay make for a great night out and there was plenty of friendly banter between Cardiff and Man City fans making a weekend of it. After contrasting first games where from all accounts cardiff just didn't turn up at upton park and a convincing victory against a poor Newcastle side at the Etihad,on paper a convincing away win seemed to be the expected outcome from bookmakers & the media alike Life is never that easy and having been on the receiving end of our fair share of upsets and hidings over the years,taking things for granted is not something a man city fan is fond of doing So a first visit to the Cardiff city stadium which at first glance suggested a lack of the character the old ninian park had and I wondered whether the intimidating atmosphere of the old place would be replicated by the modern stadia. The wall of noise greeting the teams put payed to that theory as the Cardiff fans got right behind their side on the first home premier league game and I hoped Pellegrini had an inkling for the battle I just knew was coming. Malky Mackay certainly had them fired up and his game plan,almost a replica of how Southampton played against us the season before,was put into effect as the Cardiff players fought for everything and stopped the supply through the lines that we enjoyed against the lethargic Geordies the week before.With the system cardiff employed it made them play like the tight tactical away sides do,sit deep ,break up in front of the back four and look to play on the counter Man City's pair at the back of the ponderous Lescott and the painfully slow Garcia were always a worry and Campbell was troubling them every time he ran at them and I felt yaya and Fernandinho weren't putting the hard yards in that the Cardiff players like the excellent Kim were doing to protect the back four and going into the break on level terms felt a bit like a victory in itself Second half started and it was disappointing to see no change in system or attitude as we dominated possession but still looked the more likely to concede Then City scored For me it came out of the blue and was the only real bit of quality in the game up until then as Dzeko rifled home latching onto a classy touch from Sergio So that should've been that,Cardiff were now supposed to roll over,concede a couple more and get a pat on the back for being spirited They hadnt read the script and took the game to city and drew level from our Achilles heel,the set piece. Sensing blood cardiff came again and picked us off again twice as the dreadful defending and marking from Mancinis time reared its ugly head again and although Negredo nodded in a late consolation,the points deservedly belonged to Cardiff You can have all the money in the world but If the commitment and desire of the opposition isn't matched on the field it really counts for nothing Be interesting to see pellegrinis reaction to such a poor performance and also to see if cardiff can replicate the same level of passion and commitment week in week out. If they can then they will stay up comfortably So the same ****ty performance and result from 2 decades ago but at least this time it wasn't with the memory of being extras in the film The Warriors
Glad you enjoyed the stay in Cardiff if not the result. When you guys scored I thought hey-ho cracking strike but we can still nick a draw. Whether we can keep up the performance levels is debateable as premiership football is very different from the championship. Our guys always play the full 90 and will give their all. Just before we equalised I thought we were looking a little tired in some areas of the pitch. A dangerous period for us but the goal reinvigorated the lads and we started to play like we can. I am not a fan of Lescott and he always looks clumsy (to me) but Campbell did well running at your centre backs. All in all I am chuffed we got all 3 points as it will reinforce the confidence of the team that we can compete at the top table.
Win your home games is the way to stay up The crowd played their part today but will they in a drab game against hull?
Today was a special occassions and from what I hear the atmosphere was electric. We are going to have a tough season but our home record in the championship was superb and the crowd are usually quite vocal. Will they be the same against the likes of Hull, probably not as the top four scalp is something to be cherished, the other games are ones we'd like to think we have a chance of winning, therfore the vocals support may well be muted.
The way I see it is when you scored the crowd could have been silent but no we upped the noise level and it helped our team. Can't fault your write up. As you said we gave you plenty of possession but defended the last third, I thought we were unlucky to go in half time 0-0 FC had 2 good chances a lesser keeper would have been beaten. 2nd half although you scored early on your back 4 went to sleep on corners. I still have you vying for first spot with Chelsea, good luck for the rest of the season and be kind to us when we come up to your place.
Great post PPLF. The new stadium will never be Ninian, but we hope it will become a fortress. We need about 25-30 points from our home games to stay up, I think. Malky had the game plan spot on. It reminded me of the cup final against Liverpool. I think we will see it a lot this season! I think Man City will still be up there, but as you said, desire does seem an issue. I wonder if United or Chelsea would have let the lead slip quite so easily? Still, we were always going to be hard to beat for the first game at home, but I hope we use this win as a springboard for a good start to the campaign!
PaulPowersLeftFoot! You sir are a gentleman. It is good to see an honest review of a game against us and a truthful portrayal of the Capital City of Wales. Thank God it's a Bank Holiday today because I don't know how I would get through a day's work today with headache of all headaches. Suffice to this is me please log in to view this image Good luck for the rest of the season.
I was told by a few Cardiff fans on Saturday night that a protest against the red shirts was planned for before the game.Anything come of it,didn't see anything ? Funny moment at the game Cardiff fans singing where were you when you were **** was replied with where were you when you were blue
Or the chant about your keepers "Head and Shoulders".................;O) 2nd must have been Cardiff singing" There is only one CITY"..
PPLF...thank you for the kind words about Cardiff as a city....It has certainly come a long way in a relatively short time but, in all honesty, has always had some sort of cachet about it that, I suppose, only capital cities can have. Here's hoping that your season builds form this and that yesterday is a good omen of things to come for us.
Yes PPLF - a very good and fair appraisal of the game especially from a losing vistor fan. I thought your support was superb and the noise in the stadium just incredible. You have an excellent set of players at your club who really showed us some precise passing and movement. On the day, it wasn't enough, but on another you would demolish a side at this stage of their Premier life like us. Not sure about Pellagrini's interview I've just watched - he seemed a bit pissed off to have lost to us to be honest. There again, I doubt he expected it like most of us down here.
PPLF! I think you can hold on to this celebration m8, we don't seem as coordinated as you lot. http://dailysport.info/cardiff-fans-doing-the-poznan-against-manchester-city/
We don't do it anymore anyway That ship has sailed Result was clearly disappointing but it irritates me when it's always seen as man city playing poorly rather than giving credit for not allowing them to play
PPLF! What do you think the mind set was amongst your players pre-match? Do you think Mancini would have done anything different tactically to Pellegrini?
It will always be the case, Man City have been in the top 3 teams for a few years now and they will continue to be for at least a few more years, the British press don't like any team to get close to Man United maybe that's why every other teams supporters hate them. The press like a giant killer so that they can pull them down later. Just remember it's not who you lose to early on it's who you beat in the last dozen games that will decide the Premiership.
Mancini would've done exactly the same as yesterday That's why he doesn't have a job Poorly motivated for me
PPLF! I think team motivation played a huge part yesterday. Thanks not only for your honesty but also giving us a thread where opposition fans can talk football. It's a welcome distraction from the usual offerings by some rival supporters on here.
