Plymouth Make City Green

Championship @ Ninian Park

CARDIFF CITY (0) 0
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE (0) 2

Attendance: 16,403
PAFC support: 1,000
Weather: Cold and got colder
Atmosphere: Reasonable until we realised the game was pants, good away noise.


"Going down with the decorations", "a stuffing", "giving away presents", "they played like turkeys", "outfought on Boxing Day", "they must have ate too much Christmas dinner" - you think of all the usual Christmas cliches and they probably all apply to City's hapless 2-0 home defeat to Plymouth Argyle. You can also add in a stereotypical Bluebirds cliche, "every time we get a big crowd at home, we blow it".

The first half was poor and boring, the second half was slightly more memorable for the wrong reasons as a game going absolutely nowhere was all decided in one clumsy incident as Plymouth were awarded an innocuous looking penalty, Captain Darren Purse was sent off for the 2nd time in his last three games and Wotton smashed home the opportunity. Victory was sealed by a clinical Norris finish with 10 man City in some disarray and that was your afternoon's sport and entertainment - as poor as Championship football can be.

City went into what can be regarded as "a make or break" Christmas period knowing results were needed to maintain a play-off challenge. A poor set of results from 4 games in 8 days will inevitably plunge them into mid-table slots and off the pace. The results from these games may well even dictate what City do in the January transfer window - both in and out with player movement. It couldn't have got off to a worse start.

A season's best 16,403 including 1,000 or so visitors from Devon making their shortest away league trip of the season - just a 300 mile round trip for them - were hoping to be entertained. The bulk of them expecting to see City show exactly why they're performing far above anyone's expectations in league placings at least.

Dave Jones took all of 0.001 seconds to name what has become the side that picks itself, the team doing well enough, the limited squad not really providing outstanding alternatives or competition. They may be struggling to turn it on at home but only injury or suspension ever seems to stop it being Alexander, Weston-Purse-Loovens-Barker, Koumas-Whitley-Ledley-Cooper, Ricketts-Jerome. There's not really prizes for guessing subs either although Willie Boland was absent today and it was Margetson-Ardley-Cox-Lee-Parry.

The opposition came to South Wales enjoying better times under new manger Tony Pulis after a terrible start to the season. Their last two results - a 1-1 draw at Watford and a 2-0 home win over Palace - spelled out they were a danger. Their side today were Larrieu, Barness-Doueme-Ward-Arljofree, Norris-Wotton-Jarrett-Capaldi, Evans-Chadwick.

He may be Welsh, he may be a City fan and he may often say complimentary things about our club and support but there's something about Tony Pulis sides that I can't stand. Credit to him and his side for the way they cancelled us out and won the game but it makes for no spectacle at all. Two banks of four, big and physical, playing close together which, yet again, City were clueless to get through or around. Add in time wasting and the ability to fall down for treatment and kill the game at every opportunity and what a bore it was to all bar the visiting fans. It will get them away from relegation danger, it will never take them further, as always happens with Pulis teams.

However none of that should negate from criticism of City's inept display. In a game when we were the better side (that wasn't difficult to schieve) and had all the possession, Cardiff managed just one purposeful attacking move all afternoon. The only passes that found a same shirted player were sideways or backwards ones. A lack of movement, nobody able to hold the ball, nobody taking responsibility for running at players and taking the game to the opposition, no Plan B and a complete inability to change things around against opposition whose gameplan was obvious from first kick, it is worrying how very limited we have become at Ninian Park.

A team with genuine play-off aspirations have got to perform better and learn from these tests but this was the 4th time in the last 6 home games that City failed to score against opposition with similar set ups. There is a lot of soul-searching to be done.

The only bonus for me is that I don't have to waste too much time at Christmas describing the game. The first half's main talking point wasn't the football but a flashpoint as a Plymouth player went down for treatment for the umpteenth time, this occasion trying to make out they were the victim of a Cameron Jerome boot.

City decided enough was enough, clearly frustrated and fed up by what appeared to be deliberate tactics to stop the game and carried on playing with the resulting throw in rather than the gentlemanly custom of giving the ball back to the opponents, Rhys Weston was cynically scythed by Capaldi - a player who went down so regularly over 90 minutes that he must know the grass better than the Ninian Park groundsman - which threatened to spark a mini brawl. Capaldi earned a yellow card, he was lucky.

As the for action, City did their best to gift Plymouth a goal in the first 2 minutes as Darren Purse passed directly to Jarrett allowing him a free run on goal. Jarrett tried to be cute chipping Alexander from the edge of the box but put it straight into his arms. Alexander made a smart low save later in the half after Rhys Weston got into a mess in his own box and gave the ball away.

For City, the only enjoyable moments were occasional flashes of magic by Jason Koumas one or two of them were contenders for the Showboating sections on Soccer AM. However it was all in his own half or deep and out wide - where Plymouth wanted him to be and didn't mind him playing. For all the domination and possession, we won only two or three corners and had just a single effort on or off target.

That came in the one minute added time (one minute was a joke but we'd all seen enough of the half anyway). A corner from the right was met by a powerful and spectacular Ricketts header matched by a spectacular save as the tall, agile Larrieu tipped over.

City saw plenty of the ball but, all too often, it was like watching the most predictable chess stalemate as they did little positive with it - the combo of Plymouth's tactics and their own lack of ideas made it completely tedious. City's frustrations told as Jeff Whitley got away with a card as the ref failed to spot a poor, late challenge whilst Jerome unluckily got one with a mistimed challenge, inconsistent and poor officiating helped to affect the game and result. Whitley however collected his 9th yellow of the season before the conclusion so lies one away from a two match ban.

Half-time: CITY 0 PLYMOUTH 0

The best entertainment came during the interval as 6 City supporting laydees seemed to have so much in common with the average male City fan, they came in all shapes and sizes but mostly the type to fill Pages Two and Three rather than just Page Three. They took half-time penalties against an inflatable sumo. Four of them looked like passes to Sumo (including Bluebirdette's effort), one went wide but a 15 year old lass beat Sumo with style.

Unfortunately, it ended all too soon and we soon returned to zzz's watching 11 blues and 11 green and whites doing professional; football a disservice. The best City moment of the match came in the opening minute of the 2nd period but it was followed by an exchange that typified the garbage that was this game.

Joe Ledley had another of those matches that seemed to pass him by in the engine room but he was the only blue-shirted player who went on a run at the visiting defence and it so nearly paid dividends as he ghosted past 3 or 4 men from halfway, found Michael Ricketts on the edge of the box and his looped shot looked goalbound but was tipped behind at the last moment by Larrieu.

After that came the poorest piece of football surely seen all season as both sides sent upwards of 15 passes and headers straight into the air to the other side which was duly returned, a quality of football that would numb the average Sunday League spectator with his dog but this was the Championship and players paid thousands per week. It all ended by Chris Barker finally trying to bring the ball down but he sliced it into the Bob Bank instead. Now that won't make showboating!

City tried to raise the tempo and Plymouth fell deeper but that made the game more stifled than it already was. A few corners were won but all were cleared, Koumas also sent over a couple of threatening crosses but the massed green shirts would inevitably be there ahead of the outnumbered blue ones.

On 65 minutes, Dave Jones introduced Paul Parry in place of the ineffective Kevin Cooper. Parry earned applause for closing players down rather anything he did on the ball. We can all be pundits in hindsight but, surely, there must be a point in games when Jason Koumas is brought into the middle to pose different problems to the opposition. Why don't we switch Ledley and Jason when nothing is happening? Koumas was too isolated from the penalty area and, in these situations, he looks the only player who can make a difference. I'm sure Pulis and Plymouth were delighted to see him remain where he was.

It was a game going nowhere, Plymouth caused City no problems whatsoever and although we huffed and puffed and tried to move Plymouth about, City were devoid of ideas. Both sides looked happy to take a 0-0 with City hoping some way, somewhere, somehow that they could nick a goal without changing much about to achieve it.

Enter referee Lee Probert to do what no player could do - help produce a goal and result. His lack of proper control helped produced the niggly tension on the pitch, the way he allowed defenders to jump over forwards and go unpunished seemed to affect Jerome and Ricketts more than their counterparts who were looking at breaks so how do you account for his penalty award and red card.

A simple low ball played into City's box, Chadwick and Purse tangled in a very innocuous looking fashion, both nudging at each other, both went down and the ball was cleared. In came Probert to award a penalty and seconds later, show Purse an instant red card. Not one Plymouth player appealed for a penalty but they got one, Purse didn't hang about as the red card was flashed but stormed down the tunnel kicking in the fourth official#s substitute board as he disappeared. Everyone was totally confused but the Plymouth fans loved it of course.

It turns out that the penalty was for shirt pulling but it was the sort of thing that always goes on and Purse was as much a victim as aggressor. The red card was because the ref deemed he stopped the last man, many thought it was for something said. City will appeal that decision, it seemed very harsh with so many defenders around. WOTTON blasted the penalty, Alexander went the right way and got a hand to the shot but was beaten for power. City were one goal down and one man down, game over.

The final 20 minutes saw City in some disarray. Cox replaced Barker and Lee replaced Jerome. Cardiff nearly levelled as they won their only threatening free-kick of the afternoon, Koumas beat Larrieu but also the wrong side of the post by a fraction. Then it was 2-0 as City's were caught at the back, Norris was put clear on the left and angled a drive just inside Alexander's far post with 9 minutes still remaining.

Cue the walkout as 16,000 soon became 11,000 and by final whistle, probably no more than 6-7,000. Plymouth were happy enough singing Jingle Bells All The Way, City's by contrast seemed to be causing a minor disturbance in the Grange End.

Very disappointing. City have played worse this season but they need to find answers fast about how to break down teams at home as all visitors seem to be coming to play the same way and we appear powerless and clueless to do much about it presently.

Defence are certainly competent enough, midfield lack guile but you can't fault their work-rate, we over-rely on Koumas to produce the magic and if you can confine him, as Plymouth did, it doesn't look pretty. The biggest concern has to be up front, City look hesitant and indecisive, they can't hold the ball and they seem unable to produce with it.

Cameron Jerome may still be one of the Championship's leading scorers but his double at Sheffield Wednesday are his only goals in 11 matches, he looks overdue a rest and a shadow of the player we know that he is. Ricketts has one goal in 7, looked better than last outing but still so unacceptably lazy in the eyes of most City fans.

Elsewhere, nobody played badly but nobody stood out either, Joe Ledley is another who appears overdue a rest or a run wide in what should be his natural role. Darren Purse was voted man of the match by City fans for the hell of it.

A bad afternoon saw City drop three places to 10th, one of five teams sharing 35 points and two points below the play-off places. Next game is QPR just two days later, thankfully it's away where City seem to produce better performances. However after this game, it's now all about the result and not the performance.


THE COST OF BEING A CITY FAN:
Ticket: £20
Programme: Sold Out
Drink: £ 1
Travel: £ 3
Total for game: £24

Total for season-to-date: *£1,639
(Total includes £85 spent on CCFC Xmas prezzies for family and friends plus £20 for my Detby ticket (last home game) which I couldn't attend).