CHAMPIONSHIP - Game 13/46
at NINIAN PARK
CARDIFF CITY (1) 1
McPhail 37
SCUNTHORPE (0) 1
Goodwin 55
Some rare action
during the yawn-athon
When The Buzzcocks wrote the lyrics for Boredom, they must have had Dave Jones' Cardiff City in mind with the lines;
You see there's nothing behind me
I'm already a has-been
My future ain't what it was
Well I think I know the words that I mean
Boredom Boredom
An afternoon of apathetic entertainment, rightly described as Novocain football by some afterwards, saw Cardiff City numb and succumb to a 1-1 draw against an organised, spirited but relatively mediocre Scunthorpe side who left South Wales with a comfortable point. Had Scunnie decided to show any ambition, it may well have been all three but that point was clearly all they wanted.
On a day when Dave Jones and his self-labelled "best ever City squad" were on trial, they collectively let themselves and us down yet again. Boos lasting 15 seconds or so at final whistle were largely comparable to City's best moments in the tedious encounter..
The most depressing aspect is not so much that City's performance suggesting that they didn't even appear to be motivated enough to either answer their critics or fight for their manager but the attitude of our fans. fans. We have now become so accustomed to this - 5 points out of 21 this season, just a solitary home league win in 8 months, the life and passion is being sucked out of us.
It was like a funeral parlour, both inside and walking away, I've rarely known us become so disinterested and bored that we can't even get angry by this shocking state of affairs. Only a relative handful can be arsed to scream out their frustrations. Our decline was such that it was entirely predictable this would be a dour, boring grind. A few of us had settled in the pub and had got to the point of debating whether to simply stay there for the afternoon but with tickets already in our pockets, we made the sacrifice. We're all committed diehards, the mere fact we were discussing not bothering going to the game underlines what a sorry mess it all is right now.
Where the hell do we go from here? For all his faults and mistakes made, I'd personally like to see Dave Jones turn this around but the signs are that the tide has turned and it is not in his capabilities to do so. Is it now just really a case of how much more of pain we must endure before drastic action is taken?, After giving DJ not one, but two, improved contracts and shares in the last year, how much does City's financial outlook have a bearing on things?
It's no game to write home about and it's agony to relive the experience but here goes.
You could have argued for Dave Jones to seriously have changed over half the team - and, after all, if he has two players in every position and our "best ever"?(!) squad, then why not? However he changed just 3. Loanee goalkeeper Kasper Schmeicel came in for Michael Oakes, Roger Johnson replaced the completely out of sorts Glen Loovens and Trevor Sinclair replaced Paul Parry, one of our better performers in midweek. His decision (or was a lack of a decision?) to continue with Tony Capaldi, the misfiring central midfield and Robbie Fowler was either brave or foolish but certainly not rewarded and none really repaid his faith, even if McPhail shocked the world by scoring.
You'd never have believed a City side would ever feature the names Schmeicel, Fowler and Hasslebaink would you? But here we were with Schmeicel Jr, McNaughton-Purse-Johnson-Capaldi, Sinclair-Rae-McPhail-Ledley, Fowler-Hasselbaink. Subs were Oakes, Loovens, Parry, Thompson, Whittingham.
Scunthorpe shocked everyone by coming up as League One champions, especially in a division that contained arguably bigger and better squads, which is huge testimony to their work. Having sold the strikeforce which essentially helped bring them here in Andy Keogh (now at Wolves) and Billy Sharp (now at Sheffield United) and having what must be the smallest squad in the Championship, many predicted a huge struggle for them but they arrived at Ninian Park in 9th and 5 points ahead of City giving them all the bragging rights. It puts Dave Jones' and our squad's efforts to shame.
Their side featured those household names of Murphy, Crosby-Butler-Byrne-Youga, Taylor-Cork-Goodwin,Hurst, Hayes-Paterson. Only Kevan Hurst at £200k cost money, other than keeper Joe Murphy, not one of them had previous history of playing at this level. You have to salute them. Maybe the most interesting name was teenager Jack Cork on loan from Chelsea and he's the son of ex-City manager Alan Cork.
To a man, the expectation had to be that City came out 'all guns blazing' to show they're better than the criticisms and vitriol aimed their way. You;d also think they'd be desperate to perform for their under siege manager. What we got was the exact opposite,
Unable to put two passes together, unwilling to show movement, restricted to ball into the air or space nonsense, no communication. Cardiff were as dull and mild as the weather. Bluebirds fans were rendered speechless, the game watched in near silence. And who could blame anyone? The only "shot" at goal and the only work Scunnie;s keeper had to the first half hour came from a punt from our goalkeeper Kasper Schmeicel. It took 20 minutes to have any shot, a rubbish effort from Rae, 25 minutes to win a corner and McPhail's goal on 37 minutes was our only true effort at goal all half. Little wonder I'd resorted to reading The Echo instead to pass the time, there was nothing on the pitch to watch or admire. (Yep, reduced crowd but programmes still sold out before kick-off!)
Until City's goal, the only shot in anger all game had been a poor Roger Johnson touch giving Hayes a free shot at goal, his effort was great and so were Schmeicel's reflexes in tipping over. It was, in fact, Schmeicel who gave us the main cheers, not just because he was one of the very few players who looked fired up and enthusiastic although even he got dragged down long before the end. Nowhere near as big as his illustrious father, he looked the part by making good decisions, always being alert and looking sharp and, boy, can he kick a ball. The likes of Chopra could have dined on his 70 - 80 yard punts without difficulty, Fowler and JFH won't.
The goal was the only other moment to get excited about all half. Both a surprise and a shock as it came from STEVE McPHAIL, not so much Goal of the Season but his Goal FOR the season. This is a week when Neil Alexander saved two penalties, it shows that miracles still happen occasionally.
It came from a move down the right, Hasselbaink took the ball at the by-line just inside the area, twisted and out a ball across the box where McPHAIL was further man forward and deep in the penalty area (honestly, no lies!) to flick a boot out high and divert it across a shocked Murphy from 8 yards. City fans didn't know whether to laugh or cry but you could feel the stands and terraces sway for a moment as 11,000 of us shook our heads in disbelief.
Our only other moments of a dreadful half were a couple of blocked JFH efforts and Robbie (I forgot he was on the pitch) Fowler nodding a corner well over in added time but, by that point, I'd already disappeared to the bar for solace and was watching on the screen.
Half-time: CITY 1 SCUNTHORPE 0
The Iron made a start of 2nd half sub with keeper Murphy replaced by Josh Lillis for what was his football league debut. Visibly small for a keeper and making a nervy start, I thought he'd be tested from the off but we're a charity case these days and didn't bother, Rae had our only early effort, a wild hit into the Grange End.
On 52 minutes, an enforced sub as Paul Parry replaced Kevin McNaughton who signalled to come off. More hamstring troubles? Trevor Sinclair dropped to right back. Three minutes later, Scunthorpe did the inevitable and equalised and, yet again, our defending was pitiful.
There didn't look anything on as Hurst advanced down Sinclair's side and hit what was nothing more than a speculative pass across the edge of the box but Gavin Rae failed to stick a boot out when in front of him and then GOODWIN took the ball far side, controlled and then hit an angled shot across Schmeicel. Where was Tony Capaldi? It also looked a shot you'd expect a goalkeeper to save but I'll have to see it on tv. Their 150 or so fans in the 11,850 went suitably wild.
The difference in attitude and togetherness between the team so plainly obvious when every visiting player, bar their keeper, ran to the bottom corner of Bob Bank and Canton Stand to congratulate the scorer. As was a minute's stoppage later in the game for injury which saw Scunnie players get in groups of 2's and 3's, talking away, pointing around the field. Cardiff's stood alone the entire time, not one of them with a single word to say to any other. Our lot are too busy feeling sorry for themselves. That surely includes our manager too. I don't believe he spoke to any player all game, shouted to the pitch and barely made any appearance in the technical area. He's infamous for propping himself nonchalantly against the dugout but, today, he was mostly retreated well inside it.
It's now beyond a joke. That's 7 times in the last 7 games that City have had the lead (including twice against Preston) but failed to hold onto it. 13 games, 1 clean sheet - Neil Alexander gave us 11 in 37 games last season until Jones arrogantly tossed him aside.
Scunthorpe were more than happy to leave with that result and found it quite easy to hold out for even if Cardiff at least showed a bit more interest, but not too much more, for the final 30 minutes. More a slog than an onslaught. Yet again, Robbie Fowler was out of steam well before the hour mark and removed at that point. As remarked by others, we've fallen a long way when sub replacement Steven Thompson is now the quickest forward at the club.
Joe Ledley was denied however by a terrific save with 20 to go meeting a floated Parry ball at the far post, his downward header was back across goal but Lillis did very well not just to block but deny anyone a follow up opportunity ... as if our players would be alert enough for that. His only other test was a McPhail 20 yarder, that shot and his goal somehow seeing him awarded Man of the Match by sponsors, South Wales Echo. Other than that, he was again no influence on the game at any time. I bet The Echo can still hear the derision when that was announced.
Jimmy tried some piledrivers, all blocked, Thommo and Parry brought routine saves from Lillis and City were denied again 10 minutes from time when Darren Purse's header from a corner was nodded off the line and over by Taylor. That's the sort of goal we've conceded a few times too many already this season.
The only late cheer for me was getting a text off a mate saying he'd given up on us for automatic promotion and couldn't even see us doing a Palace or Sunderland. He was serious too. Scunnie produced mild panic winning a corner deep into added time but Schmeicel was again decisive, coming and cleanly taking.
Final whistle produced those boos, not as loud or as long as it could have been, that passion's gone you see. We couldn't even be bothered to protest outside or chants Jones Out, another hallmark of days gone by. Instead, we were just relieved that we could finally leave, those of us who had bothered staying to the end anyway.
I could write more about our defensive, midfield and attacking problems and a frustrating pillock of a ref who stopped the game every chance and talked to players continually and not restarting the game until he'd had his say for any little thing but I'm sure you've already got the gist of this one.
So here we are 13 games in and it's been a pathetic 5 points out of 21 at Ninian Park this season. Little wonder we're now 17th (only that high thanks to goal difference) and just 3 points above relegation while 6 away from play-offs and 12 from promotion. It is fast approaching time to look what's below us instead of in front of us, especially as no game next weekend means we look certain to drop lower again before we next play. A truly awful state of affairs and it's increasingly hard to see any way out other than a door marked "exit" for manager, players or both and, if it carries on like this, sooner rather than later please.
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