CARDIFF CITY fell to a cruel last kick of the match 1-0 defeat at Barnsley, the goal a Carl Dickinson free-kick that deflected off Michael Chopra to give on-loan Stoke defender his first ever goal in professional football. The game, played in heavy rain and a strong wind, was shockingly poor. Devoid of any quality, it would not looked out of place had it been a bottom division match.
Barnsley were aggressive and direct while Cardiff fought a rearguard action with relative ease but shorn of McPhail and Bothroyd and without adequate squad cover or the resources to do anything about it, they were clueless without creativity or craft going forward. City were one dimensional and too often hitting aimless ridiculous long balls for the diminutive talents of Chopra and McCormack to work with. Neither keeper was seriously threatened all afternoon until that last gasp effort. Cardiff deserved a point if only for the simple reason that neither side deserved to win. A game and result to forget ... yes, I know, after Swansea away, another game, performance and result to forget.
******TEAM NEWS******
CARDIFF CITY were hit by a quadruple blow with Steve McPhail, out anyway after a leg op, diagnosed with cancer on the eve of the game and we can only wish him and his family well, the 1,000 Bluebirds at Oakwell chanted his name on several occasions. Jay Bothroyd was out too as his ongoing knee problem finally caught up with him even with a fortnight's break and another surprise absentee was the previously ever present Anthony Gerrard while Adam Matthews was missing at the back having sustained a foot injury on Wales Under 21 duty in Bosnia. In came, McCormack, Gyepes and McNaughton - the latter two making their Championship bows for the season.
A team in City's position with ambition would surely make moves in the loan market, some rivals have indeed done that, but Dave Jones has been told nobody can come until players are moved out so, like it or not, it appears that we will have to limp to the January transfer window ... and who knows whether we'll be in any position to do anything positive at that time? The only chance of that happening appears to depend entirely on Hammam ... oops, Langston(!) ... agreeing a revised pa-off deal and then a Malaysian group - or a mystery one - investing in the club. Ridsdale is hopeful but time seems very tight for all that that to take place.
CITY: Marshall; McNaughton-Hudson-Gyepes-Kennedy; Burke-Rae-Ledley-Whittingham; Chopra-McCormack. An altogether uninspiring and weak sub's bench featured: Quinn, Feeney, Comminges, Scimeca, Magennis, Wildig, Enckleman.
BARNSLEY
Barnsley made an awful start to the season with an opening day draw followed by 5 successive defeats which ended the tenure of the Jack, Simon Davey. In came Mark Robins from Rotherham and he is transforming their fortunes as they've now taken 20 points in 11 games and moved towards mid-table.
Barnsley: Steele; Kozluk-Foster-Shotton-Dickinson; De Silva-Colace-Doyle-Hammill; Bogdanovic-Macken.
~~~~~~THE DAY & GAME~~~~~~
Our coach set off at the crazy hour of 6am - it would be 19 hours before I would get back home too. A couple on the coach were celebrating birthdays and going for the day out and a drink oop north without taking in the game which saw us South Yorkshire, Rotherham to be precise for opening time althought the partying had started long before we had got out of Cardiff.
Good company and music on the coach, it all passed quickly. The bars were very welcoming in Rotherham, although most barmaids I encountered were of dubious quality even with my beer google fixed firmly on. Somehow, trying to get my pal out of the last pub to get back on the bus to the game, we missed it. I caught a train to Barnsley jumped, Lloydey decided to stay. A costly decision as the other drinkers got to Barnsley by final whistle, he stayed in the Rotherham pubs, the police escorted down the M1 after the game so there was no going back for him. Oh the joys of City awaydays!
The palaver (I like that word) meant I missed the opening 20 minutes and having decided to exit the ground at half-time for some warmth and a drink in the nearby Metrodome sports centre, I missed the opening 15 minutes of the 2nd half too. The 55 minutes I had to endure did make me wonder why I bothered watching any of it at all.
Cardiff started brighter but it turned out to be as good as it got with McCormack flicking a Burke cross narrowly wide while Burke himself went wide with another effort but so did McCormack with a quick set piece. The rest of it was pitiful stuff as Cardiff dropped back, midfield were unable to influence the game and in unpredictably poor weather and strong winds, we were to wonder what on earth City have been doing at their plush training complex over the past fortnight as they resorted to thoughtless and aimless long balls giving Chops and McCormack a lost and hopeless cause.
At the quarter point, more calamity as Kevin McNaughton limped out of the action again, the boy seems cursed. In came Paul Quinn and he announced his arrival with a big challenge and yellow card thanks to the histrionics of the Argentinian Collace who must be taking tips of Jordi Gomez.
Barnsley tried creating more pressure but City's defence stood firm, David Marshall having the routine task all half of meeting a soft, slow paced header. With nothing to commend in either side, I left the ground with a few City fans at half-time for the neighbouring Metrodome. Most stayed there. Foolishly, I returned to the game thing it would be all change with City now attacking our end.
City, finally, showed more intent and a willingness to play the ball on the floor but let themselves down by failing to get the basics right completing routine passes. A few too many poor touches and stray passes produced audible groans with Joe Ledley, almost resembling Bluto from Popeye, with his beard, guilty of some terrible attempts to switch play or spread the ball wide.
Barnsley were persistent, one effort deflecting off Gyepes to wrong-foot Marshall before missing by a couple of feet and the keeper then spilled a wicked free-kick carried by the wind and was grateful for a Mark Kennedy overhead clearance.
A sign of how limited and desperate City were came with the appearance of Warren Feeney. A nice guy but he's just not good enough, he wants away, City want him to go yet we were forced to turn to him, for McCormack, to try and win the game because our other striking option was Josh Magennis who was dropped by Grimsby while on loan and then had that spell terminated. How can we consider ourselves as promotion candidates when that's the reality of how it is? As expected, Feeney made no difference at all.
Both sides tried to force the game for a win in the closing stages but in the final minute of added time, disaster struck City as Mark Hudson who put on a decent show otherwise unluckily handled and the ball skidded up off the surface. The yellow card seemed harsh as it was far from deliberate but that all paled into insignificance as DICKINSON took a pot shot with the set piece and his effort hit Chopra, standing alone off the five man wall, deflecting the opposite way leaving Marshall helpless.
There is nothing to add. The defence played reasonably well to nullify the hosts but continue to look fragile and unable to keep a clean sheet. The fact that City have now conceded in added time at the end of a match three times in their last four Championship outings is a sign all is not well too. Midfield were again found lacking. Dave Jones was his own worst enemy in failing to address this area over the summer and it is costing. They all tried, Chris Burke gave his all, but it's just not a strong enough unit, particularly in battles.
Up front, it's becoming a worry that Michael Chopra who was on fire a few weeks ago is now a damp squib. He's working hard and showing quality that will surely bring results but it's now 7 goalless outings for the Championship's leading scorer. McCormack wasn't as sharp as he can be but games will bring fitness and he remains an important player.
City fell to 5th, agonisingly behind Swansea and are now falling away from the top 2 automatic spots without looking as if they have it in them to get it back. The question though is how can City and Dave Jones keep effortlessly going from so good to so bad? Dave Jones at Cardiff City never seems to bring consistency, we're either on good runs or bad runs with no in between. This season is a classic case in point with 10 points and top of the league after 4 games followed by the kick in the teeth that was 4 defeats in 5 and some truly terrible football. Back they came with a 6 game free scoring run netting 14 points and looking the part and now here we are with the side looking ordinary in the extreme with successive defeats and 1 point out of 9.
Next up, City are home to bottom club Ipswich next Sunday. Anyone who can predict whether we will see the Jeckyll or Hyde side of Dave Jones' latest outfit is a better man than me. One thing I do know, thanks to the latest collapses, Ali cannot announce as City run out that we are "still the number one team in Wales".
For the record, the bus boys had a grand trip home including a long stop off in Tamworth. I'm still recovering!
No comments:
Post a Comment