Video Lowlights: Leicester 2 Cardiff City 1

BBC Sport - Football - Leicester 2-1 Cardiff

Two second-half goals from Wales midfielder Andy King gives Paulo Sousa his first league win as Leicester boss. Available to UK users only.

Worth watching the 1st minute just to see Naylor's goal but avoid the rest of it!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/9003207.stm

Championship match report: Leicester City 2 CARDIFF CITY 1

On paper, Cardiff City going into the game in 2^nd spot with four successive wins, averaging over 2 goals per game and without a goal conceded in more than 5 hours should have had few problems dealing with Leicester City in 23rd, without a win and scoring less than a goal per game. On grass, it was a different story as The Foxes avenged last season’s F.A. Cup and Play-Off defeats to the Bluebirds with a thoroughly deserved 2-1 victory … and it could have been more.

King Power – whoever they are – sponsor Leicester City and it was King Power that won the night too with classy Welshman Andy King scoring two excellent goals after the interval to turn around an interval deficit from Tony Naylor’s excellent fluke, a 35 yard hammered cross from the touchline flying into the top corner.

Cardiff were fitting square pegs in round holes and using players short on match fitness with 5 pivotal players absent who surely would have changed the game while, in central midfield, they were forced to use Rae and McPhail whom have misfired as a duo for a couple of years so no surprise it happened again. However there is no reason for despondency with City still in 2^nd and still 2 points clear of those in early season pursuit.

This was Cardiff’s 3^rd trip to Leicester in 8 months as the sides met 5 times last season in league, play-off and F.A. Cup action. City lost at Walker’s Stadium in the Championship (one of only two defeats in the previous 11 visits before this one) so the 150 or so trip is now well known to travelling Bluebirds yet over 1,000 turned up again. They were all thankful for no road problems and good weather leaving behind the all day rain and winds at home for blue skies and sun.

Seyi Olifinjana had not sufficiently recovered from a weekend foot injury, Gavin Rae replacing him was the only change from the side that beat Hull last Saturday but it effectively made Cardiff weaker again. Craig Bellamy had not recovered from his swollen knee either with Dave Jones not ready to take any risks so early in the season. Others still missing were Danny H2O, Chops and Jay-B. City: Marshall; McNaughton-Hudson-Gyepes-Naylor; Burke-Rae-McPhail-Koumas-Whittingham; Keogh.

Leicester’s poor start, they were in the bottom two pre-kick off, has put pressure on ex-Jack boss Paolo Sousa. Agent Sousa’s ability to make Swansea dull and toothless angered their fans but delighted Bluebirds everywhere and he was threatening more of the same with the Foxes. However a good weekend draw at Coventry when they were unlucky not to win combined with the return on loan of fans favourite Martin Waghorn from Sunderland sent them into this encounter with more hope and, let’s be honest, we know they’re a good side with good players.

They also made one change but it was deliberate as centre forward battering ram Steve Howard who mastered Mark Hudson when the sides last night was given the chance to do that again. Leicester: Ikeme-Neilson-Morrison-Berner-Hobbs-Oakley-King-Dyer-Wellens-Howard-Waghorn.

There were larger than usual spaces in Walkers but it’s a big ground and the crowd was 20,510. The City enclosed section behind a corner flag was packed but as an overspill happened at kick-off, they allowed us more space.

One difference this season was their fans closest to us were joined at the very back of the stand by a 20+ stone topless bloke hammering a bongo – he was Fat Boy Drum. And fair does to them, they were in good and sometimes humorous voice, getting involved in plenty of banter and made a good noise although chants about Dave Jones were out of order.

Cardiff started reasonably well looking clam and assured without creating threat but an early sign of what was to come happened as the usually reliable Kevin McNaughton under hit a back pass sending Dyer away but he was denied by Gyepes. However Dyer, possibly the best and most influential player of the night, went on to have a fantastic night skinning SuperKev with pace and skill time and again. I think he was beaten more in one night that he may be all season.

Yet it was City who took the lead on 26 minutes, possibly against the run of play, with a freak but wonder goal. City brought the ball out well from the back, Tony Naylor burst forward on the touchline and Jason Koumas spotted then found him with a wonderful pass, NAYLOR advanced to 40 yards out from goal and unleashed a whipped ball clearly aiming for the far post but it sailed through the air with power completely deceiving Ikeme and flying home. Naylor seemed embarrassed and did not celebrate … not until City fans asked him to ayatollah anyway! Any time he touched the ball for the rest of the half, cries of shooooooot went up.

Cardiff enjoyed their best spell of the game after the goal playing some delightful football, in charge as Leicester tried to attack and threatened to increase their lead with whipped Whittingham corners causing real problems, Koumas going close from distance and, another time, bursting clear through the middle but his lack of fitness told as he was caught while a superb move and a fancy bit of Whittingham skill gave the otherwise anonymous Keogh clear sight of goal but he hit straight at the Foxes keeper.

However Cardiff also survived two let offs before the interval as a Waghorn corner was missed by Marshall and headed away by a defender with Howard’s follow up header being headed of the line by Keogh. Just about on half time, Dyer beat Naughts again and his ball across goal saw Waghorn fail to make a connection at the far post.

Half-time: Leicester 0 Cardiff 1

Before the game, I’d happily have taken a point on hearing the team news. At half-time, I hoped we would hold on for a win and maybe add to the score and make it more comfortable but it turned out to be neither as Leicester significantly upped the tempo and their work-rate and Cardiff were unable to match it with inevitable consequences.

Fast and furious from the restart, Leicester truly battered us and City looked dazed. With five in midfield, we still looked outnumbered but that was also due to players who were fast running out of steam. Gavin Rae, Steve McPhail and Koumas were way short of full match fitness while Burke had one of his poorer shows and Whitts, after an impressive opening 45, could do nothing right after the break. It left Keogh completely isolated and having no chance with hoisted balls towards him while being surrounded by two centre halves of 6’2’ and 6’5.

We looked like midgets against giants and, to make it worse, City were now failing to hold the ball on the rare occasions they got it and were making mistakes everywhere you looked.

Leicester have failed to score before 52 minutes all season and, bang on cue, they equalised in that very minute. After heavy bombardment, Wellard hoisted a ball into the box and nobody covered the run of KING, ghosting into the box, whose flicked header gave Marshall no chance.

Disappointingly, there was no Cardiff response at all to the setback and Leicester seemed only to intensify their pressure. Hudson and Gyepes, so comfortable before the break, were now being beaten and with midfield barely competing, Cardiff stayed level only thanks to Marshall making a double save and then a couple more. Praying for them to run out of steam, it was clearly Cardiff who had and they were behind on 68 minutes. A sweeping move and a sweeping finish with KING placing home superbly.

Dave Jones’ bench offered minimal options and the only changes were Blake and Wildig replacing McPhail and Koumas, the departing players were out on their feet. The incoming players, especially Wildig giving everything to burst forward and support Keogh, were understandably not able to make any impact at all.

City did get forward a couple of times in the closing stages, Keogh might even have levelled had he gambled and a stuck a leg out as Chris Burke’s shot flew across goal, another effort – after he swapped sides with Whitts – flew high and wide but it was very easy for Leicester to close out the game and how they never added a third when Marshall tried a play a quick goal kick to Naylor and gave it straight to Dyer who somehow hit the post instead of netting, I’ll never know.

The mood amongst City fans was subdued, they all knew we were a well beaten side but there was great disappointment that they failed to get something from the clash having been ahead at the break and their failure to make a decent fight of it second half.

Nobody was really bad for Cardiff but nobody had a good game either, they were individually and collectively very average over the 90 minutes but with high hopes that at least two of the missing five will be back for Ipswich away this weekend, Cardiff will be in a good position to go again and they’re more than capable of that.

In Pictures: Leicester City 2 Cardiff City 1

Foxes Test Tonight

Cardiff City travel to Leicester City tonight for the first of two testing away games in five days still unsure of who will be playing for them.

Having managed to overcome Hull with relative ease at the weekend without key players Craig Bellamy, Jay Bothroyd, Danny Drinkwater and Michael Chopra and losing king midfielder Seya Oilifnjana, they would like some of them to return.

Cardiff beat Leicester in last season's play offs

More of the same tonight please lads!

Chops is recovering well from his ankle injury but will be out for another month but the others are all in line for fitness tests before the Walkers Stadium “crunch”. Suggestions are that Craig Bellamy and Seyi Olifinjana are winning their battles but that Jay Bothroyd and Danny Drinkwater will porbably not be available.

However manager Dave Jones has assured supporters that even if Bellamy is absent again later, his problem is not as big a worry serious as some weekend speculation had it. "It is not a serious injury with Craig, there is nothing wrong with his knee structure but he does have a bit of fluid. He has had an injection to help it settle down."

Leicester are seeking revenge from last season’s play-defeat but have started the new season badly without a win so far and are currently 23^rd with just 2 points placing new boss, ex-Swansea manager Paulo Sousa, under pressure from discontented fans. However Cardiff fans would love to see City add to his agony but they are showing signs of improvement drawing 1-1 at Coventry last weekend and, by all accounts, being unlucky not to have won.

A hilarious tribute song to an equally hilarious penalty miss

A Leicester fan signs his "tribute"(?) to Yann Kermogant's fantasticaly stupid penalty last night at CCS that cost his side the two legged tie and sent Cardiff City laughing, singing, crying and dancing all the way home knowing just 90 minutes at Wembley stands between them and the Premier League.

Play-Offs: Leicester 0 CARDIFF CITY 1 the newspaper reports

The Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/

The Guardian

http://tinyurl.com/2vhqmom

The Independent

http://tinyurl.com/38wsd6m

The Telegraph

http://tinyurl.com/2drxw6x

Daily Mail

http://tinyurl.com/2uvofax

Daily Express

http://tinyurl.com/3yheqlu

The Sun

http://tinyurl.com/34dahlc

The Western Mail

http://tinyurl.com/37l88u3

Championship Play-Off semi 1st leg: Leicester City 0 Cardiff City 1

A superb performance by Cardiff, controlling the first half, fighting a rearguard action in the 2nd, applying a spell of pressure which led to a wonderful goal and holding out against a late onslaught takes them one step closer to Wembley and 2 games away from a historic date with the Premier League.

3,000 Bluebirds, myself included, sang their hearts out in a Walker Stadium crowd of almost 30,000 making most of the noise and atmosphere as Cardiff recorded a hard fought but deserved win as City created more and better chances with Chops hitting the post, Jay hitting the bar, other close shaves but Dave Marshall had to produce two stunnignlate saves to preserve the lead.

The winner, on 78 minutes, came from a Peter Whittingham, wide angled, 25 yarder which comprehensively beat Foxes keeper Chris Weale at his near post. A stunning strike which was Beckham-esque and would still be talked about had it been netted by a Brazilian or a Premier League star ... which Whitts might be with City next season! That was his 24th of the campaign, truly incredible.

The 2nd leg will be at a seething passionate Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday night.

Here's the goal, you got to love it.

Mixed Good Friday Play-Off Results for City

Although their destiny is entirely in their hands, Cardiff City fans (and manager and players if they're honest) will take an interest in other results.

Two Championship games were played today with contrasting fortunes from a Bluebirds perspective.

In a lunchtime game, Blackpool scored 3 late goals to win 4-2 at Scunthorpe and continue their recent impressive run as that was their third successive win. By way of total contrast, Leicester City suffered their fourth successive defeat to go from play-off certainties to the most vulnerable Top 6 side. Those results leave The Foxes just 1 point ahead of Blackpool with 5 games each to go.

Cardiff's lead over Blackpool has reverted to 5 points as their depleted side go into a massive Easter programme at home to 5th placed Swansea and away to 3rd place Nottingham Forest tomorrow evening and Monday evening with both games live on tv (Sky and BBC respectively).

C'Mon City!

	Team	P	GD	PTS
1	Newcastle	39	46	83
2	West Brom	41	38	82
3	Nottm Forest	40	21	70
4	Cardiff	40	18	65
5	Swansea	40	2	62
6	Leicester	41	5	61
7	Blackpool	41	14	60
8	Doncaster	40	4	55
9	Middlesbrough	40	9	54
10	Sheff Utd	40	2	54
11	Reading	38	-2	52

What Wales lacked in the Six Nations

The moment Gabor Gyepes saw red last night ... what a superb tackle!!! It gave Cardiff a difficult closing 20 minutes but Gyepes stopping Vaughan when through on goal was probably the difference between City getting 3 points instead of 1 - great work Gabor!

Championship: CARDIFF CITY 2 Leicester City 1 match report

There are two absolute certainties that come with following Cardiff City, football's greatest soap opera of all. One is that just at the very moment you are happy with the club and feel is all well, they will kick you in the nads. The other is that the football team never do anything the easy way. And the last 24 hours provided both of those but ended on a glorious high as Cardiff City beat fellow play-off placed outfit Leicester City to cement their spot in 4th and open a 8 point gap over 7th spot with just 6 games to go of the league season.

The game was no classic but Cardiff carved a 2-0 interval lead and had the hapless Kelvin Etuhu put home the simplest of headers right on half-time, the rest of the contest would have been irrelevant. However Leicester hit back early, Cardiff lost players to injury and then Gyepes took one for the team by getting a red card with 20 to go denying an opponent bearing down on goal. The vocal encouragement from City fans was immense as City's 10 men played out that closing spell with no centre halves, a winger at left back and Chris Burke no more than a passenger with a pulled hamstring and Warren Feeney pretty much a passenger too because that's how he is anyway. The character and fight of the team has been immense and has now taken the club to within a whisker of a play-off place.

The build up to the game was equally dramatic. Life was quite upbeat after the traumatic times at the club but a swift reminder of its continued troubles came with breaking news that Broken Cardiff had a fresh cash crisis. Players and staff hadn’t been paid, up to five key investors chipping in funds to underwrite the monthly wage bills but with the bulk from T.G. and the Malaysians, theirs was supposedly held up in international cyberspace (sounds like a job for Dr. Who!).

The conspiracy theorists will think it was more to do with T.G. just demonstrating that he now runs the show and sent a powerful message to allow his offer (he flies in for the weekend Swansea game) or the club has not future. Regardless, it served as another act of embarrassment and ridicule for Peter Ridsdale … as if he could possibly be more of an embarrassment than he already is.

However, funds arrived today so Michael Chopra duly pocketed another £60-80k, Ross McCormack can invest in a new stash of Tennant’s Super Extra and pay for his taxi rides, Soloman Taiwo can purchase some new cushions to plonk under his arse on the bench (the ones he has must be worn out by now) and Mark Kennedy can have the new sand wedge to attach to his left boot for that continual stream of dinked balls up the field. With bounties in pockets and no need for us to organise a bucket collection for them, we could all concentrate on a vital game.

Injured players were still injured, Bothroyd was still suspended but Dave Jones made two changes from the side that started in the weekend's away win at Crystal Palace as Michael Chopra reverted to the bench and Ross McCormack started. Chops later had the ignominy of seeing Warren Feeney come off the bench instead of him too. The other change saw Mark Kennedy start ahead of Tony Capaldi.

CARDIFF CITY: Marshall; Kennedy-Blake-Gyepes-Quinn; Whittingham-Rae-McPhail-Burke; McCormack-Etuhu.

Leicester have having a superb season after being promoted to the Championship last summer and are probably doing better than expected. Cardiff memorably knocked them out of the F.A. in January to set up the day trip to Chelsea but the Foxes got their revenge last month in the Championship. However in collecting just 1 point in the last 9 (2 of those games at home) culminating a comic defeat at Derby last weekend when keeper Weale somehow managed to outdo Enckleman, somehow allowing the most innocuous of back-passes simple to roll by him and into the net. That came here below Cardiff and remain in the most vulnerable 6^th spot but 4 points ahead of Blackpool, the nearest side to them.

LEICESTER CITY: Weale; Neilson-Morrison-Hobbs-Solan0-King-Wellens-Spearing-N'Guessan-Waghorn-Gallagher.

The Foxes brought around 700 fans with them in a crowd of 20,438. Fans had the novelty of an evening game kicking-off in daylight as clocks went forward last weekend but it didn't feel like spring or summer at all on a chilly night with strong gusts and heavy rain at times too.

Unusually, City defended the Family Stand end first half dealing with those guts and assorted crisp packets and burger trays flying around. City started well, Gyepes going close at a corner and then "Eddie" Etuhu breaking through the middle before playing his first, but nowhere near his last, misplaced pass of the night before, for the third time in four games, City made the perfect start with a goal in the opening 10 minutes.

McPhail played an intelligent ball which was scrambled away but he returned it with a header, Etuhu shot on the turn, Weale pushed the ball away but straight into the path of ROSS McCORMACK who stabbled home for his 5th goal of the season setting City fans into song. Moments later, Chris Burke went on a strong run, beat a defender, the ball rebounded kindly for him but he swept his shot just wide.

Leicester are a good footballing side and responded well playing around City and passing well but crucially, they didn't really threaten too much into the penalty area although credit must go to Blake, Gyepes, Kennedy and the excellent Paul Quinn having his finest hour in a City shirt for being strong and resolute. For all their pressure, the next key chance was Cardiff's too as Chris Burke skinned a defender and sent over a cross that McCormack back across goal only to be denied his second by a fine save or clearance off the line.

City had to make an enforced change a few minutes before the interval as Darcy Blake departed with a neck injury, I think, with Adam Matthews coming on and Paul Quinn moving into centre half. Matthews made his introduction with an amazing 70 yard run with power and pace taking him past 4 or 5 Leicester players and bursting into the box before firing over. Had it gone in, it would have been one of the best goals of any season, not just this one.

Around this point, I commented to people around me how City weren't getting enough players in the box as plenty of crosses were going in but nobody was near them. Moments later, a ball was worked into the box, McCormack got clear but Weale saved his shot, Rae was clear but passed back to WHITTINGHAM who was also clear and bundled the ball home despite the keeper's best efforts. Whitts 22nd goal of the season, amazing.

That came on half-time but there was still time for more drama as Leicester took a corner which almost flew in direct, Marshall plamed it away but with some thinking it had already crossed the line. Not seen it on tv but behind that goal, I didn't think it had. From that, City charged down the other end, Burke sent over the perfect cross for Etuhu who gave every impression he was a 10 yr old heading a ball for the first time with eyes closed and got barely anything on the ball. That was a miss that almost came back to haunt City.

Leicester returned with the lump of an old war horse that is Steven Howard and he took just 7 minutes to make his mark. A corner saw Leicester whip it in, in the same way as Palace did on the weekend, Marshall got a hand to it but not strong enough and the ball was turned back on goal and home by HOWARD from 6 yards through a crowd. How many times has he scored against us?

Leicester tried to apply more pressure but the game was ragged and not helped by heavy rain and water developing in places on the pitch then City were disrupted as Mark Kennedy went off with what looked like a hamstring strain, Capaldi came on. City were under the cosh and balls up front were coming straight back as "Eddie" Etuhu looked out on his feet but he got the biggest personal cheer of the night as he headed on a throw in, City fans wildly cheered him finally putting his head on a ball! Now some fans like Feeney but I don't rate him at all sorry, not for this level of football anyway. It was a shock to me to see Jones use him instead of Chopra who always closes down play and chases the ball and players so is good value in these situations, much more effective than Feeney can ever be in my view.

No sooner had Cardiff made their third and final change when disasters struck. The first saw Chris Burke pulled up with his hamstring. He tried to run it off but knew he had problems and signalled to go off but as he did, Leicester sub and Everton loanee James Vaughan beat the offside trap and was clean through on goal. Gabor Gyepes chased him but was never going to catch him so he took one for the team as he rugby tackled Vaughan on the edge of the box for a straight red card. It seemed a killer blow but it helped preserve the win in the final analysis.

The impressive Paul Gallagher screwed the resulting free-kick wide but Cardiff had 20 minutes to survive with 10 men, one playing with a pulled hamstring, two full backs playing as centre halves, Whitts playing as a left back and Warren Feeney to play as Warren Feeney.

Those final 20 minutes became 25 with added time and were torture as Leicester completely dominated, spreading play, going wide, trying to go around us and through this but, to a man, City were magnificent, throwing bodies in the way, having Marshall bellowing out orders behind them and giving everything they had and a bit more besides.

The clocks at either end of the ground seemed to take an eternity and there must have been 15,000 of us willing those seconds and minutes to go faster and counting down the remaining time. With nerves frayed, City fans responded as City fans do, up on their feet chanting and willing their side on. The atmosphere, tension and noise in those closing minutes in amongst City fans was the best yet at the new stadium.

Shots went wide, headers went over, shots went over, headers went wide but so heroic was City's defending that David Marshall only had one tip over save to make for all that never ending pressure.

Final whistle and the ecstasy and relief was fantastic. Make no mistake, this wasn't just a big win but a massive win and to achieve it in those circumstances made it all the better.

Dave Jones and his squad cannot be praised highly enough for recent efforts. That went in March looking down and out on and off the pitch. The play-off chasers were set to swallow us into the pack and we have had to cope with injuries, illness, suspensions and a serious lack of numbers in the squad. Playing midweek/weekend all March seemed as though it would be too much to cope with 16 points from 8 matches in 24 days. We should be proud of them all for achieving that against the odds.

Champioship: Leicester City 1 CARDIFF CITY 0

CARDIFF CITY's grip on a play-off sport gets weaker by the weak as they slumped to their 5th successive away defeat (4 in the league) and it was their 4th defeat in 5 Championship games that had yielded just 4 points out of the last 18. This defeat came at 5th placed Leicester City but the teams below again failed to take advantage with Blackpool losing away while Sheffield United, Coventry and Middlesbrough all dropped home points with draws.

A drab game in which neither side proved their credentials with Cardiff looking very short of confidence, it made me relieved about my late decision not to attend. Football, sadly, is secondary to the very future of the club at present and 4 months of going though agonies is making me lose heart. However I'll be at Cov on Tuesday.

It incredibly leaves City in the final play-off beth with the meagre tally of 50 points in 36 games and 13 defeats. Cardiff also have a game in hand and goal difference advantage over all sides below them too as it's starting to look likely 58 or 69 points should secure 6th spot, last year City missed out on that position despite getting 74 points by comparison.

The limited City squad - in numbers again cost the club - as Michael Chopra started a 2 game ban while Gabor Gyepes was out injured leaving Kev McNuaghton to fill in. However others returned, Peter Whittingham and Steve McPhail were back in the fold giving boss Dave Jones some reason for optimism otherwise known as clutching at straws.

For the record, it was a contest to forget and I bet many who watched it already have. Cardiff matches seem to be decided entirely on the first goal at present so when Leicester nabbed it on the half-hour, it felt like the game was up and so it proved.

The goal was far too simple and underlined recent problems in Cardiff's defence. A ball over, Welshman Andy King nodded across goal unchallnged where Anthony Gerreard lost Sunderland loan man Matrin Waghorn who squeezed home from close range.

City withstood some pressure - Kennedyblocking a goalbound effort and clearing another off the line while Marshall made a couple of fines saves.

The second half was even more subdued that than first and while Cardiff got forward a few times, they never seriously threatened to level and never tested Weale the home keeper. Whitts (twice), Bothroyd and McCormack was all close though.

Cardiff City drop to 6th as they head into E.G.M. Day

It's E.G.M. Day at the Cardiff City Stadium today where Bluebirds shareholders and The Supporters Trust can finally - and hopefully! - ask the questions about the short, medium and log-term future of the troubled club and get factual answers rather than the flowery flannel peddled by Peter Ridsdale.

I say hopefully as the E.G.M. is called by the club to approve the land sale around the stadium, a move that will raise funds to clear City's current tax debt with a winding up court hearing due March 11th with HMRC. That is the sole agenda item but there should/will be an Any Other Business section to the meeting, it remains to be seen how much time and lip service the club will devote to this as they should be set to face a wave of awkward questions and possible votes of no confidence in Chairman Peter Ridsdale and, maybe, the entire Board after the club have rung up record debts and problems, the full extent of them still aren't entirely in the public gaze.

24 hours after follow 2008 F.A. Cup finallists Portsmouth admiitted defeated in their bid to stave off financial ruin and will go into administration, supporters just want to know what's happened to their Golden Ticket season ticket money and, more importantly, if the club manage to get through this season, how they hope to perform given future season ticket monies are spent, all income streams have been sold or exhausted and the outgoings of the club (£1.2M per month on wages alone, let alone the Chairman's bonuses) are apparently out of control.


The club will, this morning, also be looking nervously over their shoulders in the play-off campaign as, after having cemented 4th spot with a sfaety margin, they suddenly find themselves occupying 6th place and the final play-off spot following Leicester's 1-0 victory at Doncaster last night.

City have traditonally fallen away in the 2nd half of the season and another year where they didn't bring in players in January leaves them painfully limited. City still enjoy at least a 4 point advantage, game(s) in hand and a vastly superior goal difference over sides below them but there will be fears they could run out of steam ... and players!

1	Newcastle	32	34	66
2	Nottm Forest	33	24	61
3	West Brom	32	29	60
4	Swansea	32	7	53
5	Leicester	32	8	51
6	Cardiff	31	18	49
7	Blackpool	33	10	47
8	Sheff Utd	32	1	45
9	Middlesbrough	33	6	44

Last Night's Cardiff City Phone-In

Reviews the fantastic cup win over Leicester City at the weekend and the 5th round draw sending us up the Kings Road to Chelsea, previews tonight's league game at Bristol City and talks about the continued troubles off the pitch. You'll even hear me in the first half hour you lucky things!

http://www.mediafire.com/?ionmvhzmwno

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F.A. Cup 4 - Cardiff City 4 Leicester 2 in pictures

City home in F.A. Cup Round 4 ... if they get through Round 3

The F.A. Cup draw took place this evening and paired Cardiff City or Bristol City at home to fellow Championship outfit Leicester City with the gamer due to be p[layed on the weekend of January 23.

Leicester beat fellow Welsh side Swansea City at home yesterday with a last minute 2-1 winner. Cardiff's game at Bristol was postponed due to ice and the sides will try again on January 12. It creates the prospect of 2 Leicester visit to Cardiff in quick time as the sides league game was postponed due to adverse weather just before Christmas and expected to be re-arranged before the end of February.

Full draw:

Southampton v Ipswich

Reading/Liverpool v Burnley

Millwall/Derby v Brentford/Doncaster

Bristol City/Cardiff v Leicester

Stoke v Arsenal

Notts County/Forest Green v Wigan

Scunthorpe v Man City

West Brom v Plymouth/Newcastle

Everton v Nottm Forest/Birmingham

Accrington/Gillingham v Fulham

Bolton v Sheff Utd/QPR

Portsmouth/Coventry v Sunderland

Preston v Chelsea

Aston Villa v Brighton

Wolves v Crystal Palace

Tottenham v Leeds

DJ blasts JB on official site

The internal inquest into the Xmas Disaster that was Cardiff City has gone into overdrive today.

Losing a home game to Leicester City as the club had not got around to commissioning the boiler for undersoil heating was embarrassing enough and made The Bluebirds a laughing stock but that pales into insignificance with the post-Christmas results.

Defeat at home to bottom of the table Plymouth who hadn’t scored in 6 games, all in front of Cardiff’s biggest home Boxing Day crowd for 40 years, was unacceptable but could be dismissed as a fluke and ‘one of those games’ after City missed half a dozen golden opportunities but were denied by defensive and goalkeeping heroics too.

However yesterday’s capitulation at Peterborough, who themselves became bottom club, is inexcusable and leaves the club, its manager and players with no hiding place. To lose a 4 goal half-time lead defies belief but as the blog as shown in the past 2 days, City and Dave Jones have a history of collapses and losing late goals that shows no sign of being arrested.

One unbelievable aspect has been Dave Jones’ decision to publicly lambast Jay Bothroyd and it is understood the pair were due to meet up today – 24 hours before Jones sees the rest of his battered squad. Maybe there is more to this than meets the eye because how a striker, who was withdrawn with City still 2 goals to the clear, can be blamed for failings at the back is beyond me but he has been singled.

The official website even runs Jones’ feelings in full under the headline “Dave’s Blast at Jay” (http://www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10335~1917407,00.html)

Jay scored a wonderful first half goal band did appear to be one of many players who thought the job was done at the interval and stopped their performance level but many will feel that others were far worse. However Jones was uninterested in how bad Jay’s injury could be, commenting that, “"I haven't spoken to him, don't want to speak to him, don't want to speak to any of them at the moment. I haven't asked him and don't want to ask him because he's one of those players who decided to do it his way and his way isn't good enough.”

As for the rest of the shambles, Jones has hinted he may now wheel and deal with some personnel by saying, “One or two, if we can do it, we'll change them. We need to get players in because the players, in the second half, didn't do what we expected of them. But maybe one or two of them just decided that they think it's a bit easy and one or two, if we can do it, we'll change them."

Cardiff’s cashflow problems appear to be no better than ever with the Malaysians continuing to stall on any investment, some even believing their future involvement in the club is in jeopardy. No wonder City are therefore appealing to fans once again to invest in season tickets with the club pledging to use those funds for new recruitment in January. They are aiming to raise £3M in season ticket sales by Friday with their interest free, price freeze for 5 years and full refund if City are promoted this season deal.

I’ve renewed mine and I truly hope it brings strengthening so the team can have a good crack in the second half of the season but it does sound like desperation, doesn’t it?

Cardiff City - The Heat Is On!

If the Golden Rule of Comedy is timing, then Cardiff City are up there with Laurel and Hardy.


48 hours after the farcical postponement of the Leicester City home game due to 'boliergate' with the club not getting around to connecting a bolier to its undergrond pipes to prevent the pitch freezing at up to -20, they now proudly announce work is complete ... just as the thaw is about to kick in!




Peter Ridsdale and the club have understandably taken some mighty flak from supporters, the press and Leicester City personnel too but rumour has it that another director was largely responsible for the fiasco. Director Steve Borley oversaw the completed work yesterday.


City are home to Plymouth Argyle on Boxing Day. The stadium should never suffer this problem again and we can out this behind us.


However for a club often accused of being a joke, they really know how to shoot themselves in the foot and play up to the label, don't they?

Cardiff City apologise for postponement

The fears of Cardiff City fans were realised when the Leicester City home fixture was postponed by match referee Michael Oliver at 10:30 a.m..

However the angry reaction from Cardiff City fans - some of whom had travelled from Ireland, Scotland and various parts of the U.K. - was entirely understandable as Cardiff had failed to install the boiler to stop the pitch freezing. The club stood accused of being a joke, amateur and unprofessional by supporters looking forward to the big clash and a traditional Christmas drink.

£50M state of the art stadium???
My ar*e!!!

What made it all the more annoying is that South Wales was hardly the worst hit area by the weather and although temparatures were minus 4 overnight and did not rise above freezing in the morning, it was a beautiful sunny crisp winter day with temperatures around 5 degrees by 3pm. To rub salt into the wound, games at Newport, Swindon and Bristol all went ahead.

City did bring in hot air blowers and covers but could not fully cover the pitch and it is understood that two thirdss of the pitch was fine, the remainder was unplayable. The boiler is being fixed in the coming week so a postponement of this type should never happen again.

Chairman Peter Ridsdale took a lot of flak in e-mails and did not respond kindly to some. He also stopped short of his much loved public statements but did apologise to City fans via WalesOnline adding that, "I’m devastated by the postponement. I’m almost speechless, upset and angry, to be honest".

MUPPETS!!!!

City set to face new stadium postponement embarrassment

Well in excess of 22,000 tickets have been sold for today's home game with Leicester City, the team are flying, the club could sorely do with a boost to the coffers and the supporters are looking forward to their traditional pre-Xmas drink together ... but, thanks to penny-pinching, the game looks ready to fall victim to the current freeze.


When Cardiff City built the new stadium this year, they proudly unveiled the pipes that would provide under-soil heating to ensure no game would be cancelled in a cold snap. The only problem is ... some clown at the club decided not to bother buying the boiler to go with it!!!

Temperatures since Friday 6pm have dipped below freezing, reaching up tp -4 overnight, and are not expected to rise above freezing until this afternoon. Local parks and gardens are rock solid so unless City have covered the pitch - and they have known this cold spell was coming all week - the game may be postponed.

Current news is a pitch inspection is due at 11:30am. I hope it goes ahead, the backlash will be deafening if this gets pulled.

Injury Boost for City

Leading scorer Peter Whittingham, key defender Kevin McNaughton and loanee forward Kelvin Etuhu all had to limp off during yesterday's brilliant but hard fought 1-0 victory for Cardiff City at Middlesbrough.


However the club had a boost today with news that "Whitts" and SuperKev sustained minor knocks only and both should be available for the home clash against Leicester City this Saturday.


It's not all good news though as Etuhu having just returned to the club after more than 2 months injured has been sent back to Manchester City for a scan and treatment with a badly swollen ankle. The club believe there is a problem and are preparing for a further lenghty absence of a player getting no luck at all at present.