After losing Nathan Dyer to Swansea City, speculation is that League One Southampton maybe losing another of their young talents to South Wales - this time in the shape of Johannesburg born England Under 21 Andrew Surman.
Surman, 23 at the start of next season, is a goalscoring midfielder (that woul;d be a novelty for Cardiff midfielder!) who scored 7 last season and averages a goal every 7 games in the league. Many reckon he can be inconsistent too but he is a talented left footer.
Southampton need money but that doesn't mean bargains are available - it looks oike they're holding out for £750k for Surman.
The Bluebirds tough automatic promotion prospects just got even tougher after neither of today's two big Championship games produced the desired outcome from a City fan's perspective.
It's long been accepted by most that long time leaders Wolves will get promoted but currently shorn of their attacking force of Ebanks-Blake, Iwelumo and Kightley and poor in the extreme losing to 10 man Birmingham earlier in the week, there were hopes they may suffer a late collapse.
However that proved a hiccup as they beat relegation bets Southampton 3-0 at Molinez in a no context today. Amaturish Saints defending gifted Vockes a free header on 36 seconds, it was 2-0 after jusy 5 minutes then then Dave Jones ((no, not our one) made it three from the penalty spot before 20 minutes and game over, thanks very much.
Another huge game followed early evening with Reading facing Sheffield United at Madejski Stadium. A draw would have been ideal but Reading continued their freefall and The Blades their charfe to the summit as Brian Howard grabbed a scrappy only goal of the game on the hour, seconds after Dave Kitson had headed against the bar for the home side.
In truth, Sheffield deserved their result by keeping it tight while Reading self-imploded and were simply dreadful. The Blades are now in 2nd spot and genuine auto-promotion contenders while Reading have lost all confidence and appear to have given up - their was not just their 5th successive home defeat to Sheffield United but, more crucially, their 6th successive home game without victory after being the Championship's best home side of all at Christmas.
The thoughts of this blog go out to the family and friends of CardiffCity fan Chris Jones.
Chris returned from service in Afghanistan last week and celebrated by following City away at Southampton. Unfortunately, wrong place, wrong time, he was the victim of an altercation outside of a pub and lies on a life support machine in which the latest scans do not appear to be promising.
His family and friends, including a girlfriend due to give birth in a matter of weeks, are distraught but, in a grateful gesture, are being fully supported by Peter Ridsdale and Cardiff City Football Club.
The next 24 hours, as doctors attempt to wake him up, are crucial. Come on Chris, we’re all with you.
If you would like to make a donation to support Chris and his family, details follow.
Login into paypal and make donations to the following email address
hippo_52@hotmail.com (copy and paste)
If anyone is willing to donate I am sure it will go down well. I am sure I am right in saying that nobody wishes we had to do this but think if you were in the same boat and how you or your family would feel knowing people were doing this.
As stated the club are helping with all costs and I am open to suggestions as what we can do with any money raised.
CARDIFFCITY may have been shocked, hurt and angry by yesterday’s defeat at Southampton but just about fans of every rival club will feel the same, some of them suffering even bigger shocks.
Somehow, the Top 4 all conspired to loss – many of them with easy games on paper.
Long time leaders Wolves now have just 1 win in 12 games and had their biggest upset yet, a 1-0 home defeat to free-falling Plymouth, Paul Gallagher netting after just 39 seconds ro give the Pilgrims their first win in 9.
Birmingham yet again missed their chance with a 2-1 defeat at Sheffield United, both blades goals being controversial as their opener had 2 men offside and their clincher was the most dubious of penalties.
Reading in third, like Wolves, had a shock home defeat. They lost 1-0 to NottinghamForest who had had no recent form at all.
City’s loss meant the Top 4 going into the weekend all lost.
However even the chasing pack had a poor weekend with Bristol City having a home draw with Blackpool and Swansea having to settle for a 1-1 Liberty Stadium draw with bottom club Charlton while Burney had a crazy 4-2 home loss against Sheffield Wednesday.
Apart from Sheffield United, the only other winners in the Top 11 were Preston who beat play-off chasers Ipswich while another team aiming to break-in, QPR, fell 2-1 at Barnsley.
Cardiff fell to 7th when it could have been so much worse and while they will rue a missed opportunity to catch the Top 3, they also strangely did themselves no major damage.
An edited photoset of a miserable day for Cardiff City and its fans. (see previous post for full photoset which contains more than double the pics in this slideshow)
Full Photoset http://nigelblues.blogspot.com/2009/03/southampton-1-cardiff-city-0.html
Slideshow (with half the pics) http://nigelblues.blogspot.com/2009/03/southampton-1-ccfc-0-edited-slideshow.html
Eve of St David’s Day at St Mary’s and The Saints made Cardiff City learn some hard home truths playing away. The Welshmen (ok 2 Welshmen and a Greek, Ghanaian, Hungarian, West Indian, American and some English, Scots and Irishmen) were “Dai”-abolical and got what they deserved – nothing.
You know how dreadful it was when the number of fans as I walked away told me to write a match report just saying “That was ******* ****” . That was the calmest quote too! Losing is bad enough; the manner of it was upsetting and hard to stomach.
Southampton are fighting for their lives currently residing in the drop zone and full of enthusiasm but were nothing special in a game that lacked any real quality and was as bare as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard with thrills yet City still contrived to make The Saints look World-Beaters as they crumbled in alarming fashion before our eyes. Southampton scored early, a gift of a penalty, and City had no answer at all.
Just as last Wednesday against QPR, they looked a million miles away from Premiership challengers as, shorn of a couple of star men, they were bereft of quality, ideas and belief as established first teamers, except one or two, failed to perform and those getting a chance due to injuries of others didn’t step up. The worst fears of City fans – that the squad doesn’t have the quality some would suggest and the backlog of games would take their toll – are currently being realised.
The only positive was that the Top 4 all lost and those below failed to take advantage. A wonderful opportunity to catch up tossed away yet no major harm as it turned out but Cardiff cannot afford anymore slip ups like this.
With railworks on the South Coast, I took to the roads and a pleasant, straightforward trip it was. Out of Barry by 9, M4 to Newbury/A34 & M3, parked and in a Southampton waterside pub – away from the city centre crew – before midday. The pub soon filled and other City fans found it too with talk on who was out – Chopra, McNaughton, Bothroyd definites, even Gavin Rae and Roger Johnson were doubts apparently.
St. Mary’s is a 10-15 minute walk from the City Centre or waterside, a stadium that resembles the new City ground but bigger and has been shoe-horned into the middle of an industrial estate. I’ve now been here a few times but with the home side struggling and the current economic mess, I’ve never seen it so empty yet it was 18,526 inside a 33,000 stadium including almost 2,500 from Cardiff but it does produce swathes of “empty seats” for everyone to sing about..
CITY were forced into changes through injuries and made another (Gyepes for Purse as the former was available again). One of the consequences of the fixture backlog means injured players get no time to recover from knocks and miss two or 3 games, instead of 1, due to the pile-up, City have to deal with it and fast.
City’s side today read: Dimi; Comminges-Gyepes-Johnson-Kennedy; Whittingham-Rae-Ledley-Burke; Parry-McCormack. Subs: Capaldi-Johnson(Eddie)-Owusu-Purse-Scimeca.
Southampton have looked nailed on certainties for a visit to League One but with the drop staring them in the face and their manager walking out, they’ve finally decided it’s time to fight under Mark Wotte who also looks after their reserves and academy. Their last two home games saw them fight back to draw with Swansea and last week hammer Preston for their first home victory in almost 5 months and now we get done too!
Suiting their performance, Cardiff City played in all yellow. What the hell not our blue and whatever happened to the second kit that was mulberry which only seems to appear in the club shop???
The game opened brightly, although hardly thrilling, City won the first corner which Gyepes tamely headed nowhere near goal - a sign of things to come. Then the game was decided in the only telling moment of the game on 11 minutes. A Southampton hit and hope cross saw Mark Kennedy jump with both arms raised high in the air (why???), I’ve still not seen it on TV but the ball appeared to hit his side first and then his arms as it flew up. The ref wasn’t going to do anything but the lino flagged and penalty it was. Arguably a bit harsh but someone explain to me why Kennedy had his arms up in the air anyway?
McGoldrick looked confident and, after the week he’s had debuting for City, I’m sure few expected Dimi to save us – sure enough, he dived to his right, McGOLDRICK sent it the other way, 1-0 and, as it turned out, game over.
The rest of the half, and the match itself, was more depressing than a recession. City had few ideas, no cohesion and were bankrupt of quality, Southampton just about the same but with a little more energy and enthusiasm. The dull-athon produced little to write home about, the home side almost doubling their lead as a near post header saw City’s defence nowhere but it went wide while Cardiff’s response were a couple of half-hearted Paul Parry penalty appeals and, in their only real efforts on goal all game, Roger Johnson’s shot and then Ross McCormack’s header moments apart were both well saved by Davis. City had corners, none came to anything.
Instead, City fans had to endure the lack of passion, basic passing and movement as understandable moans, turned to groans and then some howls and anguished shouts at what was going on. “Jonesy do the ayatollah” which was being sung after we were behind turned to “Jonesy, Jonesy sort it out before the interval”, it was that bad.
It was easier to name the exceptions than the culprits. Roger Johnson was fantastic, City’s best defender and best forward and, yet, nobody else seemed to be getting inspired by him. Chris Burke tried. I’ve idea where to start with the rest but particularly awful were Kennedy (normally reliable but not today), Whittingham (did he make a tackle? did he beat anyone? did he find anyone in the same colour shirt?) and McCormack. Paul Parry offered nothing up front except arm waving in the vain hope of winning set pieces and why our central midfield pair of Rae and Ledley dramatically gone to pot? They’ve both way down on what they can, and should, be.
Half-time: SAINTS 1 SINNERS 0
City re-emerged with Quincy replacing the completely ineffective Whittingham. Huge cheers and applause greeted Quincy, 45 minutes later, we wondered why we had bothered. It soon became apparent why Jones hasn’t been picking him or starting him? Has he really spent a month training with City as he looked a stranger out there, both linking with his team-mates and in terms of his positional play. He entertained just once as his fast feet went at 100 miles an hour while he never moved the ball at all but what was use was that? If Michael Flatley is ill for Riverdance, he’s the perfect replacement but an end product is needed and quick.
On the hour, City came closest to levelling the game. In a match where their open play was more limited than the average X-Factor contestant, it predictably came from a set piece. I honestly thought McCormack’s effort curled over a wall from 25 yards had squeezed in the corner for a moment but it was inches wide with Davis sprawled.
The game became open and stretched. To their credit, the home side didn’t exactly shut up shop and defend for their lives, they tied for another which was a telling comment on City’s display. They almost got it as well as City’s defence were shred in the best move of the match by either side (come to think of it, the only move of the match by either side) which ended with Saganowski clipping the top of the bar.
Cardiff tried to pressure and won a number of corners but, minus Bothroyd, there’s an air of predictability that any set piece ball in the middle is looking only for the head of Roger Johnson and the Saints were more than capable of dealing with that.
10 minutes remained as Cardiff City finally surrendered and gave up all hope – they brought on Eddie Johnson! Funny thing is, as painfully limited and well … absolutely bloody useless and waste of time … that he is, there’s an argument for trying him because he at least can win flick ons which no other forward player in the QPR or Southampton games could do.
Eddie replaced Comminges and had a chance near the death as the ever willing Chris Burke sent a low ball over, Eddie took aim, pun and shot … 20 yards into the air to give catching practise to City fans. Before that, another penalty appeal for what may have been a helping hand sending a ball back to the keeper. Roger Johnson closed the game out playing as a third striker but nothing came his way. A truly desperate afternoon which produced discontent as a small handful of City fans argued and fought amongst themselves, stewards and police getting involved on two occasions and then at final whistle, as the players led by Roger Johnson came to acknowledge us, a few gave him abuse which, Roger being Roger reacted to.
City fell to 6th but it could have been so much worse. 2 points out of 9 and two successive poor displays is worrying as is the realisation that a couple of players missing makes us look painfully ordinary and limited. Yet, for all that, they remain in a string position.
Upto 3 games in hand on everyone, a winning run could take them to the summit and 14 games to go with 8 of them at home. They need to wake up fast though and show more power, belief, application as this type of display makes you wonder, rightly or wrongly, if they really want it.
Two winnable but tough home games this week against Barnsley (Tuesday) and Doncaster (Saturday) – they just have to make them count.
Dave Jones interview on BBC Wales confirms Bothroyd is out tomorrow and almost certainly joined by McCormack. Huge doubts over Chopra and even Rae is struggling.
Listen to Dave Jones thoughts and his look back at the hard earned midweek draw with QPR.
CARDIFF CITY continue their quest for promotion or play-off honours on the South Coast tomorrow with a visit to Southampton at St Mary's.
It's a good trip and shorter than most and it would appear than in excess of 2,500 Bluebirds will be having the awayday but they await to see how decimated their side could be with half of the regulars possibly absent.
Regular keeper Enckleman so Dimi and his worrying kicking will continue, defensively news is awaited on Kevin McNaughton and Gabor Gyepes (who played one half and missed the QPR game respectively) while, in attack, fingers will be crossed that Chops is over the heel problem that forced him off in midweek and that Jay Bothroyd is over the claf strain that took him off after half-hour at Wolves and kept him out on Wednesday.
Visiting Southampton was, perhaps, viewed as a 3 point banker a short time ago but, as always happens, Southampton, fighting for their lives, have suddenly become a different proposition. Their last 5 outings have seen improvements with the Saints fighting back for draws with Norwich and Swansea, unlucky to lose against fellow chasers Sheffield United and Bristol City but, last Staurday, they rhumped Preston 3-1 for their first home win in almost 5 months.
The game should be open and exciting and that may well suit City as Southampton remain stranded in the drop zone and have to win again, draws do them no favours at this stage of the season. They will be without influential veteran centre-half Paul Wotton who picked up a training ground injury.
For the 3rd successive Saturday, CardiffCity fans and players had no match and were forced to watch rivals results while racking up another game in hand but, yet again, those rivals slipped up making City’s position look better by the minute.
Tonight, City stand in 8th place and out of the play-off zone for the first time in ages yet they have at least 4, and upto 5, games in hand on everyone around them knowing winning the lot will take them top and winning just one is good enough for 4th.
The automatic promotion race has been thrown wide open and suddenly looks do-able as 2nd place Birmingham slipped yet up, this time beaten 1-0 at Coventry and lucky it wasn’t worse than that.The Blue Noses have taken just 10 points from their last 9 games and, despite their lofty position, have rarely played well all season long causing plenty of anxiety.
Even better, 3rd place Reading could not take advantage crashing 2-0 at home to BristolCity.The Wurzels leap-frogged City but have played 5 more matches.Reading, meanwhile, have taken just 5 points from the last 5 otuings and haven’t scored for 6 hours – keep the run going boys!!
Then Preston, who were 4th, were demolished 3-1 at Southampton.They were 3 down at half-time as The Saints collected their first home win for 5 months while Sheffield United, who were 5th, had to hit back twice for a draw at free-falling strugglers Plymouth.
Swansea fought back to beat Doncaster at home and now trail Cardiff on goal difference only while Burnley had to settle for coming from behind to draw at relegation-threatened Norwich.
Those afternoon results were better than anyone could possibly have hoped for but it got even better by night as QPR, who visit NinianPark on Wednesday night and had been improving fast, were dismissed 3-1 at home by Ipswich.
It’s now uptoCity to take advantage of these slip ups at Wolves tomorrow. C’MON CITY!!!!!
Cardiff City slipped to 5th this evening after Sheffield United grabbed a winner in the 3rd and final minute of added time at Southampton but they have 2 games in hand over the Blades.
Otherwise, they'll have been pleased to see leaders Wolves and 6th placed Preston held at home by the Greens in the shape of Norwich and Plymouth respectively.
Dave Jones has confirmed that Darren Purse can leave the club and that there has been interest in him but it will only be allowed to happen if he gets a replacement first, a situation he is working on.
Purse, City's club captain, is spending his second season at City effectively being a reserve. A brief resurgence this season didn't last long as he finds himself behind Gypes and Johnson and he was behind Loovens and Johnson last term. Committed and hugely likeable, Purse has waned and needs first team football with Leeds and Soputhampton expressing interest amongst others.
Talking to BBC, Dave Jones says, "We've had inquiries about Darren Purse. Darren knows the situation that we won't be letting any players out until we've got replacements.''Darren knows this and is happy. He is still trying to earn a contract here which is fine, but he knows I'm looking for other players."
It's tough to give late equalisers to Reading and Brum which makes it seem worse but it's only happened twice before this season - against Norwich at home and away at Blackpool. Each time we've had to take a draw when the game was won.
Not happy with that, like anyone, but on the other hand, it's easy to forget the late points we've gained this season;
-Roger Johnson 90th minute winner vs Soton
-Ross McCormack 89th minute equaliser at Doncaster
- 2 goals in last 6 mins to beat Blackpool at home
- Bothroyd 82nd minute winner vs Plymouth
By my reckoning, that's 7 points won and 8 points lost to late goals this season. It balances itself out really.
Cardiff City skipper Darren Purse appears to be on his way out of the club after being told by Dave Jones that he will not be offered a new contract and can leave on a free transfer. Morning newspaper speculation has it that he could be heading for either Charlton Athletic or Leeds United.
The signing of Pursey at the start of the season for a large £700,000 fee was a major coup for the Bluebirds. His commitment to the cause apparent from the outset as he chose City over Southampton who were a better prospect at the time to most observers.
He is a popular figure around the club with staff, other players and fans who he has enjoyed joined in the away end when not playing. However his game has diminshed, in my opinion, as he hit his 30's and some performances last season were shocking.
The player enjoyed a brief resurgence this term but at 32 next month, his lack of speed and thought at times still proved costly. His last game in late November saw Purse make errors in a shocking performance and defeat at Plymouth saw him dropped for Gabor Gypes and he has not played since, occasionally even being dropped from the sub's bench with no other centre half in situ.
and it may be that a move to a struggling Championship outfit and high flying Division 1 side is more akin to where he is these days. A public rift between Dave Jones and himself this season also seemed to be a death knell
His record of 99 league starts and 10 goals isn't bad and if this is the end of his time with the club, then all City fans will thank him for his service and wish him well.
This afternoon's massive visit to Reading will be Dave Jones' 600th game in management in a career that has taken in, and brought success, at each of his clubs - that's Stockport, Southampton, Wolves and, currently, as the Championship's longest serving manager with Cardiff City.
He's a dour character who doesn't see rapport with the fans as a major requirement but you can't deny, on balance, he has done well.
Cardiff City after falling to 7th then rising to 5th over the past 2 weekends find themselves back in the 6th spot they occupied for the whole of November after Crystal Palace pasted Southampton 3-0 in a Monday night game.
Palace who come from nowhere into the play-off race - and that despite recently losing at Ninian Park - but they now head City by a goal difference of 1 greater only although they have played a game more.
City travel to Burnley tomorrow knowing a win will take them to 4th but defeat and other results going against them could see them drop to 10th. No doubt, a draw will keep them 6th ... it always does lately!
