Cups, cock-ups and contracts

By: Martyn | September 7th, 2009

Apologies for a lengthy Cardiff City writing absence. Work, lethargy, a busier social calendar, bumper issues of World Soccer and an addiction to/near-completion of Super Mario 64 have all proven to be bigger obstacles to my Bluebirds venting than elections are to democracy in Iran. During my time away from the keyboard and monitor…

We signed Solomon Taiwo – I kept an observant eye on this player during our not-too-distant cup clash with Dagenham & Redbridge. Unbeknown to me, so were the club! As I noted, his passing looked particularly deadly, but he was dragged out of position on one too many occasions.

Plymouth Argyle signed Darcy Blake – I’ve never been overly impressed by the academy product, and neither seemingly have the present management team who’ve struggled to find him a position. Although many see him as a full-back, his only memorable showings in the Cardiff blue have come in centre midfield: in particular, a first-half performance against Hull City on the last day of the 2006/07 season where he totally outclassed and nullified Ray Parlour.

Coincidentally, this was also the game which kept Hull City in the division and sent down Leeds United in their place. So however bad it gets in the Premier League, the Tigers could have been slumming it in League One right now! Luggy (am I allowed to use a nickname for the coach of a rival club or is it too banter-buddyish?!) gave Blake his debut at right wing-back during a 3-1 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. Perhaps a consistent run in the side that gains him relevant experience in one position will be of benefit to Darcy, Argyle, and ourselves.

We beat Bristol Rovers rather comfortably in the Carling Cup – Comfortable indeed. The visitors system and play was permeated with caution; clearly the lower leagues are yet to be fully intoxicated by the both wing-backs thrusting brew that football worldwide seems dizzy on. Scimeca returned and looked unsurprisingly rusty. Re-acquainting with the box-to-box role must be more gruelling than adjusting to others on the pitch. Magennis scored his first goal for the club, although it was all very fortuitous. However, I had noticed he’d been failing to get into those positions (”fox-in-the-box”) before his strike, so clearly he’d taken on board the instructions of his manager or team-mates to suss out where the loose ball might appear when his luck finally came in. Enckelman started in goal, with Gyepes and Gerrard in front of him at CB. Cue lots of bickering, scores of missed interceptions, and a player being left free to net for Rovers.

Gyepes – married to a figure skater, a fact I’m desperately trying to concoct a rubbish pun around – is clearly sulking at being forced to start the season as the reserve option yet again. Compound this with an alarming lack of pace and well, you have one non-existent player at the moment. Things don’t get much rosier either in the other arena he normally prowls: he’s lost his place in the Hungarian national team (cruelly thwarted by a late Ibrahimovic goal on the weekend in what must rank as the most exciting WCQ group). Dodgy and slow Hungarians aside, the Bluebirds brushed Rovers out of the competition just days after a fantastic swashbuckling victory against those other Bristol rogues, City.

We got ourselves a tasty draw – It’s Tom Hanks’s Aston Vanilla away in the next round!

We finally floundered in the league, losing at Doncaster Rovers – Maybe the gushing hyperbole became too much for the players. Clearly the withdrawal of Jay Bothroyd due to injury so early on in the game was more than a minor disruption. With the link-up man gone, our play was prosaic and stoic – nothing was done to truly improve the depth up-front in the transfer window (Etuhu is still learning), so this will become an issue several times over the course of the season. Nevertheless, what better way to proverbially pick ourselves up (with Bothroyd) sans dust than with a home encounter against Newcastle United? No, they’re not giants fallen or current. But it’s a game that’s getting the town (toon?) talking – no standard tickets remain – and here’s hoping that the atmosphere will be as pulsating as the game itself.

We remain no clearer on the Joe Ledley saga – Will he, won’t he etc. These things are all the boring same in football nowadays.

We witnessed Gavin Rae being given his Scotland summons – God help them…