(deep sigh, sharp exhale, several shakes of the head)

By: Martyn | March 23rd, 2009

Cardiff City’s hopes of automatic promotion were ended in some style yesterday afternoon by a 12-man Sheffield United side, three goals and two red cards.

To sum it all up
- The Blades started with a winger-free 4-1-2-2-1 (Halford and Cotterill were assigned the task of supporting Henderson when the attack called for it, or tucking in when opposition attack called for it) set-up and were quite content to try and absorb some pressure. The Bluebirds were lining up in the 4-4-2 as per, this time with Bothroyd and Chopra up top. Rae was recalled in place of McPhail, and Kennedy came in for Capaldi.
- We started brightly save for an audacious Henderson chip that nearly derailed everything, and dominated possession.
- Then, Mr Taylor decided to get his first red of the afternoon out for Gyepes. At the time, I thought the decision fair enough. It looked like the Hungarian had impeded him and as last man, he deserved to walk. But after seeing the replay (and getting a view of the incident more akin to that of the ref’s), it was clear Gyepes got the ball. If only that had been the sole issue of contention…
- We adopted a 4-4-1 formation from hereon in (McPhail replaced wasted wide-man Burke so as to protect the central region being crowded by Sheffield United) with McCormack and Ledley offering surges in behind Bothroyd to contribute to the attack. You never know, this might have given us the chance of securing at least a draw after we had fallen behind to the resulting spot kick from the Gyepes challenge.
- But ooooooooooooooooh no, Mr Taylor was not finished yet with his red cards. McCormack went up for an aerial challenge in a perfectly normal fashion and landed with a portly man in yellow showing him his favourite card. Even Blades manager Kevin Blackwell declared himself puzzled by the decision.
- So it was now 4-1-2-1 against a 4-4-2 (adopted as Halford was replaced by the speedy striker Jamie Ward. The former’s reaction to being substituted was petulant and childish to say the least!). This formation allowed the Blades to stretch the game and gently break us down.
- The game was over as an encounter with just half an hour gone and fans started leaving after the hour mark as it was frankly all rather boring now. The poor punters who had paid £25 for a one-off ticket may as well have thrown their money down the drain.
- The second goal we conceded was absolutely appalling from our point of view mind. Letting a midget score a front-post header from a corner would have been unacceptable with a bare 7 men on the pitch.
- It wasn’t just the red cards that spoiled the afternoon, but the all-round inconsistency shown by the ref. The shirt-pulling and elbow-flailing tactics adopted by the rugged opposition were overlooked all too often. Yet any minor City offence was pulled up and followed by a yellow card. All you ask for is a bit of consistency…
- The morons who threw bottles and trainers on the pitch need to take a long hard look at themselves. How exactly does this kind of behaviour help our club!?!? The atmosphere and noise generated in the face of an awful ref and a lost cause was excellent though, it must be said.
- Also needing to take a long hard look at themselves (and hopefully tying a napkin around their necks ready for a slice of humble pie in May) are Paddy Kenny (who did his best to goad the Grange End), and Stephen Quinn/Jamie Ward for their silly little fingers-to-lips and hand gestures to the City fans after each had netted against 9 men. Yeah, well done boys. Knocking the Blades out of the play-off finals sure will be sweet…
- Thank God there is an international break this week. The 8 outfield players would have been shattered after this and a midweek game would have been ruddy hard to try and get a result from when you chuck in the loss of two essential first team players through suspension (factors we still have to suffer for 3 games post-break…)

The players on show in rank order (this was obviously a bit more difficult than normal, so I’ve based the ratings mainly on things like sloppiness and effort)

Jay Bothroyd – Worked hard for the team and held the ball up well on the rare occasions that he received it.

Michael Chopra – Put in a lot of effort for the team and was sacrificed because long balls were the only way to play with 9 men and Bothroyd is more adept (and taller) at holding onto these.

Ross McCormack – Had looked threatening from the flank and when cutting inside, and this obviously disgusted the ref who decided to take matters into own his hands.

Joe Ledley – Was willing to battle and showed a lot of energy. I was semi-praying that he’d pick up a little knock and pull out of the Wales squad because on the Wednesday before we face the Swans, he’ll be up against Ballack and Frings. Ledley is famous for stodgy performances post-Welsh shift as it is, but after toiling against these two for a full 90… Gulp.

Chris Burke – Saw little of the ball but looked inventive when he did. Hauled off very early on as we had to change systems.

Roger Johnson – Part of a defence that conceded that shambolic second goal, and threatened to become the third man sent off by failing to control his temper too many times. When he concentrated on defending, he did well.

Gabor Gyepes – Dismissed very early on, but had made a decent start. Perhaps the precarious position in which the pseudo-hacking of Halford took place was a bit risky, but ultimately, the Hungarian won the ball.

Miguel Comminges – Too many sloppy passes as per, but we needed his energy because of our personnel depletion.

Eddie Johnson – I’m not sure if it was he who made his way onto the pitch for the last few minutes, or a donkey.

Stuart Taylor – Erratic kicking. Please don’t start Stu, we’ve had more than enough of that this season.

Mark Kennedy – Too many dodgy back passes and awful forward passes.

Gavin Rae – Does his cleaning up bit, tries to dribble, loses ball, struggles to get back into position.

Stephen McPhail – Sloppy and slow. Nothing new there then.

Kevin McNaughton – Mark Kennedy, but thinner and with silver hair.

In other news…

- Red card madness that even Kevin Blackwell failed to understand (mind you, with Chris Morgan in his team, it would be a pot, kettle, black situation for anyone associated with the Blades to complain about an elbow ever again)
- Two Czech mates on trial
- Friedel’s faux pas won’t mean Dimi is allowed to cock up against Swansea
- Yesterday’s ref puts his cards to good use
- Gab groans at first ever red
- Appeals launched for both of yesterday’s red cards
- Our new stadium will be called… The Cardiff City Stadium. Bland ground, bland name.