Poor followed by phwoar as City hit three goals in a game for the first time this season!

By: Martyn | March 4th, 2009

Cardiff City’s performance at St. Mary’s stadium on Saturday ruined what was a perfectly enjoyable day out for myself and a thousand or so other Cardiff City fans who took the trip to Hampshire. A 1-0 defeat barely masked just how torrid we were. Simon Kendal-Williams sums it up adequately. Thankfully, results elsewhere proved favourable, so we weren’t trampled on by the chasing pack or left staring into the trail blazed by the distant frontrunners. While the senior team proved so inept at finding one another, rhythm, their allotted positions and most importantly, the back of the net, the youngsters had no such trouble. Take that, Flint Town United (two post-location names?! Aren’t they a lucky bunch!)!

After the setback at the weekend then, it was imperative that the Bluebirds got 3 points last night against a Barnsley side who had just secured a victory over high-flying and recent Ninian Park visiting frustrater’s QPR. The response from the team was both impressive and immediate, as not only did we stop at bagging maximum points, but finally threw that monkey-on-our-back cliché from our spinal region and scored more than 2 goals in a game for the first time this season after a 3-1 victory!

After taking a 2-0 victory into the interval, there was an air of both trepidation and optimism at the boiled-water-with-either-a-sprinkling-of-tea-or-coffee-strands-thrown-in-as-an-afterthought stands. Most were confident that with 45 minutes to go up against a chasing-the-game Barnsley side who had been as dynamic and ambitious a side in midfield as any other foe to play at Ninian Park this season, there would be plenty of space and chances afforded to us to really bump up the goal difference. On the other hand, several of us noted the reluctance and lethargy hat plagues the team whenever we’ve been in a commanding position this season, and recalled the way we were 2-0 up against Norwich City earlier on in the campaign only to see the Blues squander the commanding position and scrape a split 4-goal draw. A plucky little Italian came on on that occasion and threw a spanner in the works (not Super Mario, Arturo Lupoli), and it had seemed those of us with the HT trepidation were to be proved sadly correct as a plucky little Liverpudlian who makes Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama look attractive (Jon Macken) scored within ten seconds of arriving on the pitch to pull the Tykes right back into the game. Squeaky bum time was only ended with a minute to spare, as City at last took advantage of the 10-man Tykes and sealed the game.

They were one hell of a mixed bag of a side in terms of both nationality and performance. They make a pack of Revel’s look conservative! The cosmopolitan side on show last night contained a former Argentina U20 captain in Hugo Colace (shaky), Heinz Muller, the erratic German goalkeeper (with dreadful kicking but incredible reflexes), an Iranian on loan from Fulham with an inability to keep his boots from clipping opposition players and his mouth from cussing the referee, the free-role gifted and play-making Jamaican Jamal Campbell-Ryce (as superb as ever), as well as two Maltese international strikers in Misfud and Bogdanovic. In particular, the former Mal-teaser caused us a host of problems at the start of the second half as Barnsley gaffer Simon Davey intelligently instructed him to play right in-between our two slowest players at the back, Gabor Gyepes and Mark Kennedy. This provided the Tykes and the on-loan Coventry striker with plenty of opportunities and they were unlucky in this period not to net.

One aside before I note how the City players performed, and that is the return of the kids 7-a-side games on the pitch at half time. Now these had long ceased to be , and it did seem a rather strange night to bring them back given the fact that it was lashing it down. A simple check of the weather forecast would have noted the impending rain-cloud fury, and the game could have been postponed. I understanding that perhaps telling the kids there and then last night that they couldn’t get on and play their knockabout game on our hallowed turf would have been a bit well, evil, but the priority must surely be keeping our pitch in the best condition possible for the already chock-a-block run-in?

Players in rank order

Joe Ledley – Joe Ledley at his very best. Tackles, battles, hassles, harries, scores, shoots, attacks, tracks, skills, flicks, precision, vision. Deserved his goal because of his all-round impressiveness, in spite of the 1-0 maker itself resulting from a highly fortuitous fall to him! Likewise, it was his urgency to get to the ball that led to Barnsley giving it away, Whittingham shooting, and Chopra getting the rebound.

Peter Whittingham – Defensively I’ll admit that he was as dodgy as ever. With only young Darcy Blake behind him, Whittingham did not provide ample cover. However, his goal was a work of genius, he provided the assist for Chopra’s goal, and in attack, his passing was as ambitious and incisive as ever. With Whittingham on form when going forward, we are an altogether different proposition!

Eddie Johnson – The MOTM of both fans and sponsors, “EDDIE, EDDIE, EDDIE” did admittedly put in a shift full of hard work and a will to please. However, positionally and tactically he’s still utterly clueless and other than his knock-down’s and lay-off’s which are always impressive, he does not shoot enough or look comfortable when facing goal. Forever destined to be the subject of humiliation or fun from football fans.

Michael Chopra – Limped off in the second half and it was clear that rushing him back from a knock sustained at Soton on the weekend was a rushed decision. Nevertheless, he scored and was as industrious as ever.

Quincy – Injected life into a team that was seriously floundering upon coming on. Whether he can do this from the start or help out consistently defensively is another matter entirely.

Gavin Rae – A good battling, up-n’-down showing from the much-maligned (not just by me, honest) Scot. He almost finally broke his scoring duck too as he saw a shot dent the crossbar.

Roger Johnson – Wins every header and tackle, but then alas, he proceeds to pass to no-one. Same old, same old.

Darcy Blake – A surprise inclusion at full-back. Veered between trying too hard to impress and impressive (with regards to passing, movement, touch, positioning, etc).

Dimitrios Konstantopoulos – Very little to deal with in the way of Tykes chances, but does look so shaky when having to clear under pressure and only kept from the lower reaches of the player rater by one superb save.

Gabor Gyepes – The normally infallible Eastern European had ten minutes of madness at the start of the second half. He was left for dead by opposition strikers, persistently gave the ball away and looked hopelessly out of his depth. It was soon eradicated, but the signs were there for all to see that Gyepes does have his limitations.

Ross McCormack – In a bit of a strop having been left on the bench, and his touch and desire were clearly remaining somewhere other than the Ninian pitch upon coming on.

Paul Parry – Yet again, the former Welsh international goes AWOL for the one hour and thirty minutes of the week he’s supposed to be present.

Mark Kennedy - Troubled by the pacy Misfud in the second half, and his distribution was as appalling as ever.

It’s Doncaster Rovers at home on Saturday for the Bluebirds, and I doubt any other side in the country can match the red and whites for form at present. Despite being bottom of the league what seemed like only yesterday, Donny are now almost within reach of the play-off’s! Incredible stuff. Caution would be wisely exercised by Dave Jones as Rovers like to play an expansive passing game, so I expect a lacklustre attacking performance compensated by defensive solidity with a midfield shutdown. We have flair players on hand mind to perhaps sneak us a goal, and it is therefore the likes of Whittingham, Parry or Quincy who we turn to for one solitary moment of magic! Please and thanks gents.