The battle of capital city teams sees Cardiff triumph as two very kind Charlton players nip off early to get the baths warm & bubbly

By: Martyn | October 19th, 2008

The last 20 minutes of Cardiff’s 2-0 victory over Charlton really split opinion in an expectant crowd. Walking out of Ninian Park after the game, there was such an air of negativity suffocating Sloper Road I wondered if I’d been asleep for the entire 90 minutes and woke up to find out that we lost the game rather than enjoying that comfortable victory I witnessed in dreamland! The majority of City followers were disappointed or angered by the team staying in third gear and never looking like giving the scoreline some Hurricanes-style gloss. However, as much as I hate wheeling out the line “we’d have taken that before the game” – football is a game played on the pitch by error-prone humans and therefore your expectations should shift during the match – I do feel that the well-worn phrase resonates. I back this opinion up by the fact that the team have two crucial away games coming up, so was there much point in going out full-throttle when the victory was easily wrapped up? Charlton were never going to get enough bodies forward to seriously threaten, and physical exertion would still have been required to break down an 8-man defence. Yes, we still should have played with a bit more mental alertness and speed, and yes, these are professional athletes who should be able to conjure up extra energy when needed, and yes, it was hardly the entertaining goal-fest finale the fans lusted after, but ultimately a victory by a two-goal margin served with a clean sheet is a good day’s work.

I might well change my tune if we miss out on the play-off’s at the end of the season by the odd goal or two, but you can pinpoint several misses already this season – with more certain to come – and say that we should have scored here, should have scored there, so perhaps getting hung up over one game in which we failed to take perceived advantage would be clammily clutching at the proverbial and widely-held straws. Dave Jones couldn’t make his mind up whether winning by just the two goals was a good thing. In one post-match interview, he reflected that cautiously retaining possession and wearing the clock and opposition down was what was required. Later on however, he changed his opinion and declared that some of the players took a “break”. Welcome to the corridor of indecision, Dave!

Two asides:-

A. Luke Varney and Linvoy Primus impressed me for the Addicks. The former’s impact lessened as the game wore on but his running in behind the defence caused us potential problems and carved himself an opening that he really should have buried in the layers of net. Primus was just colossal and used all his experience and strength to persistenly get his way

B. At one point, a Charlton Athletic player went down ‘injured’ (not sure who it was). It was very obvious that the culprit was faking (or majorly disliked?) because not one of his colleagues went anywhere near him to offer theirhelp/concern. Now normally, with a man lying ‘helpless’ on the ground the team without the perpretator usually resort to halfheartedly stroking the ball over the touchline in some kind of moral compassion showing because it looks like they care. However, credit must go to the City players and referee for carrying on the game like nothing had happened. A minute later – surprise surprise – the previously crippled young athlete soon found the formula for standing up.

As per usual, those involved in the blue shirts placed in rank order:

1. Peter Whittingham – Easily in his best form in a City shirt right now, maybe even in the form of his short career thus far. Whittingham offers so much to the team right now. He was involved throughout, always looking for a bit of the action and that gave our midfield shape, width, options and prevented us relying solely on balls over the top to the strikers. He isn’t shirking his defensive responsibilities either, linking up with whichever full-back is on his side, and saving our blushes when an excellent 18-yard box tackle in the last minute prevented a certain consolation goal. His delivery at the moment is genuinely threatening and always beating the first man. And – crucially – he is bringing a goal or assist to the table in every game. Yesterday saw him deliver the former as the ex-Villa man found some space to work with just outside the box, unleashed a shot that Weaver couldn’t handle, and Super Ross McCormack got the follow up. Last season Whittingham was so bad at times I was willing to drive him to any club willing to take him off our hands. Now – this really does emphasise the fickle nature of us footy fans! – I’d be willing to beat off teams with my bare hands to keep him here at the club. McCormack is (deservedly) getting the headlines at present, but Whittingham warrants equal praise.

2. Gavin Rae – A welcome return to form. The international break clearly gave Gav the perfect opportunity to rest and get back to full-fitness and it showed here. Not just physicaly either – Rae was well up for this match and was like a love-sick partner whenever the ball was away from him, constantly looking for reconciliation. Obviously the imminent return of Scimeca has got Rae upping his game, and this showed especially in the dying minutes when rather than square the ball across goal for Bothroyd to slot in, Rae greedily shot wide in the vain hope of boosting his credentials for continued CM-shirt holding. Thankfully we were 2-0 up: In any other scenario this would have been unforgivable, and I’m sure in the changing rooms the goal-shy striker he neglected passing to made him fully aware what he thought of such selfishness! That blip aside, Rae tackled, carried the ball with confidence and purpose, offered second-ball presence on the edge of the box, and held his positioning well to ensure Charlton weren’t able to carve out too many openings.

3. Jay Bothroyd – Deserved a goal. Has a great work ethic and didn’t let his head drop after being rendered anonymous by his fellow City players. Made multiple runs and took up some great positions that greedy or unaware colleagues missed. Did little wrong other than slicing a shot wide when getting it on target seemed far easier, had a great running battle with Primus, and could have had a hat-trick if his teammates had sought him out more often.

4. Mark Kennedy – Make no mistake, Kennedy’s signing was a good bit of business by Jones. Has come back into the team in place of the awful Commingues and given the defence a steelier, less error-prone look and feel. Oozes confidence when either attacking with the ball or defending against it. Having had such a long time in the game with a wide variety of clubs has clearly instilled an intelligence and reading of the game that others can only aspire to. For a natural born attacker converted to a defensive position, Kennedy is tactically excellent because he holds his position very well and never strays forwards.

5. Ross McCormack – Before he got his first goal, I thought the Scot was set to have his first stinker. His positioning sense and awareness of where the ball could or would end up was awful, and the jury really is still out on whether or not he is a natural striker. A goal-scoring deep-starting attacker is the best description one can offer. However, he then came alive to the parried Whittingham shot, and followed that effort up with a brilliantly simple FK. Is now joint top scorer wth Kevin Doyle, and is definitely set to duel with him throughout the season for the top-scorer’s crown.

6. Roger Johnson/Darren Purse – Not unfair to rank them together because both did their job solidly when needed.

8. Kevin McNaughton – Some slack marking early on almost allowed Varney to score the opening goal. But that heart-rate increasing moment aside, looked more like the player us City fans have become accustomed to: The all-round action man when it comes to defending and attacking. There are aspects of the defensive side of his game that he must work on – these deficiencies have been masked in the past by his swashbuckling attacking heroics – such as his positioning and reading of situations.

9. Miguel Commingues – Came on to face a losing team with 8 outfield players which is probably every substitute’s dream, and although this increases the pressure on him to deliver, deliver he did. Some neat through-balls, some good holding and one of our more urgent players in the moribund game.

10. Tom Heaton – I was astounded. It was the 89th minute and I was contemplating the fact that Heaon may go a whole game without showing the world his dreadful kicking. And then as if by magic, Heaton hoofed one into the Grandstand. Hmmph. Made an excellent save from Varney that you could argue won us the game in itself seeing as we would have been 1-0 down against a team that were very much on top and still had 11 men. As crucial as this save was, I place him this low because he didn’t seem confident enough when claiming hanging balls. If Charlton had been a bit more potent with a giant up front, they could have taken advantage.

11. Eddie Johnson – Given little time – which seemed kinda silly considering that McCormack had done his bit and could have been replaced by the American at the first opportunity: Both he and Bothroyd are in a more urgent need of goals after all – but displayed some neat touches if nothing else.

12. Stephen McPhail – His shooting was so bad that capitol punishment wouldn’t be all that silly a reprimand. How a player who can pick out the most impossible pass can’t hit the target – which is a lot bigger than a pair of feet and stationary last time I checked – really is terrible. How can McPhail justify earning the wages he does when after a decade-long career at the highest level he still hasn’t honed his shooting skills in training? I suppose everyone knows now that McPhail doesn’t suppy goals and normally we can overlook this when he has a fine game. However, yesterday saw a sluggish and sloppy performance and he looked overwhelmed at times when Charlton had the ball.

13. Paul Parry - Absolutely anonymous. You could have made a case for his side of the field not receiving the ball as much as the other – not that this is a watertight excuse: Players should be hungry enough to be screaming for the ball, especially on a cold day – but this would be like putting lipstick on a pig: Its still a bleedin’ pig! Eventually swapped sides with Whittingham, and still offered, erm, nothing. Deeply disappointing. I raised the question prevously as to whether Parry may be finished at this level. If he continues performing like this then the answer is a resounding yes.