Season at its lowest ebb so far as Bulut’s Cardiff roll out the welcome mat for Leeds.

[the other bob wilson]

Cardiff have slipped back into their bad old ways in their own stadium.

https://mauveandyellowarmy.net/

[Lord Worcester]

It was awful. That was as one sided a 90 minutes as I have seen in a very long time. I said to my son yesterday, that Leeds 1st 11 will have had tougher training games against their own squad during the week. The tactics and set up were nothing short of disgraceful. Why Leeds declared at essentially 2 I have no idea. 6 or 7 were out there for them. Well played Alnwick.

That form, those tactics and style and that attitude over a season sees us relegated without question. The points on the road in lower quality ‘scraps’ e.g. qpr, Preston are keeping us where we are.

And one question. Please explain the love-in with siopis. Because whilst he was shocking yesterday, he has been bang average at best for months. Thought we actually improved a bit (all relative) when rimo came on yesterday. Until the kamikaze 3rd anyway……

[Maurice Swan]

Love the full league tables......interesting to see Plymouth third top scorers at home.....(behind Ipswich and Southampton).....so expect another defeat next Saturday...

[tforturton]

It was another dreadful home performance, just another in a long line of similar games. I get that Bulut has been working with a team of frees and loans, and to be fair to the guy, we've got a decent haul of points, and are unlikely to face a relegation battle. But God, is it awful to watch, or what?
I'm not sure what the coaching staff say to them during the week, but sometimes, it's like watching a parks side. I know they're all pro footballers, but you still get the impression that no-one can pass properly, no-one can take a pass, no-one can move into space, and no-one is watching the opposition. This is all basic stuff - football 101, if you like. Skills that we know players had are either forgotten, or being coached out of them. Players are going backwards, instead of improving.
Then, the few players we have with a bit of spark - Colwill, Tanner - are kept on the bench, and when they do make it onto the pitch, it's usually in a last-ditch effort to save a game. I'm not saying those two should start every game (though perhaps Bulut should be looking to build next season's team around them), what I'm saying is - the coaching is all wrong.
We've been found out, teams know how to beat us, and we have no Plan B. The staff don't seem to have any idea how to change the game, or alter the side to counter threats. That said, we still come back to a cheap team of frees and loans, and the transfer window may well offer some help in that direction. We need forwards, and we need cover in other places.
But if the coaching is off, and it looks like that is the case, then we will still struggle, even with new players. Bulut brought his own staff in, and it may well be that mid-table Turkish League One is not up to Championship level. I hope not, because Bulut has done a lot for the club, but at the moment it looks like he needs help. I hear Lennie Lawrence is still working.

[Albany]

"Rubin Colwill’s recent performances are not knocking doors down demanding that he start games, but I would say that he’s been doing enough to have earned a starting place given how little some others offer in attacking areas"

Exactly

[tpcnw]

At times yesterday it was if many of them had never met before. Passes into space and the intended recipient had not moved. No one moves for throw ins - how many times do Cardiff have a throw in inside the opponent's half and they throw straight back to a defender who then passes back to Alnwick. Why not try throwing it forwards for once.
Another thing I have noticed in recent weeks is how often a Cardiff player sees a pass coming towards him and waits for the ball to arrive rather then going forward to meet it. On many occasions it never arrives because the opponent gets there first.

[Mr Soul '68]

I
Then, the few players we have with a bit of spark - Colwill, Tanner - are kept on the bench, and when they do make it onto the pitch, it's usually in a last-ditch effort to save a game. I'm not saying those two should start every game (though perhaps Bulut should be looking to build next season's team around them), what I'm saying is - the coaching is all wrong.
We've been found out, teams know how to beat us, and we have no Plan B. The staff don't seem to have any idea how to change the game, or alter the side to counter threats. That said, we still come back to a cheap team of frees and loans, and the transfer window may well offer some help in that direction. We need forwards, and we need cover in other places.
But if the coaching is off, and it looks like that is the case, then we will still struggle, even with new players. Bulut brought his own staff in, and it may well be that mid-table Turkish League One is not up to Championship level. I hope not, because Bulut has done a lot for the club, but at the moment it looks like he needs help. I hear Lennie Lawrence is still working.

You have answered yourself here. Bulut does have a plan 'B' and that is the chuck Colwill and Tanner on as subs. He should be starting with those two IMHO. Attack is the best form of defence and he set us out yesterday with the team and tactics for it to be damage limitation exercise. Once I saw the first XI I guessed correctly how the game would pan out.

As for Turkish League One, I lived and worked in Turkey back in 1998, and took in several matches. Apart from the 'Big 3' of Galatasary, Fenerbache and Besikatas, the rest of the league resembled League 1, from the good to the bad to the very indifferent.

[Mr Soul '68]

Good read as always Bob. As regard to this paragraph: Today’s 3-0 loss to Leeds was the worst of the lot for reasons I’ll go into later, but, suffice it to say for now that tonight this feels like 23/24’s lowest ebb so far and, for the first time, I’m reading the occasional message questioning whether Erol Bulut should be offered the contract extension he talked about a couple of days ago – in fact, there’s the odd call for him to be sacked.

I'd only replace Bulut by offering Steve Cooper a long term contract. Too much chopping and changing at the club isn't doing us any good whatsoever. Give Cooper a 5 year plan to get us promotion with Vinny digging deep into his pockets. Hang on, what's the flying past my living room window.....

[G rangetown Blue]

We would have probably given them more of a game if we had spent £50 million + on transfers too ;)

[Maurice Swan]

Another thing I have noticed in recent weeks is how often a Cardiff player sees a pass coming towards him and waits for the ball to arrive rather then going forward to meet it. On many occasions it never arrives because the opponent gets there first.

Yes...static usually. Typified in the only decent cross yesterday to Etete, but the defender was in front of him and headed for a corner. A good forward - especially the height of Etete would have thought "this isn't going to reach me....I'm bigger than him and I'm going to make bloody sure i get to the ball first....."

[Bluebirdman Of Alcathays]

Well done on finding new ways to say how dull we are (that sounds snarky but I mean it; it can't be easy). If we don't sign anyone this window - a comment by Blue Bayou beneath your piece suggests we're close to the breadline, so maybe we won't - will Bulut give up on the play-offs?

It's said that he's single-minded and always reaching for the top so probably not, but surely he can see that a) we're nowhere near play-off standard and b) the let's-hang-in-there-and-sneak-a-result tactic from earlier in the season is faltering and even if it worked would just keep us mid-table.

So would he plough on with our dreary midfield and incohesive attack as we bumble our way to 14th or would he at least bring some youth through? Probably the former, so I fear this is another season we'll be wishing to end sooner rather than later (and you'll have to find yet more ways of describing how dull we are).

[PontBlue]

Bulut set us up to fail yesterday with his selection and tactics. Why do recent City Managers get more and more negative in their team selection over time? We should never start a midfield three of Siopis, Ralls and Wintle ever again. I'd go as far to suggest future teams should have one of them in the starting eleven at most with ball players alongside them who can actually ensure we retain the ball.

[Dave Blue]

We would have probably given them more of a game if we had spent £50 million + on transfers too ;)

This argument is becoming another cop out for a lack of desire from the players and management. We will accept being beaten by a better side if we offer something in return.
An excellent article tobw.

[G rangetown Blue]

This argument is becoming another cop out for a lack of desire from the players and management. We will accept being beaten by a better side if we offer something in return.
An excellent article tobw.

It’s not an ‘argument’ though ….it’s (sadly) a fact.

[the other bob wilson]

Bulut set us up to fail yesterday with his selection and tactics. Why do recent City Managers get more and more negative in their team selection over time? We should never start a midfield three of Siopis, Ralls and Wintle ever again. I'd go as far to suggest future teams should have one of them in the starting eleven at most with ball players alongside them who can actually ensure we retain the ball.

I could write so much more about this, but I think you have to look at what I’ll call the Cardiff City psyche. I talked about our last six home matches, correct me if I’m wrong (I may well be), but did any of our opponents start with the sort of big target man that has been compulsory at Cardiff more or less since I started supporting the club sixty one years ago? I don’t think they did?

It’s the same in midfield. It’s easy to knock Siopis at the moment, but, for me, he was definitely our best central midfielder through the autumn. However, in truth, should we really have been signing a player like him in the first place? Yes, the fact that we’ve been without Ramsey for so long has to be factored in, but it can hardly be called a complete shock that he’s been missing with injury can it?

There’s always the occasional exception to the rule that we only sign grafters in central midfield, but they are definitely occasional - bringing Siopis into a club that already had Ralls, Wintle, Adams and Rinomhota was typically Cardiff.

Speaking of Joe Ralls, I had visions of him becoming another Whitts type player when I used to watch him playing for the youth team as a sixteen and seventeen year old - he was very much the talented left footed play maker back then. Instead, Ralls became a central midfield grafter - don’t get me wrong, he’s been a good midfield grafter who has given us great service for thirteen years now, but I do wonder what type of player he would have turned out being if he had left us in his early twenties - I also wonder if the injuries that have limited him so much in latter years might not have been such a factor if he’d not become “a typical Cardiff type midfield grafter”.

I think Cardiff managers are always hamstrung by the psyche I mentioned. Of course some of the managers we’ve had (maybe a majority of them) wouldn’t want it any other way, but look how often attempts to turn us into more of a “footballing team” have had to be abandoned because too many of our players were uncomfortable trying to play a more rounded game.

The Siopis signing and his comments on Colwill, Robinson and Tanner make me think Bulut is another manager who prefers a preponderance of grafters, but, to be fair, he is the latest in a pretty long line of City managers who have been surprised by just how limited the squad he inherited is - I’m sure he wants more from his side, particularly in home games, but, let’s face it, we’ve been playing in much the same way since Harry Wilson left the club.

Good thread this.

[BLUEAWAY TOO]

As bad a performance as last season.
Our approach is passive and now it’s inept too.
We don’t press, we’re slow, our central defenders don’t move forward in open play and as for the tippy tippy tactic at the back …..
We invite the opposition to attack us.
The principal issue remain the same as for a number of seasons and that is our midfield - Ralls, Wintle and Siopis are so poor at moving the ball forward.

[Tuerto]

I could write so much more about this, but I think you have to look at what I’ll call the Cardiff City psyche. I talked about our last six home matches, correct me if I’m wrong (I may well be), but did any of our opponents start with the sort of big target man that has been compulsory at Cardiff more or less since I started supporting the club sixty one years ago? I don’t think they did?

It’s the same in midfield. It’s easy to knock Siopis at the moment, but, for me, he was definitely our best central midfielder through the autumn. However, in truth, should we really have been signing a player like him in the first place? Yes, the fact that we’ve been without Ramsey for so long has to be factored in, but it can hardly be called a complete shock that he’s been missing with injury can it?

There’s always the occasional exception to the rule that we only sign grafters in central midfield, but they are definitely occasional - bringing Siopis into a club that already had Ralls, Wintle, Adams and Rinomhota was typically Cardiff.

Speaking of Joe Ralls, I had visions of him becoming another Whitts type player when I used to watch him playing for the youth team as a sixteen and seventeen year old - he was very much the talented left footed play maker back then. Instead, Ralls became a central midfield grafter - don’t get me wrong, he’s been a good midfield grafter who has given us great service for thirteen years now, but I do wonder what type of player he would have turned out being if he had left us in his early twenties - I also wonder if the injuries that have limited him so much in latter years might not have been such a factor if he’d not become “a typical Cardiff type midfield grafter”.

I think Cardiff managers are always hamstrung by the psyche I mentioned. Of course some of the managers we’ve had (maybe a majority of them) wouldn’t want it any other way, but look how often attempts to turn us into more of a “footballing team” have had to be abandoned because too many of our players were uncomfortable trying to play a more rounded game.

The Siopis signing and his comments on Colwill, Robinson and Tanner make me think Bulut is another manager who prefers a preponderance of grafters, but, to be fair, he is the latest in a pretty long line of City managers who have been surprised by just how limited the squad he inherited is - I’m sure he wants more from his side, particularly in home games, but, let’s face it, we’ve been playing in much the same way since Harry Wilson left the club.

Good thread this.

Completely agree with all of that, although in my opinion, since Colwill has started to 'Graft' he's bocome a better player, there's more urgency in his game now, he's quicker on the ball.

[life on mars]

My take was they were fitter , fresher , quicker to second ball , dominanted a very weak struggling midfield, better skilled players in all areas' , knew and believed they would win .

[the other bob wilson]

Completely agree with all of that, although in my opinion, since Colwill has started to 'Graft' he's bocome a better player, there's more urgency in his game now, he's quicker on the ball.

And yet he’s still not considered good enough to start for a team playing as poorly as we’ve been doing for the past few months.

[Bluebirdman Of Alcathays]

I could write so much more about this...

Good post, Bob. Given the Cardiff way of the graft, it's ironic we've actually brought through someone (and looking to do so with others) who is comfortable on the ball and creative with it. We still have that Warnockesque culture clash of a grafting first team and a more progressive youth policy. Now players are beginning to break through, it's like we're not ready for it.

I think back to the goal we scored at Liverpool in the cup with Davies and Colwill linking well. One got shipped off to Belgium and the other only occasionally starts and now we have to sit through a mangled attempt to join the dots.

[Tuerto]

And yet he’s still not considered good enough to start for a team playing as poorly as we’ve been doing for the past few months.

Yup, which makes no sense at the moment.

[the other bob wilson]

Good post, Bob. Given the Cardiff way of the graft, it's ironic we've actually brought through someone (and looking to do so with others) who is comfortable on the ball and creative with it. We still have that Warnockesque culture clash of a grafting first team and a more progressive youth policy. Now players are beginning to break through, it's like we're not ready for it.

I think back to the goal we scored at Liverpool in the cup with Davies and Colwill linking well. One got shipped off to Belgium and the other only occasionally starts and now we have to sit through a mangled attempt to join the dots.

Yeah, that goal will be two years old next week I think. We’ve brought in stacks of strikers and attacking midfielders since then and not many of them have come up with anything as incisive as that despite the fact they’ve been playing against worse defenders.

[Dave Blue]

Remember the old phrase about the aim of the away team to silence the crowd? We had a huge resource to draw on yesterday - a 24000 crowd who could have helped urge the team on. As with the other home games, it’s as if the side throw a massive wet blanket over the stadium.
A journalist worth their pay would ask Bulut why this keeps happening.

[JumpersforGoalposts]

While we should be concerned I don't think we should be surprised at the overall drop off in performance given that so many of our first team have no previous experience of a full season of Championship level Sat-Tues fixtures. Unfortunately our squad also offers very limited rotation options without a significant drop in quality.

[pipster]

"Rubin Colwill’s recent performances are not knocking doors down demanding that he start games, but I would say that he’s been doing enough to have earned a starting place given how little some others offer in attacking areas"

Exactly

From what I have seen - Colwill should be starting every game at the moment. His link play with Tanner (when he comes on ) is great.