What has happened to our early season style of play?

After the first few games, there were a few posts on here from people who had been following the City for 50+ years, saying it was up there with the best ever football they'd witnessed by a Cardiff team.
The passing was crisp and accurate, with attacking intention.
Yes, we were lacking a cutting edge at No 9, but the attacking midfielders...notably Ruben, were more than making up for that.
We rode our luck with a few of the wins, but with Trott performing miracles, we were setting a standard for this league.
It seems now that we have lost the tag of being the team to be feared.
Indeed, we have been outplayed by a succession of ' lower ' teams.
Maybe after the Bradford defeat , opposition managers and coaches have realised that we have a weak underbelly throughout the team, and set up to dominate our midfield and control the game.
After the Rotherham trouncing ( we should have gone for thr jugular and scored six or seven...they were awful ), and maybe the Plymouth win, we've been sussed.
We started the season by making the CCS a fortress...but we have now become a bang average side at home, who are vulnerable to say the least.
Was our early scintillating form, actually built on sand?

Top of the league and another negative thread. This place is getting beyond, both in terms of trying to get on here and then the negativity when you do get on here.

God help we actually lose a couple of games or drop down to 5th or 6th.

In all honesty = how we beat Orient and Reading is beyond belief, but we did and the tide will turn so the points in the bag are much needed. Our luck will run out but if you win when playing badly it cannot be too awful.

Objective is to get back to the Championship asap

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

Top of the league and another negative thread. This place is getting beyond, both in terms of trying to get on here and then the negativity when you do get on here.

God help we actually lose a couple of games or drop down to 5th or 6th.

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Do you actually watch games?

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Originally Posted by TheBirchgrovePub

Do you actually watch games?

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Yes

I think it's more a case of teams just realising we are quite susceptible if they go balls out at us, press high, attack in numbers just have a bloody good go.

People said Burton is the blueprint others will copy but I think Wigan and Rotherham were our most comfortable matches and they pretty much did that. On most days despite being a bit lacklustre we also beat Burton.

I can't confidently say more often than not we beat Bradford, Orient or even Reading.

But despite that we are top so are doing something right, we have that bit of quality at times, the winning goal was a superb move.

Missing some steel in midfield for these types of games which are just far too open for us to be able to have any control over.

How is coming from behind multiple times throughout the season and being top of the league having "soft underbelly?"

I think we are all delighted that we're winning and currently sit on top of the league but at the same time, we can all see that by allowing the opposition so many chances to score in every home game, sooner or later we will pay for it. That is a reality not negativity.

One thing we did well at the start of the season was win back possession very quickly. The intensity and cohesion of our press seems to have disappeared, or perhaps our fitness was very good in the first few matches and the other teams have now caught up.

As others have said, we don't win first balls (we often don't even challenge for 50/50s) and rarely win loose/second balls. On a few occasions yesterday Reading hoofed the ball aimlessly up in the air in a sort of garryowen, confident they would win possession further down the pitch, and we didn't look entirely comfortable dealing with those.

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Originally Posted by D. Advocaat

One thing we did well at the start of the season was win back possession very quickly. The intensity and cohesion of our press seems to have disappeared, or perhaps our fitness was very good in the first few matches and the other teams have now caught up.

As others have said, we don't win first balls (we often don't even challenge for 50/50s) and rarely win loose/second balls. On a few occasions yesterday Reading hoofed the ball aimlessly up in the air in a sort of garryowen, confident they would win possession further down the pitch, and we didn't look entirely comfortable dealing with those.

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I was reminded yesterday of some of the games we had in the dungeon division. We did it as often as some of our opponents.

Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle anyone?

other teams have worked us out, they can play a very high line and force us to play all the football in our half, and we don't have the pace to get in behind and hurt them.
we need a change in tactics or this will detail our season before long.

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Originally Posted by Rjk

other teams have worked us out, they can play a very high line and force us to play all the football in our half, and we don't have the pace to get in behind and hurt them.
we need a change in tactics or this will detail our season before long.

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It wont derail our season, i'm certain of that, very confident. It's plain to see that the standard of play when the pressure is on is absolutely abysmal in this division, shocking stuff. We have a few players who have that little bit more quality in the right areas, they're not great, but enough to get us out of this division. How many teams have we played against now who just can't finish or put us away like Bradford did? quite a few by my reckoning. That will be the difference from what i have seen, and i'll take it, for now.

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Originally Posted by Rjk

other teams have worked us out, they can play a very high line and force us to play all the football in our half, and we don't have the pace to get in behind and hurt them.
we need a change in tactics or this will detail our season before long.

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Agree.
Murphy has to change things.
Our first half displays have been underwhelming lately.

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Originally Posted by kendoddsdadsdogsdead

Agree.
Murphy has to change things.
Our first half displays have been underwhelming lately.

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when we go behind we start to go a little more direct and we look a lot more threatening

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Originally Posted by Rjk

when we go behind we start to go a little more direct and we look a lot more threatening

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I know that
You know that
...but we don't pick the first half team...

To be where we are after the squad turnover is a blessing. Getting rid of a lot of deadweight and given the youngsters a chance has been so refreshing. With that said we look really unbalanced in midfield and that link between the defence and attack has looked our weakness. Thought we missed wintle yesterday. Not sure what's going on with Robertson but feel like we're missing that sort of player at the moment. Hopefully we can strengthen in January.

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

Top of the league and another negative thread. This place is getting beyond, both in terms of trying to get on here and then the negativity when you do get on here.

God help we actually lose a couple of games or drop down to 5th or 6th.

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I mean, the expectations are for us to walk this league, especially given Luton and Plymouth haven't really made it out of the gates and Huddersfield have underperformed. Our competition this season are two League One mid-table stalwarts in Stevenage and Lincoln, and a League 2 promoted team in Bradford. I actually urged people to calm down after the Bradford loss, but the Burton loss was just flat-out awful and we haven't looked comfortable since the game against Wigan I'd argue.

The culprits for relegation (manager and suspect players) have pretty much been resolved now, and we should have everything to be a mid-level Championship team. I'm not trying to be arrogant, but there are high expectations for a reason, given how we really shouldn't have been as horrendously awful as we were last season.

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Originally Posted by Coyote

I mean, the expectations are for us to walk this league, especially given Luton and Plymouth haven't really made it out of the gates and Huddersfield have underperformed. Our competition this season are two League One mid-table stalwarts in Stevenage and Lincoln, and a League 2 promoted team in Bradford. I actually urged people to calm down after the Bradford loss, but the Burton loss was just flat-out awful and we haven't looked comfortable since the game against Wigan I'd argue.

The culprits for relegation (manager and suspect players) have pretty much been resolved now, and we should have everything to be a mid-level Championship team. I'm not trying to be arrogant, but there are high expectations for a reason, given how we really shouldn't have been as horrendously awful as we were last season.

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A large chunk of the fanbase were predicting mid table or worse in the summer, we weren't any bookmakers favourites either so I don't know where you're getting the idea we were expected to walk the league from

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Originally Posted by City123

A large chunk of the fanbase were predicting mid table or worse in the summer, we weren't any bookmakers favourites either so I don't know where you're getting the idea we were expected to walk the league from

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This. I don’t know a single person before or now that expect us to walk the league. Outside of the club, the theme on the league forums is that we’re in a false position being top, that we’ll be in the top 6 but we’ll not win it.

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Originally Posted by Coyote

I mean, the expectations are for us to walk this league, especially given Luton and Plymouth haven't really made it out of the gates and Huddersfield have underperformed. Our competition this season are two League One mid-table stalwarts in Stevenage and Lincoln, and a League 2 promoted team in Bradford. I actually urged people to calm down after the Bradford loss, but the Burton loss was just flat-out awful and we haven't looked comfortable since the game against Wigan I'd argue.

The culprits for relegation (manager and suspect players) have pretty much been resolved now, and we should have everything to be a mid-level Championship team. I'm not trying to be arrogant, but there are high expectations for a reason, given how we really shouldn't have been as horrendously awful as we were last season.

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The expectation in your head maybe. Birmingham spent a fortune last season and went through a few rough periods. We are still winning games even when we are not dominating games for 90 minutes. Why people expect us to "walk the league" when we hardly made any transfers and are relying on bringing a load of youngsters through at the same time I dont know.

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Originally Posted by kendoddsdadsdogsdead

After the first few games, there were a few posts on here from people who had been following the City for 50+ years, saying it was up there with the best ever football they'd witnessed by a Cardiff team.
The passing was crisp and accurate, with attacking intention.
Yes, we were lacking a cutting edge at No 9, but the attacking midfielders...notably Ruben, were more than making up for that.
We rode our luck with a few of the wins, but with Trott performing miracles, we were setting a standard for this league.
It seems now that we have lost the tag of being the team to be feared.
Indeed, we have been outplayed by a succession of ' lower ' teams.
Maybe after the Bradford defeat , opposition managers and coaches have realised that we have a weak underbelly throughout the team, and set up to dominate our midfield and control the game.
After the Rotherham trouncing ( we should have gone for thr jugular and scored six or seven...they were awful ), and maybe the Plymouth win, we've been sussed.
We started the season by making the CCS a fortress...but we have now become a bang average side at home, who are vulnerable to say the least.
Was our early scintillating form, actually built on sand?

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Lalwor is injured, and Osho replacing him is the most recent issue.

Considering we got rid of so many players and are in an unfamiliar league, I'd say the season couldn't really have gone any better so far (being top). That doesn't mean to say we don't have weaknesses, we have certainly rode our luck at times so far. I agree we need a couple of quality players in January, maybe that will be what sets us apart, our ability to spend in January well above our rivals :shrug:

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Originally Posted by Jimmy_Tango

Considering we got rid of so many players and are in an unfamiliar league, I'd say the season couldn't really have gone any better so far (being top). That doesn't mean to say we don't have weaknesses, we have certainly rode our luck at times so far. I agree we need a couple of quality players in January, maybe that will be what sets us apart, our ability to spend in January well above our rivals :shrug:

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Well said. Fair and balanced. Unusual for this place which is by far the worst most negative forum or form of social medai when it comes to critiscising the team itself and just full of Victor Meldrews. I honestly dont know what some people on here get out of going to the football, or supporting from afar. If you cant enjoy being top of the league then f*ck me, why bother?

Well said both of you. I think this just proves how short fans memories are. The dross of the last few years are quickly forgotten and we're now yearning for the early part of the season when were great not merely lucky.
Just watched the extended highlights. Hadn't realised the excellent build up for the first, from our penalty area just like one of the Orient goals. BBM signature?
Also hats off to the players for bouncing back from the dreadful 1st half to claw a win back. Of course if you like we were just lucky.

Dreadful first half? Oooh, how negative.

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Originally Posted by Jimmy_Tango

Considering we got rid of so many players and are in an unfamiliar league, I'd say the season couldn't really have gone any better so far (being top). That doesn't mean to say we don't have weaknesses, we have certainly rode our luck at times so far. I agree we need a couple of quality players in January, maybe that will be what sets us apart, our ability to spend in January well above our rivals :shrug:

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Yes that is true, and there's also a decent chance that some of the younger players will be getting stronger throughout the season

oh following city is always stressful :hehe:
there was a guy sat near me at Bradford who was screaming so much I thought was going to have a pull and keel over :hehe:
thankfully he didn't. I've really enjoyed this season so far after the last few, though at times we are frustrating to watch.

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Originally Posted by City123

A large chunk of the fanbase were predicting mid table or worse in the summer, we weren't any bookmakers favourites either so I don't know where you're getting the idea we were expected to walk the league from

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We were second favourites according to the bookies most of the pre-season and slipped down beneath Huddersfield to be third.

Morning TLG
Do you disagree that from City's POV it was a dreadful 1st half.
Btw did you know Reading had only lost once in the league since August. That was against Barnsley. We are the 3rd team to score 2 or more against them since August. I point this out because I know you like facts and because their league position perhaps gave an impression to some of being an easy 3 points.

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Originally Posted by PaulWent76

Well said both of you. I think this just proves how short fans memories are. The dross of the last few years are quickly forgotten and we're now yearning for the early part of the season when were great not merely lucky.
Just watched the extended highlights. Hadn't realised the excellent build up for the first, from our penalty area just like one of the Orient goals. BBM signature?
Also hats off to the players for bouncing back from the dreadful 1st half to claw a win back. Of course if you like we were just lucky.

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Lucky that we've got a good keeper mostly, but we have, and he's part of the team and part of the reason we are top of the league.

We were at a disadvantage for this game, as less preparation time for a lot of our squad, as they were absent with Wales call-ups, I think we will start better next game.

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Originally Posted by PaulWent76

Morning TLG. Do you disagree that from City's POV it was a dreadful 1st half. Btw did you know Reading had only lost once in the league since August.

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Good morning.

It was a poor first half display for sure and if we're being honest the performance in the second half wasn't too much better. However, you have to be careful what you say on here at present or you'll be pounced on for being negative by the usual morons, even if you're merely pointing out what was blatantly obvious to anyone who attended the game.

Yes, I was aware of Reading's record. That, combined with City's home record, was the reason I was predicting a draw to my friends before the game. I thought we were due a home draw and Reading probably weren't as bad as their league position suggested. However, we can now see that they are 22nd in the table for a reason - like many other sides in this division, they don't convert the chances they create, even when some of those chances are genuine sitters.

We're fortunate to have players with enough ability in the final third to punish our opponents at this level when the opportunities arise. The likes of Kellyman, Kpakio, Salech, Robinson, Colwill and even Davies and Willock are just too much for most League One defences to handle for ninety minutes. Regardless of the quality of the team's overall performances, we've almost always got goals in us.

Meanwhile, we also have a goalkeeper who is absolutely outstanding by this division's standards. Some of the saves he's making are genuinely incredible. Our midfield is consistently feeble and our defending is often ropey, but we're regularly getting away with it because of what we have in attack and what we have between the sticks, and that's not a recent development either. It's been the case since the season began and I think it may well prove to be enough for promotion.

It's all good fun and so much more entertaining than the last few seasons. It's just a pity that the international breaks are interfering with the flow of the season to such a degree. If you discount the Vertu Trophy nonsense, we haven't got a home game until 29th November now, which is ridiculous.

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Originally Posted by Coyote

We were second favourites according to the bookies most of the pre-season and slipped down beneath Huddersfield to be third.

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Hadly walking the league is it?

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

Top of the league and another negative thread. This place is getting beyond, both in terms of trying to get on here and then the negativity when you do get on here.

God help we actually lose a couple of games or drop down to 5th or 6th.

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He's absolutely right

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Originally Posted by Joe Gillis

He's absolutely right

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In your opinion. Some of the stuff weve played has been excellent in the games v Reading and Orient too. Scored some nice goals.

Yes, we are giving up too many chances, especially the last 2 games, but did anyone think we were going to completely dominate 46 games? Not be put under pressure in any games? Orient and Reading both had much better players than some of the teams we faced at the beginning of the season. From what ive seen thus far, Ballard and Connolly for Orient and Lewis Wing for Reading, are some of the best players in the division.

We played some excellent stuff at Luton at beginning of the season, especially 1st half, but Trott was MOTM in that game too. We were also outplayed in some games earlier this season too ie Port Vale and Stockport.

Thanks the detailed reply TLG.
The thing I don't understand and probably the difference between people on here who would be classed as (overly) positive and (overly) negative is encompassed in your 3rd and 4th paragraphs. When you say we're fortunate to have these players, attacking and goalkeeper. They are our players and that's why we are, at the moment, top of the league. That's why I feel positive. Looking at our shortcomings is worthwhile for our manager but in terms of the game just gone they didn't cause a defeat. Happy days.
Also we haven't broken the bank getting to this point and have plenty of neutral observers giving our players and manager praise. I'll deal with the disappointments when they come along.

out of interest, who do people think is the best League one side we have played so far this season?

we've done well, but at times we have more holes than a Swiss cheese, ,so would like to see Osho at 6 and Robertson back in for the Cup games, give them a try, not much to lose and something to learn. Great to be top of league!

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Originally Posted by PaulWent76

The thing I don't understand and probably the difference between people on here who would be classed as (overly) positive and (overly) negative is encompassed in your 3rd and 4th paragraphs. When you say we're fortunate to have these players, attacking and goalkeeper. They are our players and that's why we are, at the moment, top of the league.

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I don't regard anything I've said as overly positive or negative and I'm not sure why people get so hung about labelling things like that. I'm merely saying what I'm seeing. As a unit, our attack is too strong for this division. Our goalkeeper is way too good for this division. Our midfield is mediocre at best, even by this division's standards, and our defence is frequently all over the shop despite the individual plaudits some of the players have been getting.

This is certainly not a strong division this season. In my opinion, City have a golden opportunity to bounce straight back to the Championship and I think promotion is highly likely unless something disastrous happens to us in terms of injuries. The team would need some serious reinforcements if it was going to progress or even consolidate in the Championship next season, as most sides at that level would take a lot more of the chances we've been offering up since August. Will Fish was interviewed by Glen Williams recently and was asked what he thinks the biggest difference is between the Championship and League One. He apparently said it's the finishing and he's correct. Trott has made some incredible saves, but there have been plenty of occasions where he should have been given no chance.

There will be ups and downs and a run of defeats is inevitable at some stage, but based on everything I've seen so far I'll be surprised if City suddenly drop away. We've ridden our luck, there's no doubt about that, but much of that luck has involved poor finishing by our opponents and I don't see that changing between now and the end of the season.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

I don't regard anything I've said as overly positive or negative and I'm not sure why people get so hung about labelling things like that. I'm merely saying what I'm seeing. As a unit, our attack is too strong for this division. Our goalkeeper is way too good for this division. Our midfield is mediocre at best, even by this division's standards, and our defence is frequently all over the shop despite the individual plaudits some of the players have been getting.

This is certainly not a strong division this season. In my opinion, City have a golden opportunity to bounce straight back to the Championship and I think promotion is highly likely unless something disastrous happens to us in terms of injuries. The team would need some serious reinforcements if it was going to progress or even consolidate in the Championship next season, as most sides at that level would take a lot more of the chances we've been offering up since August. Will Fish was interviewed by Glen Williams recently and was asked what he thinks the biggest difference is between the Championship and League One. He apparently said it's the finishing and he's correct. Trott has made some incredible saves, but there have been plenty of occasions where he should have been given no chance.

There will be ups and downs and a run of defeats is inevitable at some stage, but based on everything I've seen so far I'll be surprised if City suddenly drop away. We've ridden our luck, there's no doubt about that, but much of that luck has involved poor finishing by our opponents and I don't see that changing between now and the end of the season.

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:thumbup: