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Not boring at all mate and very accurate in many respects.Originally Posted by Taunton Blue Genie
Hi, TOBW. As you remember me from school you know that I am around the same age as you. Although I have been a season ticket holder for many years and that I drive up from Somerset for the games I don't get that upset at all these days. I see football as a metaphor for life these days: there are good seasons, bad seasons and seasons whereby we are neither involved in the play-offs nor in a relegation fight.
City's status (i.e. them in being in this division) is exactly what it was when I first watched them as a kid and it almost seems like Kismet. There has never been any indication that the club seriously expects to be promoted to the Premier League and stay there on the one hand and we do seem to steer clear of the drop these days on the other hand.
A major disappointment for me is the style of football. Some teams like Swansea play in a style that could possibly sustain them in the Premier League for at least a couple of season but we are relative dinosaurs in our style, lack of guile and passing ability.
However, it has neither killed off my interest in attending games again nor depresses me unduly. C'est la vie
Like a previous poster who message is above, I am another person who doesn't react on here immediately after a defeat.
File under 'Boring post of the week'.
Like you my only major disappointment is the style (or lack) of football we play. There were times in the 60's, 70's and under Dave Jones when we were a joy to watch. None of the current batch of midfielders especially would get a game in some of those sides.
If we were Cardiff City of old, ie no PL promotions, play-off finals and most definitely no major cup finals, would there be the same level of vitreol shown by some supporters ? I'm not so sure although perhaps it's more understandable following a derby mauling.
For me there was a cut off point when I decided in the future I wouldn't allow myself to get too high or low whilst following the City. That was during the Sam/Ridsdale era when it looked like the club could be wound up. I felt physically sick with worry and thought enough is enough, get a grip. From that moment on I found that I could handle disappointments far easier than I could before.
I agree, but it seems to me that the city fans are impatient - rebooting a whole footballing philosophy doesn't happen over night and the first sign of negative results every manager who has tried to change things reverts back to the tried and tested direct hoof ball we've become accustomed too.
The more I age the less important football and indeed this club becomes to me.
However, I think it is a lot more to do with how the game has evolved and almost certainly linked to my desire to relive my youth as seen through rose tinted glasses.
I cannot give up on the City or indeed the national side but results are forgotten quickly and the frustrations, lows & highs and heated debates are a thing of the past.
Football and indeed other sports will remain part of my life but rather than be an important part more of a distraction.
I saw the Palace game in 1968/9 when we lost 4-0 at home and still remember how I felt after that ( Iwas certain we would be going down)
Now that was a bad performance.
We weren't good on Saturday, and I was disappointed when that second goal went in
But blimey the over reaction to it is ridiculous.
I've not judged anyone who said they were able to move on straight after the game, so why judge what I and others feel? I've said my reaction surprises me and and I wish I could react like I usually do when we lose, but I can't.
Only marginally more than the Coventry match. I didn't get too carried away by the 4 wins and I couldn't bring myself to be too down by Swansea.
It was predictable in many ways and certainly after 10 minutes. Early sloppy goal given away, seen it a lot this season already.
The players seem to respond to Harris when he most needs it, after the 6- against qpr, after Coventry. If we beat brum tomorrow then great, if not it just further adds to the disappointment.
Considering that when we went up into the Championship after beating QPR I looked at the the league and said, quite seriously, that if we could spend 5 years in that company I would be quite happy with my lot as a City supporter (since 1961) then the 21st century has not been a bad time to be a City fan! In the 1980s and 90s we were very largely utter garbage.
I share the frustrations but we have been comapratively successful in recent years.
The main issue for me was the manner of our performance against Swansea. They played progressive football more akin to a side in the Premier League and we hoofed the ball to Moore and took endless throw ins hoping that someone's head would get on the end of them. There was no plan B; we haven't the players to have an alternative to lumping the ball to Moore and Morrison at corner kicks. There was no invention; no skill and sadly no idea. Looking forward I can't see much room for optimism now our best player is injured and his replacement in Glatzel is not great in dealing with hoofed balls.
When we beat Watford I thought we had truly turned a new corner. They're a good side in this division but we had the defensive discipline to make them look ordinary. We deserved to win that, we looked good in attack, passed the ball ok.
Next came Stoke, who gave us a battering, missed a penalty, lost their best player and we somehow found a way to come back.
That filled me with hope. If we could start on the front foot, we had a good chance.
The first 5 minutes proved me wrong. Swansea started as if they wanted it. We didn't. We were slow and ponderous, I think hoping to keep them out and grow into the game. It failed and got worse. That was the annoying thing.
Last night I noticed that Swansea have scored 7 goals before the half hour mark in derbies since 2008. Our earliest goal in a derby over the same time is the 32nd minute. Surely the club knew Swansea would start all guns blazing, as they usually do? Our response was to start half asleep. That was the most unforgivable thing of all.
Battering? Stoke had one shot on target. It was a terrible, terrible game but it was good we came out the other side. It was Stoke v Cardiff and it played out like that. I think people have lost all perspective, we've won 4 out of 5. We'd have snapped anyone's hands off for that.
We tried to play better football, it was a horror show. Stay up, assess where we are and go from there. What we do know is our squad is paper thin and the top sides in the divisions can tear us to ribbons if they get their passing game right. It's also another shocking mistake. If we defend that first goal properly, it's a different game.
Stoke didnt batter us. Both sides really poor up until the missed pen. We took over and after going in front easily held out.
If my aunty had bollocks, she'd be my uncle. Actually, she was my uncle years ago. I digress.
Had we defended it properly, we'd started so poorly and slowly, Swansea would have scored eventually. That was my biggest issue. Mistakes happen during games. That one was costly. But we have too much of a habit of starting games too slowly and conceding early goals. It happened again. Why haven't we learned those lessons?
The mistakes are costly. We keep making them. That's on the players. I don't know why Harris would need to fire them up for a derby. Having said that, we all know what we're about. Saturday didn't tell us anything new.
Why would a manager need to fire his team up for a derby? If you don't know the answer to that, give up the entire discussion about it.
Couldn't have put it better myself - everyone in the Championship knows what we're about and, to be fair, our so boring bully act does work quite often, but, if our opponents can deal with that, we have very little else to fall back on. I believe Neil Harris has been trying to change things over the past year and more so that we become a more rounded team, but, you have to question his judgement because it seems that during the last transfer window he decided that Ralls, Bacuna, Pack and Vaulks were a midfield quartet capable of providing the base needed for that transformation.
Speaking for myself, I'm not surprised in the slightest that Harris, to all intents and purposes, admitted defeat after the Coventry match and reverted to something close to Warnockball - from a purely practical point of view, the change made sense, but what does it say about us when we're forced into relying entirely on one approach because we don't have the quality needed to have a workable plan B or plan C?
Our direct style of percentage football is effective against certain teams as has been said.
It fails when it comes up against teams with a manager who has the knowledge to out think Harris as the Jacks did last Sunday (outnumbering us in midfield, high line on free kicks so any headers won by us weren't a threat). It also falls down when we get beaten at our own game which almost happened at Stoke and many argue should have.
It is also less effective at accumulating enough points to go up in the automatics when we have the calibre of teams in this league that we have here and our current manager and squad. I can't see Harris taking us up in the autos with this style this year or any other. We then have to rely on this style to progress through the play offs. Sorry but I can't see it.
If you can't beat them join them. Sadly we don't have the knowledge at the club or are just too stubborn to realise we're being left behind.
Paul, you may be heartened or disappointed to learn that it feels pretty much the same for a 67 year old!
We are supporters because we care. It isn’t only about winning although that is a great help. We have had our good moments and also too many seasons that were dreadful. The last ten years have been better but every time we seem to make progress we find a way of screwing it up.
For me Saturday was a perfect example of that. I didn’t take it for granted that we would win but I did expect a good performance, a battle.
Enough has already been written about what we actually got.
Let’s see what tonight will bring, but feel sure that many fans will start the match with less goodwill to NH and the team than at 12.00 on Saturday.
Yes, I agree with you.
I can't remember well enough to say with any certainty, but didn't Harris tried to make first Ralls and then Bacuna a 10 earlier in the season and seem determined to play Pack - our most accomplished on the ball out of the four - at the base? This despite Pack only returning to starting 11 when Sanderson was dropped after Fulham horror show.
Again, three of the four have contracts running til end of 2022 and one goes beyond that. Apart from changing their positions in the team or having them sit on the bench/in the stand, the latter presumably leading to a reduced budget for new players, I don't see any obvious alternatives. Still, if Tavio d'Almeida has the impact Mark Harris had in his first three games then maybe we have a solution in house and Harris does have a decision to make where his judgement can be assessed - this is me going off the Walesonline article describing him as a 6 who can add tempo to the game only.
Ralls has definitely played as a ten this season (in fact, Neil Harris mentioned about him being able to play further forward in his press conference yesterday) and I think you may be right about Bacuna, but I think that one was dispensed with pretty quickly! Ralls did okay in an advanced role, but no more than that and, despite Saturday, I think he's far more effective in a deeper role. If we are going to play with a ten, then, in Tomlin's absence, the answer seems obvious to me, but Harris seems to prefer to have Harry Wilson stuck out on the wing.
For me, D'Almeida would be the one to come in from outside the first team squad, but, as I mentioned, I'm pretty sure that he's seriously short of match time.
Problem is, will we start playing at 7.00pm, or be the same as some games this season and start playing 15 minutes later, at 7.15pm. ?
I think the frustration is seeing Swansea realise so much more of their potential than us. Until the people at the top of the club accept they don’t have the football expertise to develop an identity, a strategy or a plan then we’ll continue to make it up as we go along making short-term decisions, squandering millions and going precisely nowhere.
Blimey you are a bit sensitive Bob.
I haven't "judged" you at all
My final point was more directed towards the overall reaction to the defeat on this board.
Yes we didn't play well ( although as the Sky commentators said we were coming more into the game in the second half. To lose both Moore and Ralls and being 10 left us with no chance of recovery).
Yes Swansea were a decent side and played to their game plan.
I don't think the players didn't care, it is just that when you don't play well it can look like it.
I care about the City as much as anyone but I rarely let individual poor results or performances worry me too much. I value my health too much
If you do fine, that is up to you and I don't criticise you for it.
Anyway you have judged me in the past when I have felt something you didn't (quite unjustifiably on at least one occasion).
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Of course the players care but I don't think the performance against Swansea was a one off. The crux of the problem is that we are only able to play one way at a time when hoofball has become outdated. Playing that way can work but if it doesn't we are stuffed. WE have no plans B or C.
One non Cardiff City forum forum described us as a team of 6ft cloggers. While that is probably an unfair description it does show how we are viewed by the opposition.
What is so disappointing is that there is no obvious way to change things. Our players are best suited to playing 4-4-2 meaning the current tactics are likely to continue. While a player like Tomlin could inject some flair he can't be relied upon due to perpetual injury. I had hoped Wilson could fill the void but so far he hasn't shown the skill to take players on and, while he is a useful addition to the team, he is not the answer to our current problems. All in all the future is far too depressing to contemplate and I fear there will be several "Swansea" performances before the season ends.
Elwood, I was accused of saying the players weren't trying by someone who posted on my blog because I used the word "indifferent" to describe City's attitude against Swansea. He had a point because it was not the best choice of words, what I meant was indifferent as in diffident - one thing I would not accuse this squad of being is non triers, but in two of our last three matches with the jacks they have looked like they were intimidated by the occasion.
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