Bagan again as Cardiff and Blackpool battle to a windy draw.

[the other bob wilson]

Unbeaten home run continues, but City's first halfitis is making a comeback.

http://mauveandyellowarmy.net/

[A Quiet Monkfish]

As someone who went to the game [ahem..], it was obvious we were missing Ralls. Folk know I've never been his greatest fan, but in the absence of a fit Lee Tomlin type, there's nothing in our midfield to do good things with the ball when space and time is limited. Players like Wintle do well, but Doyle looked every bit the raw recruit he is, similarly Ng never looks the most confident on the ball in tight areas, so all in all I thought we did well to open things out in the second half.
One of the football 'know-alls' on here took the p*ss when I suggested that resting a forward early in a game and bringing him on after 30 or 40 minutes made sense. Yesterday a Hugill with a bit in the tank for those last 25 minutes could have swung the game as it became a little stretched.
One other thought. Should Blackpool have had a 2nd penalty > Flint tackled their player outside the box, but then seem to lock his legs around him inside the box. The Blackpool layers were livid when the ref. gave it outside ?
Anyway, pens aside, every team however the play needs somone in midield to make things happen. We need cover for Ralls next season for sure IMHO>

[Hilts]

Theres every chance Ralls wont be here next season. So its just not cover we need.

[Dorcus]

Theres every chance Ralls wont be here next season. So its just not cover we need.

I hope the club is addressing this glaring issue urgently because without Ralls we have a barely functioning midfield three. Doyle had an off day but I expect him to have much better games than that. Wintle is consistently very good but beyond those two we have no one yet who has the necessary quality to complement them. Bowen is either injured or out of favour and apart from him we have no one ready to step in and perform adequately. I'm hoping we keep Ralls and also add a bit more quality to the midfield as back up.

[Citizen's Nephew]

I hope the club is addressing this glaring issue urgently because without Ralls we have a barely functioning midfield three. Doyle had an off day but I expect him to have much better games than that. Wintle is consistently very good but beyond those two we have no one yet who has the necessary quality to complement them. Bowen is either injured or out of favour and apart from him we have no one ready to step in and perform adequately. I'm hoping we keep Ralls and also add a bit more quality to the midfield as back up.

I'm hoping we sign a really good creative midfielder and keep Ralls as a backup. Ralls won't be able to be the first choice or in the starting eleven with his recent injury record and it'll get worse if he's overplayed surely? I like Ralls but hope we sign a fit Tomlin-type player as the main choice.

[Dorcus]

I'm hoping we sign a really good creative midfielder and keep Ralls as a backup. Ralls won't be able to be the first choice or in the starting eleven with his recent injury record and it'll get worse if he's overplayed surely? I like Ralls but hope we sign a fit Tomlin-type player as the main choice.

Yes I agree, that would be ideal

[tforturton]

I thought Blackpool were one of the more physical sides we've seen at Cardiff this season (ie. they were plain dirty), and more than once I felt that things were about to spill over. At times like that, I can't help but worry about Vaulks - the human volcano - but thankfully he kept his head, and stayed on the pitch.
There was definitely something missing in midfield, whether it was Ralls, I'm not sure, but there seemed to be little flair on show. As for Madine, well, it's usually the case that a returning striker nets at least one, but sadly (for Gary) he carried on as he left off. Strange.