FT: CARDIFF CITY 2 - 0 PORTSMOUTH. Match thread

[Bobby Dandruff]

Watching on mute now,Earnie's doing my head in, a master if stating the bleeding obvious (and all in that mid Atlantic accent)

He was awful.

Lucy Ward-esque. He just didn’t shut up :-(

[Bobby Dandruff]

Superb.

Looking forward to the real test on Saturday

2 excellent performances against 2 poor sides.

It will be interesting to see what happens on Saturday if we go with that midfield…

[D. Advocaat]

What a transformation, we look a totally different team to the one under Bulut. I think that’s 50 shots at goal in 2 matches, Mr Tan will be pleased!

There is now a decent footballer in Turnbull and him and Robertson are working so well in centre midfield . Colwill and Tanner are getting better with every start and Robinson is back to the player we saw when he first joined, he must have been so unhappy under Bulut.

Goutas and Chambers are improving too as a pairing though would still like to see Daland back in the side ( alongside Goutas)

Riza deserves great credit for the dramatic improvement

Pompey will struggle this season, they don’t appear to be as good as the team that got promoted last season , having lost a few key players since promotion, including Robertson - and signing Josh Murphy hasn’t helped them.

Will be very interesting to see how we play against West Brom, I hope we stay on the front foot, we look defensively so much more solid taking the game to the other team

Don't think the back four can be changed after two clean sheets- Chambers deserves recognition for upping his game- he was solid again tonight.

Can we play with that same energy again on Saturday? Will be a big ask.

[Rjk]

What a transformation, we look a totally different team to the one under Bulut. I think that’s 50 shots at goal in 2 matches, Mr Tan will be pleased!

There is now a decent footballer in Turnbull and him and Robertson are working so well in centre midfield . Colwill and Tanner are getting better with every start and Robinson is back to the player we saw when he first joined, he must have been so unhappy under Bulut.

Goutas and Chambers are improving too as a pairing though would still like to see Daland back in the side ( alongside Goutas)

Riza deserves great credit for the dramatic improvement

Pompey will struggle this season, they don’t appear to be as good as the team that got promoted last season , having lost a few key players since promotion, including Robertson - and signing Josh Murphy hasn’t helped them.

Will be very interesting to see how we play against West Brom, I hope we stay on the front foot, we look defensively so much more solid taking the game to the other team

West brom will be a very different prospect than the last 2 fixtures, we will have to play with more control or we will be punished, especially if we drop off in the second half again.
however we are getting the ball forward much more quickly and effectively now so maybe we will be trying to catch them with counterattacks.

I think we will have a much better idea of where we stand after the next 3 games

[Rock_Flock_of_Five]

What a transformation, we look a totally different team to the one under Bulut. I think that’s 50 shots at goal in 2 matches, Mr Tan will be pleased!

There is now a decent footballer in Turnbull and him and Robertson are working so well in centre midfield . Colwill and Tanner are getting better with every start and Robinson is back to the player we saw when he first joined, he must have been so unhappy under Bulut.

Goutas and Chambers are improving too as a pairing though would still like to see Daland back in the side ( alongside Goutas)

Riza deserves great credit for the dramatic improvement

Pompey will struggle this season, they don’t appear to be as good as the team that got promoted last season , having lost a few key players since promotion, including Robertson - and signing Josh Murphy hasn’t helped them.

Will be very interesting to see how we play against West Brom, I hope we stay on the front foot, we look defensively so much more solid taking the game to the other team

Any team that has to pin their midfield hopes on Marlon Pack is going to struggle.
He played 90 minutes last night, and 90 minutes in his previous game.

[StraightOuttaCanton]

Post your phone number up and I'll see if we can come to some arrangement.

Nice work… gave me a right giggle 🤣

[StraightOuttaCanton]

Its light and day from a few games ago

O’Dowda played well and Turnbull is coming good

Just want a Kanga goal now. He’s getting like Eddie Johnson

Is light different to day?😜

[Pedro de la Rosa]

Riza's job to lose now. Also, Turnbull is playing very well, all credit to him.

Bulut just looks worse and worse as this run goes on. Awful, awful manager.

[BlueArmy 86]

Is light different to day?😜

😂 I know what I meant ..

[Dave Blue]

These games have been a joy to watch. Full credit to Riza and the squad for this. It’s like chalk and cheese. Today was as good as Saturday apart from the scoreline. Their reserve keeper stopped a trouncing.

[RichardM]

was always likely to really, and the subs weren't terrible, they were like for like changes, just the game had gone a bit flat at that point

Siopis and Rinamotah like Turnbull and Robertson?
Are you having a laugh?

[Dorcus]

Nice work… gave me a right giggle 🤣

I just saw it.... excellent Alan 😭

[Sparticus_Mills]

We play with such high intensity, we are always going to tire and need to make changes. We also need to make the most of all these chances. Other than that, lots of positives, another clean sheet. Hopefully we'll play well against West Brom.

[Rjk]

Siopis and Rinamotah like Turnbull and Robertson?
Are you having a laugh?

it was 2 wingers for the 2 wingers and 2 central midfielders for the 2 central midfielders. at least he didnt try to change to a 5 at the back system again

[Carl Dale's Mole]

it was 2 wingers for the 2 wingers and 2 central midfielders for the 2 central midfielders. at least he didnt try to change to a 5 at the back system again

It’s not what “like for like” means but I think he was referring to the difference in quality between those players subbed on and off.

Which is weird too because I doubt there’s a club in the league that can take off two midfielders and there be no drop off in ability. Those players are on the bench for a reason.

I think the subs made sense today but if Robertson and Turnbull are overrun by WBA then I’ll take it back

[RichardM]

Don't think the back four can be changed after two clean sheets- Chambers deserves recognition for upping his game- he was solid again tonight.

Can we play with that same energy again on Saturday? Will be a big ask.

I thought Chambers was slow and ponderous on a number of occasions. He seemed to be just standing there with the ball at us feet, thinking "what shall I do now?".

[Rjk]

I thought Chambers was slow and ponderous on a number of occasions. He seemed to be just standing there with the ball at us feet, thinking "what shall I do now?".

id like to see Daland in there again, but I doubt we are going to change a back 4 on the back of 2 clean sheets

[Bald Barry Bastad]

Don't think the back four can be changed after two clean sheets- Chambers deserves recognition for upping his game- he was solid again tonight.

Can we play with that same energy again on Saturday? Will be a big ask.

Chambers is not good enough. Did you see the way he got skinned by the Portsmouth striker for their one good chance in the second half?

[Jimmy the Jock]

My sons and I thought the same.

The game changed soon as he did that .
Didn’t bite him on the arse this time .

[Carl Dale's Mole]

Chambers is not good enough. Did you see the way he got skinned by the Portsmouth striker for their one good chance in the second half?

Yep, he is awful.

Every game he does at least one thing that makes me think, “that was far too easy for the other team”.

Doubt he’ll be dropped anytime soon though.

On the positive side, great to see Goutas is getting back to his best.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Yep, he is awful.

Every game he does at least one thing that makes me think, “that was far too easy for the other team”.

Doubt he’ll be dropped anytime soon though.

On the positive side, great to see Goutas is getting back to his best.

I just think he's another player not up to speed here and finding it difficult to settle

[NYCBlue]

If anyone else has already said this I apologise, but it now seems pretty clear that the players quit on Bulut.

[Bobby Dandruff]

Any team that has to pin their midfield hopes on Marlon Pack is going to struggle.
He played 90 minutes last night, and 90 minutes in his previous game.

Quite.

Our midfield has had it easy these last two games.

[The Lone Gunman]

If anyone else has already said this I apologise, but it now seems pretty clear that the players quit on Bulut.

I'm not so sure about that. I never really detected a lack of effort from the players (apart from Kanga perhaps, but he still looks hopeless under Riza). The problem was that under Bulut the tactics were so defensive, the formation was so rigid and the team selections were so negative.

There's no doubt that several players are going to be feeling a lot better about their games now (such as Robinson, Colwill, Tanner, Robertson and Turnbull). Riza is putting his trust in them and they are responding. They are also playing in their natural positions.

The midfield in particular looks much improved now. Robertson has settled and is being given a licence to play his game. Turnbull has been brought back into the fold (he is one who clearly had issues with Bulut's way of playing). Colwill's in his proper position and is thriving. Add to that we now have Robinson starting games as opposed to Kanga, and everything looks more positive going forward.

Bulut insisted of fielding Ralls and Siopis whenever possible. With the best will in the world, they're not going to create much, no matter how hard everyone is working.

[goats]

If anyone else has already said this I apologise, but it now seems pretty clear that the players quit on Bulut.

For good reason, if someone was trying to ruin your career maybe with his anti football, just goes to show we had some decent players, either playing with no confidence due to poor mgt, wrong position or just never playing like most of our midfield attacking players now.
Wonder if one day Tan will finally realise the key to this league is a good manager, I won’t hold my breathe…..