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Massive 3 points.
So many good performances but my man of the match was Pack. His passing was excellent: NML, Hoillet, Tomlin and Bennet also great. Ward did a lot in his brief cameo. No bad performance out there really.
Onto Boro...
Really impressed with that performance tonight, bouncing back from two straight defeats. A few defensive lapses and that 10 min spell of not seeing the ball after Derby scored was unnerving, albeit the ball never really threatened to end up in the back of the net. But other than that Harris has Cardiff playing some neat and composed football, if only they could manage better than only 1 out of every 10 crosses being decent, they would be onto something 😂
Bacuna looks far more assured at right back than Sanderson, so hoping for no change there come the weekend. Pack looked assured switching play when he got on the ball. Those two in particular had impressive games.
Also Tomlin offers so much for Cardiff, was happy to see him in the starting 11 to set the tone from the first whistle as opposed to injecting some creativity in the final 20.
As for the playoff picture Millwall on a charge, so if Swansea fail to get a result tomorrow they will be the nearest rivals and have QPR and Huddersfield to play next. Hopefully City do the business against Boro and distance themselves from the chasing pack.
Ward never disappoints. A neat, tidy player who's also v. good in the air. I can understand why Glatzel gets the nod to start because it's assumed he's the best at holding the ball up and winning it in the air, but Ward's actually as good at doing those things - probably better. I hope we don't lose him this summer whichever league we end up in.
Glad Bacuna has proven me wrong as a right back, thought we'd need him in the middle but happy for him to remain there for the last two games.
Great result. Really good performance, Harris made some really telling changes again. Hopefully Brentford will put Preston out of contention tomorrow
Decent performance. More composed on the ball and looked the bigger threat for most of the game.
How shit was Rooney.
Great result, pretty much takes derby out of it and only last week they were the team. Still very tight.
Pack's performance tonight makes me think that we should have rotated the starting midfielders against Blackburn and Fulham. I thought there was a noticeable lack of energy in those matches.
Credit to Harris for that switch to 3 at the back and packing the midfield, it allowed us to wrestle the game back from Derby, especially after a very slow start to the 2nd half . It was a decent performance, very hard working and Tomlin adds a different dimension to our game but not sure it’s enough to be able to beat Fulham or Brentford. Still , as long as we secure that 6th place and stop Swansea getting in there
Can we beat Boro? This is a tough call, I’m sure the players will be up for it to put one over Neil. Hull there for the taking.
Draw at boro, beat hull so 4 more points.
I fear we’d come off second best in a two legged affair against Brentford or Fulham. You never know but I just can’t see it atm.
But a PO finish will be a good achievement for the club. Harris deserves credit for the job he’s done and I’d like to see what he’d do to the squad post season (whatever that’s going to look like) and with a little money to spend.
Tomlin is arguably our only instance of real quality in the team and I think our top scorer as is. He’s maybe starting to get on just a little, picks up injuries too, but has the ability so do you continue to build the team round him and look for a replacement/competition? Easier said than done.
Our wide options are decent enough although I hoped Murphy would have developed and knocked on more by now.
I don’t feel we’ve had a proper forward or strikeforce for a long time. Glatzel and Ward both seem fairly average to me, nothing against the pair. For all his effort and endeavour, Patterson shouldn’t be playing there. Although we’ve not had an out and out goalscorer our tally for the season so far isn’t too shabby (4th?).
Central defence is alright, could do with some full back options. Both goalkeepers are solid enough. We’ve not been a great defensive unit this season though - shipped in the most by some distance out of the top 6 atm. Whether that’s placed squarely at the feet of our defence or how we’ve defended as a team is probs one for those that get to watch the team more regularly than I.
So Tomlin-like replacement, forward and full backs are probably the areas to prioritise on bolstering or improving?