The game showed Harris' limitations

[Former Labour leader]

I don't think Cooper out-thought Harris, he just had better players at his disposal and a way of playing that generally causes us problems. Harris was too slow with his substitutions, but today was one of those days where, collectively as a club, we were second best by a distance.

I think you may have been watching us play a little longer than me, but I think we've both seen an awful lot of City teams down the years so are well placed to say whether there is a typical Cardiff way of playing. I tend to agree with you that City have favoured physical football with a direct style and at least one big centre forward - I wouldn't say we've always been that attack minded though.

What makes the current situation a bit different for me though is that right from someone like Barrie Hole, I can remember City teams with a technical footballer somewhere in the central midfield. Poorer teams than this one had, for example, Johnny Vincent, Alan Campbell, Billy Robson, David Tong, Brian McDermott, Jason Fowler and Gareth Whaley in there - players who were comfortable with the ball and able to give and receive passes without their technical limitations being exposed.

It's different with recent teams where so many times you say the ball hooked over a midfielders head into "an area" - with resources and facilities that are so much superior to what the players I listed saw at the club, I find it sad that we're so bad at certain aspects of the game.

You rather give the game away by referring to "tippy tappy" football. So many talk as if there are only two ways to play the game, tippy, tappy or direct, but most sides play something in between these extremes. That's what I want to us become better at, because it would be daft to suddenly do away with the things we're good at, but, season after season, the stats show we're poor at passing the ball and keeping it and it seems equally daft for us to not to try to improve this part of our game.

I did explain my use of the term tippy tappy on another post. It was to emphasise my point that you dont need to play possession based football to be pleasing on the eye or successful.
It was interesting that you mentioned all those players from yesteryear. I suspect one or two of them would not cut it in today's football. Having said that we do have Pack, who at his best does seem to have a modicum of control, albeit slowly!
What said really made me think how much we miss Tomlin. The one play who can pass and control the ball. If only he had been fit I am pretty confident he would have brought the best out of Harry Wilson and we would be comfortably placed in the playoffs.
We are really not that bad a team on our day.