Cardiff City

[Ianmooreslovechild]

I'm glad we've got Pratley. He's not an outstanding player but he'll always work hard and you need that in the Championship some time. He's a fit lad and won't stop running all game, so he's a useful addition to the squad. I wouldn't start him personally but I don't think it's a bad choice in this division, where you can rely on effort a bit more than in the Premier League. He was found out there but he's not a bad Championship level player at all.

I was quick to have a bit of a laugh at Pratley last season. Today he appeared to play as the most advanced of the three in the middle. His fitness meant he did some useful closing down and cardiff played quite a lot of long balls. He wont pick an amazing pass but made himself available and linked things up.He still lacks confidence IMO but has scored goals in the past. If he gained a bit of belief I imagine he could break forward and get a few goals. In a 5 man midfield when we are trying to keep it tight he may well become a useful player.

KD will most likely start on tuesday. The system and approach will be the same. Players need to get around him and support him. Had Ngog been available he may well have started but I'm not convinced that would have been cut and dried.Coming on fresh at a point where we had picked up our tempo and posing a different problem to that offered by KD helped. Petrov likewise,always seems to look better coming on as a sub. Keeping it tight and going through the gears when you need momentum is a simple but effective plan.

Funny to see people naming warnock and knight as our best defenders today. I thought Mills looked good today though his distribution is poor. The good thing was , boring though we were in the first half we did look pretty solid and we did keep trying to pass the ball mostly on the deck. There wasnt much space and both sides cancelled each other out. The break for the first goal could have fallen either way.

It's a very heartening performance. The players did appear to be talking to each other more, taking responsibilty, there was organisation. Also they appeared to listen to and respond to freedman,something that was no longer happening for coyle. Great also to see Lennie Lawrence,I reckon he's as much our manager as freedman is, calm thoughtful and definitely not a yes man. infact everything coyle was too arrogant to recognise he needed.

It's only one game but there were more genuine positives to come out of that performance than anything we've seen in the last 18 months.There's a lot to build on there and for once the foundations may be more substancial.

[officer_dibble]

Mills and knight great...benefit from an organised midfield. Thats another lesson for free owen and the yes men.

[Worthy4England]

For about and hour we were fecking dire. They (as top of the league) weren't much better. Boggers, for their goal, might have been a deflection, but if someone can explain why he didn't come for the initial cross?

N'gog made the difference, along with Petrov.

Pratley, Andrews. Someone please explain why? Along with Mavies, for 60 Mins, completely anonymous.

Davo, played well most of the season, but poor today.

For me, mom probably wash (cameo), followed by Knight n Warnock.

[William the White]

Just got in, log burner blazing nicely and kettle on. My thoughts;

Last season, a significant number of people on here slated Knight. Another MOTM performance for me tonight - time to give him some credit. Warnock and Mills did what was needed, when it was needed and given that Warnock was often very exposed on our left side and facing 2 red shirts, he ran Knight a close second for me.

Mark Davies ran the midfield today and finally loooked the player he should be in this league. Andrews, Chungy, Eagles were quiet but solid.

The bloke sitting next to me was on Pratley's back from the first minute. I actually think he's an intelligent player who needs someone with pace in front of him. The 2 balls he played in front of SKD were wasted whilst Kev wound his legs up and too often in the first half he was forced to go backwards as there was no movement aound him. Kev Davies isn't a starting option for me these days but should now be playing the 'Holdsworth' role - bring him on with 15 to go when we are one up and need to keep possession.

I like Bogdan and I don't want to blow his confidence but we need some competition in the nets at the mo.

Before the match I was happy with 4 points from this one and Tuesday. I'll still be happy with that, but 6 would give us a huge boost.

Spot on in every line...

The only thing I'd like to add is that Pratley had a good game today... Onlythose not there or those terminally prejudiced would not acknowledge it... good game, great, keep them coming...

Actually, the other thing I'd like to add is... It feels feckin good when we win... And, if Cardiff City are the best in this division, we really should have nothing to fear...

Knight MotM... huge second half performance...

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Just turned the highlights programme on - have we been on yet?

[a1]

#dougiecool

[TANGODANCER]

Just turned the highlights programme on - have we been on yet?

Fraid so, but we won 2-1 again.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

For about and hour we were fecking dire. They (as top of the league) weren't much better. Boggers, for their goal, might have been a deflection, but if someone can explain why he didn't come for the initial cross?

N'gog made the difference, along with Petrov.

Pratley, Andrews. Someone please explain why? Along with Mavies, for 60 Mins, completely anonymous.

Davo, played well most of the season, but poor today.

For me, mom probably wash (cameo), followed by Knight n Warnock.

I'd say our midfield three gave our defence decent protection for once.I didnt see us as dire in the first hour. It was just very tight/tactical and there was no space.Pratley was first line of closing down and they were knocking it long toward our two big centre halfs who lack pace but can win it in the air.Defensively it worked.
Going forward less effective, there wasnt much space. If anything pratleys presence slowed us down. He made himself available only to knock it back to whoever had it and found space but never looked to threaten. It could be a confidence thing.
I was quite happy being bored to death for an hour because we were not giving any chances to a team at the top of the division and we actually looked like we were organised when we didnt have posession. We made cardiff look poor.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

The only thing I'd like to add is that Pratley had a good game today... Onlythose not there or those terminally prejudiced would not acknowledge it... good game, great, keep them coming...

Fair enough.

I think I'd have to see it with my own eyes, but I'd believe if I saw it.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Caught the after match interview (well the bit on bbc show) Mackay as one eyed as my trouser snake. Dougie,bigging up the ref inspite of the offside/sending off /cards. Wont do any harm to keep being so balanced and making friends of the officials!

[TKIZ!]

We won. Yeah!

Went to the game, bloody frozen.

Has Dougie performed a 'Weird Science' like transplant for N'Gog? What a well taken 'goal' his first was.

Can we also point out the idiots who booed N'Gog during the subs warm up at half time? I wonder if they celebrated the pen? Goal?

[Dr.Karl]

Davo hasn't been at the races for a couple of seasons. Yeah he turns out the odd barnstorming performance now and again(Tottenham at home, Villa away) that defy his ageing body. In a lot of games he looks very slow and immobile. I still feel he has a role as a "battering ram" in the last throw of the dice situation. He'll be kept fresher that way too.

The point with Ngog or Sordell for that matter is that they'd at least link up better with a nimble midfield and fashion chances that way. When Davo and Pratley got the ball in the final third we lost momentum. Ngog just looked unbelievable in his cameo. Absolutely destroyed them. I don't care if he scores 3 goals, if he harries and harasses like that he is going to create a lot of space for our midfield to exploit and score. And he looked a real goal threat for the first time.

The defence looked a whole lot stronger and Knight's performance left me wondering why he was dropped for the last three games. He is a beast at this level, it did help that he had a midfield in front of him! Freedman clearly told the full backs to create width and bomb on, I thought both of them did it well.

The shape looked very solid, I think we'll not concede many goals if we play like that. It wasn't pretty in the first half but we never looked like conceding. It was like watching a Serie A team the way we passed it around the back . One for the purist though. We always seemed to have men to cover their breaks and really didn't look that vulnerable on the counter attack. We looked organised you know. Their goal seemed to come out of nothing. Problem was the other end and I think that was largely due to the players selected there. Eagles wide left, with Davo and Pratley isn't going to cut it Dougie. But he rectified his errors and we looked so much better in the final third with Petrov, Ngog and Eagles playing in the centre. It also meant that Mavies could carry the ball further up the pitch and create momentum something which Pratley can't do in that role. Not sure about Ream coming on in midfield though, would have preferred a midfielder with experience in that role, ie Spearing.

Those changes demonstrate some tactical acumen to me(whenever did Coyle shut up shop?) and if he gets the right players starting in we'll get the results. Bit of a lucky win but some positives to build on.

[Prufrock]

Makay is blind as fook!

Eagles and theirs at the end, both a bit of contact made a lot of. Both could have been given or not. He gave neither. Spot on. N'Gog clearly onside. N'Gog tried to dive and managed to get fouled. I can see why you'd be annoyed if you were them, coz I'm convinced he was going down even if their guy didn't trip him. Fact remains, he did. Added to a very soft first booking for N'Gog (though the second was a ludicrous tackle for someone on a booking to make). At best we came out even on decisions, and at worse were harshly done to!

[BWFC_Insane]

Just got in, log burner blazing nicely and kettle on. My thoughts;

Last season, a significant number of people on here slated Knight. Another MOTM performance for me tonight - time to give him some credit. Warnock and Mills did what was needed, when it was needed and given that Warnock was often very exposed on our left side and facing 2 red shirts, he ran Knight a close second for me.

Mark Davies ran the midfield today and finally loooked the player he should be in this league. Andrews, Chungy, Eagles were quiet but solid.

The bloke sitting next to me was on Pratley's back from the first minute. I actually think he's an intelligent player who needs someone with pace in front of him. The 2 balls he played in front of SKD were wasted whilst Kev wound his legs up and too often in the first half he was forced to go backwards as there was no movement aound him. Kev Davies isn't a starting option for me these days but should now be playing the 'Holdsworth' role - bring him on with 15 to go when we are one up and need to keep possession.

I like Bogdan and I don't want to blow his confidence but we need some competition in the nets at the mo.

Before the match I was happy with 4 points from this one and Tuesday. I'll still be happy with that, but 6 would give us a huge boost.

Spot on in every line...

The only thing I'd like to add is that Pratley had a good game today... Onlythose not there or those terminally prejudiced would not acknowledge it... good game, great, keep them coming...

Actually, the other thing I'd like to add is... It feels feckin good when we win... And, if Cardiff City are the best in this division, we really should have nothing to fear...

Knight MotM... huge second half performance...

Glad it's not just me on Pratley. He did a job and did it pretty well!

[BWFC_Insane]

Just got in, log burner blazing nicely and kettle on. My thoughts;

Last season, a significant number of people on here slated Knight. Another MOTM performance for me tonight - time to give him some credit. Warnock and Mills did what was needed, when it was needed and given that Warnock was often very exposed on our left side and facing 2 red shirts, he ran Knight a close second for me.

Mark Davies ran the midfield today and finally loooked the player he should be in this league. Andrews, Chungy, Eagles were quiet but solid.

The bloke sitting next to me was on Pratley's back from the first minute. I actually think he's an intelligent player who needs someone with pace in front of him. The 2 balls he played in front of SKD were wasted whilst Kev wound his legs up and too often in the first half he was forced to go backwards as there was no movement aound him. Kev Davies isn't a starting option for me these days but should now be playing the 'Holdsworth' role - bring him on with 15 to go when we are one up and need to keep possession.

I like Bogdan and I don't want to blow his confidence but we need some competition in the nets at the mo.

Before the match I was happy with 4 points from this one and Tuesday. I'll still be happy with that, but 6 would give us a huge boost.

Spot on in every line...

The only thing I'd like to add is that Pratley had a good game today... Onlythose not there or those terminally prejudiced would not acknowledge it... good game, great, keep them coming...

Actually, the other thing I'd like to add is... It feels feckin good when we win... And, if Cardiff City are the best in this division, we really should have nothing to fear...

Knight MotM... huge second half performance...

Glad it's not just me on Pratley. He did a job and did it pretty well!

[CrazyHorse]

I said it'd be 2-1 didn't I?

[Worthy4England]

Just got in, log burner blazing nicely and kettle on. My thoughts;

Last season, a significant number of people on here slated Knight. Another MOTM performance for me tonight - time to give him some credit. Warnock and Mills did what was needed, when it was needed and given that Warnock was often very exposed on our left side and facing 2 red shirts, he ran Knight a close second for me.

Mark Davies ran the midfield today and finally loooked the player he should be in this league. Andrews, Chungy, Eagles were quiet but solid.

The bloke sitting next to me was on Pratley's back from the first minute. I actually think he's an intelligent player who needs someone with pace in front of him. The 2 balls he played in front of SKD were wasted whilst Kev wound his legs up and too often in the first half he was forced to go backwards as there was no movement aound him. Kev Davies isn't a starting option for me these days but should now be playing the 'Holdsworth' role - bring him on with 15 to go when we are one up and need to keep possession.

I like Bogdan and I don't want to blow his confidence but we need some competition in the nets at the mo.

Before the match I was happy with 4 points from this one and Tuesday. I'll still be happy with that, but 6 would give us a huge boost.

Spot on in every line...

The only thing I'd like to add is that Pratley had a good game today... Onlythose not there or those terminally prejudiced would not acknowledge it... good game, great, keep them coming...

Actually, the other thing I'd like to add is... It feels feckin good when we win... And, if Cardiff City are the best in this division, we really should have nothing to fear...

Knight MotM... huge second half performance...

Glad it's not just me on Pratley. He did a job and did it pretty well!

I dunno, there were two subs, not far apart (Petrov and N'gog) that changed us from hardly looking like scoring and at half time I was struggling to recall either keeper really being tested. We looked pretty solid though with a five and Pratley was part of that. As Dr Karl said every time the ball got to Pratley or SKD we lost momentum, so in an attacking sense I thought both of them didn't offer much and I'm not sure we looked much less solid at the back, but we did seem more open to counter attack after the changes.

[officer_dibble]

Spearing over pratley every time for me...very surprising that one in the teamsheet.

[ChrisC]

Spearing over pratley every time for me...very surprising that one in the teamsheet.

Maybe DF wants to look at what we have on the books before using the loans?

Edit: scrap that Warnock is a loan!

[Beefheart]

I'd like to see Holden and Spearing as the 2 holding mid's eventually. With a 3 behind Ngog made up from Chungy, Mavies, Eagles and Petrov.