Cardiff City Football Club Blog

The Top Ten Own Goals

2011-12-18T23:10:00.001Z

After the loss to Middlesbrough on the weekend, i'm not really in the football festive spirit. What could change that? seeing professional footballers make themselves look like tools. Yes!.

Lets dive in then!.

Number 10
Iain Dowie
What do you think of Ian Dowie? are you envious of good looks? are you envious of his word making skills such as the famous term 'bouncebackability'? or are you envious of his heading skills, especially into his own net. After some headed pinball in the box, Dowie steps up with a perfect header that Andy Gray would be extremely proud. Take a bow son!

Number 9
John Arne Riise
Like most own goals, this begs the question, 'What was he trying to do?'. Not only was Riise's diving header impressive, but the timing was impeccable - 95th minute in a Champions League Semi Final. Oh dear.

Number 8
Lee Dixon
Not the Lee Dixon own goal that everyone knows. Yes, he did actually score another fantastic own goal, this beautifully executed header would please any footballer. The height of the header was outstanding, the placement was excellent and the power was unbeatable. Lee Dixon is surely the prince of own goals.

Number 7
Frank Sinclair
You have met the Prince of Own Goals, Lee Dixon. Now meet the King...Frank Sinclair. Leicester City must have been glad to see the back of the Jamaican International as he developed a reputation for 'putting the ball in the wrong onion bag'.

Number 6
Tony Popovic
The first of our flick tricks. As the cross comes in Australian International Tony Popovic does his best Maradona impersonation with a sublime flick to rebound off the far post and in. A stark reminder that all defenders secretly wish they were attackers. Taxi!

Number 5
Franck Queudrue
I feel that this fully deserves its place in the top 5. The former Birmingham City defender staked his claim for becoming a striker with a superbly taken effort from 35 yards. He sees his keeper off the line, and bang! straight in. Remarkable.

Number 4
Lee Dixon
Deservedly the more famous own goal from the prince as Lee Dixon manages to lob a bemused David Seaman against Coventry City. Perhaps one of the most famous own goals of all time, Lee Dixon has this hilarious honour to accompany his many others (for good things).

Number 3
The flick - Inigo Martinez
We have all done it. When the ball is coming to you quite high and at your side, most of us try controlling the ball with a flick. Sometimes it comes off, mostly it fails though. You can either look a genius like Lionel Messi or look like Inigo Martinez. Not surprising that such the quality of the finish, that it was from one of Spain's brightest prospects.

Number 2
Chris Brass
Perhaps the funniest and most popular own goal of all time. Again it is another one of those 'been there, done that' moments. We've all gone to kick a ball and caught it wrong so that it rebounds and smashes you straight in the face. Sadly for Chris Brass it went disastrously wrong. Attempting to do an overhead clearance, Brass smashed the ball against his bonce and sent the ball into the net. Not only did he suffer extreme embarrassment for the goal itself but he also broke his nose to add to the humiliation. Double whammy...

Number 1
Jamie Polluck
This next one would not look out of place in a World Cup final from the likes of Pele, Ronaldo and Cruyff. Such is the technical ability that Jamie Polluck displayed, it goes straight in at number 1. The way he takes the ball in his stride, effortlessly flicks the ball over the attackers head and positions himself to amazingly lob his keeper with a beautifully timed header. Its just superb. Here it is. The Lionel Messi of the own goals.

Too late to enter the top ten but one that will surely earn its way to the top end of the scale, step forward this piece of excellence from Hong Kong. Classic.

Thanks for reading!

Cardiff City vs Middlesbrough

2011-12-16T17:00:00.001Z

Cardiff City kick off their festive fixture congestion against fellow high fliers Middlesbrough at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday. After the stalemate against Millwall in East London last week, The Bluebirds are seeking a twelfth consecutive match unbeaten in all competitions which has seen them rise to 3rd in championship on goal difference at the expense of 'Boro' who trail in 4th place.

Cardiff will have close to a full squad for the game. Aron Gunnarsson is thought to have recovered from a knock suffered in the 1-0 victory over Birmingham nearly two weeks ago. And Filip Kiss is fit and ready after being taken off at The Den last Saturday. The Cardiff squad was also boosted by the game time that Mark Hudson and Rudy Gestede racked up during the game at Millwall.

As I said, Middlesbrough are performing excellently this campaign and currently stand in 4th place. Recently Boro have picked up very respectable wins against a revitalised Bristol City at Ashton Gate and seeing off fellow promotional rivals Brighton and Hove Albion at The Riverside.

Middlesbrough are going to be without Tony McMahon at the back after the defender picked up his fifth booking of the season last week. Late fitness tests will be given to Marouane Zemmama and Ex Swansea hitman and all round villain to Cardiff City, Marvin Emnes.

Middlesbrough's last six games show just why they are up the top end of the table. The last six games consists of 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss (West Ham). That is 11 points out of the possible 18 which is a decent enough return. Cardiff's last six games consists of 4 wins and 2 draws (both away) which produces a great return of 14 points out of a possible 18.

Cardiff's last 3 home league games have resulted in 3 wins against Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City respectively. Compared to Middlesbrough's last 3 away games which have resulted in two wins at Bristol City and Doncaster, and also one draw at Peterborough United. So it is very much the case of Great at home vs Great away. I can't see Malky setting the team up very differently from the one that faced Millwall, so i'm predicting a team of:

I asked Boro fan for his thoughts on this game and the season. Here are his answers.

What is the team news for Boro ahead of our game on Saturday? Tony McMahon is suspended and Marvin Emnes is a serious doubt with a hamstring problem.

Is your season going exactly as you planned? or isit better or worse? Better than most fans could have expected. But us Boro fans are eternal optimists and I for one would have been disappointed with anything less than a play off place. Tony Mowbray has done wonders since he’s been in charge.

What players are going to cause Cardiff problems? Scott McDonald has been finding the back of the net of late so he would definitely be one to watch. Rhys Williams is a tidy player and if Bart Ogbeche starts he has a lot to prove.

What Cardiff players are you worried about? There is 2 and that is it. Kenny Miller and Peter Whittingham.

Honestly, where do you think you will be in May 2012 in the table? I personally would be happy with 6^th and I think that is achievable. Maybe slightly higher but I think an automatic spot is out of reach.

Finally, honest match prediction? 0-0 and would be a good point for the Boro.

Last Meeting

Cardiff City 0 - 3 Middlesbrough

Cardiff's automatic promotion hopes are ended as Middlesbrough beat them 3-0 before Norwich won at Portsmouth to move into the Premier League.

Gary Speed 1969 - 2011

2011-11-28T16:24:00.006Z

It is only now, 30 hours after learning of his death that I feel I can write about Gary Speed. In my short life many public figures have passed on, perhaps notably Michael Jackson and sporting legends Joe Frazier and Seve Ballesteros in 2011 alone. However, I have never been so affected to a death outside of the family than how I felt when I discovered the news that Gary Speed had passed on.

For me, my first memories of Welsh football was the Mark Hughes era. The first game I can remember going to was Wales 1 - 0 Germany in front of a full house at the Millennium Stadium. Robert Earnshaw grabbed the winning goal on his debut to give the Welsh a result which they could have only dreamed about. The heart of the Welsh team lied in the central midfield partnership of Robbie Savage and Gary Speed. The same duo that would eventually lead Wales to wins over eventual world champions Italy in 2004. Speed was instrumental in the success of Mark Hughes as Wales boss.

It is a telling sign that fans of the club that was blessed with Gary's playing talents have flocked out to pay their tributes for the 42 year old. Shrines are being erected by the main entrances of St James Park, Goodison Park, Elland Road, Bramball Lane and The Reebok Stadium. In a career that lasted an incredible 22 years, Gary optimised the perfect footballer. He took care of himself so he could play on longer than most. With 5 clubs in 22 years, Gary has shown how easy he was to get on with, surviving many managerial changes during his time in the Premier League.

All the attributes he displayed on the pitch, very quickly transpired on to the touchline as he turned the Welsh national team from a laughing stock, to an attacking force that on their day, can challenge anyone. Players respected him. They turned up for him.

I will admit, I wasn't 100% confident he was the right man after the departure of John Toshack but what he achieved in just under a year was nothing short of magnificent. I remember his first game in charge - a 3-0 defeat to Ireland in the Home Nations Cup. Upon hearing the result, me and quite a few others laughed it off, it was to be expected. To have gone from losing 3-0 to Ireland to beating Norway 4-1 shows immense potential, sadly that potential will never be fulfilled by the master - Gary Speed.

Speed had brought the excitement back to Welsh football again. There was confidence that we could actually qualify for Brazil 2014. We may still qualify, who knows?. But what is certain, is that we would not be anywhere near if it wasn't for Gary Speed.

I first saw the news on Twitter. Some girl posted 'RIP Gary Speed', my initial reaction was to slate her for carrying on a sick joke. It was only a matter of seconds before news sources ran the story that the Welsh manager was found dead. I have never had such a strong feeling of shock as I did yesterday. I still cannot get my head around the fact that someone who can appear so strong and happy on the outside, can be going through such turmoil on the inside.

It was only then that I saw he was on Football Focus less that 24 hours before he was found hanged in his Chester home. Dan Walker who presented the show said that Speed was talking about how he needs to tweet more and how excited he was for Wales's young squad. It just doesn't make sense.

The saddest part is that he saw ending his own life was the best option for him. How low must a person be to see that? It's absolutely harrowing. How can someone who was a national hero for Wales, a footballing legend and enjoying having a beautiful family end it so suddenly?. However, now is not the time to question who can lead Wales into their qualifying campaign or just why it ended like it has. It is the time to mourn a man who was nothing short of brilliant.

Lets hope that Speed's death can warn people of the dangers of mental illness and how even the happiest of people, can still be in a very dark place. Thank you Gary, for everything you have done for Wales in terms of playing and management. You have left Welsh football to a place where we could have only dreamt of this time last year.

God bless.

Why I think Peter Whittingham is Jesus....In Cardiff at least

2011-11-12T21:13:00.023Z

Compared to most, I am at the baby stage in the life of supporting Cardiff City. At only being 17 and following The Bluebirds since 2006, I have not seen the talent that majority have had the privilege to see. Ofcourse, I am talking about the class such as the late great Robin Friday. The prowess of John Toshack. Thanks to my dad and granddad, I went to Ninian Park in the early 2000s so managed to see hero Robert Earnshaw do what he does best. But in the last 5 years I have managed to see some of the best ever players to wear the blue shirt. To name a few, Jay Bothroyd, Kevin McNaughton, Eddie Johnson (?) and Craig Bellamy. As great as these are, they all fall short of the best player I have seen in the capital...Peter Whittingham.

Just a quick search on Wikipedia can make you even more impressed at how Peter has progressed from the very start of his life. Born in Nuneaton, Whittingham attended a school that failed to take football as a serious sport and enforced Cricket and Rugby. However little time Peter had to play football, he used it wisely as he was snapped up by Premier League big boys Aston Villa. Unfortunately I cannot remember exactly who they were playing, but I can recall being very impressed when I saw him on the TV, albeit very vaguely. 'Whitts' is certainly a different player then compared to now. Rarely he slots in his old position on the left flank, but his heart, talent and importance lies in the centre midfield position.

I know a lot of Cardiff fans that if given the option, would marry Peter Whittingham's left foot. His crosses, passes, shots and dribbles he manages to do with his left peg would not be out of place in the Premier League. It is quite staggering that we have held on to this gem for as long as we have. Not only that, but there seems to be no real interest in him at all bar the odd ridiculous bid, I won't name any names...Nottingham Forest. £1,000,000. Yes, a crappy £1,000,000. It begs the question 'Is he really that good? or do we overrate him?'. No.

Since the 09/10 season Peter has used his left foot to elevate Cardiff City to the higher end of the Championship. He picks a pass from anywhere, has the talent to execute it, has the composure to slot 99% of penalties home, has the technique to curl free kicks and has the cheek to shoot from anywhere and always test the keeper. As well as all these pros to his game, the main one was his dribbling ability. Sadly, Whitts was never blessed with pace to he couldn't run around them. He wasn't blessed with the build of Didier Drogba so he couldn't go through them. He had to settle for the other method. Walk around with and make them look stupid. His close control and dribbling means that defending against the ex U21 international is a 'nightmare'.

So we have established just why exactly Peter Whittingham is one of the deadliest attacking players in the Championship. But what do you need to be THE complete midfielder?. A defensive ability. As said, Peter hasn't got the physique of a building. He used to go missing in games if City didn't have the ball which led to very harsh criticism. That criticism is no more though as Whitts has developed his defensive game and in my eyes is now the complete midfielder. The other criticisms were that he was lazy. Here is Peter talking about that stick:

They think I'm lazy but the truth is I'm very laidback, that's all.
"The ProZone figures prove I'm one of the top three runners in the team and that's what the boss pointed out.
"And if people do perceive that I don't care, well, they're wrong."

Well said Peter, Well said.

Not only is he the best player on the field but he is a great role model. It's hard to imagine him partying and drinking. A wild Peter Whittingham Friday night probably consists of a can of coke, some FIFA12 on Xbox then having a piece of wholemeal toast. In a time where footballers generally have a bad image, Peter Whittingham is showing that you can be at the top of your game and not be falling out of nightclubs at 3am and sleeping with hooker... Aside from his quiet off field persona, Peter is very relaxed on the field, especially when he scores. If you scored a 94th minute winner in the Play Off final against Swansea to send City up, how would you celebrate? Run naked across the field doing the ayatollah?. Pick up an advertising hoarding and sprint the length of the pitch with it?. Or run across the Swansea end doing the 'Shhhhh'?.

Whittingham would probably stand from where he hit the ball, turn around, smile and if he is feeling really passionate, he might even yell out a 'Yeah!'. Peter refers to his (lack of) celebration reasons in an interview with 'The Sun'

"All I do is run to the fans and wait for my team-mates to mob me.
"It's rubbish really. Someone has suggested that I do the Maradona 'belly flop' when he rushed off the bench to salute Argentina's qualification for the World Cup — but I don't reckon that's me.
"And if I did work something out I'm afraid I might affect my good run. You know, jinx myself.
"So I think I'll stick with being boring because I'd rather be that and score than have a pre-arranged celebration that never gets used."

'I always wanted to stay at Cardiff and it's a case of wanting to get to the Premiership with Cardiff.'

So Peter Whittingham is now the best player I have seen in a City shirt, albeit that I have only been following Cardiff City for a relatively short period of time. Have you been following Cardiff City for 20+ years? Does Peter enter your list of elite players for CCFC? is he 'fit to lace the boots' of legends such as Earnshaw and Dwyer?. What we can all agree on, is that for the sake of Cardiff City, we hope you stick around Pete! (Jesus)

Welsh Sport 0 - 2 Dodgy Officiating (Cardiff 2 - 2 Ipswich)

2011-10-15T19:37:00.010+01:00

It is safe to say that Welsh Sport has seen better days than today, and better officials. Following on from the rugby team's controversial exit in New Zealand, Cardiff City had to settle for one point as they played out a 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town in a bu

sy Cardiff City Stadium.

Hours after the rugby ended for Wales in Auckland courtesy of an official blunder, The Bluebirds suffered the same fate against the Tractor Boys. City were the hope of many Welshmen to cheer up their sporting weekend.

It looked like ninth placed Cardiff were going to do just that when Rudy Gestede who started ahead of the injured Kenny Miller, slotted the ball home with a neat header. However, two goals either side of the interval put the Suffolk side ahead. The goals came from Cardiff villain Jason Scotland and one time Cardiff hero Michael Chopra. However Cardiff deservedly got the equaliser when Peter Whittingham struck from the penalty spot.

Cardiff were in a bit of an injury crisis before the international break, but with some lucky timing, most players seemed to recover from their knocks. However Scottish hitman Kenny Miller was ruled out after just failing to make the fitness, despite travelling with Scotland to play Spain last Tuesday. The other change was Ben Turner who came into partner Mark Hudson, replacing Anthony Gerrard who failed to make the bench.

Cardiff City: Marshall, McNaughton, Hudson (C), Turner, Taylor, Conway, Gunnarsson, Whittingham, Cowie, Earnshaw and Gestede.

Going into this game I must admit, I was not that confident. Ipswich had been

our bogey team and were aiming to acquire their sixth straight win against City in the league. Mixture of cheers and jeers before the game as the Ipswich team was announced. City hero Michael Chopra returned to applause, the same could not be said for ex City loanee, Jay Emmanuel Thomas and ex Swansea striker Jason Scotland.

Cardiff provided the early pressure and they got their break from a 'Goal a la Stoke'. It is great that we have a different option on hand this year. I'm talking about the machine of a throw from Icelandic international, Aron Gunnarsson. Throw ins are now looked on as a weapon. And didnt we use it to full effect!. As soon as the ball crossed the white line, Hudson and Turner left their defensive post and made their way towards the Grange End goal in pursuit of the flying ball. Directed perfectly by 'Gunnar', the ball flew superbly into the heart of the box. Turner drew in most of the defenders with his physique and intelligence, leaving a gap for Gestede to nod the ball passed Fulham loanee David Stockdale.

Weirdly, and quite worryingly Cardiff switched off after going ahead. And we were punished for it. Targeted with 'friendly' abuse regarding his time at South Wales rivals Swansea, Jason Scotland spotted a gap in between the defence and midfield and exploited it quite brilliantly. Allowed the time to turn, the Trinidadian embarked on the City defence and was allowed time and room by Ben Turner and then lashed in an effort from 21 yards. Instantly silencing the Cardiff fans, before riling them up again by doing the 'shhhh'. Safe to say, he won't be going on a night out in Cardiff anytime soon.

Speaking of nights out in Cardiff, Michael Chopra. With Cardiff still shellshocked from Scotland's strike, the pint size Geordie should have edged Ipswich ahead. Missing a menacing cross by only a few tantalising inches. 'Chops' didn't have to wait too long to get his return goal though. As the second half began, Town took control and earned their outcome, albeit a controversial one. Chopra, being the poacher that he was famed for in Cardiff was in the right place at the right time again. However at only being 5"9, the fact he scored a header was quite bizarre. However, what was even more weird was the fact that the linesman flagged for offside. Great!. Nothing beats laughing at away fans when they realise that a goals been disallowed and their celebrations are in vein. However that lasted for about 0.5 seconds. Before I could even finish the 'HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' I was letting out, the linesman had taken the flag down and awarded the goal. I have no idea what or how it happened and if it was just, but it was strange and very suspect!

The Bluebirds quickly took the initiative again, demonstrating some quality passing, link up and heart. With Filip Kiss and Joe Mason new life seemed to break into the attack of the home side and set the match up for a quality finish. Following from a mix up in the box following a corner it looked like pinball was getting played. The ball was everywhere and players trying desperately to make contact with it. It was heading out of play for a goal kick, when Robert Earnshaw attempted to hit it back into the danger area. However the ball was quickly stopped by the arm of Carlos Edwards. The ball looked out to the majority but no harm in asking for a penalty! and the referee gave it. This is where added confusion came in to play, the ref gave it, the linesman didnt, then they were chatting, people said it was a corner. Then finally he pointed to the spot. Sadly it was a few more minutes before it was taken following Ipswich players trying to kill the linesman, namely Bullard and 'Mr Temper' Michael Chopra. After the h

eated exchanges, up stepped Mr Cool Peter Whittingham to blast the ball passed Stockdale who dived the right way, but could do little to stop the drive.

This provided a catalyst for a thrilling finish to the match. Ipswich probably feeling the injustice of the penalty, struggled to shake off their 'self pity' state and started to invite pressure. Cardiff gladly accepted the invitation and could have and may be should have taken all three points as speedy hero Kevin McNaughton embarked on one of his runs. Running from his right back spot, 'Kev' made his way towards the goal. With some clever dribbling and lightening pace, the Scottish international found himself in space in the box and was brutally brought down which was more of a penalty than the one given!. It really should have been given.

"Two wrongs do not make a right"

Almost straight after that, Rudy Gestede should have wrapped up the points for the ever pushing Bluebirds. A long defensive header over the top which was going towards an offside Mason, was quickly latched onto by the lanky Frenchman who bolstered his way towards the goal. Facing a one on one with Stockdale, many fans started celebrating such was the confidence that he would do the deed. Sadly though, as he opened his body up to curl the shot around the outstretched keeper, he failed to make clear contact and made it an easy safe for the impressive shotstopper. These could be defining moments in the season.You would bet your house on Miller, Earnshaw and most definitely Chopra or Bothroyd banging that chance in the net. Sadly, I think Rudy has a lot to learn, but he is a brilliant prospect!.

But on a day that started in disappointment, ended in disappointed for Welsh Sport (apart from the excellent result for Nathan Cleverly). A decent enough performance against a side that usually beat us every time they play us. Our midfield coped well with the talented Bowyer and Bullard. Rudy showed flashed of quality and then flashes of inexperience. Ben Turner seemed to do well and was better than Mark Hudson I thought, although after some impressive performances, 'Huds' can be excused of the odd bad day at the office.

Overall a decent enough point and a typical Malky Mackay performance, heart, desire and a base of a very good team. We now move on to a busy week which consists of a trip to Peterborough and a battle against Barnsley in the capital. Hopefully with Miller returning we will be sitting in the play off places come Saturday evening.

10 games in and Malky Mackay

2011-10-05T18:25:00.005+01:00

So, here we are. Not far off a quarter of the way through the gruelling Championship campaign 2011/2012. After the 3-0 defeat to Reading last yearand the sacking of Dave Jones, I and many others had no idea of what was to come for Cardiff City Football Club. Thankfully, it has turned out better than I certainly could have imagined. Thank god for Malky Mackay.

Malky has done what he also did at Watford, and that is build from next to nothing. We lost many players in the summer, especially the attack that brought us close to Premier League glory last term, Jay Bothroyd onto QPR, Michael Chopra to Ipswich Town and Craig Bellamy to Manchester City and then onto Liverpool. Who'd have thought that with ten games on, we would be in 9th position, just a point off the Play Offs. Will it last? who knows. But what we have achieved in such a short effort is nothing beyond fantastic. The team of Malky, the now departing Gethin Jenkins and the players has been superb!

The appointment of Malky Mackay was a master-stroke!. Rated highly at Watford, he was tipped for bigger and better things, thankfully that was US!. I am delighted that Gethin Jenkins at the other board members chose him and fully commend them on their efforts!. Sadly, Gethin will not be at CCFC much longer. Why? I have no idea. Maybe TG and Vincent Tan know a better option and I will fully support and trust whoever they eventually point. BUT, as many fans would agree, Gethin has done nothing short of outstanding in his time in the capital. In his reign, we have managed to get the capture of Craig Bellamy, the rightful sacking of a manager, the appointment of a gem, winning 'family club of the year' and the ten or so players that have come in over these last few months. He has certainly been better than Sam 'Scam' Hammam and Peter 'Riddler' Ridsdale, ofcourse, they didn't set the bar very high.

Now for on the pitch. Bar the odd incredible referee/linesmen howler and casual hammering, we have been good, very good!. Along the way, we have got credible wins against two of the leagues hotshots in Southampton and West Ham United. We have also managed draws at difficult places, namely Blackpool and Hull (I won't go into much detail on that, as I may risk getting banned from Hull for life, although that is probably a good thing).

Whilst the players may not have the talent of some of the players as last year, they make up for that more with their never say die attitude and commitment to the cause!. In the unlikely event of Zombies taken over Wales, I would love to be Don Cowie. His body doesn't seem to have a 'stop' function. Don is just one example of many team-mates who put 110% into every game.

All this is seems to stem from the main man, Malky. Out of all the games I have been to, from parks football to Champions League, I have never seen a manager shout at a player for just scoring a goal. Is it a good thing? I probably think it is although by the looks of Kenny Miller's face, he wasn't so sure

Fans Interview - Championship

2011-08-03T10:53:00.010+01:00

I have asked a fan of each of the 24 clubs to give me a quick interview on what they think about the new season. Thanks to all the fans who took part in this it was very much appreciated. Hope you enjoy.

Barnsley

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

Its been an exciting pre-season, but an uncertain one. We have won all our games and we have won well, but the opposition hasn't exactly challenged us. We have passed the ball exceptionally well and we have only conceded one goal. The new players look great, but its hard to judge players against such poor opposition.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

Ins

Everyone is really excited about Keith Hill and David Flitcroft or together known as Hillcroft. They have brought a refreshing new style of attractive football and a positive vibe around the place. The new signings have all looked great in pre-season but all our players have.

David Perkins on a free was a no brainer, he won 3 differant awards for player of the year last season at Colchester.

Craig Davies on a free. A risk with such a big step from league two, but he has everything you need from a front man. Strength, Pace, Height and a good finisher.

Matty Done and Scott Wiseman for 200k. The only transfer fee Barnsley have paid this window (so far) both had good reports from Rochdale, Wiseman has had a good pre season, Done has been relatively quiet.

Miles Addison on loan. There's no question about his ability and potential, but his fitness is the reason he isn't starting for Derby. A lot of suspicion from the fans over the benefit on why this deal has gone through. We get a good player fit again then send him back so Derby can reap the benefits?

Jim Mcnulty on a free from Brighton. Another one that has miffed a few fans. Didn't really break into a league one team, but then signed by us? Had a quiet pre season.

Rob Edwards, another freebie, but a great one. Some Premiership experience, a championship expert and the captain we have been looking for.

Ricardo Vaz Te was on trial for pre season, and was signed up just today. Very exciting player with lots of flair.

Kyle Reid was on trial, no word if he has signed yet. lots of pace, and good work rate.

Outs

Mark Robins left over the summer over a disagreement over the transfer budget for the coming season. He was relatively successful during his time and well liked by the fans. Nobody would have faulted him if he's have stayed, but looking back the fans are happy that the HOOFBALL will be a distant memory.

A big loss next season will be Jason Shackell who signed for Derby for 1 million squid. Last seasons player of the year is a bargain for Derby which has left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Reds fans. He will not receive an applause next season at the well.

First team regulars Matt Hill and Hugo Colace's contacts were not renewed over the summer, but neither really impressed last season especially Hugo who had won player of the year the season before.

Liam Dickinson, Steven Bennett, Conor Branson, Danny Fearnehough and Martin Devaney were also released. Devaney aka DISCO will be missed. Although he has failed to get back into the first team over the last few years. His exciting style of play along with great memories of the crosses that put Liverpool and Chelsea out of the FA cup will live long in the memories.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

Danny Haynes was a player everyone was happy we kept this close season. His blistering pace makes him VERY dangerous. Can play up front or out wide.

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

A bad season would be relegation obviously. A realistic good season would be to sneak into the playoffs, or "do a Blackpool" as it is more commonly known

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

Any game against Leeds is always good, last season the aggregate score was Barnsley 8 - 5 Leeds. Doncaster and Hull are good derby's too. Home and away.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?

I think West Ham and Birmingham will be up there. Derby have made some great signings, and Southampton I think will suprise a few.

Cardiff on the other hand I think will struggle having lost a lot of influencial players. Middlesbrough could be down there, and Peterbrough have lost their goalscorer so I think they're down. I wouldn't be suprised if Notts Forest have a poor season too.

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?

Its very difficult to say. Ask the Rochdale fans, they no more about Hill than us. There's a very positive vibe around the place. Lots of comparison to the 96/97 season. it's a complete mystery.

Birmingham City

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?  Well I only managed to get to the Hereford game myself, but from what I've read in match reports and heard from friends at the game, we've been playing decent football and creating a lot of chances which is something we lacked under Mcleish, so some encouraging signs. Though not really scored many goals, but I'm just going to put that down to only having one fit striker at the moment!    How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?  Well for starters, I'm happy that we have Hughton in charge, about time we starting playing some attacking football. Not too bothered about many of the players who've left to be honest, other than Ben Foster, though will be gutted to see the inevitable departure of Scott Dann! Happy with the signings, some solid players for championship level and hopefully a decent goalscorer in Marlon King.    Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?  I think Marlon King if he keeps fit. The last few seasons our main problem has been that we lack a goalscorer, and King is a proven goalscorer at Championship level. I think Chris Burke has looked lively too, could be just what we need and hopefully his sort of player will thrive under Hughton's style of play.   Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?  It's hard really to say in our current situation. Obviously promotion would be a great season for us, though with our financial situation at the moment we can't be too sure what might happen. I know quite a few Blues fans who would be quite satisfied with a top half finish and ending the season with stable finances.    What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?  We don't really have any local derbies this season, so no one stands out in particular! Though definitely looking forward to whoever we end up drawing in the Europa League. Looking forward to going to a lot of grounds really, quite a few still to visit like Cardiff, Millwall and Brighton. Oh, and Blackpool away, obviously!   Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?  I think promotion will be between West Ham, Blues, Leicester, Cardiff and Forest. Not really sure about relegation, haven't seen much of the newly promoted teams! Could see Coventry being in a bit of trouble though this season after losing Marlon King, Keiron Westwood and Aron Gunnarsson.   Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?  On paper, I have to say our first XI is one of the better in the division, but we don't have much depth at the moment which could change everything! I'm going to go with a top 4 finish, though I'm always optimistic!

BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION

1/ Pre-season has been quite good, apart from some comedy defending at times we've looked a pretty good side. Could also have done without a couple of key players carrying injuries over from last season. 2/ We lost our top scorer(to our local rivals palace) & we've also lost arguably our best player last season(to Norwich). The players we've signed are top quality replacements or promising youngsters. Breaking our record transfer twice, Buckley(one of Watford stars players last year), Mackail smith(30 plus goals last season for Peterborough), Hoskins(20 plus goals in a relegated team), Lua Lua(from Newcastle, will set the championship ablaze with his blistering pace), Bergkamp(one for the future) & Vincelot(versatile good squad addition)

3/ Most important player will probably be Mackail Smith. If he gets on the goal trail we will have a good season

4/ Good season is the play-offs, BAD season relegation

5/ Most looking foward to playing Palace & giving them a damn good thrashing. Looking most forward to visiting UPTON PARK for the last time

6/ LEICESTER, WEST HAM, READING, Promotion. PETERBOROUGH, DONCASTER & PALACE relegation

7/ I think BHA will finish just outside the play-offs

BRISTOL CITY

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your
pre season games?
Largely a touch disappointing, with few wins. Conceded quite a few goals against non-league opposition, but guess it doesn't really matter? Does it?!

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?
It's been remarkably quiet. We actually started our final friendly with eleven players who were at the club last season, and only the loan signings have left. The main 'in' is Neil Kilkenny, a ball-playing midfielder from Leeds

See more below. Rumours tonight that Jordan Spence is back on loan from West Ham which would be a real boost and just what we need. The main story has revolved around Nicky Maynard and a possible

big-money move to the Manchester City of the Championship, Leicester. We've reputedly turned down £4m plus Waghorn which is a positive, brave and some may say strange move from the board but shows their intentions not to be a selling club.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?
We desperately need a dominant and pacy centre-half to replace last season's loan signing Stephen Caulker, soon to be starring for Swansea in the Premier League. If we can sign someone in this mould, they will be key but for now I'll go with Kilkenny. Last season, apart from the defensive failings, the main issue appeared a lack of guile and poise in the centre of the park, with no-one seemingly able to put their foot on the ball and control the pace of the game. Kilkenny promises to do some of that, and I'm sure our flying wingers and pacy strikers will look to feed from his crisp passing.

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?
Good would be flirting with the play-offs, I think the top 6 is just out of reach but maybe 8th or 9th if we're really good. Bad would be the opposite, flirting with the bottom three. I think - hope - we've got enough about us not to go down but we still need a couple more defensive signings to be sure.

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?
Never been to Upton Park so looking forward to that, even if it is on a Tuesday night. Also the new Brighton

ground. Their fans fully deserve an amazing first season back in the second tier and I'm sure it will be packed out on each occasion.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?
I've got West Ham, Leicester and Ipswich to go up, with Forest, Brighton and Southampton all going close. I think the Posh will struggle, and also have Palace and Barnsley in my bottom three. Doncaster, Derby and possibly Blackpool as a surprise might also be down there.

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?

14th.

BURNLEY

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?
We have had a few decent tests, the most recent being Sunderland at Turf Moor. Although the game wasnt action packed, we looked very good against strong opposition. It gave me a lot of faith for the Watford game on Saturday.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or
management?
I honestly believe we have one of the best young managers in the country, and his training methods have been. praised by all the players, including Clarke Carlise and Chris Eagles in interviews
With both the Susan Boyle (Owen Coyle) and Brian Laws sagas behind us, I am very happy with Ediie Howe and the staff he has brought in. He has finally persuaded the board that the training ground facilities need improving
conducted after they had left the club. It was obviously gutting to see Eagles and Mears go to Bolton, but they were in the last year of their contracts, so getting 3 million smackers is better than nothing. Eddie has also done a good
bit of business
in signing Kieran Trippier and Ben Mee on loan, and today raided Preston for Keith Treacy. We do still need a few more bodies in the squad, but I have every faith the team will be ready by Saturday. Howe is also starting to really give the young players a chance, which is a nice thing for any fan to see.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?
Jay Rodriguez. Burnley born and bred (as you can tell by his name) and one hell of a prospect for the future. He came on an amazing amount as a player last season, and I expect him to improve even more this campaign.

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season?

It seems ridiculous saying a 'bad' season would be finishing one of the top 12, but I honestly feel it would be. A good season would be being competitive at the top end of the table, and fingers crossed achieving promotion. If we do finish outside the top 12 it is by no means a disaster, and we need to give Eddie Howe and his young squad time.

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?
Blackpool away is our second to last game of the season. I am really looking forward to this one! I always love Blackpool away as its a good full day on the beers by the seaside, also with it being our second last game it could be a huge match. To add to all this, it is also our closest thing to a derby this season. I also always look forward t
o going to Elland Road, and we play that lot on the first game of the new year, so that should be a cracking atmosphere.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?

Leicester, West Ham and Burnley. Relegation: Blackpool, Peterborough and Palace

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?
It totally depends on how our young squad manages to blend together, and from what I have seen in pre-season, I believe it will work well. We have been a joy to watch at times, and all the players seem to be enjoying their football. The main test is going to be when we hit a bad run, without many experienced
heads in the dressing room (manager and staff included) how will we react. I do have faith in the lads though, and without the media spotlight on us this year, I think we will finish 4th.

Cardiff City

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

I don't see out pre season games as complete failures, seeing as Malky was tinkering with his new set of players and seeing what formation(s) would suit them better.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

I'm quite happy in the signings that Malky has made. Obviously, Earnshaw is a Cardiff legend and will be hoping to emulate his previous success to propel us into the premiership. In the signing of Don Cowie, we also gained a new presence on the wing. If cowie can produce the same as he did for last season, we've got a steal, as he provided 13 assists (only beaten by Holt & Taarabt!) With the outgoing players, I was upset for Chris Burke as I felt that he had given us so much over the last couple of seasons. I was also suprised that Chopra left us. Not too suprised with Jay Bothroyd as he was destined for his stint in the premiership .
Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

I feel that Peter Whittingham will be huge in the midfield role, this season. He's got so many attributes that he can prove this season. I also feel that defensively, Anthony Gerrard will be a welcome return and hopefully provide the defence with some stability.

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

I'd see anything under 10th as a bad season for us and that anything above 6th would be great.

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

I'm looking forward to my first visit to Elland Road, as I've driven past the stadium a few times and have always wanted to go there. Looking forward to playing Bristol, as it's the first home game of the season.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?
I see Reading challenging again this season, as long as they keep hold of Shane Long and Kebe. Along with West Ham & maybe Leicester. For relegation, I can see Derby and Crystal Palace being candidates.

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?
I think that we'll come 7th. Malky's first season, not much expectations on his shoulders and a new-look squad

COVENTRY CITY

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

We haven't looked too bad actually, only losing out against Norwich in the last 30 mins or so (they brought on 11 fresh legs). We've been playing some nice football and the younger lads look good. If they can cut it in the Championship though, is another question.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

This pre-season is one of the most miserable I've known since following the City. We've lost our (arguably) 3 best players in King, Gunnarsson & Westwood for nothing. Although we've replaced Westwood with...erm...2 new goalkeepers (new tactic?) we haven't signed any out-field players (yet). I hope we can bring a pacy striker and a quality attacking midfielder, someone to link the midfield to the strikers, although I believe Iniesta is unavailable.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

If Clingan can stay injury-free. Then him. He sits in front of the defence and plays 40 yard passes to the wings effortlessly. He is also our Captain and set-piece taker, so hopefully he'll stay fit!

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

Honestly, I'd see survival as a good season. We haven't added to our already below-average squad and looking at the other teams in this league their are no certain wins. Anything above 17th and I want the whole team testing for drugs.

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

I'm most looking forward to playing Leicester at home on the opening day! They've spent big and are our rivals so It would be nice to get one over them!

The ground I'm looking forward to visiting most is Brighton's. As it's a new ground, in a great location. We're already planning to make a day and night of it so let's hope it doesn't disappoint.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?

I think it will be tighter then ever at the bottom of the table. With ourselves, Peterborough, Barnsley and Doncaster looking the least likely for relegation. For promotion, I think Leicester and West Ham will take the automatics, although I'm not sure who will go up via the play-offs. Their are so many teams that could be around there.

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?

16th.

Derby County

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

Dodgy scorelines against small teams but its been all about gelling and fitness. I think we have the most moaning fans at the club but it really doesnt matter bout the scorelines. The new players have been trying hard and also couple others like lee croft and ben davies who were fringe players have played their way into contention for Saturday.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

I feel that the signings so far have been great. Theres been a lot of rebuilding si

nce last couple of years of cutting the wage bill but he's signed some good young players that not make a instant impact but give a couple of years they'll be crackers.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

Between Shaun Barker, Frank Fielding or Jamie Ward

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

Good season - 9th above Bad season - 15th to relegation

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

Southampton away - don't know why but i feel like it would be a make or break game since its in the middle of the season if we could win that then i feel we could win anywhere!

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?

Promotion - Cardiff, Birmingham, West Ham, Leicester (money does not bring success)

Relegation - Doncaster, Crystal Palace, Coventry, bristol ( if they sell maynard), reading ( if they sell long)

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish? errrr this is hard we could sneak 5-6th if we have good consistant season but i'll be realistic and say 10th COYR!!!!

Hull City

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

Very pleased with how pre-season has gone, no major injuries which is always good and unbeaten having won 5 out of 5 pre-season games, including a 3-0 win at home to Liverpool. Optimistic about the new season.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

I feel Nigel Pearson has made some very good signings during the summer. We have become 'Man United Youth Team' with the signings of Corry Evans, Joe Dudgeon and Robbie Brady (on loan) to add to ex-united youngsters James Chester and Cameron Stewart who had previously been signed. These all look good players with the potential to progress and improve. Pearson has also brought in the experience of Keeper Adriano Basso, Paul Mckenna and Veteran Striker Dele Adebola which could be key this season have a balanced side of youth and experience i feel.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

Matty Fryatt. Crucial he gets the goals, need a 20 goal a season striker. Had a major impact on our season as we improved in the second half of last season.

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

As it stands anywhere below half way id see as a poor season. Should be pushing for play-offs at least, could even have a shout of automatic promtion.

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

Obviously leeds as our local rivals but quite looking forward to playing Brighton for their new stadium which looks impressive.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?

Automatic promotion i can see West Ham and Leicester up there as for play-offs could be many teams but i think us, Ipswich, Southampton and Birmingham will make it. Forest and Cardiff would also be in with a shout. As for relegation, i can see Barnsley, Palace and Peterborough all struggling.

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?

Top 10 finish i think at least.

Ipswich Town

I dont think they've been as good as iv hoped, but pre season is all about fitness isnt it. I mean southend and colchester should have been easy games but we only managed a draw! I think Paul Jewell is doing a brilliant job! Brought in decent signings, a lot more than what that useless tool keano did! Simon Clegg however is a completely different story. We lost our best defender because of him! I think Lee Martin will do well for us this season, he's been on fire in the pre season games! There's also alot of hype around Chopra, so i'm hoping he proves himself and bangs in the goals! Bad season was the first half of last season when we had Roy Keane as manager. He ruined our club! Good season will be this year! Iv got so much confidence in Paul Jewell this season. He's going to take us up, mark my words. Im looking forward to playing West Ham. Ipswich have a lot of history with West Ham and its always a class day out! Even though its a night game this season. Im looking forward to visiting Brighton's ground, i've never been there and this is probably the only chance i'll get to go there as i cant see them staying up. Promotion - Birmingham, Leicester & Ipswich. Relegation - Brighton, Peterborough & Doncaster. Honestly i think we'll finish 4th/5th, im just hoping we dont get West Ham in the playoffs! We always lose to them in the play offs!

Leeds United

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

Well we were unbeaten which is nice but it's not about results in pre season. We went to Scotland and beat Falkirk 2-0 and went behind to Motherwell but came back to win it which shows character I guess. We moved on to Rochdale and scraped a 1-0 win before drawing 1-1 at Sheffield Wednesday. After this we went to Norway where we nicked a 1-1 draw late on against Sandefjord but we finished with a healthy 3-2 win over Premier League Newcastle at Elland Road which was nice. Overall I'd say mixed. Some good performances and some bad but we got the chance to try things out and so it was a success from that point of view.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

Very stressed. Ken Bates is being as tight as ever. Grayson keeps insisting we're looking for players but we've only bought three in so far. Lonergan from Preston is a good signing in goal as is Brown in midfield but I'm not sure about Rachubka. We've been constantly linked with old boys such as Woodgate, Bowyer and Smith but none have materialised and we've missed out on good players like Stockdale, Andrews and Spector. Maybe Leeds just isn't as attractive an option as it once was. Maybe money talks more like. In terms of exits, glad to see Higgs leave, Naylor's time had come, Kilkenny was overrated, so was Johnson and I was disgusted with how Bates treated Kasper Schmeichel. Would rather have kept him than bought Rachubka. Would love to see Watt come back from Arsenal. I rated him highly. We need to add more players if we want to compete for promotion there's no doubt about it.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

Most people think Max Gradel and Robert Snodgrass are. They're our best players yes but I don't think they'll be our most important. The other end of the pitch is more important and that's why I saw Patrick Kisnorbo. He's been out injured for months but when he's played for us he's been immense. "You'll never beat Kisnorbo" is one of our sayings. He was epic against Man U (had to mention it haha). We scored loads of goals last year but conceded almost as much. If kisnorbo can get our back line into shape maybe the goals we score will mean more and give us a better chance of pushing for promotion. Ross McCormack is also going to be important this season leading the line while Becchio and Somma are out injured.

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

As Leeds fans, we tend to have high expectations. Last season loads of people were really disappointed when we missed out on the play-offs and while I understand their frustration I was quite pleased with a 7th place finish considering it was our first season back in the championship and due to the tough unforgiving nature of the league. This season however I expect us to kick on. I hope for at least a play-off spot (but given our current squad I doubt that). Automatic promotion or winning the league would be ideal obviously but most Leeds fans would tell you we'd take the play-offs this season after missing out last season even with our poor play-off record because then at least we have improved and given ourselves a chance of promotion. Anything less than play-offs will be a bad season.

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

Im most looking forward to playing the favourites actually like Leicester, Forest, West Ham and Birmingham. Purely so we can embarrass them and show our credentials plus the atmospheres will be great. Ground wise? Probably Blackpool and Brighton, nice trip to the seaside but the football league being the imbeciles they are have given us these games in midweek. Idiots.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?

Promotion wise I think Birmingham with the investment they've made will go up automatically. I think West Ham should join them with their squad (if they keep Scott Parker). The play-offs are a lottery but any one of Forest, Ipswich, Boro or Leicester is a good bet. When it comes to relegation i think peterborough will struggle to stay up resources wise. I can see Watford and Brighton joining them as Watford have been stripped bare by Cardiff and Brighton even though they had a great season last year. Don't hold me to these the Championship is the most difficult league to predict anywhere in my opinion.

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?

With my realistic cap on, given who we've brought in and the make up of our squad I think mid table is likely. While I hope we can compete for the play-offs, there are a number of clubs who are well ahead of us in their preparation for the new season (squad wise) and this is a source of frustration for us Leeds fans. If pushed for a number I'd say...10th probably.

LEICESTER CITY

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

Good I think. We were lucky and had a great fan day at the weekend against Real Madrid which was always going to be the highlight. The games have been good, mostly abroad against a decent standard of teams which i think is important to prepare for a good season. The players are new but look fit and ready for the season, compared to 12 months ago when fitness and morale was a massive issue. The players have worked well together, the defence was great against Real, but we have showed that we might be lacking goals up front.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

A mix of excited and nervous!! The management has stayed the same but we have seen big changes in the squad. Everyone knows about the amount of money we've spent, masses compared to other clubs in the league and some in the prem. But i think we've bought well. Players like Danns has been a great player at this level, and to sign him on a free even better. We've spent big money on players like Matt Mills, Kasper Schmeichel and Paul Konchesky who I think are players that we desperately needed. Last year our defence was almost entirely loan based and we had no solid keeper and we suffered because of that. The best bit about the Real game on Saturday was the way the keeper and defence played, so all in all I'm happy. I expect a few to leave now. Jack Hobbs has gone already and I think we'll lose a couple of midfielders in the new few weeks, Matt Oakley is one of them. All we need now is a striker

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

Matt Mills. We spent a lot of money on a young player, but he has a great reputation and we need a player with his presence to boss the back line, and probably captain the team. We had too much change at the back last year, and if we can fix that for this season we should do ok

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

Nothing but promotion is acceptable now. We have spent too much money on the players transfers and wages, the training ground and stadium. Playoffs is a minimum but we need to be top 2 by the end of the season.

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

The first game every Leicester fan looks for is Forest home and away so I can't wait for those, but I live in London so can't wait for West Ham away, that will be a huge test and i've not been there before. its half an hour from my house, and they are arguably a Premiership club so it should be a great day out.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?
Promotion: Leicester, West Ham, Blackpool, Cardiff, Hull, Ipswich, Leeds, Reading
Relegation: Portsmouth, Doncaster, Coventry, Birmingham (if they lose more players), Barnsley

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?
We're gonna win the league, we're gonna win the league, and soon you're gonna believe us and soon you're gonna believe us, we're gonna win the league!!!

Middlesbrough

Our pre season has not been good result wise but to be honest it does not concern me.
Tony Mowbray has mixed the teams up at each game with his sole intention of giving minutes to all the first team squad.
We have even let Junihno play for us for 30mins last friday night vrs PSV as a chance to say goodbye to the fans. I think this has been good in general for the morale of the players and the fans and with 20000 plus gate too hopefully we won some fans back too.

We have not been very active in bringing players in. So far we have brought in Malaury Martin from Blackpool on a free and Ikeme , wolves keeper, on loan for a month. We do not have any money.
We have sold Lita and Digard and contracts were up for Taylor and Arca and Boyd has went to Turkey. Tony Mowbray was tasked with wiping 10m off the wage bill and those 5 names have gone with the media estimate saving of 120k p/wk saved.
Out of those 5 only Taylor and Arca are losses to the squad. The core of the team is still there which finished the season with 1 defeat in 13 matches and if we can make it to August 31st without losing anymore we will be strong.

Our most important player is without doubt Scott Macdonald. He is not our best player but he is our only out and out goalscorer. We need him fit and firing. He managed 14 last season in a team that struggled at the wrong end of the table till March. We need him fit and finding his Celtic form and he should bag us 20 which will hopefully drive us on as the defence is pretty solid and got a lot of options in centre midfield.

A good season for us without doubt is top ten and the finacial side becoming more stable.
A great season would be play offs and finances improving.
A dream season would be winning that league and the premiership money wiping our debt out but as I say I dream - but .... you never know.
A bad season is the obvious - relegation and administration... again. But I am only positive anout my club and the manager and trust him completly to take this club forwward alongside another Boro lad, Chairman and Owner Steve Gibson.

I am looking forward to Brighton away as its a brand new ground and we have not been in same division for a lot of years so that should be a good weekend away trip.
I look forward to all the matches but the home games vrs the deemed bigger clubs such as West Ham and Leicester and Birmingham and Leeds always creat good atmospheres at the Riverside and Leeds away is always a fantastic atmosphere too.

I think West Ham will fly it and I think its between several othet teams such as Leicester, Ipswich, Cardiff, Birmingham and Blackpool to challenge for the top two. I think you can name half the league at least as play off challengers and usually a surprise package will creep in them and I hope and believe that this year its going to be Boro.
Relegation wise I think Peterboro Doncaster and Barnsley are real candiates but the league will be as tight as always until March and I think half a dozen could be looking over their shoulder still at end of Feb.

I think we will finish in Play offs. I completly buy into Tony Mowbray and his way of playing and the way he has inspired the players and fans, he will drive us forward there is no doubt.
Our only problem will be the small squad of experienced players being supported from excellent youth players. If the expeerience can stay fit and in particular our midfield and Macdonald we will be close. Our midfield with options of Willaims Robson Thomson Bailey
is very strong for this league and I expect Tony will add a couple of faces too before August 31st now so much has been freed up in the budget.

Peterborough

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?
Nothing more than average. Haven't played any teams with any real quality. Conceded a lot of goals which is a worry.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?
Management is fine. Can't knock Darren Ferguson after all he's done at this football club.
The transfers coming in haven't been as much as we would have liked. Haven't really replaced Craig Mackial-Smith. Nicky Ajose has came in from Manchester United but I feel he's a bit light weight for the Championship. On the positive side Ryan Tunnicliffe from United is on loan from Daddy's team. He looks a real talent.

Can't complain with the Transfers going out. Criag Mackail-Smith leaving to Brighton has shocked a few Poshies as many thought he would leave to Leicester or West Ham. Charlie Lee and Chris Whelpdale have both gone to Gillingham.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?
Lee Tomlin settled in well last year in league one and now with a good pre season under his belt I feel he can only improve.

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?
Good-Not getting relegated and winning more than one away game.
Bad-Relegation

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?
Looking forward to seeing West Ham come up to London Road because of the fans and the players they have got. The ground I'm looking forward to visiting is Brighton's. Looks very smart and it looks as so it has something different about it compared to other new grounds.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?
Leicester, West Ham, Nottingham Forest and I think Ipswich will give it a good go this season.

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?
I think we'll finish bottom. Not enough Championship quality players bought in. I hope I get surprised!

PORTSMOUTH

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

We have only had 4 in total and only 2 in England v Chelsea and Havant and Waterlooville. Chelsea was a good test and I thought we played very well and the new players looked good. We did need more games however.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

We are very short of players still, but we do still have quality at the club. We need at least 5 new players.Very pleased with the signings of David Norris and Greg Halford. Also very happy with return of Jason Pearce.I feel David Nugent should have shown loyalty to Steve Cotterill after he really is the only manager within his time at the club gave Nugent the chance. Some players like Sonko, Dickinson I'm glad they have gone but I would have liked us to re-sign Ritchie De Laet but he has joined Norwich on loan now.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

A fully fit Liam Lawrence, he is without doubt one of the best players in the Championship and we all hope he gets rid of the niggly injuries he had last season and this pre-season.

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

Stability is needed at the club, but in all honesty I feel we can make the play-offs with some new players at the club. Relegation would obviously be very bad, but I feel we are too good to be down there.

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

Without doubt Southampton, there is no derby like this in England, its pure hatred between the two and we must win home and away. So as usual when we play each other, I look forward most to going to St Mary's and taken 3 points of them.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?

Promotion: Leicester West Ham Cardiff

Relegation Peterborough, Barnsley Southampton

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?
7th

Reading

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

It's been okay, although not spectacular. The first team have only lost once and that was to a Turkish side which we were very unfortunate in. Comeback 2-1 wins against League 2 sides Swindon & Bristol Rovers showed our character, although you'd feel we need to be doing better against lower opposition. The lack of a real test this pre-season, against a decent Premier League or high-ish European side means we can't really judge to much on the last couple of weeks.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

It's been pretty disappointing. We lost our captain, Matt Mills, and making it worse it was to a promotion rival in Leicester. The fact we've announced we won't be spending any of the supposed £5 million we made from the deal has frustrated us Royals fans greatly. A lack of signings since the window opened, with only Bongani Khumalo brought in on loan from Spurs, along with the ongoing Shane Long saga with everyone awaiting his inevitable departure, it has been a Transfer Window to forget so far.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

Until he leaves, which could easily be tomorrow, Shane Long is the obvious important player with his goals and assists. However Mikele Leigertwood, who signed permanently at the end of last season following a terrific loan spell, is an integral part of the way we play. He breaks up opposition attacks with ease, and poses a good attacking threat with his strength and passing. We only lost 1 game out of over 20 during last season when he was involved, and those stats speak for themselves.

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

After Play-Off heartbreak with the defeat to Swansea, everyone at Reading will be looking at promotion after coming so close last season. Anything less than play-offs is likely to be a failure, although the FA Cup, with our consecutive Quarter-Finals appearances the past two years, will play a big role in how our season is judged. An early exit in the cup will be a big disappointment following the excitement it has brought the last couple of seasons.
What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

Leicester second game of the season is one to look forward to with the return of Matt Mills, and he won't be getting a warm reception home and away for sure after he moved across to a rival club. Cardiff is always a great occasion with those games usually lifting a usually flat Madejski Stadium atmosphere, and after the Play-Offs I expect the Bluebirds will be on a revenge mission.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?

It seems to get more open every year, and well over half the teams will believe they can go up. Leicester are the obvious candidates although I don't feel they've made a real stand-out signing yet who will take them into the Premiership. Last season's relegated teams must not be underestimated, while Brighton, Southampton and Peterborough all look decent sides. I fancy Hull, Watford and (fingers crossed) Reading to go up this year.
Again, it could be anyone going downwards. Crystal Palace don't look up to much, while Coventry don't look particularly strong either. Also, depending on the financial situation and game congestion, Birmingham cannot count themselves safe.

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?

I'd like to think automatic promotion, but if we sell Shane Long (which we will as much as we keep praying he'll stay) I don't think this squad is strong enough to have a consistent season required for promotion. However, I think another strong end of season which we have achieved the last two seasons, I believe we may sneak into the play-offs.

6th

Southampton

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

Not bad. But we never seem to do that well in pre season traditionally. We've thrown away leads in 3 games in pre season this year. Drawing 3-3 against FC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland after being 2-0 up, a 2-2 draw against West Brom, and another 2-2 scoreline away at Yeovil after taking the lead twice. But I never pay much attention to pre season results. It's what we do in the league that counts. The Liebherr Memorial Cup was a very good event and generated a lot of interest. We won 3-0 against an albeit under-strength Werder Bremen in the first game, before losing 2-0 to Athletic Bilbao in the final. And of course it was all for a very worthwhile reason.

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

Very pleased with our transfer dealings so far. Jack Cork is a quality signing who is proven at this level after winning Burnley's Player of the Year award last season. And Steve De Ridder showed us that there is plenty of cause for optimism with his run-out in the Liebherr Memorial Cup. And what I've seen of him on YouTube ain't half bad either!

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

Adam Lallana. Most people are wittering on about Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but whether he stays or goes makes no difference to me. Lallana dictates everything we do. When he's on the pitch I'm much more relaxed. I'm very excited to see what he will do in the Championship this season against, with the greatest respect to the teams we faced in League One, better opposition.

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

A good season: Top half finish, maybe pushing for a play-off place, a decent run in one of the cup competitions and finishing above Pompey.
A bad season: Bottom half finish. Flirting with relegation at any stage of the season. Finishing below Pompey.

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

Unlike the majority of my fellow Saints, I'm more concerned with games against the big teams like West Ham and Birmingham than I am with playing Pompey. At the end of the day, as nice as it would be to win the derbies, if they did the double over us but we still finished higher than them, I'd consider that a good season. That doesn't mean I don't want to beat them, of course I do. I want us to stuff 'em!

Which ground am I most looking forward to visiting? Difficult one to answer really because due to other commitments with my local non-league team, AFC Totton, I won't be at many away games this season. One that I am hoping I can get to though is Blackpool away. A nice day at the seaside, fish n chips rolled up in yesterday's newspaper, and hopefully 3 points to shut up Ian 'Can't Take A Joke' Holloway.

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?
For promotion I can't see beyond West Ham. They've retained most of their squad and it's looking increasingly likely that they'll hold onto Scott Parker. The additions of Kevin Nolan and Matt Taylor are a masterstroke by Sam Allardyce as these are two players who are easily good enough to be playing for a top half Premier League side. Cardiff look good for me as well. They've got a good young manager in Malky Mackay and have made some excellent signings with the likes of Robert Earnshaw, Kenny Miller and Don Cowie certain to get them plenty of goals this season. My dark horse for promotion this season would be Leeds. They narrowly missed out on the play-offs last season but I think they will go one better this time around. So long as they wait until after this weekend to start their promotion charge!

As for who I think will be for the drop, Coventry look like strugglers to me. They've lost a very good goalkeeper in Kieren Westwood after he moved to Sunderland, and they don't appear to have made much movement in the transfer market. There is also talk of new investment and as fans of many clubs will tell you, this may not always turn out to be a good thing. If it drags on for too long then uncertainty starts creeping in and this can spread to the players, affecting results on the pitch. Aside from Coventry, I think Doncaster will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?

If we finish top half and above Pompey, I'll be more than pleased with that. I think we need a season in the Championship to adjust to it after our stay in the third tier, so I don't believe promotion is a realistic target. I would love to be proved wrong, though! COYR!

Watford

Our pre season games to be honestI were quite poor.Our overall record was Won 1 Drew 2 and Lost 2.We beat Wealdstone,drew to Boreham Wood and Brentford and lost to AFC Wimbledon and Colchester United.I guess these results arent great but you cant look into it too much as we have had so many changes in our squad.
Any Watford fan would be lying if they said they wont be missing Danny Graham-and to be honest it will be the team who misses him most as seen in our slight failure to score in pre-season.But we got 3.5 million for him which is money we need.We have also lost Will Buckley to Brighton for a fee of 1 million.Will,on his day was a fantastic winger who could give full backs nightmares.Unfortunately those days were quite rare and in my opinion we got good money for him.Finally onto the others(and probably the biggest).It is well known that Cardiff got our former manager Malky Mackay.To be honest at the time I thought "fair enough to him", he had done a good job here and has gone to a club with lots of money and financial backing.But in my opinion the way he has acted since has appalling which has led to a number of us having a sour taste in our mouths.He used his underhand knowledge to get Don Cowie(a very good player) on a free transfer and also taken four staff from Vicarage Road.But the club was sharp with the appointment of our manager Sean Dyche who was Malky's assistant before.I see it as a very good appointment due to him knowing all the players and the club set up already.We have brought in six players in Craig Forsyth,David Mirfin,Mark Yeates,Prince Buaben,Chris Iwelumo and Carl Dickinson.I view all these transfers as very good ones and we have spent around 750k on them,which I see as good buisness.So effectively we brung in Two defenders,Three midfielders and a Striker.According to our manager we are still in the hunt for new players so I expect one or two more to come.
I think our most important player will be our captain John Eustace.He had a great last season and he sets a great example to all the youngsters in the squad.At 31,he has lots of experience and will even chip in with a few goals each season.He has also shown a great amount of loyalty.He recently signed a new contract after speculation linking him to various clubs such as Derby.
In my opinion anything above 22nd would be a good season.Every year we seem to be tipped to go down but we constantly punch above our weight.A bad season would obviously be relegation but we know we are not immortal to being relegated and the league isn't getting any easier!
I,personally am looking forward to playing Cardiff at home.I think we all want to get one back at Malky and give him a bit of 'banter'.In terms of away trips I would like maybe a big team away in the cup.Maybe Arsenal as its only a trip on the tube.We got Chelsea away a few years ago,we got battered 5-0 but it was a good day out nonetheless.In the league I always quite enjoy a london game away.Last year QPR away was a great game and we obviously ended their record in front of the BBC cameras.This year Palace away should be good although I'm not too sure about Millwall away!
As promotion favorites I see Leicester,West Ham and Birmingham as the main threats.Leicester have spent a large amount of money already and so have West Ham so I expect to see them at the top of the table.Birmingham havent spent as much but I guess their team has the experience already.For relegation I see Palace,Peterborough and Coventry going down.Peterborough have lost their top goalscorer and Palace have lost creative midfielder Neil Danns.But the championship is such a strange league any team can win it so nothing is ever set in stone.
I think we will finish 16th this year.We finished 14th this year but have lost three decent attacking players.But we have brung in replacements which will give the squad some depth unlike previous seasons.So I see 16th as about right for us.I would consider that a very good season .

West Ham

So the new season is about to kick off in a few days, how do you rate your pre season games?

[Dan Clement] We have played some good European opposition and looked quite solid defensively which is scary after last season. We are struggling to not only score goals but also to create chances. We are entering the season hoping some of the dross from last season comes good especially on the right!! Barrera and Faubert could look class or vanish

How do you feel about the ins and outs of your club with players and or management?

[Dan Clement] 15 players out, 5 in. says it all at this stage, add to that the likely exit of Cole and Parker. Personally I think we are a little thin on the ground. Rumours linking us with Shane Long and David Ngog stink of rubbish to be honest, so I think we’re waiting for the prem squads to be named and then go sniffing.

Who do you feel is going to be your most important player this campaign?

[Dan Clement] Rob Green if he stays, he is a great shot stopper but doesn’t like the physical stuff, which is a worry in this league. If he goes and from the outfield point of view the key player will be Kevin Nolan and how we play for/around him. Best player will be James Tomkins to good for us, the championship and the bottom half of the prem.

The major key is Sam and how he plays. We need a backbone and some fight but not sure we want to see percentage shite

Currently, what would you judge as a good and bad season for your club?

[Dan Clement] Everyone wants promotion!! Personally I do see it as a bad thing if that takes another year and gets us in the prem for the new stadium, there’s not a lot of point in going up with a weak squad and coming back straight back down. So to answer your question and good season would obviously be top 2 and bad season would be to not even make the playoffs.

What team are you most looking forward to playing and what ground are you looking forward to visiting and why?

[Dan Clement] looking forward to going to Barnsley, not been and an older ground, looking forward to Brighton, Cardiff and Doncaster but there new grounds so probably not the atmosphere of the old. Millwall away will be lively

Who do you see as promotion/relegation candidates?

[Dan Clement] Promotion anyone from about 10 teams. Really fancy Ipswich as a dark horse then the usual suspects probably (in order) Blackpool, us, Leciester, Reading, Ipswich, Forest, Cardiff, hull, Birmingham.

Going down who knows? Barnsley, Palace, Doncaster and Peterborough

Be 100% honest, where do you think your club is going to finish?

[Dan Clement] 2^nd or 3^rd

Thank you all the ones who answered my questions for their club it was a great effort.

The list is

Carl Snelling - Cardiff City
Matt_CPFC - Crystal Palace
Matt Davenport - Blackpool
Filan BCFC - Birmingham City
Paul Binning (blog here) - Bristol City
Mark Braithwaite - Middlesborough
Anthony - Leeds United
Matty Banks - Doncaster Rovers
Jodie Croucher - Ipswich Town
Matt Carter - Leicester City
Sam - Reading
Michael - Burnley
Ryan Wallace - Southampton
Dan Clement - West Ham United
Will Cooper - Derby County
Karl Wood - Portsmouth
Joe Geraghty - Watford
Matt Taylor - Nottingham Forest
Lee - Brighton
Luke Fry - Millwall
Rhys Beckett - Hull City
Ryan Smith - Peterborough United
Craig Cook - Coventry City
Joe Thomas - Barnsley

The Comeback Kid

2011-07-07T17:31:00.009+01:00

This week has saw the return of City hero Robert Earnshaw. The Zambian born hitman scored 105 goals in his previous years at City before moving on to West Brom, Norwich, Derby and Forest. Can 'Earnie' overtake Len Davies as top scorer? Can he even emulate the qualities from those years in South Wales? Lets see what history tells us about 'Comeback Kids'

Mark Hughes. The Welsh star left school in 1980 and went straight into football with Manchester United. In 6 years at Old Trafford he made 89 appearances scoring 37 goals. That success in front of goals earned him the chance of the ultimate, a career at the Camp Nou. After mixed success in Spain he was loaned to Bayern Munich in 1987. After having a success ratio of 1 goal in 3 games in Germany, Hughes caught the eye of managers everywhere and United under Sir Alex Ferguson shows interest. United and Mark rekindled their relationship in a deal worth £1.8 Million. Hughes won the Player Of The Year award is first season back even though Man Utd has a dismal season by their standards, finishing 11th. Regarded as one of the best players in the world he was unlucky in leaving United. Injuries and the arrival of Andy Cole signalled the end for Hughes at Old Trafford.

Dubliner Robbie Keane was regarded as one of the best strikers around not so long ago. Keane spent 6 years in North London with Tottenham where he quickly developed a reputation for being extremely dangerous when facing a keeper. With his trademark celebration and goal reputation (like Earnie) he quickly was linked with bigger clubs. Liverpool came in for The Irishman and he was officially a red in July 2008 in a deal worth £19 Million. However Keane failed to impress his 'Boyhood club' frequently encountering goalless spells and was proving far to inconsistent. With a partner in sensation Fernando Torres, Keane was often billed against the Spaniard and was always fighting a losing battle. Spurs came in for their former hero and a deal was struck just 6 months after leaving in a deal of £12 Million. Keane continued his former Spurs form upon return but arrivals of Pavuleychenko and Crouch saw the end of his Tottenham days for at least a season as he was loaned out to Celtic.

Kevin Davies is now known as the big centre forward to has a great shot and cannot tackle for the life of him. Is that justified? probably. After all he is the most booked player in Premier League history. However the thing that made him his money is his ability to find the net and thats exactly what he does for Bolton and did do for Southampton. In his first season down South he scored a reputable 9 goals in 25 games. This prompted Roy Hodgson to pay a record £6.5 Million for the one cap hitman. However failure at Edwood Park let the fans and board down resulting in the sacking of Roy Hodgson. In an exchange deal, Davies returned to The Dell. Ironically in just his 2nd appearance for the Saints, he got ironically sent off minutes after coming on for Mark Hughes. That mistake cost him first team football for four years as he frequently came on from the bench.

Any household with a football fan in would have heard of the name Jurgen Klinsmann whether it be his playing days or coaching Germany or even for their kids ruining their new T Shirt by doing his celebration on a wet January night. When arriving in England, The German was harshly treated by fans for beiing part of the Germany team who knocked England out of Italia 90. However and quite right, he did his talking on the pitch and scored 1 in every 2. Finishing with 21 goals in 41 games. After one season at White Hart Lane, Klinsmann returned home to Bayern Munich. However whilst at Italian side Sampdoria he was loaned back to Spurs. Although again fans and media said that at 33 he would not provide goods. Jurgen proved them wrong again scoring a remarkable 9 goals in 15 games thus saving Tottenham from relegation and became a legend at 'The Lane'.

All of the 'Comeback Kids' mentioned so far have returned to a club just the once in their playing career. However this little trickster Juninho has played for Middlesborough 3 times!. Juninho was an instant hit in the North contributing not only with goals but with numerous assists. Following the clubs relegation Juninho saught a new club in order for a chance of World Cup selection. He went to Athletico Madrid and once there he was loaned back to Boro and again impressed the footballing world. He impressed so much that Juninho was signed for the 3rd time for £6 Million in 2004. He helped win one of the biggest competitions in England when he lead the Boro team to League Cup glory in 2004. Juninho was quoted as saying "This means more to be than winning the World Cup in 2002". Juninho has adopted Middlesborough as his home and the team as his club and is given the GOD tag as Earnie is to some City fans.

Another Welsh striking legend in the form of Ian Rush. When you hear the name Ian Rush 3 things come in my head. Wales. Liverpool. Tash!. No other place on earth loves Ian Rush more so than Liverpool. Out of a 22 year career, Rush has spent a staggering 15 years playing at Anfield. In his first spell (7 years) he made a great 224 appearances and scored 139 which is more than a goal a game!. He won Liverpool some key titles like the Division 1 title, League Cup and he won a personal award in the Player Of The Year. After more years as the star at Anfield, Rush moved to Italian giants Juventus. However after lack of opportunities in Turin he returned to the North-East. Even though he was not as prolific as his previous tenure he was still a huge success. He netted 90 goals in 245 appearances for the Reds. His time at Anfield was undoubtably up when Liverpool paid a record transfer fee to Nottingham Forest for striker Stan Collymore. Although he and Rush formed a good partnership, the upcoming talent of Robbie Fowler limited the Welshman's first team chances and he left for Leeds United in 1996. It was rather harsh on Rush that his final touch in his beloved Scouse Shirt was a deflection off his shoulder to set up Eric Cantona in the 1996 FA Cup Final on 85 minutes thus giving the cup to bitter rivals Manchester United.

Malky Mackay - A Hornets View

2011-07-05T13:58:00.006+01:00

Curious as to what the fans would think of Malky Mackay I thought that the best way to find out was to ask a few questions to fans of Watford. Just a few quick questions in order to find out what we can expect this year and hopefully beyond.

What is his approach to the game, transfers and personality etc?
Likes free flowing, passing, attacking football, perhaps a little too much on the counter at times for me but that was usually away. We would start with a real bang in home games and sometimes wrap the game up in the first 15 minutes. Got found out about that a bit later in the season but we would still have periods where we battered the opposition for a while.
Transfer wise, we were (and still are) looking at bargain basement and we had a scouting system that didn't involve Malky until further down the line. Some real dross on loan (Drinkwater and Townsend) but then Andrew Taylor who you have now bought was fantastic - so hit and miss overall.
An approachable guy who seems/seemed genuine and very good at man management. Spoke well, didn't hide when things went wrong although he did blame referees too much.

Do you feel that Mackay will be worse off without his usual assistant by his side?
No. He seems to be pretty much his own man and has used the last 2 years to gain experience. It wasn't clear what Dyche was bringing to the set up but this season will tell...

Do you feel that there are many other players within Watford that Mackay may be looking to get and are they worth it?
Our centre halves Mariappa and Taylor were stalwarts of the team under Malky last season. Mariappa I wouldn't be so worried to leave but Martin Taylor is so assured and technically much better. Sordell is a great prospect but I'd suggest Malky questions his attitude. He wants committed and energetic players. John Eustace is a very necessary part of the way we play (played I suppose) but it might depend if you have someone similar. Also, Eustace turned down Leeds last summer so money doesn't appear to be his goal. Our wages are understood to be on the low side so most players would be glad to double their pay.

How is his relationship with fans? does he belittle them (Like Dave Jones used to) or does he embrace the fans as a huge part of the club?
Very good. I went to one of the regular fans forums and he's relaxed and open. I've only ever seen Dave Jones on telly but Malky is nothing like him. Can't think of one instance when he was critical of our fans.

What are his main strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths - Appeared sincere about wanting the best for the club. Just because he's left I don't think that was false - he's just ambitious and probably fed up with the financial issues here. He didn't appear scared of making tough choices about players but equally, wouldn't close the door on guys that had fallen out of favour.
Weaknesses - He has been technically and tactically found out at times and been too wary of making obvious changes until (too) late on. He has got better but I suspect those will show up at times for a while yet. Couldn't really adapt when Andrew Taylor and Jordan Mutch left.

How did you feel the season went last year and do you think Malky will be a better manager for it?
Last season was so much better than expected. To be pushing for the play offs at times and never be worried about relegation was something most fans would have been laughed at for suggesting beforehand. Winning 6-1 at Millwall was truly incredible. Yes, Malky has definitely improved over the last year. He's more aware tactically and at times, our attack was second to none last season.

I would like to thank Steve Drake off 'WFC Forum' for answering my questions on short notice.

Major Changes In South Wales

2011-07-04T17:40:00.003+01:00

This week has seen major changes within Cardiff City FC, Both on the player front and in the backroom staff. Three new players have come in, Don Cowie a free after his contract at Watford expired. There is also Andrew Taylor a free agent (Left Back) who has just signed following a successful medical. Taylor spent part of last year between Watford under Mackay and at Middlesborough. And then there is winger Craig Conway who was a free agent after he and Dundee Utd failed to agree a new contract. The lure of working with Malky Mackay seems too great for Watford and Scottish players alike it seems and that can only be positive news as players seem to want to play for the manager, unlike the bloke you see in the picture to your left.

Dave Jones' sidekick although not in a Superhero passionate way as the photo of Burton and Jones was probably taken about 20 seconds after Chopra scored in the 92nd minute to beat Swansea. Happy times indeed. But anyway, Terry Burton and Martyn Margeston has left the club. Burton on gardening leave and Margeston has taken up his role at newly relegated and City's first opponents West Ham United. Is this a good move for the club? I think so. It gives a chance for Malky to get his own backroom staff to make it feel comfortable around people who he knows, rates and who share the same ambition. Also its great to see the club having a complete overhaul from the Dave Jones Era. With players and backroom staff still there from previous failures there may still be a bad atmosphere hanging around Leckwith. So to see all Jones' staff shipped out is quite refreshing. The 3 staff that have come in are Dave Kerslake, Joe McBride and Richard Collinge. These take up the roles of Assistant Manager, 1st team coach and Head Of Performance respectively.

We have also had the traditional silly season comments. It seems that around this time of year everyone 'has a source' or they have seen numerous players 'getting shown around Cardiff City Stadium' even though they live nowhere near Cardiff nevermind the Stadium or the Vale Hotel. There have been a lot of news stories regarding new signings, most notably the whereabouts as to where attackers Craig Bellamy and David Goodwillie are going to be early August.

First off lets start with Craig. Having Craig here last year was one of the finest moments in the entire of Cardiff City. His performances certainly towards the end of the season were nothing short of superb, and if we had him in the Play Offs who know what would have happened. I am sure that if given the choice most fans would want the Welshman back here again next season depending on the financial clout etc. However it has been reported that Celtic are close to agreeing a deal with Manchester City and Bellamy regarding a loan up in Glasgow. The deal is one of the most weirds ones I have seen. Reportedly Celtic are paying £67,500 of Craig's £90,000 a weeks wages whilst allowing Craig to train all week with Cardiff. But sadly that is all that means for City. A flight to Glasgow on Friday, play for Celtic on Saturday and fly home on Sunday. Hopefully if this is the case then I would think Cardiff would have the decency to reject Celtics approach to be a 'trainer club'. The damage to the first team would be an issue. Training with a player who cannot play matches would seem pretty pointless no matter how good he is.

Another attacker is the controversial striker David Goodwillie currently at Dundee United. We are in a battle with the other Glasgow club Rangers for the signature of the highly rated Scottish international. Goodwillie, ironically in court for Assault and Rape allegations is valued at around £2 Million. Different reports are saying that we are waiting for the court cases to be held before making a move. Others in Scotland say that he is on his way to Cardiff for a medical by Wednesday.

Another thing that

Chris Hughton or Roberto Di Matteo

2011-06-06T14:11:00.007+01:00

A week after the departure of Dave Jones, Cardiff City fans are still yet to see who will replace the Liverpudlian. After speculation on messageboards of managers such as Chris Hughton, Roberto Di Matteo, Sam Allardyce, Martin O'Neill, Mark Robins, Billy Davies and a few suggestions for Paul Tisdale and Lee Clark, CCFC have so far have kept quiet regarding the vacancy.

However names being spouted on Messageboards has dwindled with managers coming and going places in the past week. Martin O'Neill is favourite for the Fulham job vacated by Mark Hughes. With Hughes odds on favourite to take over at Villa Park and one of the front runners to take over at Stamford Bridge although Hiddink is the front runner there. Sam Allardyce has taken a role at Championship outfit West Ham United. Also with Carl Curtis claiming that the club has gave up on Martin O'Neill due to financial blocks, fans have started focusing on two main candidates. These are Chris Hughton and Roberto Di Matteo. Lets start with the former.

Chris Hughton

Chris Hughton was an English born Republic Of Ireland full back. He has 53 caps for his country. Chris is currently unemployed and is 52. His only managerial experience is at Newcastle United when he led them to Championship glory at the first time of asking and was leading them to a midtable finish in the PL before being harshly sacked.

Even though he was a success in Toon many City fans do not want a man in charge with so little experience. However what people may not know is his extensive knowledge in coaching. He has been assistant manager for 12 years. Ten of those were assistant at Tottenham Hotspur, helping ten different managers along the way. Most recently Martin Jol.

He also worked as assistant for his country for two years from 2003-2005. Then came his managerial chance, given first team duties after the club could not agree terms with Alan Shearer due to the King of Jokers, Mike Ashley. After a string of impressive results he was given a permanent deal.

'He got a premiership squad promoted. So what?'. Good question. However those who work will know, you can be the best at your job but if your head is not right you are not going to get the job done. Maybe thats the reason City have failed in the past?. Newcastle were a huge club, but relegated and in serious danger of debt. Mike Ashley was trying to tell St James Park, Players and the club. Fans were turning on the club and it was a real terror time up North. Pre season Newcastle's first team were battered 6-1 by Leyton Orient to further worsen the matters. Heads could have dropped but no, they went on to winning the Coca Cola Championship with a staggering 102 points.

He was then sacked Christmas time when Newcastle were 11th being replaced by Alan Pardew. He has a huge about of tactical knowledge and superb man management skills. Something City definitely need. Toon fans were so angry that they held a protest outside St James Park against Mike Ashley and in favour of Chris Hughton.

Chris Hughton also believes in the youth and will make a mix of experienced first team players and academy players something we severely lacked under the Jones reign. Hopefully if he does take charge then the likes of Wildig, Alex Evans, Nathaniel Jarvis and Ibrahim Farah get a decent run in our team. Or at least a bench appearance.

Roberto Di Matteo

Roberto Di Matteo is an Swiss born Italian midfielder who played for 5 clubs, the main two being Lazio and Chelsea. Like Hughton, Di Matteo is currently unemployed following his departure from West Brom. He is 41 years old. He completed his coaching badges whilst playing for The Blues in West London and was handed a crack at management at MK Dons when Paul Ince left. He impressed in his first season and guided them to a 3rd place finish before losing the Play Offs on penalties to eventual winners Scunthorpe.

That summer he was snapped up by West Brom following the departure of Tony Mowbray. Same as with Newcastle, WBA were widely tipped to go back up being a 'yoyo club'. Bounced back is what they did and they got 2nd place and automatically got promoted. Di Matteo saw his side humiliated at his once castle Stamford Bridge 6-0 on the opening day of the season, however a rise straight away and a victory over Arsenal at the Emirates and a draw against Manchester United.

However poor form after Christmas resulted in the board sacking him with The Baggies in 15th place. Fans were upset but not angered like Newcastle as Di Matteo played attacking and attractive football even if the defence was lacklustre. His mentality was 'We'll score more than you'. Although it hardly paid off mind.

Verdict

Chris Hughton for me. Attacking football, gifted tactician and superb man management skills give him the edge on Di Matteo on. However these two are really similar and both would be good choices and whoever gets the nod i'm sure I will be a happy bluebird. So, Who do you want?

Before and After? or Spot the difference?

Well. That is that then. 2010/11 All over.

2011-05-31T13:03:00.007+01:00

Yesterday signalled the end of club football for the 2010/2011 season and also signalled the end of an era, Dave Jones has left the building. Glad? I am. Looking back to August it is quite surreal what has happened in the space of about ten months. We had Bothroyd, Whittingham, Chopra and Olofinjana. We also had 'The King and The Messiah' in On Loan Wigan Athletic player Jason Koumas. We were all set for promotion!.

On the 7th August, me and my father were building a house from another family member. I remember being in the garden carrying bags of sand in. The news came through on the radio that Cardiff had signed Jason for the season. GREAT!. Jason on his first term in the capital was a huge success and for him to repeat that seemed inevitable. After all he was a City Legend. On the same day it was the first game of the season. Swansea were away to Hull. A John Bostack wondergoal helped The Tigers to a 2-0 victory over The Jacks. Stupidly I already started believing, Started believing that 2010/11 would be our year!. Imagine if I was excited then how much I was more so when SSN reported that Bellamy had signed and was in The Vale Hotel training with our boys!.

How wrong could I and so many others be?. Ten Months later, I am sitting here watching Alan Tate holding the Play Off Trophy and 40,000 Jacks singing Hymns and Arias and Wembley. However life is too short to be bitter and a very well done to Brendan Rogers and his men and to all at Swansea City for what is a superb achievement. They did what we have failed at so many times. Perform at crunch times.

So will you look upon 10/11 as a good year for yourself? Will it be remembered for Swansea going up? Will it be the year you remember for Dave Jones sacking? Will it be remembered for the buzz of Bellamy?

I personally want to forget this season. Yes we had many good times. For example, The transfer windows. JK, CB and in January we were being linked with a move for Shay Given. Although that was more Messageboard gossip than actual talks. Games that stick out for the positives are, Leeds, Doncaster, Pompey and Swansea away. Pompey, Doncaster, Millwall and Leeds at home. But do the lows outweigh the highs? of course they do. This season has been a failure. A failure to get a club with the players mentioned promoted has to be looked at in a catastrophic sense. And for what, many people would never have forgiven Jones. He and the players have thrown our best chance of promotion yet out the window and by doing that handed promotion to our arch rivals down west.

So who will replace the Scouser? Favourites are Martin O'Neill and Craig Bellamy. These are two people who I do not want in charge!. Martin O'Neill did well at Villa. So why no?. Well Martin O'Neill threw millions at Villa and got them to a certain point. Are Cardiff in the position to again throw money at promotion? How many more times can we do that?. Craig Bellamy is a top class player and is still one of the best players in Britain. I would much rather have him running down the wing scaring the hell out of right backs, than screaming at someone on the touchline. He has no managerial experience. So we pay him a huge wage (which we would have to) and risk him being a flop in his first job which is likely?. We need to learn our lesson and recognise we are not going up if we throw money at star players. Swansea man for man are a poor team compared with us. But they are a team. We, last season were simply individuals.

I honestly do not know who I would like to have the job. Chris Hughton and and Di Matteo have been mentioned. What have these two done? They took their respective clubs, Newcastle and West Brom back up to the championship. Was it much of a challenge?. Was it hard to get a team with the likes of, Harper, Liverpool Striker Andy Carroll, Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan out of The Championship? Same goes for West Brom.

So yesterday started off great for the majority of City fans with the news that Dave had gone but got worse as the day went on with Swansea getting the title of 'The First Welsh Side In The Premier League'. However today has seen some more good news for City fans. Dato Chan Tien Ghee and Vincent Tan have pledged their future to the club and shown their aims for the 2011/2012 season.

"Tan Sri Vincent Tan and Chairman Dato Chan have also confirmed that they will continue to support the Club with the stated aim of once again challenging for promotion."

Finally, the argument that Sam Hammam is going to come back can now be put to bed and everyone can get behind the Malaysians as the club start from scratch and to hopefully join Swansea City in the PL in around a year from now. The statement also says that Cardiff City have made huge progress in talks with major creditor PMG. This is excellent news in a time that Cardiff fans desperately need it.

So that is the end of another season. Buts its over now. No football for two months so no more frustrations and no more anger towards Dave Jones. Roll on the announcement of the new manager so the buzz starts all over again! regardless of what league the Jacks are in. Be assured however that next season is going to be just as dramatic as the season just gone. But would we have it any other way?. Well Done Swansea City and Thank you to Dave Jones for taking us to the best standings in our recent history and for what you have set us up with.

Thanks For Reading

50 Year Swing

2011-05-24T17:30:00.004+01:00

Cast your mind back to say when you were 17. Who was the most paid player in the world of Football at that time?. People who knew football in the sixties would remember that the law stated that a club could pay a player £20 a week at a maximum! Players were delighted when they won or had drew a game as this resulted in them getting £2 or £1 more. Once May came, Even the most talented players in the world like Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano and Welsh legend John Charles had to find work to keep their family secure during the off season. During the months between May and August, Clubs paid their players at a maximum half of the wages they were on during the season. Imagine seeing one of the best players on the planet come next to you and start working in a dusty factory before jetting off to play at The Bernabau two months later?

Ofcourse now even if clubs paid half of the wages during the summer it would be quite cushy. Imagine being the family of Wayne Rooney. Imagine having half of his wages, You'd be gutted. You'd feel that way until you realised that even though its half of what he usually earns, He is still going to bring home what....125k a week? What a hardship eh?

Partly to blame for this is Wales. Yes that is what you read. WALES!. Critical of the Football League's law about the summer wage, former Wrexham manager and then secretary got together with Jimmy Hill and fought the Courts. And won!. Ofcourse this was a great victory for footballers then but it changed the financial side of football forever. Was it Cliff and Jimmys plan to get footballers a nice yearly consistent salary? Yes. Did they want footballers to become super-rich and distanced from reality? No. However sadly, the latter has occurred.

Footballers like Ryan Giggs are fooling around and using their status and money against the the media to save the story coming out and damaging their image. How distant from reality is that?!. Imagine what they would have thought if they saw, Messi, Yaya Toure and Wayne Rooney on at least 250k a week?. If it has gone from £20 to £200,000 in 50 years? What are the next 50 years going to bring? I'll let you work that one out.

If these wages go up in the ascend they are in at the moment then there is only one club who will ever be able to afford the very best players in football and that is Manchester City. Can Barcelona or Madrid afford to spend £150m a year on new talent and wages? No. Certainly not. Barcelona are a fan running club. Yes they pay Messi 250k a week but they never spend vast amounts of money on individuals. Their success is the academy. Its quite staggering to think that, Valdes, Puyol, Pique, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Bojan, Pedro, Busquets all came through as a team since the age of 13. You can see why they get the success and Manchester City will not.

A wage cap will have to be brought in pretty soon. Imagine watching a champions league game where all of the best players in world football are playing in the blue of Manchester City?.

At the start of the 1960s footballers wages were poor, 50 years later the wages are incredible and insulting to people who work a lot more hours, in poor jobs to get a lot less. When are the Government and FIFA going to say right enough is enough. A wage cap would ensure that these things happen:

Reduces in wages
Reduces in money paid out my clubs
cheaper ticket prices and matchdays for fans
more money for development of youngsters
better fan-player-club relationship
more of a level playing field

So how long do you think until something is done with wages?

I shall leave you with a staggering quote which really drives the point home regarding finance in football. Or should I say the lack of finance in football?

"The 10 most indebted clubs in European soccer collectively owe $5.74 billion between them."

Cardiff City Stadium Review

2011-05-21T15:34:00.004+01:00

Below is a link to a website that reviews grounds of all sports across the globe! They have done one for Our Cardiff City Stadium and why not help them out and write your own review and show everyone how much an enjoyable place Cardiff City Stadium is to enjoy Sport and a day out.

Here is the link

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/cardiff-city-stadium-s907/

Thanks

A Call To Arms

2011-04-15T15:53:00.003+01:00

Listen here now Bluebirds! Tomorrow is the day! Tomorrow is the day that we forget ALL results!, All agendas and All heartbreak suffered before this day! No matter how much you want to kill Dave Jones or how much you get annoyed at players forget it for tomorrow!

We are all Cardiff! We are all from the same area or have roots in South Wales so lets get behind the lads and be the one voice coming from every corner of the Stadium! From the Canton to the Grange end let it Roaaaar as the song goes! Make the Pompey fans go back to the south coast saying "F**king hell those Cardiff fans are loud!". Lets get the players know the fact that WE the fans are behind them and believe they can win every single game remaining and get promotion to the Premiership! People think Portsmouth have extremely loud fans well lets show everyone that Cardiff and South Wales can be twice as loud! Lets rock the ground for as long as a ball is being kicked.

Forget the Play Off Final, The FA Cup final! Forget any defeat we have suffered as it has gone! We have 5 games to win and thoughts of bad results should not stand in our way! Forget Wembley, forget the pain we suffered coming home on the M4 because as I write this we are 5 games from playing Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea etc! Cardiff City are within a taste of PL glory and would you have thought that would happen in your lifetime?

Remember that night when it seemed we were minutes away from ceasing to exist? Everyone including Cardiff fans predicted the end of Cardiff City FC. This would leave South Wales with only 2 clubs in Swansea and Newport? Would you follow one of them or would you stop football all together? Thankfully that choice was never made as City survived and the club and fans proved the doubters wrong!

Remember when people said that we would fail miserably this year with too many loan players and not enough core to the squad? Well here we are 5 wins to go and 2nd in the table!

Remember the never ending court cases and financial problems under Hammam and Ridsdale? Remember the golden ticket fiasco? We were the laughing stock of football in Britain. But yet how many teams would love to be us now? How many fans would love to watch, Bellamy, Bothroyd, JET, Burke, Whittingham, Chopra, Olofinjana etc week in week out and be 5 games off the Premier League! I should imagine quite a few.

A lot of our own fans said that even this season that Jones' men had no guts, no bottle and no desire to get promoted! Yet when asked our team has produced an enormous amount of bottle! Just last week I was stood at the Keepmoat Stadium where we conceded in the 78th minute. Truth be told the City fans gave up and predicted a winner for Doncaster but did the team give up? No. They forced the play and won a free kick which Koumas showed class but more importantly bottle. He stepped up after hardly kicking a ball in 2 years for the most important time in our season! AND BY GOD DID IT PAY OFF! We then had to go to a fiery Swansea City! Where their fans were riled up for a first double in the derby but upstepped Craig Bellamy who is a born winner with a superb strike and Cardiff go home with an extra 3 points! WE HAVE BOTTLE.

I know Dave Jones sometimes makes mistakes in matches but yet we are all human? We moan that he cannot see that Naylor is slower than 400 year old woman but yet we are 5 games off the premiership on the back of 3 trips to Wembley in 3 years! Now is not the time for "I told you so" or "Should have listened to me". It is time to get behind Dave Jones and get behind OUR TEAM. We are all Cardiff. The players are Cardiff boys so be the 12th man! Fred Keenor, Perry, Dwyer, Friday would be proud of all of Cardiff City FC at the moment! Its time to show the passion for Cardiff like Fred did before the 1927 cup final!

So here we are, Our 21st home game of the league season and the first of our 5 game mini-season. A shot at glory and a shot at history awaits for Cardiff and South Wales! We have done well to get us into this position and now its time to push our lads over the last few hurdles and then the dream is complete!

The Cardiff Blue Army! The B*stards from South Wales or 'Sheep Shaggers' as we are known are on the verge of proving everyone wrong and tomorrow is when it starts! Lets go into the Pompey boys with no fear, heart and bottle and with that we will not go far wrong! I want everyone of you to sing until your voice goes completely! Jump until you can no longer stand! Clap until your hand feels like sandpaper!

City fans this is a call to arms

COME ON CITY

BLUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEBIRDS!

We Miss Out. Again.

2011-03-05T20:49:00.016Z

An on loan midfielder settled a vital game in South Wales this evening, Sadly for Cardiff fans it was not Craig Bellamy but instead on loan Hull midfielder Jimmy Bullard. Bullard struck a superb effort midway through the second half and hit a free kick which deflected into the net for the tractor boys.

Cardiff came into the game on a 8 game unbeaten streak whilst Ipswich were looking for a remarkable 5th straight victory against the Bluebirds. This game kicked off at 5:20PM due to the Sky cameras wanting a piece of the action. This gave the squad and fans what should have been a boost when news that Forest and Swansea both lost 1-0 and a top two place for a few days would await City with a win.

With Aaron Ramsey returning to Arsenal and a third return ruled out, City started the game with a rather weak looking midfield. Seyi Olofinjana was missing due to a niggling injury which also ruled him out last week. Also with both keepers out step in Stephen Bywater and Jason Brown. So the starting line up looked like this:

Bywater, McNaughton, Hudson, Keinan, Quinn, Whittingham, McPhail, Emmanuel-Thomas, Bellamy, Bothroyd and Chopra.

City started off like the team they have been recently when they burst straight out of the blocks. When Kevin McNaughton made a tremendous run at the start of the match. 'Super Kev' run from left back all the way to right wing. The ball worked its way to Whittingham who let rip a curled shot which seemed destined for the bottom corner, However a stretching hand from Town' Keeper Marton Fulop held out a hand and tipped the ball away from the goal line. Only for the ball to trickle to Craig Bellamy just to the right of the goal. Bellamy hit the ball goal-wards but failed to score as the ball suffered extreme back spin and failed to go over the line. The Ipswich defenders cleared it off the line.

Soon after, Cardiff fans went innto raptures as Dekel Keinan thought he had scored his first ever Cardiff goal after heading in a Peter Whittingham cross. Unfortunately for Cardiff the effort was ruled out for offside much to the anger of city fans, players and management alike. Replays showed that the goal should have counted.

I deserved starting place for JET was almost rewarded when the Arsenal youngster hit a low drive only to again be met by a save from the tractor boys' keeper. Cardiff were beginning to think whether today was just not meant to be and this was even more echoed when Whittingham struck a free kick against the underside of the bar, bounced on the line and then out. Cardiff were applauded off at Half time, the fans clearly saying we were unlucky not to be winning.

Cardiff resumed their first half display when again Bellamy and JET linked up to produce an effort on goal again for the bluebirds the shot went over and the search for a deadlock breaker went on.

A rare Ipswich town attack almost made City pay when Jason Scotland broke through the midfield then the defence and looked certain to put the ball in the net. However a superbly timed tackle from Dekel Keinan stopped his effort. However the ball then fell to the awaiting young starlet Connor Wickham who was ready to pounce only to be stopped by another first class slide tackle by my player of the season Mark Hudson.

Scotland provided a problem again but was stopped by the solid looking Cardiff defence. However the ball feel to Jimmy Bullard who thundered an effort into the top corner past the debuting Bywater. This goal was worthy of gracing the top leagues in the world and was a sheer wonderstrike from the funny man from midfield.

City went on the hunt for an equaliser and almost had it when Bellamy caught a loose ball and set up Michael Chopra around 15 yards out only for the Geordie striker to blast the ball over.

Game, Set and match Ipswich when Cardiff conceded a free kick 40 yards out. Bullard smashed it against the wall. In doing this the ball took a deflection off McPhails body and sent the ball spiralling into the top corner. Giving the Tractor Boys a 2-0 lead and the game in which really Cardiff were extremely unlucky to lose.

Points of Interest

If you read over that match report again you would realise that I hardly if ever mention Jay Bothroyds name. The reason for that is today he was terrible. His constant moaning and antics on the floor got everyone wound up and not just the fans. On a few occasions our attacks were broken up due to the ball needed to be ousted from the pitch, Or no options due to Jay on the floor. For me, Parkin has to play at Selhurst Park on Tuesday. Hopefully this will give Jay a kick up the rear he needs.

JET. Sadly Jay E Thomas only ever seems to have 1 half of top class football in him. The first half he was amazing at everything. The way he brushes off players is second to none and his speed mixed with control and skill/flare is incredible. Second half he was a shadow of that. If we can get him playing for both halves that he will be a great asset in our run in. He will be a star in the future no doubt about it.

Dave Jones. One of Jones' worst games tactically today. Even though JET was ineffective in the 2nd half, Taking him off with the ability he has towards the end when the defenders are tired is ridiculous. However he still left a very poor Bothroyd on the field. When we were 1-0 down he brought Darcy Blake on at right back. Why?. Then finally at 2-0 down which is pointless and to be honest very stupid he brought Parkin on. Parkin is a great weapon to have for the last 30 minutes as a battering ram. So why bring him on with 4 minutes left and 2-0 down?

Hopefully Jones can get the lads roaring again and we bring home 3 points from East London on Tuesday and maybe then we can have 2nd place ours for a bit. Im still confident of going up but my god do certain players need to get some balls and show some bottle. But we are Cardiff and never do it the hard way.

Onwards and Upwards!

Cardiff Earn Win As Forest And QPR Stalemate

2011-02-13T14:30:00.005Z

Cardiff City managed to hold off a potential banana skin yesterday after a relegation threatened Scunthorpe United visited the capital in the Npower Championship.

With Forest and QPR locking horns the following day, Cardiff had the chance to move up to 2nd with a win and pile the pressure on QPR and Forest ahead of their clash. And that win came when Seyi Olofinjana scored the 85th minute winner to send the City fans home and send the Scunny fans back up the M5 wondering how a vital point escaped their grasp.

Cardiff were coming on the back of unbeaten run of 5 in the league after picking up draws against Norwich and Reading whilst picking up points against in form opponents in Leeds, Watford and more recently Swansea away. 1800 City fans boarded the bus to head to Wales' Second City last Sunday anticipating the 1st league double between the 2 teams in history. However that was not the case as City turned on one of the best performances of recent times and a Craig Bellamy wonder goal saw the bragging rights come to the capital.

So as an average football fan you would think after such a huge win, a home game against a relegation destined Scunthorpe would be ideal and a very convincing win. Not quite. Most of the 21,500 Cardiff crowd reckoned this to be hard fought and maybe see Scunthorpe nicking the game. As Cardiff have proved many times. The big teams we can beat but then struggle against teams we should realistically, hammer them.

Before the game there were injury doubts over McNaughton, Whittingham and Ramsey as well as the debate of whether to play Craig Bellamy or rest him for Burnley and Forest. 3 out of 4 played as Whittingham was sidelined. So a strong team of Heaton, Quinn, Hudson, Keinan, McNaughton, JET, Ramsey, Olofinjana, Bellamy, Bothroyd and Chopra.

Things started bright for the Bluebirds as a flurry of corners came their way. However the delivery of some were way off the mark from Arsenal loanee Jay Emmanuel Thomas. A huge chance came the way to Cardiff around the 7th minute when Cardiff attacking towards the Grange end almost took an early advantage. A revitalised Paul Quinn whipped in a superb ball for Jay Bothroyd only for the England international to head wide.

JET then started to come in to game using his dribbling which in my opinion is his best weapon. Running down the right flank he cut in numerous times to drill shots and each one testing Scunthorpe keeper Josh Lillis.

Cardiff kept plucking away and Jay Bothroyd had two opportunities from free kicks one heading over the bar and into some poor souls head in the Canton stand whilst the other one tested the keeper and Scunthorpe did well to clear.

Patience was the order of the day for all concerned in Cardiff, Players, Management and the fans. Boos at halftime were heard but thankfully the majority of the fans applauded as they could see that Cardiff were on the upper foot and almost getting the breakthrough.

A rather quiet Bellamy made numerous runs down the flank but appeared to lose his close control of the ball. This will be down to the pitch as the ball bobbled everywhere and would hardly move when the captain tried to get a Cardiff move going. On one occasion however Bellamy did manage to sprint down the wing and crossed a teasing effort into the box maybe wishing Bothroyd or some other tall team mate was in the box, But instead the ball fell to 5ft9 striker Michael Chopra. Credit to the super finisher, He got a header way but lacked any power and in safely went into the awaiting hands of Josh Lillis.

Cardiff looked as though they had broken the deadlock when Jay Bothroyd slid the ball past the keeper and an awaiting Jon Parkin slugged the ball home. Bluebirds celebrations were cut short when the linesman flagged for offside. A debate raged on the messageboards due to Bothroyds reaction to Parkin "Stealing his goal" thinking that Parkin not only stole his goal but made it not count as he was offside. However it has been confirmed that Jay was actually offside before he slid the ball past Josh Lillis.

Scunthorpe had a rare opportunity when on loan Forest striker Joe Garner sprinted down the wing and let rip a fine effort to narrowly skim past the post of Tom Heatons goal.

Scunthorpe's defence looked like they would hold out for a vital point for the Irons however when subs Jason Koumas and 'Beast' Jon Parkin worked well together, Cardiff patience and persevering paid off. A returning Jason Koumas crossed a superb ball for the big man upfront who headed it across the goal to an awaiting Seyi Olofinjana to head the ball past the keeper to send the Cardiff fans into raptures.

Olofinjana, The unlikely hero as the defensive midfielder gave City all 3 points to move them into second for at least 22 hours.

Points of Interest

Jay Emmanuel Thomas. When he runs at people he can be really effective. The skill and talent he has for a big man is quite outstanding. Numerous times he ran at the left back, cut inside and unleashed efforts on goal. However the majority of times he would slow the game down and walk around. He has an extraordinary talent but seems to last the cutting edge at the moment.

Credit must go to Dave Jones. The first 11 did not win us that game, The squad did. Subs Jon Parkin, Jason Koumas and Chris Burke gave Cardiff a different angle and something new for the tired Scunthorpe defenders which ended up giving us the win.

Forest have just earned a superb away point at QPR even though being down to 10 men for most of the match. Good news for City fans is that we have earned 2 points on our rivals and stopped their momentum a bit. Now Tuesday is even more vital as we take on Clarke Carlisle's boys at the Cardiff City Stadium. So Cardiff are 6 points behind QPR with a game in hand and we also travel to Nottingham next Saturday. We must be looking at atleast 4 points from those games.

More good news for us ofcourse is that fact that we are carrying a lot of momentum and as we all know what is one of the major factors in trying to get out of this league. The most recent case of course is (I am sorry) is Blackpool whose amazing run helped them get promoted. At least now City can go to Forest on Saturday with them messing key man Majewski suspended after his reckless tackle at Loftus Road.

Onwards and Upwards!

COME ON CITY!

The Changing Face Of Football

2011-02-11T17:54:00.000Z

Today has seen West Ham United given the 'preferred bidder' status which surely means that they will be occupying the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Olympic games in East London. Now the capacity of the OS is 80,000 which will become 60,000 when the hammers move in there. This is however 25,000 seats over the capacity of their current ground Upton Park. Now West Ham are currently bottom of the league and are favourites to go down to the championship. Who is to say that they are not in the Premier League in the time that they move into the new stadium. And even if they were in the top flight would they really sell out or near sell out?.

In London there are many other teams who are in easy access of each other via the underground. Chelsea, Fulham, Arsenal, Spurs, QPR, Millwall are all accessible and may offer better football that West Ham. Will they sell out 60,000 tickets?. Or will it be another flop at the expense of the Taxpayers when West Ham United are playing in a half empty Olympic Stadium, With fans as far back from the pitch as happens when you have an Olympic running track?

West Ham fans are a lively bunch, Full of songs and atmosphere at Upton Park, But will it be the same in their new ground?

The other face of football that is changing is the players and the power they have over their manager and respective clubs. The saying "No person is bigger than this club" is true but not in its entirety. Some examples are:

James Milner demanding a move to Megabucks Manchester City. Shortly after he signed at Eastlands on a £90,000 a week.

Wayne Rooney who is remotely average and has been since the end of last season wanted to leave Manchester United (one of the biggest on earth) but then suddenly wanted to stay. Why was this? Because he was offered £250,000 a week!!!

If people like Sir Alex Ferguson cannot see that this is madness and will eventually make the game go pop then who can? Who will in the footballing world be able to take the players and their agents down? Because if nobody does then this will continue and god knows where it will end. After Andy Carroll and the £35 Million transfer. How long before we see the first player to surpass the £100 Million mark and so on...

Now the fans, Do fans still kick and head every ball? I know I do but I have not known any different. If you are reading this and was a football fan in the 70s and 80s do you still feel the same going to games as you did then? apart from the fact that you're older and are not so mobile!

Football was a sport of the middle class. Nothing beats going to the pub then taking all your mates to stand on a cold and wet windy football terrace watching your team play. Football was where you knew the chairman and he would come in and by you all a drink and talk to you and was a friend of the club. Maybe this still happens, It does in the Lower leagues as it has to otherwise they could not operate. But does it happen from say League 1 up to the Premier League?

Fans are sadly no longer classed as supporters and keep the club going, They are now classed as customers and 'mugs' to see how far we can get pushed for Ticket prices and merchandise etc.

Instead of having just 4 square stands full of terracing and a little concourse where you can just about lift a pint, We now have Casinos and Pubs and restaurants inside grounds! This could bring up the idea of Atmosphere but as far as I am concerned atmosphere stems from the fans and not from metal of the walls of the ground. So blaming materials for a poor atmosphere is rather silly.

Something we should all agree is that the terraces had to be removed after what happened at Hillsborough. 92 lessons were learned that day and hopefully will forever remain. However with this new initiative of 'Safe Standing' coming through could it bring back just part of the football that you grew up with? Would you want to be able to stand freely without Mr Steward Jobsworth telling you to sit down? I know I would.

Football is no longer a free day out. As soon as you get near the stadium you are being watched. CCTV and police offers scattered around make sure of that. Of course there is a part of history that is the reason for this but is it all a bit too much?

Of course, Newer fans love the new match day and so do their children etc. They must love going to a fair before the game then sitting in seats watching and singing whilst eating with a roof keeping them dry! Who wouldn't at that age? But are the older generation to stuck in their ways and are afraid of change? Or has football gone actually completely mental?

Novelist JB Priestley wrote in 1929 about what spending a day at the football was and I think it is a great quote to end this article.

Thanks For Reading!

“all brothers together for an hour and a half … with half of the town and there you were, cheering together, thumping one another on the shoulders, swapping judgements like lord of the earth”

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Why Exactly Are England Failing?

2011-01-09T17:26:00.000Z

As I write this on January 9th 2011 I am filling out membership forms to get my tickets for the great match that will take place on March 26th in Cardiff. Wales vs England in the Euro 2012 qualifier. England are on a roll, Sitting in 2nd place behind Montenegro who have played one more game whilst Wales are occupying last place with 3 losses from 3 games.

Ahead of the game in Millennium Stadium nothing will change in this table. And after the game Wales expect nothing other than a defeat to England whilst the English assume a win in Cardiff is all but done and dusted. After that game, The halfway stage would have come and you would expect England to be top on GD and Wales out of it. And that is how you would expect the table to read when the qualifying campaign ends on the 7th October 2011 ahead of the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

Quite rightly due to this predicted campaign from England, The fans would half expect England to at least get to the Semi final stage of a major tournament but as we saw in

South Africa that is usually not the case. So why?

The first reason is the players. English fans seem to think that every player in the England set up is World Class. I see it as England only have in fact 4 world class players and those are Ashley Cole who is the best left back in the world, The midfield duo of Lampard and Gerrard who have no come to the end of their tenure at the midfield of England. And Wayne Rooney, On form this man can walk into 99% of the worlds teams the exception maybe Barcelona. However something is not right with Wayne at the moment and has underperformed ever since the start of the world cup.

Another reason is the wages and the false assumption that the Prem

iership is the best league in the world. The best 2 players in the world, Ronaldo and Messi are currently playing in La Liga. Who also have the best manager in the world and the best team. Spain who won the World cup had nearly all their players in the La Liga which shows the quality of that league.

One of the better debates is the fact that England are the only major European footballing country who do not have a few weeks off in Winter. With 38 league games, 4-5 FA Cup games, 6-7 Carling cup games and around 10 Champions league games it is very hard on the legs. Players in La Liga, Seria A etc have a few weeks off which allows them rest for the next period of club football before feeling refreshed ready for the international tournament in the June/July. England fans reacted very angrily when German Legend said that the English players looked 'Tired and Jaded'. German players have significantly less games that the English season and that shows. The German FA have set their season up so that it benefits the national team of Germany. Which is why the young inexperienced team of Germany humiliated England in the last 16.

The infrastructure of the English game is very wrong. To watch one of the biggest clubs in Germany Borussia Dortmund it would cost you 10 Euro which is around £8. Dortmund finished 5th. So to watch a game of top class football is £8 where as in England, 5th placed Manchester City is around £30. The average attendance of the German league was 40,000+ whilst the English was around 35,000.

It appears that it is not just the football that England are falling behind on. It stems from the owners of the clubs and then the knock on effect begins and until this circle stops England will not get close to winning a major tournament.

But then again Wales will never qualify...........

5 in 5. The Bluebirds Fly On

2010-10-30T20:09:00.000+01:00

Cardiff City went top of the Npower Champoionship this afternoon making it 5 wins out of their last 5 after beating Norwich City who are no pushovers quite easily. Goals from Jay Bothroyd, Michael Chopra and Peter Whittingham saw off The Canaries whose scorer was Wes Hoolahan.

A sell out Cardiff City Stadium anticipated a tough, Hard fought game, However it was quite the opposite. City showed why they are one of the best by steaming out of the blocks. This was rewarded on 9 minutes when a Whittingham corner was headed by Gabor Gypses onto the head of Jay Bothroyd who directed it goalwards from around 3 yards.

City fans did not have the chance to sit down and take a breather as a superb flick from Player of the season so far Jay, Fed Chopra who ran on and showed in my eyes why he is the best finisher in this league. Chopra and the confidence and the technique to slot the ball past a helpless Ruddy.

Norwich started to threaten and had the ball in the net when the huge presence of skipper Grant Hold struck from close range. However this was deemed unfair after a push on Gypses. Good blocks from City's defence prevented the quick, Skilful striker Simeon Jackson and Andrew Crofts from finding the equaliser.

However City's defence were finally caught when Lappin sprinted down the wing and crossed in a teasing ball. Hoolahan was brave enough to run in and slot the ball home with a close range header. So close range that he in fact had his head smashed in from a boot making him roll around in agony Making the entire Canton stand see the light of a bad moment.

Norwich fans were still celebrating when the referee judged a handball inside the box and gave The Bluebirds a penalty. Peter Whittingham who missed his first two penalties this season, Slotted home to the bottom right to send Cardiff into a 3-1 lead at the interval. Cue chants of "You're not singing anymore, You're not singing anymore"

City started the second half with the same tenacity as the first, But efforts from Burke and Bellamy brought comfortable saves from Ruddy. However Jay Bothroyd struck a superstrike only to be denied by the bar. Also Olofinjana hit the bar in the last few minutes.

For a scoreless second half, It was entertaining as tackles flew in from every direction as City looked to slow the game down. The worst one being a tackle on Chopra, However I feel this did look worse than it was. A 50/50 ball was won by Chopra but unfortunately, he and his Norwich counterpart were travelling at such a speed that if there was contact one of them would be in the air. And that was Chopra as his leg was caught and he was sent 4 foot in the air, Done a flip and landed on his back. This rightly was deemed a yellow.

However the ref was given abuse from the City fans when Jay Bothroyd seem to make his first foul and one which was not that bad. A light shoulder barge brought the book out and yellow was shown. Meaning that CCFC are without their main man for the huge South Wales Derby vs Swansea next week. However this was softened when the news broke that Darren Pratley was ruled out due to the same number of Cards,

Full time and a comfortable win for City who are now leading the way and 2 points infront of QPR who we play at the end of next month. Bellamy seems to holding up and all is appearing well down Leckwith.

Ratings

Tom Heaton Another solid game from Tom. Decent saves and commands well with the back 4. 7

Kevin McNaughton One of Kevs better games today, Did get caught but good challenges and his attacking game was pure awesome today. 8

Mark Hudson Biggest improver from last season. Did some excellent last ditch tackles today but tends to switch off leaving quick players able to get yards ahead before he reacts. 7

Gabor Gypses Played well today, Excellent defending and did well to set up Jay for the first. 7

Lee Naylor Some good link up play with Bellamy, but gets caught too many times and will get punished over the season. However he was battered black and blue today. 6

Chris Burke Great performance. Great play with Kev, Dribbling is excellent and nearly found Jay a few times. 8

Peter Whittingham Calm for the penalty but a quiet game from the playmaker who tended to sit back today. 7

Seyi Olofinjana Not his best game, Tries to walk his way out instead of getting rid. Strolled around midfield and got caught most of the time but was unlucky not to score. 6

Craig Bellamy Never a below par performance with this man. Good game, Utterly superb passing and what he does for the team is outstanding. 7

Michael Chopra Great Finish for the goal and his movement created a lot of chances. Did well to get back to his best after the tackle. 8

Jay Bothroyd Without doubt City's main weapon. His height, Speed, Strength and skill is rarely found in the same person. But Jay is a class act. Never a booking so will be missed next week. Unlucky not to get more goals. 8

What next for Cardiff? We have a hard game next week. Derby's go on much more than players, We, the fans have to create a hell-ish atmosphere for the players and fans of the Jacks. A win there and I can see us staying unbeaten until QPR where the real test of character and skill will come.

Also a big thanks and well done to The Stand whose song I'll Be There has raised a lot of Money for the Statue of Fred Keenor. Their hard work has given City fans some much deserved credit. They have brought a very proud song of South Wales nationwide, All for a good cause.

Well Done Lads

Thanks for Reading

Leeds Fortress? Not quite

2010-10-26T14:51:00.000+01:00

Cardiff produced their best performance of the season last night to hammer Leeds United in their "Fortress" Elland Road. A defensive error, An offside goal and 2 stunning goals of first class quality paved the way for City to draw level on points with QPR.

Around 1200 nutters made the long trek up North for this one which is brilliant support for a half bubble, Monday night game and added to fact it was on Sky. And the numbers showed when the noise from the away end was deafening for all fans across Britain t0 hear on their TV sets. a truly fantastic evening for the supporters who were a credit to the club, Cardiff and Wales. Sadly however only 19,000 Leeds fans came to witness the quality we had on display, Which is disappointing for a club of their size and for the importance of this game to fans. They had good reason to however as the cheapest ticket was around £30. For a Monday night game on Sky this is shocking marketing and sad to see.

The game itself started off quite even, Some long range shots flying all over the place and a few sparks of what may come from Cardiff. However Howson and Bruce went close but Bruce was going to turn from almost being a Leeds hero to villain in a matter of minutes.

With all the attacking options we have with Bellamy, Chopra, Jay, Olofinjana, Burke, Whittingham and McPhail and Koumas on the bench, The assist came from a certain Tom Heaton as he punted the ball up field to nowhere. However Alex Bruce left it for Kasper Schmeical which confused the keeper which then resulted in the ball travelling through his legs leaving a delighted Jay Bothroyd to slot home in the empty net. Not good defending from the Sons of Manchester United Greats, Peter Schmeical and Steve Bruce who was watching from the stands along with Brendan Rogers and Gary Speed.

Leeds had chances to level but nothing came of them. Bellamy has a volley blocked as did Jay as City heaped on the pressure leading up to half time. However Leeds did have a case to complain as Jay Bothroyd lost the ball and then dived in on Becchio. If Becchio rolled around as the Premier League players do then I would think Jay would have been sent off. However credit to Him and all the Leeds players for not swarming the Ref for a red or even a booking.

The second half and Gabor jumped superbly to head into the net only for it to be cleared off the line. However this showed what was to come in the space of 9 minutes which would kill the game off for United.

Mark Hudson made a superb tackle and the follow through of that tackle luckily found Chopra in acres of space and maybe offside but Hey Ho. He then slid the ball past ex Bluebird Kasper similar to his goal against Blackpool at Wembley in May (Sorry)

Less than 5 minutes later, Bothroyd held the ball up on the edge of the centre circle, Burke sprinted down the wing which Jay spotted and played a soft accurate pass in which he could run onto. Burkey then played a lovely ball back into Jays path as he was striving to get into the box something Jay would not have done at previous clubs. The pass was weighted perfectly as Jay met it with ease and to side foot it past Kasper and sent the Bluebirds fans into ecstatics behind the far corner.

Jay was involved again as he tumbled just outside the box on the dead ball line, However he played a ball to Bellamy on the touchline in which Craig stopped and waited what seemed for 30 seconds before doing a series of dummies. However he played the ball to an awaiting Lee Naylor who then smashed a 30 yard strike straight into the bottom corner to end the game as a contest with 30 minutes to play.

Heaton 6 - Few good saves but did nothing major as was not needed

McNaughton 6 - Quiet game for SuperKev, No major errors and defended solidly

Hudson 7 - Defended excellently and luckily picked out a superb ball for Chopra.

Gypses 7 - Went close with a fantastic header and defended well throughout

Naylor 8 - Same as the back 5 defended well and scored an awesome goal to round off a much improved game from the left back.

Whittingham 6 Quiet game did not make much happen but again no errors

Olofinjana 7 - Another solid display from the main man. Tackles everything and is a real asset to CCFC

Burke 7 - Great ball and run for Jays second and did this throughout as his trickery is very good 99% of the time

Bellamy 8 - His vision is what is great about this man. He can see something before anyone else and can do it within seconds. Some amazing passes and runs and unlucky not to score. Also a lovely bit of showboating to wind the Leeds fans up a bit more.

Chopra 6 Great finish and runs but did not do a lot aside from that

Bothroyd 9 Great desire to chase the ball down for the first forcing the mistake and a fantastic second goal. Also his defensive game is superb right now.

For CCFC, Two very hard games against Norwich and Swansea, being both at home we should be aiming for 6 points. This will make us at least 9 points clear of 3rd. Now we have caught QPR and by hammering Leeds away it sends a message to the rest of the League that we have the best players and hopefully the best desire that we have lacked in recent seasons.

Thanks for reading!

Another Late Show At The Ricoh and Vincent Tan On The Move

2010-10-20T19:55:00.000+01:00

Jay Bothroyd sealed a vital away win for Cardiff last night at Coventry City. This, The start of a very good 24 hours in the land of Cardiff City FC.

First to Tuesday. 1299 Fans made their way from South Wales for this one. Awesome support for a night game in the Midlands. The Bluebirds flying high in second place started the game very lively. This was shown when Michael Chopra who is already showing what we missed when he is out, Was fouled inside the box. Chopra showing some excellent skill and movement to lure the tackle and foul from Ben Turner. Up stepped Mr Cool Peter Whittingham who has missed the last two penalties but regained his scoring form on Saturday. However he made no mistake this time as Whitts struck the ball home.

This was the game that Craig Bellamy would make a return and make it he did. Making several runs dragging defenders everywhere Craig was showing what £90,000 a week gets you despite 12,700 boos aimed at him and Jay on their return to Coventry.

As you would expect Cardiff pressed on after the goal and maybe should have gone 2 or 3 up after missed chances. Gabor turned Messi-esque to force Westwood into a great save. Whitts and Chopra could have had a goal each as well.

Instead City went it 1-1. A recently galvanised Mark Hudson made an awful mistake in which Gary McSheffrey eased past Kevin McNaughton which is worrying, And hammered the ball into the net giving new City number one no chance.

As the second half kicked off, Clearly Jay was struggling, Late out of the tunnel and in constant communication with Physio Sean Connelly. This showed as City lacked any real goal threat. City started losing the battle in midfield so were not able to get the ball to the super attack of Bellamy, Chopra, Burke, Whitts and Bothroyd. Instead Olofinjana was spending most of the time infront of the back four. Both sides were sloppy in the final third.

However City started pushing on and this was rewarded when Chris Burke finally broke down the wing after cutting inside, Something that he seemed scared to do most of the night. He put a lovely ball in for Jay who then hit the ball in with the outside of his left foot.

Burkey should have added a third as the commentator shouted "BURKE IS STILL GOING, STILL GOING, STILL GOING AND HE IS STILL GOING CHRIS BURKE! Missed."

Full Time and any win away from home is a good one so well done Bluebirds and the travelling Blue Army who gave fantastic support!

So What now for Cardiff. Well we have 3 tricky games ahead. Leeds away next Monday is always going to be a tough one. High Flying Norwich visit the Cardiff City Stadium the Saturday after and then the big one. Swansea home. Swansea are going well holding leaders QPR 0-0 last night resulting in Cardiff going 5 points clear of 3rd and 2 points short of QPR. Cardiff must be aiming for 9 points out of these to overtake QPR but realistically we expect 6-7 points.

That is on-field blog items sorted and now for the off-field.

Today we have learned that TG will not be chairman of CCFC for much longer. Vincent Tan is set to takeover his duties although it is not known when. According to Carl, Tan's son U-Jiun is being lined up as a Chief Executive again it is not known when it will happen or what will happen to TG and Gethin Jenkins.

If you want to read the goings on off the field it is here:

http://www.cardiffcityforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24558

TWITTER - Follow me here

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Thank You For Reading

Nathan

Not a blog entry as such

2010-10-18T19:59:00.000+01:00

Just to let you all know that you can follow me on Twitter Here

And on Facebook Here

And If you have not already been on it, Check out this forum for the latest views and goings on at Cardiff City. Click Here

Cheers

Spiky City Seal Severnside Derby Win

2010-10-16T19:51:00.001+01:00

First of all, This is my first day of looking on this blog never mind posting for nearly two months. Over the season I will offer my thoughts on matches and major news stories of Cardiff.

Anyway back to the main attraction.

Cardiff City cut the gap between themselves and QPR to just four points after sealing a great comeback against rivals Bristol City at Cardiff City Stadium.

Going into this game most City fans were generally predicting a comfortable game for a number of reasons. Bristol were lagging behind the championship lying in 24th place whilst the Bluebirds were flying high in 2nd. In the last 10 matches, Bristol has only managed three goals. Last season Cardiff beat Bristol 3-0 at home and 6-0 away in the league. We played them in the FA Cup, Conceding a last minute goal to City fan Gavin Williams to draw Bristol level. The replay at CCS was won by Cardiff by a goal to nil.

This season has been a bit of a disaster for Bristol City which was not expected. The capture of then Englands number one David James and the appointment of a highly regarded manager in Steve Coppell, Things were looking good for the Robins. Then a ball came in to play. Bristol had one win in 10 coming into the game in the capital of Wales today.

However bad news for Cardiff fans, The game did not start as they would have wanted as on loan Spurs player Steven Caulker headed in from a short free kick, Sending the rather disappointing 600 wurzels into Ecstatics. Even more so when Jon Stead, A city target in the summer converted home from inside the box to give Bristol a 2-0 lead within the first 8 minutes. Disaster. However you could sense that Cardiff had more in the locker than their west country counterparts. People could see that the goals conceded were sloppy defending from set pieces and from open play we could hit them. And hit them we did. A returning Michael Chopra fed a nice pass to Jay Bothroyd who then made a sweet turn to sting home a 12th minute shot past David James into the awaiting net for the 3000th goal in Cardiff's league history. GAME ON!

City pressed throughout the first half with efforts from McPhail, Olofinjana and Hudson went close to giving Cardiff an equaliser.

Half time then Bristol City 2 - 1 Cardiff City

City kicked off and before the latecomers slobbered up the concourse steps Peter Whittingham curled the ball in from 35 yards hoping for a touch, However that touch did not come. But a goal did. The in-swinging ball went through all players including James who did not anticipate a touch-less cross. City fans celebrate as they complete a good comeback, Something that in the past, Cardiff and Dave Jones have often failed.

However only two thirds of the comeback were actually completed. Chris Burke had the easiest of chances to point City in the direction of 3 points but a wonderful save from David James kept him out. The English world cup keeper showing why he was there. Class. However this then resulted in a nasty moment between the Keeper and Bristol Captain Louis Carey, Similar to the events that happened at Nottingham Forest last year when Anthony Gerrard (Now at Hull) and Keeper David Marshall (On the bench) had a spat on the pitch. These are the type of things that can ruin a season.

Carey then fouled Whittingham 20 yards out to give Cardiff a great chance to get the win. Whittingham picked himself up, Dusted himself off then curled a lovely free kick over the wall and into the bottom right hand side of the goal. This free kick was very similar to the one against Sheffield Wednesday last season, Nearly on the exact same spot and the same spot in the goal.

All in all we played very well. The defence shaky from set pieces but I should think this will be worked on over the next week.

Heaton was solid. Made a few good saves. 7

Naylor did okay. No major errors and did some good link up play with Whittingham. The only down side was he did not shoot when he had a great chance to do so. 6

Hudson was one of the best players today. Some outstanding tackles and very important ones as well. One of the best performances from the City captain 8

Gypses was poor today. Few missed tackles and headers but not very often he has these so he should be good for Coventry on tuesday. 4

Kev. His runs and link up play with Burke was outstanding on times however he did leave his defensive ability to be a bit desired today. Trying skill by your own line is risky and almost resulted in a goal. 6

Whittingham. Man of the Match in my eyes. His distribution from flank to flank is second to none. Okay, His first was lucky but the second was a top class finish. Also something different from Peter was his physical side. He ran and tackled anything today and showed real heart, Something fans hardly ever see. 9

McPhail. Okay. Did not stand out really. Decent effort on goal but got caught in possession and failed to win it back. 6

Seyi Olofinjana. Winner of the Man Of The Match award. Proving to be an excellent signings. He wins most headers and his tackling is outstanding. One flaw is that he loses the ball in his monster legs and gets caught but he is there to get it back again. 9

Chris Burke - Some awesome dribbling and link up play. Should have scored if it wasnt for that outstanding save from David James 7

Chopra - Great to have him back. Looked rusty but to be expected. His movement is second to none and so is his vision. The ball for Burke was excellent and a real pain in the arse for defenders. 7

Jay Bothroyd - Classic Jay again. Awesome finish and held the ball up superbly. Also is great defensively from Corners. Looks like he is enjoying his time at CCFC currently. 8

Quick mention to Jason Koumas who looked much sharper than previous occasions when he came on today. Hopefully its a sign of things to come.

For Cardiff, This is going to be a good season but a long one. We are winning at the moment with or without The Messiah (Craig Bellamy). With QPR dropping points it shows they can be catched and we have to get as many points as we can especially at home so lets keep the unbeaten home record intact!

For Bristol, I honestly cannot see them avoiding relegation if they continue to leak goals like that. Not exaggerating but if there was any keeper apart from James it could have been 6-2 today. Attacking they are poor so that leaves them with nothing.

Keep the faith.

" WE RESTED OUR BEST PLAYER AND GAVE YOU A TWO NIL HEAD START. AND YOU STILL FUCKING LOST "

Cardiff City and Bellamy hated. Love it.

2010-08-19T14:13:00.000+01:00

This week has seen the remarkable move by Craig Bellamy from Manchester City for Cardiff City. Bellamy stating that he wants to come home to be with his family and play for his home-town club at "The top of my game".

With this news, Fans have Cardiff have been singing the praises of the Cardiff City board, Dave Jones, Craig Bellamy and Manchester City. This signing has increased Cardiff's already quality squad to a new level. We are now expected to win this division comfortably.

However, For ones fan happiness there is another one out there unhappy. Most of the championship clubs have come out in anger at the fact that Cardiff City came close to going to the wall only a few weeks ago but have now signed one of the Premier Leagues best players last term. All of a sudden National newspapers and football fans from across the UK have become financial experts of Cardiff City. One poster on a forum said "Cardiff should pay their £2.2 Million debt to Motherwell". Despite the fact watching the Motherwell chairman saying 170k many times during his rather funny interview.

On messageboard's, Fans have slated Cardiff, Bellamy, Man City and the football authority prompting the Football League chairman to investigate this loan before registering Craig for the home match against Doncaster on Saturday. Many City fans believe this is anti Welsh and racist. I do not think it is. It is just the Football League having to do something due to the number of lets face it jealous fans. Some of the stuff posted has been shocking. Calls to send us back to the Welsh leagues and out of business just for beating "Scummy Welsh". THAT is racist.

The football league are currently investigating if we can actually afford Craig Bellamy at this football club. There is no confirmation from either Man City, Cardiff or Bellamy of what percentage of wage Cardiff city are paying. However it is rumoured to be around the £15,000-£25,000 mark. Cardiff City have acted quickly and well within the rules to do this deal. Dato Chan Tien Ghee (right) and the rest of the Cardiff City board have done a very clever deal. Since Bellamy signed on Tuesday afternoon the club have rumoured to have sold an extra 500 Season tickets, 4000 shirts and increased the crowd to see his début on Saturday. Also these new ST holders and extra fans for Saturday will buy food and drink etc in the ground. This should produce a very nice sum to pay Bellamy's wages for a considerate amount of time.

In the midst of all the news on Sky, Motherwell chairman John Boyle popped up for a bull blown rant. His sentiments are correct, Cardiff City should have paid his club the £170k we owe them for Paul Quinn last year. But to come on at that time was wrong but clever. By doing this John Boyle got a bit of revenge on Cardiff City. His story angered many fans to complain which is now frustrating Cardiff as the football league have chosen to investigate. Ironically, Mr Boyle was criticising Cardiff for not running a business properly. Coming from a man who was the brains behind airline company Zoom which went bust in 2008. This left many stranded abroad with no way to get home and many people who booked out of pocket. That is not all as Motherwell went into administration and left creditors just 15p in every pound. They made 19 playing staff redundant. Pot Kettle....

Cardiff's debt is currently estimated to be within the region of £15Million -£30 Million. This is peanuts compared to the debt and premier league clubs such as Manchester United who are around £600m in debt but are allowed to buy freely. Palace are on the verge of signing Edgar Davids. Palace were in administration and were minutes away from extinction until a consortium saved them and yet they can freely sign one of the greats who will be on a hefty wage. Media and fans alike seem to be wanting to make an example of CCFC. Most clubs are in debt and would welcome Craig Bellamy to their club. All it is, Is Jealousy and Bitterness that Cardiff have now got Bellamy and are looking the best team and they did it fairly and very cleverly. Cardiff City against the rest of the country? Bring it on.

Stubborn Burton finally beaten by below par Bluebirds

2010-08-16T15:36:00.000+01:00

What a mad mad week for Cardiff City. Starting on Wednesday, Cardiff played against Burton Albion, A Plucky League Two outfit. As a crowd of 6,000 headed to the Cardiff City Stadium, Spirits were high after the recent signings of hero Jason Koumas and Hull's midfielder Seyi Olofinjana.

Things looked like they were getting better as Jay Bothroyd tapped in from a low pass by Peter Whittingham. But this did not last long as Gavin Rae played a stray ball to Gerrard where he failed to control the ball as well as he should have. Burton quickly capitalised and Shaun Harrod placed a lovely chip over City keeper Tom Heaton. As the Brewers fans celebrated, Caardiff fans looked around, Bewildered that a team who came close to reaching the Premiership were playing so badly.

As injuries occurred when Jay Bothroyd and Adam Matthews went off, Things looked Bleak for City. As the second half continued, Fans got more frustrated with the misplaced passes and shots. Burton should have won it at the end. As the ball dropped town it looked an easy tap in, But somehow the player managed to blaze over from about 2 yards. Warning signs for Cardiff.

Extra time began with Cardiff creating a bit more, Gyepes and Chopra going close. However the tie was won when City sub Koumas played a nice ball to Ross McCormack who then finished via the far post. 3 minutes later it was 3-1 Cardiff when a superb solo effort from Ross ended in a lovely placed shot into the bottom Corner.

Burton's League two standard was shown in the fitness levels as Cardiff kept pressing and Burton lacked in the final half. Michael Chopra sealed the tie with a nice finish from a superb ball by Jason Koumas. 4-1 the final score. A score which flattens a Bluebirds side who at times were dire.

Cardiff have been given a 2nd round tie against Peterborough United. The game will be played at London Road.

The last time Cardiff played there was last season as they unbelievably led 4-0 at half time only to throw it away at the last and draw 4-4.

Full Time. Cardiff City 4-1 Burton Albion

Scorers. Bothroyd, McCormack (2), Chopra. Harrod.

Attendance. 6080

City Draw. Satisfied?

2010-08-09T00:02:00.000+01:00

Cardiff City opened their 10/11 NPower Championship season today with the visit of the controversial but challenging Sheffield United. Today we faced a very physical and bullish team. City did well and were unlucky not to come away with 3 points. Chopra's goal ruled a foul but thats football. Regards that Chopra-Ross incident, Chopra was caught in two minds whether to go past the defender or square it to Ross and ultimately it cost us. On another day that would not have happened. Also Simonson made a few decent saves towards the end that a few people would not have got to. City players had to deal with kicks all game no other than Super Kev.

Cardiff Started very nervously in my opinion. Mark Hudson carried on his form from last season looking wobbly on numerous occasions. Gavin Rae again showed us why he is not championship footballer. Scared of going into a tackle and shoot, Cannot dribble and has no vision. However with Koumas, McPhail and Drinkwater I think CM is fine this season. As a corner came in, Marshall flapped as we know and expect and as the ball dropped McNaughton attempted to head it out but hit it against the crossbar. A sign of things to come?

Michael Chopra had a goal disallowed and rightly so to be fair for a push before sliding hope a beautiful return pass from Peter Whittingham.

However with City looking nervous at the back, Sheffield United took the lead on 24 minutes through Welsh youngster Ched Evans. As the few hundred travelling Blades made noise for the first time, City fans wondered if things were going to turn around. They did. A mere 10 minutes after taking the lead, Sheffield Utd were down to ten men after Matthew Lowton made a harsh high tackle on Kevin McNaughton, Enraging the Sheffield players and manager Kevin Blackwell. Cardiff, Revitalised started piling on the pressure but failed to make possession count as they started hitting long shots.

Half Time. Cardiff City 0 - 1 Sheffield United

City came out for the 2nd half, revitalised. Quickly piling the pressure on their Yorkshire opponents and should have equalised when Chopra had Ross McCormack to his left available to slot it and easy goal. But Chopra delayed the pass resulting in United tracking back and regaining the ball. Much to Ross' and 20,000 others displeasure. Resulting in an on field spat between the 2 players. However this was quickly forgotten has Chopra chased as he so often does a hopeful ball and his tenacity paid off as he lured Simonsen out of his goal to calmly take the ball past him. Chopra then squared it to Jay Bothroyd who calmly slotted it past 2 defenders on the line.

United, Using blatant time wasting techniques sat back inviting City on. Fans getting louder, CCFC started pushing for the winner. Great saves prevented McCormack twice, Burke once and a superb effort from Chopra to earn a point for Sheffield.

Full Time. Cardiff City 1 - 1 Sheffield United

Attendance. 20,573

Marshall 6. Some saves but nothing special, Did not have a great deal to do.
Super Kev. 9. Awesome today. Took a heavy tackle or 2 but got on with it. Superb runs and Skill and solid at the back. Well done son.
Hudson. . Lost a few headers, Brought us into danger with a few bad touches and some dodgy marking. We need another CB. Or Gerrard has to play.
Gyepes. 7. Few lat ditch tackles to block goal threats and some decent headers. One alarming back pass but overall good.
Blake. 8. Good defending and some good link up play with Burke. Well Played.
Burke. 7-8. Great dribbling and mixed crosses. But created a few chances with them.
Rae. 5. Scared of a tackle and cannot dribble or shoot. Will not get a game with Drinkwater, Koumas and McPhail.
Drinkwater. 7. Decent youngster. Some good tackles and got stuck in. Played the ball lovely to the strikers and wings. Good prospect.
Whittingham. 7. Superb passing at times. Good link up play with Kev. Lovely runs and dribbles. Handled the switch to CM with ease and set up decent chances.
Chopra. 7. Great awareness and skill to get past the keeper to set Jay up for the goal. Scored but wrongly ruled out. Mistake in not passing to Ross but thats football. Some good runs and decent shots.
Bothroyd.8. One a few flick ons. Showed good strength and took his goal well to squeeze it past the 2 goal line based defenders. Sometimes tries to overdo it by doing little flicks and dummies. Great if it comes off but does not often happen.

Subs:
McCormack. Few decent efforts on goal and dribbles. Unlucky not to get the pass from Chops. And unlucky when the ball just skidded away from him when he was through.
I think we will be ok with Koumas and McPhail and with 2-3 new signings. Hopefully a big ST. Winger and CB. We will be fine and this could be a good season.
Keep the faith

Pre Season Panic

2010-07-26T19:02:00.000+01:00

This man, Is currently got one hell of a job to get Cardiff City Football Club back on a stable financial footing. Dato Chan Tien Ghee and business partner Vincent Tan own roughly 30.46% of Cardiff City. This does not make them the majority shareholders so why do people insist that because they are rich, They should pump millions into the city?.

In the last few weeks new debts have emerged. Debts to Motherwell and Charlton have appeared following the sales of Paul Quinn and Mark Hudson last year. Adding these to the current debts to Langston and the rolling debts of HMRC and Wages, Cardiff City Football Club roughly owe in total to creditors a reportedly £66 Million. Due to the outstanding tax bill and demands from other clubs Cardiff City are now under a Transfer Embargo.

Now, Some fans are assuming because of Vincent Tans wealth that they are just going to throw money at CCFC and turn us into Chelsea. Wrong. These 2 men only owe 30% of Cardiff City. Therefore 70% are other shareholders. None of these shareholders are putting money into the club so should TG and VT?. If they owned 51% then yes fair enough but they do not. These guys did not get rich by taking gambles and CCFC is no gamble. Fans have to be patient as clearing the mess left by Sam Hammam and Peter Ridsdale is going to take time so we need to be patient and trust the Malaysians as these have saved CCFC on more than one occasion, So calling for them to go is out of order and wrong.

Adding to this panic is the fact that Cardiff City have not had a great pre season. Beating Bath 2-0 but losing 3-0 in Portugal which many believe was a pointless trip. Also losing 2-1 to Notts County. Again it is a case of panic over nothing. People are commenting "Relegation beckons" etc. How?. We still have the same starting 11 last year that got us to Wembley. Albeit without Joe Ledley but was he really that great last year? We have signed a good player in Daniel Drinkwater and strengthened in the Goalkeeper Department with Tom Heaton from Manchester United. Newcastle lost 6-1 last year to Leyton Orient but walked the league with ease. Fans need to be patient. Bring on Deportivo on Saturday at Cardiff City Stadium then the following sunday bring on the blades and hopefully see City head up automatics or at least lets get to Wembley.

Cmon City!

The Premiership. Where big teams enjoy and smaller teams suffer

2010-07-16T18:54:00.000+01:00

Do not get be wrong. Being a Cardiff City fan I would have loved to have won at Wembley on May 22nd and be preparing for the Premiership and not another season in the championship but things did not happen for whatever reason. But thinking about this subject has made me feel a bit better about that day and how it unfolded.

The latest story on this subject is Manchester City offering Yaya Toure a decent but not world class defensive midfielder a £200,000 a week contract. Now Man Citys fans may think this is great. We can afford to offer these and he is from Barcelona. Wrong. Although he made 74 appearances for Barca. In 3 years that is not muchh considering they play around 50 games a season. Manchester City are offering huge wages to someone who they think will make them the best in the world but forget he came from the best team in the world and did not need him.

Also, How teams such as Barcelona and Manchester Utd can run up debts of over £1 Billion when they have a few million fans world wide, get 76000-95,000 fans week in week out and make millions out of merchandise, tickets and other business ventures is pathetic.

Another problem with Man City is the "If he fails we will just get another one" attitude. Spending tens of millions of pounds on a replacement for a player who cost the same amount. Also the knock on effect of this is going to be terrible. World Class players will be bench ridden as other clubs will not be able to afford their value due to the transfer fee paid and the wages. All this adds to their value.

Enough about players and lets focus on us. The Fans. It was stated in a letter recently that a fan of West Ham United pays £81 for him and his child to go to watch a game at Upton Park. Now this may be acceptable for a team fighting for the title at most, but West Ham were fighting relegation. With that money you can buy tickets for a lot of games for a team in the lower leagues where your money is appreciated by grateful owners and part time footballers. Owners of the big teams are milking money from us. Then spending it on players from abroad ruining the international team. As seen in Englands world cup campaign. With these players the top 4 have a league to themselves while 5-6 teams battle relegation and thhe 7th to 14th positions are terrible. So is the premiership all its cracked upto be?

Football in the top leagues is going to go pop soon and the only thing we can do is introduce a wage cap. The escalating wages means owners are in dire need of money. The only way that money is going to come in is from US. Do I wish Cardiff beat Blackpool? Yes. Do I care as much? No.

Now I have answered one of the biggest questions ever. What team to The Griffins support?

2010-07-14T15:44:00.000+01:00

Correct. CARDIFF!

I am so bored as you can see,

Wales and Euro 2012

2010-07-13T20:12:00.002+01:00

Now that the World Cup is over, The next big thing on the International stage is the European Championships in 2012, This time being hosted by Poland and Ukraine. Once again in South Africa Wales failed to qualify which is hardly a surprise, However with World Class youngsters coming through the next 10-15 years could be great for Welsh football on the International Side of things.

We have:

Gareth Bale. A world class Left back or Left wing who was amazing for Tottenham last year and played a pivotal role in securing them Champions League Football in the 2010/2011 season.
Aaron Ramsey. Currently recovering from an horrific leg injury from last season is THE best hope of Welsh Football. Tipped as the next Cesc Fabregas and looks set to fill his boots as he looks certainly to join Barcelona. Aaron was featuring often for the Gunners last term before the injury and looks to be fit for the new season where hopefully he will do once more.
Craig Bellamy. Craig is not young but proved last year at Manchester City that he is World Class and on his day one of the best in the world. Craig is not getting any younger and this surely will be his last qualifying campaign with Wales.
Jack Collison. Another one of our future hopes. Jack a natural CM again is suffering a bad injury and will miss the first batch of qualifiers as he battles to be fit for early 2011. Jack again played well for West Ham prior to his injury.
Joe Ledley. Ex Cardiff City fan favourite now moved to Scottish giants Celtic. On his day Joe can be a great player. However in the last 2 years has failed to show his ability that he can produce. Hopefully he will develop into a top player in Glasgow and put in some great displays for Wales.

In our group (G) there is Wales, England, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Montenegro. With these players above I think Wales are well in with a shout of heading to Poland or Ukraine in the summer of 2012. England who had a diabolical world cup are on the ropes at the moment and this is a great time to play them. I think they will drop points. However with their quality you would think they would qualify. Bulgaria have lost their main man Dimitar Berbatov so Wales should be able to give them a good game. Switzerland impressed in the world cup beating eventual winners Spain 1-0 in their opening game. These will be a thread. Montenegro I must admit, I do not know much about which may be a good thing (hopefully) and Wales may get a win or two. Also with 70,000 Taffys screaming at England in the Millennium Stadium should live our players and intimidate the English. And instead of crowds of 10,000 at an Empty Millennium Stadium with no atmosphere, There will be 3 games shared between Cardiff City Stadium and the Liberty Stadium so this will get the crowds up and provide a good atmosphere.

Cymru Am Byth!

World Cup Final.España vs De Nederland

2010-07-11T18:58:00.000+01:00

So here we have folks, The end of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. Holland vs Spain. Two teams who have never won and Spain who have never got to the final. Holland who have lost 2 finals in successive World Cups 1974 and 1978 with the legend that is Johan Cruyff.

Teams

Netherlands Spain
01 Stekelenburg 1. Casillas Captain
02 Van Der Wiel 2.Pique
03 Heitinga 3. Puyol
04 Mathijsen 4. Capdevilla
05 Van Bronckhorst Captain 5. Ramos
06 Van Bommel 6. Iniesta
08 De Jong 7. Xavi
10 Sneijder 8. Alonso
07 Kuyt 9. Busquets
09 Van Persie 10. Villa
11 Robben 11. Pedro

Odds (Ladbrokes)
Holland 11/4
Draw 12/5
Spain Evens

Prediction: Spain 3-1

Ledley to Celtic? City left out of pocket?

2010-07-07T18:48:00.000+01:00

Reports are suggesting that Cardiff midfielder Joe Ledley has snubbed a contract at Stoke and agreed to join Celtic leaving Cardiff City with zero income at a time where every penny is vital. No disrespect to the SPL but instead of joining a now established EPL team in Stoke and playing the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal he will now be facing Dundee, Kilmarnock and Hamilton. There is no doubting Celtic are a decent sized club that can offer European football but do they usually pass the group stages?. So 3 games in Glasgow and 3 games against European opposition for the whole year. Sorry Joe but the only way you have gone to the "Bhoys" is for the money. Apparently Stoke offered a handsome sum of circa £3,000,000 for an average championship player for most of last 2 seasons. In the last few days CCFC have confirmed that we are under a transfer embargo due to an unpaid tax bill of around £1.3 Million. Who knows what this £3 Million could have done. It would have been used I am sure to pay off this latest debt, hence removing the block on transfers then leaving a further £1.7 Million for players to come in. So not only has Joe made a wrong move in my opinion footballing wise to a championship standard league he has left his home-town "Beloved" club out of pocket at a time of highest need. However this is Joe's life and his decision, Thanks for you memories especially Wembley against Barnsley and the goal against Blackpool.

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Welcome to my blog. Croeso i fy blog.

2010-07-07T18:14:00.000+01:00

Hello. My name is Nathan and over the 2010/2011 season I will be giving my views on the antics of Cardiff City Football Club on and off the field. To keep upto date on CCFC news and views apart from my blog please visit:

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