We need a DEDICATED striker of experience and quality. As hard as Lowe tries he's not the answer - nowhere near. Ariolla will need time to get up to speed and we don't have it. The more I think of Wilf Bony the more I think he could help. He'd easily fit into the slow-paced game we play and he's still capable of hurting Championship defences - literally at times.Failed totally to capitalise on our first half possession and chances, game should have been put to bed in the first 45.
Poor game management. Too slow to react and unable to anticipate. Too stubborn. Not inovative.He is seemingly blind to everything that is wrong on the pitch.
But he has been lucky, except for these last 2 Saturdays.Poor game management. Too slow to react and unable to anticipate. Too stubborn. Not inovative.
Two or three. And we shouldn't have conceded three.We should have got a goal in the first half.
If "the edge" means automatic promotion places, then my answer is no. We have 15 games left, and to secure automatic promotion we should win 11 of them, which means we can tolerate 4 more defeats, and no draws. Higly unlikely. Had we beaten Bristol I would've been more optimistic.What are your thoughts on the remaining games, can we accumulate enough points to get us over the edge, or are we beginning to see the rot setting in.?
I don't think it's a rot. We played good football against Bristol, but we didn't converted our chances and we got punished for the lack of focus in the second half. In the end the quality of the two goalkeepers decided the game. One of them made some excellent saves, and the other one gave two goals away....are we beginning to see the rot setting in.?
Cardiff have been extremely lucky recently. They have scored many goals from long range shots (a low xG), and opposition gifted them a lot of penalties and goals. Cardiff average 33 % possession no matter whether they play at home or away. But, yes, they are extremely clinical, just like Reading in the beginning of the season. Reading were the league leaders up til late October, and I remember when I said that their results were unsustainable. The same with the current Cardiff's results. Cardiff are neither Norwich nor Brentford.PS: Unlike us, Cardiff are going great guns with another convincing win in thumping Derby tonight 4-0. The way things are going we could meet them in the play-offs and, if present form is a guide, there'd only be one winner I'm sorry to say.
I have tried to explain these things to them on their forum in a nice enough way. But when I tried to log on to their forum earlier a message came up in bold letters 'YOU HAVE BEEN PERMANENTLY BANNED'.@ivoralljack
Against Bristol, our players played exactly 29 minutes in the first half, and 27 in the second. And they had a 15 minutes break at half time. It's not like they are running for 45 minutes in each half. Every throw-in, offside, goal-kick, free-kick, corner-kick, fouls etc. gives the players a mini break. And most of the time they are not sprinting. When we play every three or four days, then we don't have normal training sessions, they are more recovery session.
Woodman, and our back three, whoever they are, don't need any rest for obvious reasons. Defenders don't run as much as midfielders, wing-backs and attackers.
Manning has shown he is a worthy sub for Bidwell, so no problems at the left wing-back position. Hourihane didn't played much for Villa in the first half of the season, so he is now warming up. He is fresh.
Lowe and Dhanda have recently played approx. 70 minutes per game, which means we have Ayew, Grimes and Roberts for whom fatigue could become an issue. All three are fantastic athletes, and frankly, I don't think they want to be rested. But if they show any signs of fatigue we have Fulton, Smith, Arriola, Naughton and Whittaker.
Cardiff have been extremely lucky recently. They have scored many goals from long range shots (a low xG), and opposition gifted them a lot of penalties and goals. Cardiff average 33 % possession no matter whether they play at home or away. But, yes, they are extremely clinical, just like Reading in the beginning of the season. Reading were the league leaders up til late October, and I remember when I said that their results were unsustainable. The same with the current Cardiff's results. Cardiff are neither Norwich nor Brentford.
An example:
Cardiff 4:0 Preston
1. Cardiff awarded a soft penalty and they score.
2. Then in the second half one of the Preston players makes a sloppy backward pass and Cardiff score from counter-attack.
3. Then Preston miss two penalties !!!
4. Then Preston goalkeeper makes an error, Preston defence fall asleep, and Cardiff score.
5. Then one of the Preston defenders makes a sloppy backward pass towards his goalkeeper, and Cardiff score.