Cardiff match thread sponsored by sheep fiddler (c)

[Archie's penalty]

Puts Thames on his foe's list.

[Tamworth_Royal]

Sounds like an excellent game tonight with marked improvement - it's all coming together nicely.

Is that a serious comment? 1st game i could not make in a while and i am kind of glad as i cant stand us losing whether we played well or not!!!


can some one sum up how we played and what i have to look forward to on saturday

Perfectly serious. What's wrong with you people? One more unfortunate reverse in a game we played our best footnball of the season is no cause for undue pessimism. We are improving, the players are getting used to each other. We ain't going up, but things are coming together.

Yea great...... Rother another top post can't wait to May when you quote " still we were too good to go down" A little tip for you ..... football is a results game that's how it works.
RR your one of two things..... either a club offical or just plain dim

[Thames]

Totally agree with you Tamworth

[Kitson12]

Yea great...... Rother another top post can't wait to May when you quote " still we were too good to go down" A little tip for you ..... football is a results game that's how it works.
RR your one of two things..... either a club offical or just plain dim

Cheers Mr Dellor

[Royal With Cheese]

How did Kebe do?

[Muskrat]

I'm happy with the squad. The group is strong. We'll take the positive out the game and move on to the next game. We're a new group playing a new system and it's the beginning of the end of the period after the end of our pre-season.....................

What are you... BR'S PA?

Welcome to the whoosh list...

[bobbybottler]

How did Kebe do?

He was fabulous. No really.

[philM]

How did Kebe do?

Apart from shooting near the end when he should have crossed he did ok. Won quite a few corners and got 3 or 4 decent crosses in. He was on for 10 minutes with only a couple of touches, I think the rest of the team had got used to having nobody out wide on the right and they seemed to forget he was there for a while. Didn't stand on the ball or overhit his second/third touch at all tonight.

[handbags_harris]

We can't blame the players. They're trying thier best but they are just not good enough.

I question Rodgers tactics. I'd love us to play great football, but unless you have one of the best starting XI's in your league - it isn't gonna work!!

Northern Ireland haven't become a half decent side by playing nice football. Rangers didn't reach the UEFA Cup Final the other year with acute one touch passing. If your Starting XI is not as good as the opponents, the odds are extremely slim that you will beat them by playing pass and move football. You need to mix it up, lump it and put some hard tackles in. We're trying to play like we have a team of world beaters.

^^^ THIS ^^^

Hits the nail squarely on the head, with my little addition about both the formation and personnel. Why does Rodgers insist on altering the personnel game by game, as well as insist on altering the formation every 3 games? When will he learn that 4-5-1 doesn't work with the personnel we have, and 4-1-2-1-2 doesn't work either because we're not a world class team who is able to play through the tightest of defences? We were, once again, crying out for width today having played with the diamond, and where did the goal come from tonight? Yep, you guessed it, left wing cross, right winger finish. It is so blatantly obvious that things are not working at the moment and Rodgers needs to press the reset button and go to 4-4-2 with wingers. If that means Kebe, then so be it (he actually did ok when he came on btw). Also, what did Robson-Kanu and Long do wrong?!

It comes to something when a passionate fan such as me doesn't actually feel remotely disappointed we've conceded, instead thinking "great, Burke's in my Fantasy Football team"!!!

[Thames]

Also, what did Robson-Kanu and Long do wrong?!

I think they might have actually tried to shoot instead of passing backwards.

[Tamworth_Royal]

Yea great...... Rother another top post can't wait to May when you quote " still we were too good to go down" A little tip for you ..... football is a results game that's how it works.
RR your one of two things..... either a club offical or just plain dim

Cheers Mr Dellor

Just call me Keith please

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Perfectly serious. What's wrong with you people? One more unfortunate reverse in a game we played our best footnball of the season is no cause for undue pessimism. We are improving, the players are getting used to each other. We ain't going up, but things are coming together.

^^^
What he said

I quite enjoyed that game.
Only downsides were too many lame floated crosses into the box when their defence were all huge, and the whole Hunt-Church thing.

Pretty happy with the play in the middle of the park today. Though Marek had a very good game and he & Howard look to make a very good partnership

[Armadillo Roadkill]

I'm tired of walking away feeling flat, and wondering how much longer I willl enjoy matches. Didn't do that tonight.

If you can't see that was a brilliant game I respectfuly suggest you stop going. Best Reading performance in a year. Scintilating football. Passion,fight, endless determination.

It took a supremely well organised defence and an outstounding perfromance from the man in pink to keep the Bluebirds in it. They're a decent Championship side, and we totally outclassed them.

But we didn't score (states the obvious...). And I'm not worried, depressed or anxious.

If we finish below mid table I will buy a Swindon season ticket as penance (although I won't go; again, stating the obvious).

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Rodgers needs to press the reset button and go to 4-4-2 with wingers. If that means Kebe, then so be it (he actually did ok when he came on btw).

....with the players we've got? (or that were here when BR arrived?.....riiiiiiigggh

Also, what did Robson-Kanu and Long do wrong?!

Do f*ck-all in their starts. HTH

[handbags_harris]

Perfectly serious. What's wrong with you people? One more unfortunate reverse in a game we played our best footnball of the season is no cause for undue pessimism. We are improving, the players are getting used to each other. We ain't going up, but things are coming together.

^^^
What he said

I quite enjoyed that game.
Only downsides were too many lame floated crosses into the box when their defence were all huge, and the whole Hunt-Church thing.

Pretty happy with the play in the middle of the park today. Though Marek had a very good game and he & Howard look to make a very good partnership

It's all well and good playing decent in the middle of the park when, as you willingly admit, you've got fcuk all delivery and fcuk all receiving it up front. Marek was distinctly average once again, always looking for the Hollywood pass. The tone of his game was set with his first pass - straight into the chest of a Cardiff player after 5 seconds.

[philM]

Shame this didn't go in...

[John Madejski's Wallet]

It's all well and good playing decent in the middle of the park when, as you willingly admit, you've got fcuk all delivery and fcuk all receiving it up front. Marek was distinctly average once again, always looking for the Hollywood pass. The tone of his game was set with his first pass - straight into the chest of a Cardiff player after 5 seconds.

Oh behave mate. More attacking and more shots than any previous game.

And aside from hi first 3 passes (which were all cringeworthy) Marek had a great game. Not just the Holywood balls, but some great passng and moving through the middle with Howard.

[handbags_harris]

Rodgers needs to press the reset button and go to 4-4-2 with wingers. If that means Kebe, then so be it (he actually did ok when he came on btw).

....with the players we've got? (or that were here when BR arrived?.....riiiiiiigggh

Yes, with the players we've got. We're not going to use anybody else's players are we?

Also, what did Robson-Kanu and Long do wrong?!

Do f*ck-all in their starts. HTH

Robson-Kanu actually looked the only player capable of creating something out of nothing in his starts. Long, I felt, was the best player when we played one up front. I hardly think they did fcuk all in their starts when IMO they were two of the better players in their games.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Marek linked brilliantly with Howard. His workrate was fantastic for the 95 minutes. First two passes were awful, but after that he was excellent.

[handbags_harris]

It's all well and good playing decent in the middle of the park when, as you willingly admit, you've got fcuk all delivery and fcuk all receiving it up front. Marek was distinctly average once again, always looking for the Hollywood pass. The tone of his game was set with his first pass - straight into the chest of a Cardiff player after 5 seconds.

Oh behave mate. More attacking and more shots than any previous game.

And aside from hi first 3 passes (which were all cringeworthy) Marek had a great game. Not just the Holywood balls, but some great passng and moving through the middle with Howard.

You sound like Gerard Houllier mate. More shots - mostly outside the area because we failed to break down a good Cardiff defence.

Marek flatters to deceive IMO. For a creative player he doesn't create a great deal. It's no use having your creative player twisting and turning in his own right back position trying to get out of defence. It may be my own current STG view currently (I'll mellow overnight probably) but I don't remember much attacking threat going forward from Marek.