Normally before a Wales game there is far more hope than expectation amongst the country. In the past we have had players who don't want to play for the nation, players who don't want to risk a big move by getting injured, and a team that doesn't have enough talent to achieve anything. A Wales game used to be a bit of fun, and if we got anything, it was a bonus.
But times have changed. Now we have a squad that is filled with exciting young talent, and every man in the squad wants to make the nation proud. And the country has responded. Never in my lifetime (I'm 11) has there been this amount of belief and expectation before a Wales game. We go into the game against Israel on Saturday with the upmost confidence that we can go there and get something. I feel comfortable in saying that it would be no shock if we went to Haifa and won. That hasn't been said for a while.
Our Team
Anyone who now says that Wales are a one man team is quite frankly living on coo-coo land. Yes, Gareth Bale is still by far the best player in the team, but most of our sqaud now plays for a premier league/championship club at the present time. James Chester, Aaron Ramsey, Ashley Williams, Joe Ledly, Joe Allen, James Collins, Neil Taylor, Sam Vokes... The list is endless. This is a Wales team with an abundance of talent.
But at the moment, we have more than just talent amongst our ranks. Everyone in the squad has proven in the 4 games that we have played so far that they want to be here. I think it showed in the celebrations after the Belgium game that the willingness to work for each other and achieve things together is certainly there.
In previous Wales teams there has not been enough leaders to keep the team ticking when times are tough. That's certainly not a problem this time around. If I could have picked one captain from the premier league to lead my Wales team, Ashley Williams would come pretty high on the list. Maybe he doesn't have the best ability (which isn't entirely true), he's a born leader and carries Wales forward . Gareth Bale could also deputise in the captains role. He leads for the front and his ability cannot be questioned.
The Opposition
Israel come onto this crich game in Group B sitting pretty at the top of the table. I certainly expect a tough test from this game. They don't have many stand-out players, but in the previous 3 games the have played this campaign, they have played some flowing football and have been the surprise package of the group. They have a few familiar faces and will be a very tough test.
My Prediction
I think this will be a very close encounter. I would take a draw in Haifa which would set us up nicely for the rest of the campaign, but u don't think we can afford to play for a draw. If Wales can get the first goal, then the is noting stopping us from claiming all 3 points. Let's hope so!
Thursday 26 March 2015
Saturday 21 March 2015
Convincing at last
Cardiff City at last have given us a convincing win at home. The 2-0 win at home to a very poor Birmingham side was a game I genuinely enjoyed, and recently that hasn't been said by me to often. It's always pleasing to know that you have a cushion heading into the last 10 minutes. I always felt comfortable in the game and knew that Birmingham would find it extremely difficult to mount a comeback.
What happened
Goals from Eoin Doyle and Peter Whittingham ensured that City claimed a home win at last. Cardiff started with good intent but the teams went in at half time level at 0-0. Throughout the game Birmingham offered little attacking threat and they were finally put to the sword with a much needed goal for newboy Eoin Doyle, and a penalty from stalwart Peter Whittingham.
My Verdict
I'm very pleased with how City tried to dominate the game from minute 1. To be honest, it certainly wasn't a thriller, but I definitely thought we had control of the game. In previous months we haven't created enough chances, and when we do, we don't take them. However, today we were clinical and we created a few good openings.
Without showing any dis-respect to Birmingham, they didn't offer much and defended poorly at times. Fabio defended danger man Demari Gray superbly. It was very nice to see striker Eoin Doyle get on the score-sheet for the first time in a bluebirds shirt. He showed some fantastic touches when he came on for Alex Revell and he deserved his goal.
Another thing that we are learning every week is Joe Ralls has to play regularly for us. He has the potential to be a star man in the City side for another 5 years of more. He's so confident on the ball and isn't afraid to put a foot in. He must feature in our plans for the future.
Next game
Next up is a difficult trip to Reading. It's never an easy game but with a strong away following heading to the Majeski Satdium, I can see us continuing our good form with something. Let's hope so!
What happened
Goals from Eoin Doyle and Peter Whittingham ensured that City claimed a home win at last. Cardiff started with good intent but the teams went in at half time level at 0-0. Throughout the game Birmingham offered little attacking threat and they were finally put to the sword with a much needed goal for newboy Eoin Doyle, and a penalty from stalwart Peter Whittingham.
My Verdict
I'm very pleased with how City tried to dominate the game from minute 1. To be honest, it certainly wasn't a thriller, but I definitely thought we had control of the game. In previous months we haven't created enough chances, and when we do, we don't take them. However, today we were clinical and we created a few good openings.
Without showing any dis-respect to Birmingham, they didn't offer much and defended poorly at times. Fabio defended danger man Demari Gray superbly. It was very nice to see striker Eoin Doyle get on the score-sheet for the first time in a bluebirds shirt. He showed some fantastic touches when he came on for Alex Revell and he deserved his goal.
Another thing that we are learning every week is Joe Ralls has to play regularly for us. He has the potential to be a star man in the City side for another 5 years of more. He's so confident on the ball and isn't afraid to put a foot in. He must feature in our plans for the future.
Next game
Next up is a difficult trip to Reading. It's never an easy game but with a strong away following heading to the Majeski Satdium, I can see us continuing our good form with something. Let's hope so!
Wednesday 18 March 2015
Onwards And Upwards
After a week of fantastic results on the pitch for Cardiff city, many people are already tipping them for a good season next year, and under-fire gaffer Russell Slade has earned the belief of a few of the bluebirds faithful. A surprise win at high flying Brentford and a dogged draw with Bournemouth at the Cardiff City Satdium.
What happened?
Andre Gray's goal on the first half an hour against Brentford looked like it would hand city another defeat, but we showed determination, recsiliance and a little not of quality to stun the Londeners and take a 1-2 victory back over the border after goals from Federico Macheda and Alex Revell gave us a much needed away win. It's now 3 times on a row that we have gone away and come back with a fantastic 3 points.
We then followed the own up with a very respectable 1-1 draw against Bournemouth, who were top of the table before the game. We came form behind again and showed determination in a scrappy game, but sometimes we were a tad shaky at the back.
My Verdict
I am extremely pleased with the two score lines that will go down in the books, but the performances and determination in both games really pleased me. It was one of the first times that we haves seen City players giving an extra 10% and willing to graft for the fans and for their team-mates.
I'm starting to warm to Slade, but I struggle to see how fans can instantly think he will deliver huge success next season. People easily forget the fact that for numerous months we have been served up drab performance after drab peorformsnce. I'm not saying that I will never like Slade and I'm not willing to give him a chance, but he must do more to regain my trust and prove that the last few weeks haven't been a fluke.
Next game
Next up is Birmingham at home on Saturday. I went to the away game at Sta Nadrews, and I thought it was a fairly even game, and I expect a similar contest on the weekend. I think the first goal will be crucial- If City can get it then I would hope that they could dominate the game at home. However, I'm not taking Birmingham lightly. They have been brilliant under Gary Rowett. They have been through a bit of a blip but are starting to come out if it and I fully expect a good game from them. Let's hope for another positive result!
What happened?
Andre Gray's goal on the first half an hour against Brentford looked like it would hand city another defeat, but we showed determination, recsiliance and a little not of quality to stun the Londeners and take a 1-2 victory back over the border after goals from Federico Macheda and Alex Revell gave us a much needed away win. It's now 3 times on a row that we have gone away and come back with a fantastic 3 points.
We then followed the own up with a very respectable 1-1 draw against Bournemouth, who were top of the table before the game. We came form behind again and showed determination in a scrappy game, but sometimes we were a tad shaky at the back.
My Verdict
I am extremely pleased with the two score lines that will go down in the books, but the performances and determination in both games really pleased me. It was one of the first times that we haves seen City players giving an extra 10% and willing to graft for the fans and for their team-mates.
I'm starting to warm to Slade, but I struggle to see how fans can instantly think he will deliver huge success next season. People easily forget the fact that for numerous months we have been served up drab performance after drab peorformsnce. I'm not saying that I will never like Slade and I'm not willing to give him a chance, but he must do more to regain my trust and prove that the last few weeks haven't been a fluke.
Next game
Next up is Birmingham at home on Saturday. I went to the away game at Sta Nadrews, and I thought it was a fairly even game, and I expect a similar contest on the weekend. I think the first goal will be crucial- If City can get it then I would hope that they could dominate the game at home. However, I'm not taking Birmingham lightly. They have been brilliant under Gary Rowett. They have been through a bit of a blip but are starting to come out if it and I fully expect a good game from them. Let's hope for another positive result!
Thursday 12 March 2015
Taking Shape
After another thrilling and absorbing two nights of intense champions league action, the knockout stages are starting to take shape and we are one step closer to finding out who will lift the converted trophy in Berlin. Porto, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris-Saint Germain all made it through to the quarter finals after overcoming their opposition.
I think it's non-debatable that the most drama came at the Bernabau Stamford Bridge. On Tuesday night, Real Madrid came into the game with the tie finished in many people's eyes with Madrid comfortably winning the first leg 0-2 at the Veltins Arena. However, German visitors Schalke would not lie down and produced a stunning performance to win the game 3-4 on the night. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and Karim Benzema netted one, but goals from Christian Fuchs, Leroy Sane and a crucial double from Klass Jaan Huntelaar at his old club gave Schalke a memorable win. Despite Real being poor, the visitors should be proud of their performance.
Real, however have big problems. Whenever I see them play they never malfunction as a team, always arguing on the pitch and showing a lack of trust in each other in attack. Gareth Bale has been singled out for critism, but for me the blame lies with the entire team. At the moment they are just a bunch of individuals, and you can't win games with individuals.
Another enthralling game was the clash between Chelsea against PSG, with the latter progressing after extra time. The game had it all. Tension, controversy, goals and passion, but sadly the main talking point of the match was the way the Chelsea players surrounded the referee in an attempt to get Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off, which in the end worked. Chelsea have been accused of gamesmanship by many pundits.
On the pitch, PSG overcame adversity to beat a shambolic Chelsea side with ten men after Thiago Silva scored an incredible header to send the visitors through, winning on away goals. For the most part of the match Chelsea played with ten men, but it seemed like Chelsea were disadvantaged in terms of numbers. They were all at sea at the back and their approach play was far too slow to penetrate.
The other two games had nowhere near as much nail-biting drama, but that was largely down to the two winning sides. Porto blew Basel away in Portugal to ease into the next round with Bayern Munich also dominating with a 7-0 victory over Ukrainian outfit Shaktar Donetsk.
Bayern have to be one of the favourites for the tournament now. They have such quality in their side and their strength in depth is incredible, with their second team perfectly capable of beating any side in this competition. You can never write PSG off, although I really cannot see them making it all the way. Real Madrid must sort out their ever-growing problems if they are too challenge. A team like Barcelona or Bayern would surely punish them if they put in a performance like onTuesday night. I'm making these assumptions believing that Manchester City will get knocked out by Barcelona in the second leg.
I think it's non-debatable that the most drama came at the Bernabau Stamford Bridge. On Tuesday night, Real Madrid came into the game with the tie finished in many people's eyes with Madrid comfortably winning the first leg 0-2 at the Veltins Arena. However, German visitors Schalke would not lie down and produced a stunning performance to win the game 3-4 on the night. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and Karim Benzema netted one, but goals from Christian Fuchs, Leroy Sane and a crucial double from Klass Jaan Huntelaar at his old club gave Schalke a memorable win. Despite Real being poor, the visitors should be proud of their performance.
Real, however have big problems. Whenever I see them play they never malfunction as a team, always arguing on the pitch and showing a lack of trust in each other in attack. Gareth Bale has been singled out for critism, but for me the blame lies with the entire team. At the moment they are just a bunch of individuals, and you can't win games with individuals.
Another enthralling game was the clash between Chelsea against PSG, with the latter progressing after extra time. The game had it all. Tension, controversy, goals and passion, but sadly the main talking point of the match was the way the Chelsea players surrounded the referee in an attempt to get Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off, which in the end worked. Chelsea have been accused of gamesmanship by many pundits.
On the pitch, PSG overcame adversity to beat a shambolic Chelsea side with ten men after Thiago Silva scored an incredible header to send the visitors through, winning on away goals. For the most part of the match Chelsea played with ten men, but it seemed like Chelsea were disadvantaged in terms of numbers. They were all at sea at the back and their approach play was far too slow to penetrate.
The other two games had nowhere near as much nail-biting drama, but that was largely down to the two winning sides. Porto blew Basel away in Portugal to ease into the next round with Bayern Munich also dominating with a 7-0 victory over Ukrainian outfit Shaktar Donetsk.
Bayern have to be one of the favourites for the tournament now. They have such quality in their side and their strength in depth is incredible, with their second team perfectly capable of beating any side in this competition. You can never write PSG off, although I really cannot see them making it all the way. Real Madrid must sort out their ever-growing problems if they are too challenge. A team like Barcelona or Bayern would surely punish them if they put in a performance like onTuesday night. I'm making these assumptions believing that Manchester City will get knocked out by Barcelona in the second leg.
Thursday 5 March 2015
Turning A Corner
Cardiff City's impressive 1-3 win over strugglers Rotherham away from home on Tuesday night was yet more evidence that slowly but surely the bluebirds are turning a corner. Just under 400 city fans made the long journey to the New York Stadium on a bitter cold Tuesday evening and their loyalty was rewarded with Bruno Ecuele Manga, Kiko Macheda and Conor McAleny goals giving city another precious victory on the road, which surely cements our championship safety.
People will say "oh it's only Rotherham away", but you can only beat what is in front of you and if you go to any ground in the league and are 0-3 up within 40 minutes then you will be extremely happy. It's no difference here. I think my eyes nearly feel out of my head when I checked my ipad to see the score. I went on another site just to check the score was actually real when we went 0-3 up.
It's satisfying to finally look back at a city match and be able to say that we thoroughly deserved the win and it was never really in doubt, which I think is certainly the case here. 2 of the goals were fine finishes, especially Macheda's who normally draws a lot of criticism from me and many others. But there I no doubting that his hooked volley to give us a commanding 0-2 lead was one of the best I've seen from a city player all season.
Another man who has also drawn a lot of criticism from me is bluebirds manager Russell Slade, but credit where credit is due, we had a game plan on Tuesday that was masterminded by him and it worked. Yes, new head coach Paul Trollope has been a breath of fresh air, but credit also has to go to Slade for some of the recent results. His style of football is normally frustrating to say the least, but if he can keep results like this up then I will give him more time in the hot seat.
Aside from the tremendous result on Tuesday, another hot topic this week has been the idea of more cost-cutting taking place in the summer transfer window. Now don't get me wrong, I want this club to develop and keep good players, but this season some of our high earners just haven't performed to the levels that we should expect. David Marshall has been solid this year, but his deputy Simon Moore has proved that he could do a fine job if he was to leave. We could make a handy 4 million at least from that sale. Craig Nonne has hardly had one good game for us this season, and with a 2 million offer coming in from Norwich in the last window, more money could be made from that. Peter Whittingham has been another player that has been poor this year, and in Stuart O Keefe, Joe Ralls and Tom Adeyami, we have perfectly capable young talent that could attempt to fill his boots.
Anyway, next up for the bluebirds is a home game against Charlton on Saturday. I think it would be unfair to the lads that did a superb job on Tuesday, so I would like Slade to go with a similar team for this clash. Before the end of the season, I would also like more young players to wear the blue shirt to give them a chance to prove that they have futures.
Before I finish this blog, I would just like to give my well wishes to Swansea City striker Bafetimbi Gomis who suddenly collapsed in a premier league game on Wednesday. We may be huge rivals, but I don't wish to see any players health decreasing on the football pitch. Best wishes Bafe
People will say "oh it's only Rotherham away", but you can only beat what is in front of you and if you go to any ground in the league and are 0-3 up within 40 minutes then you will be extremely happy. It's no difference here. I think my eyes nearly feel out of my head when I checked my ipad to see the score. I went on another site just to check the score was actually real when we went 0-3 up.
It's satisfying to finally look back at a city match and be able to say that we thoroughly deserved the win and it was never really in doubt, which I think is certainly the case here. 2 of the goals were fine finishes, especially Macheda's who normally draws a lot of criticism from me and many others. But there I no doubting that his hooked volley to give us a commanding 0-2 lead was one of the best I've seen from a city player all season.
Another man who has also drawn a lot of criticism from me is bluebirds manager Russell Slade, but credit where credit is due, we had a game plan on Tuesday that was masterminded by him and it worked. Yes, new head coach Paul Trollope has been a breath of fresh air, but credit also has to go to Slade for some of the recent results. His style of football is normally frustrating to say the least, but if he can keep results like this up then I will give him more time in the hot seat.
Aside from the tremendous result on Tuesday, another hot topic this week has been the idea of more cost-cutting taking place in the summer transfer window. Now don't get me wrong, I want this club to develop and keep good players, but this season some of our high earners just haven't performed to the levels that we should expect. David Marshall has been solid this year, but his deputy Simon Moore has proved that he could do a fine job if he was to leave. We could make a handy 4 million at least from that sale. Craig Nonne has hardly had one good game for us this season, and with a 2 million offer coming in from Norwich in the last window, more money could be made from that. Peter Whittingham has been another player that has been poor this year, and in Stuart O Keefe, Joe Ralls and Tom Adeyami, we have perfectly capable young talent that could attempt to fill his boots.
Anyway, next up for the bluebirds is a home game against Charlton on Saturday. I think it would be unfair to the lads that did a superb job on Tuesday, so I would like Slade to go with a similar team for this clash. Before the end of the season, I would also like more young players to wear the blue shirt to give them a chance to prove that they have futures.
Before I finish this blog, I would just like to give my well wishes to Swansea City striker Bafetimbi Gomis who suddenly collapsed in a premier league game on Wednesday. We may be huge rivals, but I don't wish to see any players health decreasing on the football pitch. Best wishes Bafe
Sunday 1 March 2015
Fight but not flair
It was a gritty performance from Cardiff City but they still fell 0-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the sky bet championship. Hopes were high amongst many city fans after the 0-1 win away at Wigan on Tuesday. Personally, I thought we would get something from today but I knew it would be a very tough game against an inform Wolves outfit. And so it was...
What happened
A 26th minute counter attack goal from winger Bakary Sako ensured Wolves remained in contention for promotion with a 0-1 win over the bluebirds. City dominated early on but fell behind to a lightning counter attack after they gave the ball away on the halfway line. The bluebirds fought valiantly for the remainder of the first half but went in at the break a goal down, much to the delight of the 2000 travelling Wolves fans.
In the second half, Peter Whittingham's reckless two yellow cards meant that city played the remaining 30 minutes with 10 men. However, this did not sway them a late flurry of attack produced two goal line clearances but the ball would not go in. Controversial owner Vincent Tan marched round the pitch before the game, and was surprisingly welcomed warmly by the bluebirds faithful. He didn't make it round to my stand.
Russell Slade
The defeat was not anyone's fault, I don't think. In the first 20 minutes we looked a very good side that were perfectly capable of getting something out of Wolves. I had nothing negative to say about our tactics for once. Paul Troloppe seems to have an effect on Slade, and there is a noticeable difference in what the players want to do with the ball at times. We got the ball to the wide areas well and at times our play was nice to watch. I didn't really have a bad thing to say about Slade during the match.
His post-match comments were as intriguing and at times infuriating as ever. He said he was "pleased" with how the game went. Now don't get me wrong, I was not disappointed with the performance, but in my opinion you can never really be pleased after you have lost a game.
My verdict
In my eyes, over the last few weeks city have improved week on week. Today was another decent performance. There was less "hoof-ball" on show (which I put down to Troloppe and Slade), which is something that most of the city faithful have wanted for a few months now. We also retained the ball quite well in the first half. However, until we got desperate in the last 15 minutes we didn't create any clear cut chances that troubled the Wolves keeper. It was shots from outside the box if that at times.
The difference between Wolves and city at them moment is that they had one chance in the first half and they scored. Also, when they had a sustained period of pressure early in the second half, they created chances and looked threatening. Without being disrespectful to Wolves, they did not play well and at times looked an average side. I doubt they will go up and I really thought that we could have got something from them.
Something I always demand from a city team is that they fight till the end, and we certainly did that. It seemed that adversity spurred us on and in the last 10 minutes we certainly looked like scoring. My man of the match was centre back Bruno Ecuele Manga. He had the right balance of solid and composed. If I'm being honest he's too good for us and eally should be playing at a higher level.
The next game
Up next for city is a tricky trip to fellow strugglers Rotherham. Our opponents picked up a vital 2-1 win over Millwall on Saturday, but it was marred by crowd trouble from the travelling fans. They're managed by Steve Evans who who's Rotherham side beat Slades Leyton Orient in the play-off final last season to get to the championship.
The bluebirds will have 400 loyal fans backing them in Yorkshire, and I think we will claim a point in a 1-1 draw.
What happened
A 26th minute counter attack goal from winger Bakary Sako ensured Wolves remained in contention for promotion with a 0-1 win over the bluebirds. City dominated early on but fell behind to a lightning counter attack after they gave the ball away on the halfway line. The bluebirds fought valiantly for the remainder of the first half but went in at the break a goal down, much to the delight of the 2000 travelling Wolves fans.
In the second half, Peter Whittingham's reckless two yellow cards meant that city played the remaining 30 minutes with 10 men. However, this did not sway them a late flurry of attack produced two goal line clearances but the ball would not go in. Controversial owner Vincent Tan marched round the pitch before the game, and was surprisingly welcomed warmly by the bluebirds faithful. He didn't make it round to my stand.
Russell Slade
The defeat was not anyone's fault, I don't think. In the first 20 minutes we looked a very good side that were perfectly capable of getting something out of Wolves. I had nothing negative to say about our tactics for once. Paul Troloppe seems to have an effect on Slade, and there is a noticeable difference in what the players want to do with the ball at times. We got the ball to the wide areas well and at times our play was nice to watch. I didn't really have a bad thing to say about Slade during the match.
His post-match comments were as intriguing and at times infuriating as ever. He said he was "pleased" with how the game went. Now don't get me wrong, I was not disappointed with the performance, but in my opinion you can never really be pleased after you have lost a game.
My verdict
In my eyes, over the last few weeks city have improved week on week. Today was another decent performance. There was less "hoof-ball" on show (which I put down to Troloppe and Slade), which is something that most of the city faithful have wanted for a few months now. We also retained the ball quite well in the first half. However, until we got desperate in the last 15 minutes we didn't create any clear cut chances that troubled the Wolves keeper. It was shots from outside the box if that at times.
The difference between Wolves and city at them moment is that they had one chance in the first half and they scored. Also, when they had a sustained period of pressure early in the second half, they created chances and looked threatening. Without being disrespectful to Wolves, they did not play well and at times looked an average side. I doubt they will go up and I really thought that we could have got something from them.
Something I always demand from a city team is that they fight till the end, and we certainly did that. It seemed that adversity spurred us on and in the last 10 minutes we certainly looked like scoring. My man of the match was centre back Bruno Ecuele Manga. He had the right balance of solid and composed. If I'm being honest he's too good for us and eally should be playing at a higher level.
The next game
Up next for city is a tricky trip to fellow strugglers Rotherham. Our opponents picked up a vital 2-1 win over Millwall on Saturday, but it was marred by crowd trouble from the travelling fans. They're managed by Steve Evans who who's Rotherham side beat Slades Leyton Orient in the play-off final last season to get to the championship.
The bluebirds will have 400 loyal fans backing them in Yorkshire, and I think we will claim a point in a 1-1 draw.
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