This is a big game, possibly the most important of the season so far, (apart from the lu*on game obviously). Saturday will tell us exactly where we are with regards to automatic promotion. Will Cardiff City be the iceberg that fatally holes HMS PissTheLeague? Let’s crack on… Cardiff City History: Founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C., the club changed its name to Cardiff City in 1908 and entered the Southern Football League in 1910 before joining the English Football League in 1920. Cardiff is the only team from outside England to have won the FA Cup, doing so in 1927. They’ve won the Welsh Cup a few times but we’ve won the Herts trophy a few times too which is just as relevant. Apart from a crazy few years Cardiff have played in home colours of blue and white since 1908, from which their nickname "The Bluebirds" derives. Cardiff's first permanent ground was Ninian Park, (for 99 years), until the club moved into the Cardiff City Stadium in 2009. The club's record appearance holder is Billy Hardy, who made 590 appearances in a 20-year playing spell, and their record goal scorer is Len Davies with 179 goals. Recent Kit Madness: We should all know the story behind the red home kit and Vincent Tan, but here’s a quick reminder. Luckily all sense seems to have returned these days. Unexpected Cardiff: Private dining igloos at the Cardiff brewery Billy the Seal A seal called Billy is believed to have been accidentally caught in trawler nets off the Irish coast in 1912 and brought to Cardiff to live at Victoria Park. Billy died in April 1939 and her skeleton is preserved at the National Museum Wales in Cardiff. A sculpture by David Petersen commemorating Billy the Seal was placed beside the paddling pool in Victoria Park in 1997. Jimmy Hendrix Island Hendrix visited twice in 1967 and there is a legend he may have slept on an island on Roath lake. The Match: Cardiff won the reverse fixture back in December with their only shot on target against an apathetic Watford via a first half volley by Moore, the highlight of the day being the 1973 fans allowed back into Vicarage Road for the first time this season. Losing on such a celebrated day is know as “doing a Watford”. (If not for the masks this restricted crowd could be mistaken for the play off semi final against Leicester) Vladimir Ivic, (Watfords 9th manager this season), said afterwards “Our problem is our game because if we played the first 45 minutes like we did the second, and we lost the game, we don't have some something to tell.” He should have been sacked for that line alone. Mick McCarthy Talk about new manager bounce. Six games prior to the likeable McCarthy joining: LLLLLL Since then: DDWWWWWWDWD The Cardiff way is a horrible side to play against, they’re physical, they run more than other teams, they win battles, they’re very dangerous at set pieces and they’ve got quality. Mick McCarthy understands that and has put that exact plan into place. The results are impressive. Xisco Munoz: I honestly had to look up how to spell his name, but Watfords 12th manager of the season is finally getting a tune out of this band of brothers, even Gray is scoring again! Watfords results since MM joined Cardiff: WDLDWWWWLWW Bookies are saying: Cardiff 19/10 – Draw 11/5 – Watford 6/4 The Authors View: I’d take a point right now and put this game behind us. Injuries in key positions could well cost us. Bournemouth showed how to stop us with the physical, (and theatrical), side of the game, Cardiff will do that naturally and then some, and we all know a set piece could well be our undoing on Saturday. Cardiff score freely at home but Watford do have a mean defence. I’ll leave the forum specialists to discuss the finer points and individual players, but in this case I do believe the bookies have wrongly got us down as favourites. I hope I’m wrong. Prediction: Cardiff 2 (Moore 45 +5, Wilson 90 +7), Watford 1 (Gray 36 seconds)
The have tonked Preston and Derby recently at home but lost at home to QPR and managed a draw against Millwall. We need to keep what we are doing. Start brightly and maintain that for as long as we can. Understandably players are tailing off at this end of the season into a packed schedule. Get the ball out wide and move it at pace. I'm sure MM will have something in place for Sarr but Joe Bennett is out for the season. We definitely have to improve our defending at setpieces. It was better against Forest but earlier in the week we were failing to clear the ball properly win the secondary possession and allowing the ball to bounce inside the area. Moore is a real threat and Morrison from the back. Fingers crossed Gosling is back. Chabs of course will be. Their midfield of Vaulks, Wilson, Bacuna and Ralls is very hard working with some trickery provided by Wilson and pace from Bacuna or swapping Murphy and Ojo out wide. Need to make sure that threat is cut out from wide to deny Moore any supply. Sierralta to stick with him for me. Defensively they can be got at so we need to remain on the front foot. They have been playing 3-4-3 recently with both wing backs encouraged to get forward, Moore pulling off wide to act as a hold up switching with Wilson or Murphy coming through the middle. Kiko if isolated will have real trouble so that needs to be looked at.
In addition Bennett's replacement went off with a dislocated shoulder on Friday so they had a chap named Brown (?) who came on. HT's Lewis O'Brien did well on the left side too but perhaps Ng will be back.
For me, this game will confirm whether we have a chance of the top two or not. Win and we're still on course, lose or draw and I would write off our chances of realistically being able to achieve automatic promotion. I'm glad we're going to be stronger for this game. We got away with it against Forest, as they're not very good, but Cardiff are a lot stronger and are in good form. Chalobah will be back, Gosling may be fit enough to be considered and Sachez has now mudded his boots so should be all the better after coming through his debut. I'd have considered swapping Sema out for Hungbo, but I think that would be foolish in a key game like this one. Sema does need a rest, as he's looked a little jaded, but maybe we rest him for the Rotherham game in the following week. Hungbo, Success, Pedro and Sema. Now we've suddenly got good options on the left flank. I'd drop Gray to the bench. Again he missed a real sitter against Forest. It was a key moment. 55 minutes, he takes his simple chance and it's 2-0 and we win the game without fear. Gray cannot be trusted, so for me, Pedro has to come back into the central role, with Sema and Sarr either side. Midfield, Chalobah, Zinckernagel and Hughes with the defence unchanged. Doubt Foster will be fit to return for this game, but this is one I have big concerns over Bachmann. Dangerous crosses putting the keeper under pressure are what Cardiff are all about. It's a key play for them and one where Bachmann could be badly exposed. So this is a difficult fixture for us, but one I feel we have to win. Brentford and Swansea I just don't see losing many of their remaining games, so the pressure is on us to keep churning out the wins. Cardiff will be a really big test and I hope we're up to the task.
I would be inclined to play Foster,providing his finger has healed. His experience will be invaluable and we all know what Cardiff will do from corners,free kicks and throws. I think Cuddly has to start but I would be happy to see Hungbo make another cameo.
Big fan of Cardiff as a city. Great for a pub crawl. Probably the only place where I've entered a Wetherspoons and it not feel horribly depressing. Mick McCarthy is a proper manager. Look at what happened to Ipswich when he left. Used to work with his son who is a very nice bloke. They are my thoughts. Prediction Cardiff 7-1 Watford
In my opinion the ideal starting line up would be the same as Saturday but put Pedro in Gray's slot and have Chalobah in allowing Hughes to push forward more.
Agree this is probably our hardest game since Norwich at home. Cardiff are knocking on the PO door with Barnsley and Muff, and will want to be the first season to do the collective "double" over us. We were very lackluster in the reverse fixture and Cardiff deserved the win. This time we have a lot more to play for in keeping in touch with the autos, and let's hope their Welsh cheating rivals get beaten by Blackburn midweek as well. If this happens, and we do beat Cardiff, that would knock Swansea's avaliable points tally over us to four (if they also lose at the weekend). Of course this is all "if" and "but", for us we need to keep working hard. I disagree somewhat with HB1 that a draw is a bad result. We absolutely slapped this lot 5-1 season before last, but that was a totally different team. Cardiff have their strengths, and we need to match them - defend from the front and try to "nick it" on the break. Fatigue should be reduced a little due to no midweek match for us, I would actually play Hungbo and give Sema a rest, who looks shattered and is struggling to get through 45mins let alone 75. Xisco has to time his subs well in coordination with how the game is going. It's certainly a test, but one we can pass if we are up for the fight. Cardiff 1 Watford 1
I'm surprised Mick McCarthy's other career as a singer in quite a funky band isn't mentioned in the preview. He writes his own material and has a distinctive voice. Here's the single he released after he was sacked by Ipswich for those that haven't heard it
We're better with Hughes deep and Chalobah forward. Hughes is better at both jobs of course, but when he's deep, we're far more solid at the back.
Literally no idea what the result will be in this one. Have narrowed it down to being between win, lose, draw, or postponed by the ref in Swansea's game should we go in front.
A weeks rest will do our boys good, they have worked their socks off and needed this break. Sarr and Kiko on the right side will cause their 3rd choice LB/LWB problems. Sema with a weeks rest will hopefully mean he’s not blowing out his butt by the 60th minute. Outside of a victory for us, my second biggest hope is Moore and Nelson getting booked in this game. With my tin foil hat firmly on, I have no doubt that the ref in their next game against Stoke will book both of them for no reason, so they miss the game against Swansea. Therefore they need to be booked in our game so they miss the Stoke game. The endless cheating these officials are providing Swansea because of Cooper’s dad (classic by Warnock) is shameful. Now that Warnock has pointed it out, every manager from now on should speak about this in their pre match press conference.
I'd forgotten that choirboy faced diver Harry Wilson plays for them. He perfected his falling over at Bournemouth last year so fully expecting him to take multiple tumbles in the box and dupe whichever hapless Championship ref takes charge of this. Sierralta needs to get a hold of Moore, who is a pretty effective lump at this level. Suspect the aerial bombardment will mean it's him and Troost-Ekong again at the back.
Does it? If that's the way you read it, I can't help that. I'll explain: Bachmann's appearances have shown more than a hint of vulnerability to strongly contested crosses. To quote some observers, he 'flaps' at them. It looks to me like he knows this himself and is attempting to rectify it. I'm no expert on Cardiff, but the expectation is that their play will include a lot of crosses and even throws into the box, where they will be attacked by a very large centre-forward. I'm also pretty sure McCarthy will have done his 'homework' on Watford. My hope is that I'm wrong and that this doesn't happen, but I'm not putting any money on it. Still weird?
Not having Cleverley will hurt us, but in the first match, we had Deeney and Garner on the pitch, and Wilmot playing out of position at left back. So, while Sierralta should be an upgrade over Kabasele on aerial battles, to me the key is having pressure on the people delivering the long balls in the first place. There should be a VAST improvement in our high pressure simply because: a) Sema won't have to drop off as much to help Masina; b) Pedro is faster and younger than Troy, enabling him to press more effectively higher up the pitch c) Hughes. Also, we're quite honestly a lot better at possessing the ball now, which should drag their forwards back more to defend in the midfield. With Masina and Femina combining with Sema and Sarr (vs. Wilmot and Ngakia), we're significantly better at possession and more dangerous going forward, overlapping, etc.. So even without Cleverley I like our chances to make them a) chase us and b) have to either pass the ball up the pitch (vs. walk it) or hoof it from much deeper whilst under more duress. I like our chances.
At this stage of the season isn't there an amnesty for five bookings, and you only get banned for 10? I'm not sure but that was definitely the rule in the Prem for a time. EDIT: Yup: a little earlier than halfway through the season, the card limit rises from 5 to 10. So Moore and Nelson wouldn't be banned even if they pick up yellow cards against both us and Stoke. If you look on Transfermarkt, both Dom Ball (https://www.transfermarkt.com/domin...ils/spieler/167254/wettbewerb/GB2/saison/2020) and Omar Richards (https://www.transfermarkt.com/omar-...ils/spieler/424881/wettbewerb/GB2/saison/2020) have picked up a high number of bookings (8 and 7, respectively) but are yet to be suspended for a match this season as a result. If they reached 10, then they'll be banned for one match. Chalobah has been banned for two because this is his second yellow card accumulation ban, so it carries an extra one match punishment.
This is true, the 10 limit also expires after the 36th game. Edit - sorry, it’s actually the 37th (inclusive)
If it is indeed the referees' collective will that Moore and Nelson are forced to sit out that Swansea game, they are welcome to have them both sent off for violent conduct (or some other offence for which the player receives a ban of more than one game) a short period into our game.
Anyone remember the game against Ipswich in the promotion season? About the same stage of the season, pushing hard for the win we lose the ball in the last minute, they breakaway and score and get the winner. Hopefully history doesn’t repeat itself.. actually hopefully history does repeat itself as far as the overall outcome is concerned.
