The day after.. How are we feeling now?

[Branston Pickle 4,132]

6 minutes ago, hogesar said:

One very slight defence of Rashica, whilst he was woeful regardless, is that Cardiff had clearly marked him as our danger-man. That he had 3 players on him pretty quickly yet none of our other players could take advantage of that space is probably another problem, though.

Yes, he did seem to be crowded - but surely that makes more space for others if we use the ball properly. We should be far better than we were yesterday all round, very few can say they played well. 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Branston Pickle

[Nexus_Canary 1,206]

Furious.

Vindicated in saying Smith is not the man for the job from day 1.

Wanting my club and Farke back.

[Dean Coneys boots 1,531]

Reflective. I can see that it is early days. I can also see that not a single new face was on the pitch and that this new midfield is apparently en route. Let’s be honest it’s the obvious problem. 

 But I worry at the lack of an obvious plan or style. I worry at fatigued players with a habit of losing who are now past their prime and no longer look anything special in the champs. I worry about a manager who doesn’t fit the club and seems lost. I worry about a total lack of cutting edge. And I worry that Rashica won’t tear up the league and Sargent won’t ever shine above L2. We shall see - because, of course, a couple of wins and confidence could transform us. 

[canarydan23 4,749]

That Hayden, Sara and possibly Nunez are going to have to be awesome to carry a team with such poor leadership to promotion.

[All the Germans 1,228]

2 hours ago, percy varco said:

Still no idea what Dean Smith’s style of football is. 
 

sh*t.

[Robert N. LiM 6,216]

38 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

I worry at fatigued players with a habit of losing

I was surprised at the lack of turnover in the summer for this precise reason. It is a huge challenge for Smith to get the losing habit out of these players. Whether they are an improvement, quality-wise, or not, the introduction of Hayden, Sara and whoever the third signing is cannot come soon enough, just to give the squad some impetus. Of course, the best thing for those players personally will be to be eased in slowly. A really delicate balancing act for the coach.

[ron obvious 1,710]

1 hour ago, hogesar said:

One very slight defence of Rashica, whilst he was woeful regardless, is that Cardiff had clearly marked him as our danger-man. That he had 3 players on him pretty quickly yet none of our other players could take advantage of that space is probably another problem, though.

Excellent point.

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,829]

Deflated and concerned going forward. 

 

But the more rational side of me knows it's because it feels like an continuation of the end of last season. If we had some new signings on the pitch it wouldn't feel so much like nothing has progressed, but fielding a team that was basically the starting xi from the last few last year hightened the disappointment and anger surrounding the performance and result. 

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,217]

Still not surprised at the result as our midfield is weak and lacks creativity.

Still bemused as to why the "engine room" of the team was not sorted out during pre season.

I am also still very "meh" about Smith.

I remain hopeful that the new signings will transform us, and hopefully they will hit the ground running otherwise we may find ourselves playing catch up in terms of promotion/play off places........

[TIL 1010 5,242]

According to Cardiff fans we were speaking to yesterday before the game there were 7 players making their debuts for them which gives a little bit of perspective to the shambles of a performance we put in. We spoke to those same fans after the game in the Canton Rugby Club and they were amazed at how poor we were.

Smith out !

[Capt. Pants 4,974]

On more than one occasion Rashica should have passed the ball into space, but he didn't he kept hold and inevitably lost it and went to ground. Likewise there wasn't a short option for him either from midfield or Giannoulis. This is the lack of cohesion that we speak of.

Hopefully a new midfield will start things ticking over better.

[pete 368]

Pretty sanguine really, City performed as I thought they would, up to expectations.  And until we get to see some South American flair will have little belief in this team.  The team need to believe in themselves, little evidence Smith has much belief

[Petriix 3,207]

2 hours ago, hogesar said:

One very slight defence of Rashica, whilst he was woeful regardless, is that Cardiff had clearly marked him as our danger-man. That he had 3 players on him pretty quickly yet none of our other players could take advantage of that space is probably another problem, though.

That's not actually a reasonable defence. Having three players around you is actually ideal because it means there is a gaping hole for the rest of the team to exploit. All you need to do is take a decent first touch (where necessary) and play an accurate pass to create a significant overload.

Unfortunately Rashica has an awful first touch and always tries to take too many touches. I see it all the time from players who just don't understand the game. It's far easier to get past a defender when you don't have the ball. Just pass and move. It's not rocket surgery.

[Mason 47 1,907]

Lost the first game of the season to a scrappy team who spent most of the game with 10 men behind the ball. Even in that barnstorming second Championship win for Farke there were more than a couple earlier games where we struggled to break down the walls.

Seems to me that there are elements of the fanbase desperate for us to be bad, so the anti-club wailing from the past few months is vindicated and we can all have a lovely big pity party. If we're languishing way off it by say October, yeah, that's worrying and needs looking at. One game in, grow up.

[Capt. Pants 4,974]

21 minutes ago, TIL 1010 said:

According to Cardiff fans we were speaking to yesterday before the game there were 7 players making their debuts for them which gives a little bit of perspective to the shambles of a performance we put in. We spoke to those same fans after the game in the Canton Rugby Club and they were amazed at how poor we were.

Smith out !

One of which Jamilu Collins was excellent. They got him from Paderborn, remember them?

They'll be an acquired taste but Cardiff have certainly hit the ground (and our players) running. 

[Petriix 3,207]

Ultimately my expectations were already pretty low. I'm disappointed but not surprised. I don't really see how things are going to improve. Once the milk has curdled, it's not going to become fresh again in a hurry.

[Mike w 50]

Absolutely rubbish yesterday. But heyhow only the first League game where we don't do well in. Can only get better one hopes.

Fully agree Sargeant and Rashica should not been in squad let alone team. From what I hear they went missing for ALL the game.

 

Let us wait and see what Deanno can do. I would expect he wasn't to  pleased with yesterdays non-performance.

A long way to go, should be strolling this League.

[komakino 282]

19 minutes ago, Mike w said:

 

Fully agree Sargeant and Rashica should not been in squad let alone team. 

I agree with you, but I fear that Smith would be 'advised' by Webber that it would not be a good idea given the absurd amount - by our standards  - Webber paid for them. Maybe Webber's hero is Peter 'If you want £25K a week, I'll give you £50K' Risdale?

[A Load of Squit 6,260]

I agree with Iwan & Hucks.

 

[The Real Buh 3,757]

My primary thought is, yeah we got beat 1-0 away at cardiff. Big physical team, first day of the season ok, ok.

if we play against better teams like that we’ll get smashed.

I can almost accept being smashed in the premier league by a big team but when we are getting smashed by Hull or Sheffield United in the championship that’s not even remotely acceptable.

Dean Smith coming out afterwards saying “we controlled the game” blah blah blah. The “we need to give them time to Gel” fans or “Gellers”  as I’m going to call them can fûćking do one at that point. They have a barely relevant point right now and should remember that.

Edited July 31, 2022 by The Real Buh

[Midlands Yellow 4,682]

1 hour ago, TIL 1010 said:

According to Cardiff fans we were speaking to yesterday before the game there were 7 players making their debuts for them which gives a little bit of perspective to the shambles of a performance we put in. We spoke to those same fans after the game in the Canton Rugby Club and they were amazed at how poor we were.

Smith out !

Don’t forget they spent a grand total of Zero pounds on players during the summer. We were crap. 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Midlands Yellow

[A Load of Squit 6,260]

3 minutes ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Don’t forget they spent a grand total of Zero pounds on players during the summer. We were crap. 

The great mystery of what 'undisclosed' means has been explained as 'Zero pounds'.

Cardiff

In

Mahlon Romeo - Millwall, undisclosed

Ollie Tanner - Lewes, undisclosed

 

[baldy09 191]

I seen more energetic  moment by the fans running after the tea and pies at half time than I did with this city side 🤣 playing 90 mins football today

Edited July 31, 2022 by baldy09

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,257]

We're always rubbish in the first game of the season. We're usually rubbish for the first 5 or 6 actually so I'm not panicking. Cardiff were fresh and worked extremely hard but the Championship is grueling and in a few months time teams won't be able to put that much energy into individual games as they manage their workload and the novelty of playing a newly relegated side will wear off so our greater quality will start to make a difference. 

It's always the same when we get relegated, we start off looking a bit incoherent and lacking in confidence against teams who are really up for playing us but after a few good results the confidence comes back, we get to grips more with the more frenetic tempo and pattern of play in Championship games and we look better. Ironically the only time recently when that wasn't the case was when we smashed Blackburn 4-0 or 4-1 then struggled in mid table for the rest of the year.

It's disappointing that we don't look to have noticeably improved from last year and that we still have the same problems while lacking an obvious identity, but even at that level in this league that should still be good enough to mount a promotion challenge over the course of a season. Hopefully when the new midfield comes in they gel, stay fit and we look a much better side. 

[AJ 1,357]

1 hour ago, A Load of Squit said:

I agree with Iwan & Hucks.

 

A draw would have been fair, neither team really looked like scoring 

[keelansgrandad 6,680]

2 hours ago, TIL 1010 said:

According to Cardiff fans we were speaking to yesterday before the game there were 7 players making their debuts for them which gives a little bit of perspective to the shambles of a performance we put in. We spoke to those same fans after the game in the Canton Rugby Club and they were amazed at how poor we were.

Smith out !

I was at the Canton RFC yesterday before and after and there was a sense of relief from their fans I spoke to that we never looked like cashing in. Major talking point was the ref afterwards.

[littleyellowbirdie 3,128]

1 minute ago, keelansgrandad said:

I was at the Canton RFC yesterday before and after and there was a sense of relief from their fans I spoke to that we never looked like cashing in. Major talking point was the ref afterwards.

Our squads always like to play a clean game; a bad referee is only ever going to work against us. 

[Mr Tea 139]

Ffs it obvious, in it ?

The Americans paid off the team to look crap . They did that part. That means they can buy more of the club easier .

all will be fine when we are knee deep in dollars.

USA USA !!!

[canarybubbles 2,197]

2 hours ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

We're always rubbish in the first game of the season. We're usually rubbish for the first 5 or 6 actually so I'm not panicking. Cardiff were fresh and worked extremely hard but the Championship is grueling and in a few months time teams won't be able to put that much energy into individual games as they manage their workload and the novelty of playing a newly relegated side will wear off so our greater quality will start to make a difference. 

It's always the same when we get relegated, we start off looking a bit incoherent and lacking in confidence against teams who are really up for playing us but after a few good results the confidence comes back, we get to grips more with the more frenetic tempo and pattern of play in Championship games and we look better. Ironically the only time recently when that wasn't the case was when we smashed Blackburn 4-0 or 4-1 then struggled in mid table for the rest of the year.

It's disappointing that we don't look to have noticeably improved from last year and that we still have the same problems while lacking an obvious identity, but even at that level in this league that should still be good enough to mount a promotion challenge over the course of a season. Hopefully when the new midfield comes in they gel, stay fit and we look a much better side. 

I think this is dangerously complacent. We created virtually nothing. We were as dire as we were for the whole of last season. That may be good enough to get us around mid-table in this league, but no higher.

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,257]

2 hours ago, canarybubbles said:

I think this is dangerously complacent. We created virtually nothing. We were as dire as we were for the whole of last season. That may be good enough to get us around mid-table in this league, but no higher.

 

We'll see. I'm confident because of how poor this league is compared to the PL and while in some individual games we may get done for effort I think over the piece we have too much quality to not be top 6. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather support a team who lack quality but give 100% every game like we had in the Lambert years, but we have the squad we have, it is what it is and we'll have to make do. But even so I'm confident that they are good enough for a promotion charge as we won't actually have to work as hard as the opposition in most games when the confidence comes back and we get in our rhythm. 

We created nothing in the Huddersfield game 2 years ago, we got easily done by Luton in the cup game before that and then in the second game of the season we were very poor when we played Preston but we ended up winning the league at a canter with the best team we've had since Webber took over. So on past evidence I'm not worried at all yet.