Saturday, October 18, 2008
Same Old Same Old…
Cardiff City 2 Charlton Athletic 0Potential new investment or not, this was the same Charlton picked by the same manager getting the same sort of result.
I don’t actually think we should take much stock from the fact that two Addicks defenders were sent off – we were losing with eleven men, ten men, and nine men. However many were on the pitch in red shirts, they tried hard, and did create chances; Hameur Bouazza seemed to come closest to scoring on a number of occasions, although sometimes he apparently chose to shoot when he had better placed colleagues…Matt Holland also shot just wide early on and Luke Varney also went close right at the end.
Pardew started the game with two changes from the Ipswich game – as expected, Holland came in for the injured Zheng Zhi, and Andy Gray also played up front swapping places with Todorov in a 4-4-2 formation. It was all Charlton in the first fifteen minutes, but then Cardiff scored from almost their first attack – typical Charlton! Weaver couldn’t hold a shot and the rebound was netted by McCormack.
From then, Addicks heads dropped and it was a relief to get to half time just one behind. Pards made a switch in defence at the interval bringing on Semedo (top pic) for Crainie (just as he had done in the last match), but this time, the effect was entirely different. Just five minutes into the second period, our Portugueser pulled back ex-Addick Jay Bothroyd and although the linesman appeared to signal a penalty, the ref gave a foul on the edge of the box, and chose to send Jose for an early bath. To compound the misery, McCormack scored his second of the match from the free kick, firing low through the wall.
Not much later, sipper Mark Hudson (left) was booked for a foul, then almost immediately booked again, once more Bothroyd the victim. Down to 9 men, it was desperate stuff as Pardew juggled his players to find someone who could defend. Andy Gray played at the back for a few minutes, a position he hasn’t found himself in for quite a few years, and then Grant Basey came on to relieve him. Lloyd Sam also came on right at the end for Ambrose. Cardiff cruised.
I suppose that with two players sent off, it is no surprise that we lost this match; you certainly feel sorry for Weaver, Bailey, Holland, and Varney who seem to play their hearts out in every match only to be let down by others. The worry now is the effect that the suspensions have on Tuesday nights home game against Bristol City. If Crainie is injured, Basey and Moutaouakil will almost certainly start (they may even if Crainie is fit!), and Kelly Youga looks like he’ll finally get another game in the middle of defence alongside Primus.
There is no way that the potential takeover by Zabeel will have effected today’s score, but the sooner it is completed (provided you don’t believe The Sun who think that it is better to pay £200m for a team low in the Premiership) the better for all concerned.
Join the revolution!
Pardew started the game with two changes from the Ipswich game – as expected, Holland came in for the injured Zheng Zhi, and Andy Gray also played up front swapping places with Todorov in a 4-4-2 formation. It was all Charlton in the first fifteen minutes, but then Cardiff scored from almost their first attack – typical Charlton! Weaver couldn’t hold a shot and the rebound was netted by McCormack.
From then, Addicks heads dropped and it was a relief to get to half time just one behind. Pards made a switch in defence at the interval bringing on Semedo (top pic) for Crainie (just as he had done in the last match), but this time, the effect was entirely different. Just five minutes into the second period, our Portugueser pulled back ex-Addick Jay Bothroyd and although the linesman appeared to signal a penalty, the ref gave a foul on the edge of the box, and chose to send Jose for an early bath. To compound the misery, McCormack scored his second of the match from the free kick, firing low through the wall.
Not much later, sipper Mark Hudson (left) was booked for a foul, then almost immediately booked again, once more Bothroyd the victim. Down to 9 men, it was desperate stuff as Pardew juggled his players to find someone who could defend. Andy Gray played at the back for a few minutes, a position he hasn’t found himself in for quite a few years, and then Grant Basey came on to relieve him. Lloyd Sam also came on right at the end for Ambrose. Cardiff cruised.I suppose that with two players sent off, it is no surprise that we lost this match; you certainly feel sorry for Weaver, Bailey, Holland, and Varney who seem to play their hearts out in every match only to be let down by others. The worry now is the effect that the suspensions have on Tuesday nights home game against Bristol City. If Crainie is injured, Basey and Moutaouakil will almost certainly start (they may even if Crainie is fit!), and Kelly Youga looks like he’ll finally get another game in the middle of defence alongside Primus.
There is no way that the potential takeover by Zabeel will have effected today’s score, but the sooner it is completed (provided you don’t believe The Sun who think that it is better to pay £200m for a team low in the Premiership) the better for all concerned.
Join the revolution!
