' All the talking points from last nights Brighton game '

The Cardiff City debrief: All the talking points out of Bluebirds' draw against Brighton

Brighton 1 Cardiff City 1
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Wednesday Oct 01, 2014

By Gareth Rogers


We provide you with everything you need to know after Cardiff City's trip to The Amex, ahead of Friday's trip to Blackpool


Was this a good result?
Yes. Cardiff had to work really hard for it. They were put under a lot of pressure but did their job and held firm.

When they went behind on 20 minutes to Bruno’s delightful strike, it would have been easy for the Bluebirds to cave in.

But they showed the same backbone they displayed in their home win against Sheffield Wednesday to storm up the other end and equalise within seconds, as Kenwyne Jones turned up to head Peter Whittingham’s delightful cross home.




Star Man
David Marshall: Brighton will be disappointed not to have earned all three points on a night when they forced the Cardiff captain into three stunning saves.

It’s true Marshall will be disappointed by the way he was lobbed by Bruno for Albion’s opener in similar style to the one he conceded at West Brom last season.

But Marshall was fantastic after that and back to his brilliant best. Had he not been, the Bluebirds would have been sent back to South Wales with nothing.





Are Cardiff heading towards a settled XI?
Russell Slade was forced to watch from the sidelines again and, even though he’s yet to take over as manager, his influence is already having an impact.

Once again we saw the 4-5-1 formation employed, with the only change being Tom Adeyemi for Craig Noone. It seemed to work as the Bluebirds were tough to break down.

Slade knows only too well he’s not coming here to develop the careers of the likes of Federico Macheda, Adam Le Fondre or Javi Guerra. Earning points must be prioritised over keeping players happy and the 4-5-1 formation can give the likes of Mats Daehli, Ravel Morrison and Kevin Pilkington their chance to really have an impact behind Kenwyne Jones.





Is Kenwyne Jones undroppable?
In a word, yes. The giant striker was the only real threat as he worked tirelessly to get on the end of defensive clearances, especially in the first half. Then when Fabio and Whittingham delivered the real telling crosses, he was right there on the end of them to test Brighton keeper David Stockdale.

But the Trinidadian also spent much of the second half back defending set-pieces and even insisted on delaying his substitution, for Federico Macheda, to clear a corner.




Moan of the match
The two centre-backs were all at sea for the first half-an-hour. That is a surprise given the fact they are a £9m partnership being managed by a pair of centre-halves. But, just days after they started slowly against Sheffield Wednesday, they were again lethargic out of the traps as speedy striker Craig Mackail-Smith ran them ragged.

But Morrison redeemed himself when he pulled off the tackle of the night to deny Mackail-Smith when anything but a perfectly-timed challenge would have seen a red card and penalty awarded.




What needs to change?
On the pitch, very little. The Bluebirds have put together three good results in the league under Young and Gabbidon and five points seems a good return.

But it’s time to get the Russell Slade saga sorted. It’s dragged on long enough and the games are coming thick and fast. Blackpool awaits Friday.




What about Young & Gabbidon?

The fans’ favourites have done themselves no harm at all, simply by getting this stuttering team up for the challenge.

They switched from long ball to passing football in the second half and set the team up to defend for their lives in the closing moments. Seeing Noone and Jones back defending proved all we needed to know about the players’ commitment to the pair. Some how, some way, they must both stay.

I was at the match last night. There were spells in the second half when we looked very good. There is still a fair bit that needs to change on the pitch however. The stats make unhappy reading and reflect the fact that for long periods Brighton completely dominated the game. Were it not for several world class saves from Marshall we'd have been well beaten.

I was at the match last night. There were spells in the second half when we looked very good. There is still a fair bit that needs to change on the pitch however. The stats make unhappy reading and reflect the fact that for long periods Brighton completely dominated the game. Were it not for several world class saves from Marshall we'd have been well beaten.

I thought we def took control of the game in the second half for about 10 minutes and we passed well

I can't see how anyone can say that very little needs to change on the pitch. We haven't dominated a match all season and midfield can't keep the ball. Movement is still poor and we lack real partnerships all over the pitch, probably as ole changed the line up every game. We still need to get our strikers in scoring positions and give them quality to feed of.

There's more than a lot that needs to change on the pitch.

Kevin Pilkington???????

I´m sorry, but I have a disagree with Gareth Rogers on this:

"It seemed to work as the Bluebirds were tough to break down."

We were not hard to break down at all, in my opinion. The left side was wide open throughout the first half as Dæhli seemed unable to decide whether to cover for Fabio out wide or take out another player more central. They came down our left side again and again. Brighton was also able to tread the ball through our defense in the middle on several occasions and they should even have been given a penalty for Whitt´s handball.

Has there at all been any matches this season where the opponent has created this many clear goal chances? A bit more accuracy from their strikers or a not so good goalkeeper, and the result could have been ugly. There really is something like luck and margins in football. I´m hoping for huge improvements on Friday, and we should not allow the opposite side yet again to run us over the first 20 minutes of a game.

I was at the match last night. There were spells in the second half when we looked very good. There is still a fair bit that needs to change on the pitch however. The stats make unhappy reading and reflect the fact that for long periods Brighton completely dominated the game. Were it not for several world class saves from Marshall we'd have been well beaten.

I thought we def took control of the game in the second half for about 10 minutes and we passed well

First 10 minutes of the second half were ok, but we need more than that, it's sort of been a pattern this season we play well for about 10-20 min.

I can't see how anyone can say that very little needs to change on the pitch. We haven't dominated a match all season and midfield can't keep the ball. Movement is still poor and we lack real partnerships all over the pitch, probably as ole changed the line up every game. We still need to get our strikers in scoring positions and give them quality to feed of.

There's more than a lot that needs to change on the pitch.

Spot on! Typical WOL deluded again. Lots of changes needed, particularly the midfield, with the exception of Gunnar maybe

I can't see how anyone can say that very little needs to change on the pitch. We haven't dominated a match all season and midfield can't keep the ball. Movement is still poor and we lack real partnerships all over the pitch, probably as ole changed the line up every game. We still need to get our strikers in scoring positions and give them quality to feed of.

There's more than a lot that needs to change on the pitch.

Spot on! Typical WOL deluded again. Lots of changes needed, particularly the midfield, with the exception of Gunnar maybe

There's always things that need changing but your right we haven't dominated a game yet, Huddersfield at home maybe although I didn't go? I was pleased with the response last night to their goal and we looked ok on the ball but second half we were clearly second best

It was a difficult away game, and a decent point. Thought we played well towards the end of the first half, and at the start of the second. Brighton had a 'shoot on sight policy' which will show up in the stats.

The best chance to win it came right in front of us, with Pilkington shooting straight at the keeper, though to be fair, he did well to block the shot. Similar to Kenwynne at Wolves.

It's not luck when our keeper makes good saves. That's why he's there!

And the only stat that matters is 1-1.

That's all I can manage this morning. Enjoyable trip, and a good game. Too tired!