" Championship title races are not supposed to be this way "
Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:30 am
Cardiff City procession threatening to turn Championship history on its head
Feb 4th 2013
Championship title races are not supposed to be this way.
They should be nervy, angst-ridden affairs with results elsewhere immediately screened after 90 minutes of full-blooded combat on the field.
But Cardiff City are turning this particular title race into a one-team procession, the 10-point cushion over second-placed Leicester restored thanks to a granite defence and an instant debut goal from super-sub Fraizer Campbell.
On current form – one defeat in 14 league games and five straight away wins – it should not be a tough stretch
Malky Mackay’s players continue to be exemplary, calm and methodical, they are confident yet seemingly respectful and humble about their success.
The club, too, exudes professional calm; the noises emitted are pitch perfect full of drab but sensible sound-bites – “nothing achieved yet”, “taking one game at a time”, “plenty of points left to play for.”
Of course, they are right. There are 51 points left to play and another 20 or so should realise the Premier League dream.
On current form – one defeat in 14 league games and five straight away wins – it should not be a tough stretch.
Although these have not so much been victories as asphyxiations, City’s march at the top has taken on a relentlentless form.
Mackay called for “monotonous consistency” a few weeks back and he has got that to such an extent that the rest of the division must be thinking it is now ‘Cardiff and one other.’
Yet this was still an ugly spectacle at times, two sides going at it like Tom and Jerry without the laughs in the cold Yorkshire air.
That Cardiff edged it was down to a combination of factors, the most important being the sheer hard work the Bluebirds were prepared to put in.
The talent is there, but so too is the graft built in the image of their manager.
Mackay, by his own admission, was never the greatest footballer, but he enjoyed an excellent career by dint of the perspiration on his brow. Now his side are prepared to sweat for the cause.
The difference in the end was Campbell achieving what strikers dream about on their debut.
He’d barely been on the pitch two minutes when he diverted Craig Bellamy’s 64th-minute shot, a vital touch even if the veteran felt his shot was going in anyway.
Campbell has still a long way to go in fitness terms given the little amount of football he has played this season.
But it was a great start for the £600,000 January signing nonetheless and his presence now adds more danger to a Cardiff side which has already proven itself the most formidable in the division.
However, this was not really a day for those charged with marauding forward as defences were largely on top.
Cardiff also had to contend with Leeds hosts no doubt wound up by Neil Warnock, the Gandalf of the Championship, and who had won their last six games at Elland Road.
Bellamy was lively once more, if not quite in the vein of form which makes him the best player in the division.
But, more importantly, this was a contest which again underlined the superb form of the Cardiff defence which further de-powered a Leeds side missing Luciano Becchio, who had headed off to Norwich in the week.
Feb 4th 2013
Championship title races are not supposed to be this way.
They should be nervy, angst-ridden affairs with results elsewhere immediately screened after 90 minutes of full-blooded combat on the field.
But Cardiff City are turning this particular title race into a one-team procession, the 10-point cushion over second-placed Leicester restored thanks to a granite defence and an instant debut goal from super-sub Fraizer Campbell.
On current form – one defeat in 14 league games and five straight away wins – it should not be a tough stretch
Malky Mackay’s players continue to be exemplary, calm and methodical, they are confident yet seemingly respectful and humble about their success.
The club, too, exudes professional calm; the noises emitted are pitch perfect full of drab but sensible sound-bites – “nothing achieved yet”, “taking one game at a time”, “plenty of points left to play for.”
Of course, they are right. There are 51 points left to play and another 20 or so should realise the Premier League dream.
On current form – one defeat in 14 league games and five straight away wins – it should not be a tough stretch.
Although these have not so much been victories as asphyxiations, City’s march at the top has taken on a relentlentless form.
Mackay called for “monotonous consistency” a few weeks back and he has got that to such an extent that the rest of the division must be thinking it is now ‘Cardiff and one other.’
Yet this was still an ugly spectacle at times, two sides going at it like Tom and Jerry without the laughs in the cold Yorkshire air.
That Cardiff edged it was down to a combination of factors, the most important being the sheer hard work the Bluebirds were prepared to put in.
The talent is there, but so too is the graft built in the image of their manager.
Mackay, by his own admission, was never the greatest footballer, but he enjoyed an excellent career by dint of the perspiration on his brow. Now his side are prepared to sweat for the cause.
The difference in the end was Campbell achieving what strikers dream about on their debut.
He’d barely been on the pitch two minutes when he diverted Craig Bellamy’s 64th-minute shot, a vital touch even if the veteran felt his shot was going in anyway.
Campbell has still a long way to go in fitness terms given the little amount of football he has played this season.
But it was a great start for the £600,000 January signing nonetheless and his presence now adds more danger to a Cardiff side which has already proven itself the most formidable in the division.
However, this was not really a day for those charged with marauding forward as defences were largely on top.
Cardiff also had to contend with Leeds hosts no doubt wound up by Neil Warnock, the Gandalf of the Championship, and who had won their last six games at Elland Road.
Bellamy was lively once more, if not quite in the vein of form which makes him the best player in the division.
But, more importantly, this was a contest which again underlined the superb form of the Cardiff defence which further de-powered a Leeds side missing Luciano Becchio, who had headed off to Norwich in the week.
Re: " Championship title races are not supposed to be this w
Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:45 am
"Neil Warnock, the Gandalf of the Championship"
Re: " Championship title races are not supposed to be this w
Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:43 am
The more talk there is about promotion the more nervous in get. Just feels like tempting fate all the time. Lets see where we are after the next 4 or 5 games
Re: " Championship title races are not supposed to be this w
Mon Feb 04, 2013 10:12 am
Carpe Diem wrote:The more talk there is about promotion the more nervous in get. Just feels like tempting fate all the time. Lets see where we are after the next 4 or 5 games
I will look at it properly at the end of March. If we still have a good lead then we can countdown the games and points needed.
Re: " Championship title races are not supposed to be this w
Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:47 pm
Where is this from? It appears to be an article but isnt referenced at all
Re: " Championship title races are not supposed to be this w
Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:18 pm
ElGwapo wrote:Where is this from? It appears to be an article but isnt referenced at all
It's been copied from a WalesOnline article. Full article here:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballnation/football-news/2013/02/04/analysis-cardiff-city-procession-threatening-to-turn-championship-history-on-its-head-91466-32738506/
Re: " Championship title races are not supposed to be this w
Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:32 pm
Blackpool look like they want Billy Davies as their manager -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... paign=1490
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... paign=1490