' 2 Points Dropped '

Am I the only person that thinks that was 2 points dropped last night? Don't get me wrong going into the game I would have settled for a point away from home and with it being a difficult place to go. However, having watched a game (that was the worst I have seen in years), I really think we should have gone for all 3 points. Stoke were absolutely awful and were there for the taking. I don't understand this mentality of a point is good enough, yes maybe if you didn't see the game but anyone who did will know how bad they were. The way I see it we are competing in a mini league of 7 or 8 teams that are battling to stay in this division and against those teams we should be looking to get maximum points. That game reminded me of our end of season, nothing to play for Championship games. Just because its the Premier League I don't think we should be settling for whatever we can get, there are times we should be demanding more and going for the kill.

You'll get torrents of abuse aimed at you for the dam cheek of possibly questioning Malky or his tactics.

Dont get me wrong we are good enough to win at stoke we've played all of the best teams in the league and we have looked capable of getting points in all 4 games. chelsea we were unlucky, and arsenal we went for the points and we got caught, it would of been close otherwise in both.
But a point was the safe option at stoke.
Stoke are an ugly side that dont score many goals but they are hard to beat at the britania many fail.

there is more to see from this cardiff team but the reality is we only need to draw our away games our home form will keep us up, we haven't even played a shit team at CCS yet this season

I agree to a certain extent and as I said going into the game I would have set up for the draw, but within half hour of that game I would have changed my tactics because it was quite clear that they could and should have been beat. There were 3 points there to be grabbed last night but we failed because we were too happy to settle for the one, on and off the field.

I agree to a certain extent and as I said going into the game I would have set up for the draw, but within half hour of that game I would have changed my tactics because it was quite clear that they could and should have been beat. There were 3 points there to be grabbed last night but we failed because we were too happy to settle for the one, on and off the field.

I agree with you, Stoke were dreadful and because Malky wouldn't change tactics, so were Cardiff. Very frustrating game to watch knowing that it could have been a lot different if only Malky was more ambitious.

Dont get me wrong we are good enough to win at stoke we've played all of the best teams in the league and we have looked capable of getting points in all 4 games. chelsea we were unlucky, and arsenal we went for the points and we got caught, it would of been close otherwise in both.
But a point was the safe option at stoke.
Stoke are an ugly side that dont score many goals but they are hard to beat at the britania many fail.

there is more to see from this cardiff team but the reality is we only need to draw our away games our home form will keep us up, we haven't even played a shit team at CCS yet this season

i dont believe we will play any shit teams at home this season. do you not think teams like west ham and west brom will not be coming here thinking this is a winnable game for them.
missed chance last night in my opinion and it will be interesting to see peoples reactions should we lose at palace on saturday.

I totally agree that they were there for the taking last night. They were a poor championship side last night.

I'm not one who thinks that we have a divine right to go to teams like stoke and roll them over but I cannot understand why we didn't even attempt to take the game to them second half.

For me Whitts has been our best player in our last two games against top drawer opposition but then malky decides to shunt him back onto the left where he is completely ineffective and bring in Gunnarsson who was completely anonymous again.

3 points last night would have sent us to Palace on Saturday with no pressure, now a defeat on Saturday would leave Palace one point behind us with momentum.

I love Malky and think he's doing a fine job but I don't understand why in every away game we set up completely void of ANY attacking ambition.

A little bit of clear thinking here I think is needed...

In reality teams lose away to Stoke because they find it easy to improve performance and effort against, UTD, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, ECT. But away to Stoke on a December Evening is not a game for the unmotivated. Our defensive shape and how we fill holes that teams like to exploit I must admit is second to none in this division. Stoke are a changing team and when they started getting the ball to the by-line the danger alarms started to ring, but we defended this for 80/85 mins of the game, stopping the source of their attacks.

Although the quality in our team at times is very disappointing when we have opportunities to counter, we tend to "half counter". Our combination play last night was a little confused as we didn't truly have a plan of creating opportunities. Our Plan to play with the 2 holding midfielders, allowing Whits to drift inside and Cowie trying to protect TC. The most interesting Position from last night was Mutch, he played off Whelan which IMO is the best way to play against Stoke(when your a lower half of the table team), as they allow spaces in between the Back four and Midfield. The way we played allowed us to cramp midfield, force Stoke wide, who don't currently have wingers, and win second balls, however You have to attack through the lines quickly but IMO Mutch didn't take advantage of the positions he got into, there were opportunities to play people in where he opted to dribble or shoot, the decision making in the final 3rd has to be clear and precise otherwise opportunities are lost. The number 10 position is so difficult to play and in modern football there is belief anyone can play in there, but this is so wrong. The number 10 often has to have pictures in his head seconds before the game, for me the number 10 often has to work harder than any other player bother mentally and physically, and obviously with all positions decision making is key, and playing in that role is harder when you playing for a team set up to nullify the opposition as your touches are limited and it canbe sometimes then that decisions are made because of the lack of ball, the percentages of a number 10 will be different from a central midfielder.


I feel it is the 10 position at present that is hurting the team, because we are setup to nullify.

A little bit of clear thinking here I think is needed...

In reality teams lose away to Stoke because they find it easy to improve performance and effort against, UTD, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, ECT. But away to Stoke on a December Evening is not a game for the unmotivated. Our defensive shape and how we fill holes that teams like to exploit I must admit is second to none in this division. Stoke are a changing team and when they started getting the ball to the by-line the danger alarms started to ring, but we defended this for 80/85 mins of the game, stopping the source of their attacks.

Although the quality in our team at times is very disappointing when we have opportunities to counter, we tend to "half counter". Our combination play last night was a little confused as we didn't truly have a plan of creating opportunities. Our Plan to play with the 2 holding midfielders, allowing Whits to drift inside and Cowie trying to protect TC. The most interesting Position from last night was Mutch, he played off Whelan which IMO is the best way to play against Stoke(when your a lower half of the table team), as they allow spaces in between the Back four and Midfield. The way we played allowed us to cramp midfield, force Stoke wide, who don't currently have wingers, and win second balls, however You have to attack through the lines quickly but IMO Mutch didn't take advantage of the positions he got into, there were opportunities to play people in where he opted to dribble or shoot, the decision making in the final 3rd has to be clear and precise otherwise opportunities are lost. The number 10 position is so difficult to play and in modern football there is belief anyone can play in there, but this is so wrong. The number 10 often has to have pictures in his head seconds before the game, for me the number 10 often has to work harder than any other player bother mentally and physically, and obviously with all positions decision making is key, and playing in that role is harder when you playing for a team set up to nullify the opposition as your touches are limited and it canbe sometimes then that decisions are made because of the lack of ball, the percentages of a number 10 will be different from a central midfielder.


I feel it is the 10 position at present that is hurting the team, because we are setup to nullify.

thats a fantastic post mate! and your last point resonates with me the clearest! our whole system is set up to stop other teams playing. Therefore we offer nothing in a game ourselves

A point away at Stoke is a good result but I don't like obviously playing for a point - which is clearly what we did as only made one sub all game.

A point away at Stoke is a good result but I don't like obviously playing for a point - which is clearly what we did as only made one sub all game.

This is a good point but ... What Other Subs would you of made?

Seeing how ineffective Cowie was in the second half I would have brought Noone or Kimbo on, put whitts back in centre and played the sub out wide. Again Malky took Cambell off who was running his line but brings on Odem-Dont-Do-A-Thingie, again a big mistake, balls get pumped up and come straight back, Cornelious should have come on after 70 mins and had a run against the poorest opposition we have played this season.
Before you say it How Dare I criticise Malky's Tactics

A point away at Stoke is a good result but I don't like obviously playing for a point - which is clearly what we did as only made one sub all game.

This is a good point but ... What Other Subs would you of made?

70 minutes.
Noone for Cowie/Gunnarrsson
Cornelius for Campbell.

ps. Well played Declan John

A little bit of clear thinking here I think is needed...

In reality teams lose away to Stoke because they find it easy to improve performance and effort against, UTD, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, ECT. But away to Stoke on a December Evening is not a game for the unmotivated. Our defensive shape and how we fill holes that teams like to exploit I must admit is second to none in this division. Stoke are a changing team and when they started getting the ball to the by-line the danger alarms started to ring, but we defended this for 80/85 mins of the game, stopping the source of their attacks.

Although the quality in our team at times is very disappointing when we have opportunities to counter, we tend to "half counter". Our combination play last night was a little confused as we didn't truly have a plan of creating opportunities. Our Plan to play with the 2 holding midfielders, allowing Whits to drift inside and Cowie trying to protect TC. The most interesting Position from last night was Mutch, he played off Whelan which IMO is the best way to play against Stoke(when your a lower half of the table team), as they allow spaces in between the Back four and Midfield. The way we played allowed us to cramp midfield, force Stoke wide, who don't currently have wingers, and win second balls, however You have to attack through the lines quickly but IMO Mutch didn't take advantage of the positions he got into, there were opportunities to play people in where he opted to dribble or shoot, the decision making in the final 3rd has to be clear and precise otherwise opportunities are lost. The number 10 position is so difficult to play and in modern football there is belief anyone can play in there, but this is so wrong. The number 10 often has to have pictures in his head seconds before the game, for me the number 10 often has to work harder than any other player bother mentally and physically, and obviously with all positions decision making is key, and playing in that role is harder when you playing for a team set up to nullify the opposition as your touches are limited and it canbe sometimes then that decisions are made because of the lack of ball, the percentages of a number 10 will be different from a central midfielder.


I feel it is the 10 position at present that is hurting the team, because we are setup to nullify.

stoke havent won a game since august in the league, so the reality is teams have been winning or drawing at stoke and against stoke at home all season

Dont get me wrong we are good enough to win at stoke we've played all of the best teams in the league and we have looked capable of getting points in all 4 games. chelsea we were unlucky, and arsenal we went for the points and we got caught, it would of been close otherwise in both.
But a point was the safe option at stoke.
Stoke are an ugly side that dont score many goals but they are hard to beat at the britania many fail.

there is more to see from this cardiff team but the reality is we only need to draw our away games our home form will keep us up, we haven't even played a shit team at CCS yet this season

i dont believe we will play any shit teams at home this season. do you not think teams like west ham and west brom will not be coming here thinking this is a winnable game for them.
missed chance last night in my opinion and it will be interesting to see peoples reactions should we lose at palace on saturday.

Newcastle who are in the top 6, arsenal man utd man city, everton, tottenham, swansea. 9 points from those games is fantastic.

teams like hull, norwich, palace, fulham, sunderland wont have an enjoyable day at the CCS

Dont get me wrong we are good enough to win at stoke we've played all of the best teams in the league and we have looked capable of getting points in all 4 games. chelsea we were unlucky, and arsenal we went for the points and we got caught, it would of been close otherwise in both.
But a point was the safe option at stoke.
Stoke are an ugly side that dont score many goals but they are hard to beat at the britania many fail.

there is more to see from this cardiff team but the reality is we only need to draw our away games our home form will keep us up, we haven't even played a shit team at CCS yet this season

i dont believe we will play any shit teams at home this season. do you not think teams like west ham and west brom will not be coming here thinking this is a winnable game for them.
missed chance last night in my opinion and it will be interesting to see peoples reactions should we lose at palace on saturday.

Newcastle who are in the top 6, arsenal man utd man city, everton, tottenham, swansea. 9 points from those games is fantastic.

teams like hull, norwich, palace, fulham, sunderland wont have an enjoyable day at the CCS

But Hull have already said they are looking to break their transfer record in the jan window on a forward,

Fulham will spend, and probably big, mulensteen hasnt taken the post to stay in a relegation battle, and sunderland will back poyet in the window aswell. So over half the teams mentioned will strenghen big, and be alot better come our fixtures.

A little bit of clear thinking here I think is needed...

In reality teams lose away to Stoke because they find it easy to improve performance and effort against, UTD, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, ECT. But away to Stoke on a December Evening is not a game for the unmotivated. Our defensive shape and how we fill holes that teams like to exploit I must admit is second to none in this division. Stoke are a changing team and when they started getting the ball to the by-line the danger alarms started to ring, but we defended this for 80/85 mins of the game, stopping the source of their attacks.

Although the quality in our team at times is very disappointing when we have opportunities to counter, we tend to "half counter". Our combination play last night was a little confused as we didn't truly have a plan of creating opportunities. Our Plan to play with the 2 holding midfielders, allowing Whits to drift inside and Cowie trying to protect TC. The most interesting Position from last night was Mutch, he played off Whelan which IMO is the best way to play against Stoke(when your a lower half of the table team), as they allow spaces in between the Back four and Midfield. The way we played allowed us to cramp midfield, force Stoke wide, who don't currently have wingers, and win second balls, however You have to attack through the lines quickly but IMO Mutch didn't take advantage of the positions he got into, there were opportunities to play people in where he opted to dribble or shoot, the decision making in the final 3rd has to be clear and precise otherwise opportunities are lost. The number 10 position is so difficult to play and in modern football there is belief anyone can play in there, but this is so wrong. The number 10 often has to have pictures in his head seconds before the game, for me the number 10 often has to work harder than any other player bother mentally and physically, and obviously with all positions decision making is key, and playing in that role is harder when you playing for a team set up to nullify the opposition as your touches are limited and it canbe sometimes then that decisions are made because of the lack of ball, the percentages of a number 10 will be different from a central midfielder.


I feel it is the 10 position at present that is hurting the team, because we are setup to nullify.

Excellent post fella. We definitely lack a true number 10. In the championship this didn't hurt as much as teams
set up differently and we were far more likely t9 set up against a 4-4-2.
Kim is the closest resemblance to a number 10 we currently have but at the moment he tends to drift in and out of games.
I think Jordon Mutch is one of the few powerful ball carriers left around in the modern game and used right could develop to be an excellent player.
I truly hope the number 10 issue is resolved in January. It's a shame we didn't manage to lure Tom Ince as he could have ben the answer and if not he would have definitely given us more out wide.

You'll get torrents of abuse aimed at you for the dam cheek of possibly questioning Malky or his tactics.

Here f*cking here craig.

Too many people with short memories of promoted teams who tried to play a lot of football, and sunk like a stone - Derby. Swindon and Blackpool (after a promising start). Priority is to get enough points to stay up - end of.

How often do you see classics in tight lower end of table battles?Last night's game was a battle from start to finish.It reminded me of a tough Championship game and pretty it was not.Right at the end you could see Malky urging the players to get back into position when Stoke were giving it the last throw. Any slight 'opening up' and we could have been done for.
3 point home banker for them and they were seriously pissed off with the outcome.
Vital point for us.Much happier trip home with it than without.

Viewed the highlights on CC Player and we actually had the better chances.

I agree to a certain extent and as I said going into the game I would have set up for the draw, but within half hour of that game I would have changed my tactics because it was quite clear that they could and should have been beat. There were 3 points there to be grabbed last night but we failed because we were too happy to settle for the one, on and off the field.

I agree with you, Stoke were dreadful and because Malky wouldn't change tactics, so were Cardiff. Very frustrating game to watch knowing that it could have been a lot different if only Malky was more ambitious.

Bang on the money