' Mark Hudson ? '

My personal opinion as a fan, I dont think Mark Hudson is good enough for the Premier League way out of his league.
but thats just my opinion.




' Cardiff City boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists Mark Hudson's performance vindicated selection for West Ham clash '

Sunday 12th Jan 2014


Hudson started his first Premier League match of the season after being given the nod ahead of Ben Turner


Cardiff City boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer felt Mark Hudson’s performance in the defeat against West Ham vindicated his decision to recall Cardiff City’s club captain.

Hudson had not figured all season in the Premier League under previous manager Malky Mackay with the Scot pairing summer signing Steven Caulker and Ben Turner at the heart of his defence.

In fact, the 31-year-old Hudson had not played in the top flight for nearly nine years since featuring for Crystal Palace in a 1-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough in April 2005.

But Hudson was rewarded for his strong showing in Solskjaer’s first game – the 2-1 FA Cup win at Newcastle – and wore the armband again after getting the nod over Turner to start against West Ham.

“Mark has been on the bench all year but he was brilliant up at Newcastle,” said Solskjaer.

“He was absolutely outstanding when Steven had to miss the game with a few knocks. So I opted for him and I thought Mark did really well.

“Ben has done nothing wrong all year. So I’ve got three good centre-backs there and we’ll need the depth of the squad.”




Solskjaer expressed his surprise over what he saw as a lack of urgency and energy from his players in the first half, but felt the flow of the contest had been disrupted by a lengthy stoppage following the nasty injury suffered by Hammers defender Guy Demel.

“It was an under-par performance in the first half and it surprised me but it was because of different reasons, not because they didn’t want to,” he said. “But in the second half we had twice the possession, far more shots, but it just didn’t happen for us. I will need to assess why we started so slowly, but Craig Bellamy came on in the second half and made a difference.

“In fact I thought we were excellent in that second half and did everything, apart from putting the ball in the net.

“During the match West Ham had three shots on target and scored from two of them. We had seven or eight shots on target, but things didn’t quite go right for us this time.”


Defeat sent City hurtling into the bottom three for the first time this season and, with away games at Manchester City and Manchester United next up, it could get a whole lot worse.

But Solskjaer was putting a positive spin on those daunting away trips by insisting, “We can have a surprise... If we can get something out of either of those trips, then it will be a big help.”

My personal opinion as a fan, I dont think Mark Hudson is good enough for the Premier League way out of his league.
but thats just my opinion.




' Cardiff City boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists Mark Hudson's performance vindicated selection for West Ham clash '

Sunday 12th Jan 2014


Hudson started his first Premier League match of the season after being given the nod ahead of Ben Turner


Cardiff City boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer felt Mark Hudson’s performance in the defeat against West Ham vindicated his decision to recall Cardiff City’s club captain.

Hudson had not figured all season in the Premier League under previous manager Malky Mackay with the Scot pairing summer signing Steven Caulker and Ben Turner at the heart of his defence.

In fact, the 31-year-old Hudson had not played in the top flight for nearly nine years since featuring for Crystal Palace in a 1-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough in April 2005.

But Hudson was rewarded for his strong showing in Solskjaer’s first game – the 2-1 FA Cup win at Newcastle – and wore the armband again after getting the nod over Turner to start against West Ham.

“Mark has been on the bench all year but he was brilliant up at Newcastle,” said Solskjaer.

“He was absolutely outstanding when Steven had to miss the game with a few knocks. So I opted for him and I thought Mark did really well.

“Ben has done nothing wrong all year. So I’ve got three good centre-backs there and we’ll need the depth of the squad.”




Solskjaer expressed his surprise over what he saw as a lack of urgency and energy from his players in the first half, but felt the flow of the contest had been disrupted by a lengthy stoppage following the nasty injury suffered by Hammers defender Guy Demel.

“It was an under-par performance in the first half and it surprised me but it was because of different reasons, not because they didn’t want to,” he said. “But in the second half we had twice the possession, far more shots, but it just didn’t happen for us. I will need to assess why we started so slowly, but Craig Bellamy came on in the second half and made a difference.

“In fact I thought we were excellent in that second half and did everything, apart from putting the ball in the net.

“During the match West Ham had three shots on target and scored from two of them. We had seven or eight shots on target, but things didn’t quite go right for us this time.”


Defeat sent City hurtling into the bottom three for the first time this season and, with away games at Manchester City and Manchester United next up, it could get a whole lot worse.

But Solskjaer was putting a positive spin on those daunting away trips by insisting, “We can have a surprise... If we can get something out of either of those trips, then it will be a big help.”

My opinion is you are talking cobblers!

if we are to play attacking football.......or even football with a bit more balance than we have been. its not just creative players we need, the group of players assembled as defenders are not nearly good enough as a stand up back 4.....its not just Hudson that aint good enough or prem quality...

If you don't rate Hudson surely you cant rate the donkey Turner as he is by far no where near premier league quality ??????
Hudson should have been in the side all season imo.

My personal opinion as a fan, I dont think Mark Hudson is good enough for the Premier League way out of his league.
but thats just my opinion.




' Cardiff City boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists Mark Hudson's performance vindicated selection for West Ham clash '

Sunday 12th Jan 2014


Hudson started his first Premier League match of the season after being given the nod ahead of Ben Turner


Cardiff City boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer felt Mark Hudson’s performance in the defeat against West Ham vindicated his decision to recall Cardiff City’s club captain.

Hudson had not figured all season in the Premier League under previous manager Malky Mackay with the Scot pairing summer signing Steven Caulker and Ben Turner at the heart of his defence.

In fact, the 31-year-old Hudson had not played in the top flight for nearly nine years since featuring for Crystal Palace in a 1-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough in April 2005.

But Hudson was rewarded for his strong showing in Solskjaer’s first game – the 2-1 FA Cup win at Newcastle – and wore the armband again after getting the nod over Turner to start against West Ham.

“Mark has been on the bench all year but he was brilliant up at Newcastle,” said Solskjaer.

“He was absolutely outstanding when Steven had to miss the game with a few knocks. So I opted for him and I thought Mark did really well.

“Ben has done nothing wrong all year. So I’ve got three good centre-backs there and we’ll need the depth of the squad.”




Solskjaer expressed his surprise over what he saw as a lack of urgency and energy from his players in the first half, but felt the flow of the contest had been disrupted by a lengthy stoppage following the nasty injury suffered by Hammers defender Guy Demel.

“It was an under-par performance in the first half and it surprised me but it was because of different reasons, not because they didn’t want to,” he said. “But in the second half we had twice the possession, far more shots, but it just didn’t happen for us. I will need to assess why we started so slowly, but Craig Bellamy came on in the second half and made a difference.

“In fact I thought we were excellent in that second half and did everything, apart from putting the ball in the net.

“During the match West Ham had three shots on target and scored from two of them. We had seven or eight shots on target, but things didn’t quite go right for us this time.”


Defeat sent City hurtling into the bottom three for the first time this season and, with away games at Manchester City and Manchester United next up, it could get a whole lot worse.

But Solskjaer was putting a positive spin on those daunting away trips by insisting, “We can have a surprise... If we can get something out of either of those trips, then it will be a big help.”

My opinion is you are talking cobblers!

Cheers, lets wait and see.

If you don't rate Hudson surely you cant rate the donkey Turner as he is by far no where near premier league quality ??????
Hudson should have been in the side all season imo.

Not that keen on Turner either anymore.

As to Hudson, a quality Championship player, but thats just my opinion.

Turner is better IMHO.


They are both OK, but it's a tough division where centre halfs get tested in a different way to the Championship.

Turner is stronger, quicker, also left-footed which helps. Carlton Cole was made for him and wouldn't have had a sniff. He's given Hudson a tough time before due to his bulk.

Yes Turner often goes long, but better to lose a long ball than a short one ! He's also still young and will improve as he gets more Premiership experience.

Hiudson has never played with Caulker and it showed, and has been off for the best part of 10 months. He will come ggod.


I think the 3 central midfield player were mentally slow

Whitts has set the pace of our play for the last 2 seasons but the Malkys steady, steady, slow,slow move up as a group has been ingrained into him. He needs to attuned to OGS style and pace. Medel rarely passes forward and Kimbo in the hole tossed around with it too much.

Bellers injected pace and urgency into the middle, probably his best position nowadays. The new lad looked up field more and will probably replace Whitts.

We are still far too slow as a team and have been during malkys reign.

Hudson every day for me

Huds did ok. Didnt look out of his depth against that opposition, and his distribution was better than Turner, but I fear for him against fast breakaway forwards.

Neither turner or Hudson or prem quality I was gutted we didn't go for Curtis Davies who I think is a very good Cb and hacks the prem comfortably

Hudson looked great considering how long he's been out and hopefully the partnership will grow as I think Captain Marvel as he has shown for the past 2 seasons is a quality centre half who should be given the opportunity to make the step up to Premier League (which i think he can take).

The bigger concern for me is KTC, how many goals have we conceded because the man who is meant to have been marking has lost him so easily???? McNaughton for me now!

He needs game time. Its a shame him and Turner weren't rotated in games before now.

OGS has picked the Captain to play to help galvanise the team......problem is, he's wasn't match ready so can hardly lead the team whilst he was struggling to get to grips with the game.

Overall I do agree we need a new CB.......but, I see getting the right attacking players in as a priority.

We need goals badly.

Not saying Turner is the better option but he's more adapted to PL level, has made a high amount of mistakes this season though and often hoofs it up the field, whether thats his game or he's instructed to do that it's not really effective. Hudson is calm and composed on the ball but allowed himself to be bullied yesterday

Neither turner or Hudson or prem quality I was gutted we didn't go for Curtis Davies who I think is a very good Cb and hacks the prem comfortably

Agree, Davies would have been a good signing. I was glad that Hudson got his chance yesterday, however I do not think he played that well. He lost a lot of ball in the air and his distribution was not particularly good in that many of his passes were made behind the player. Hopefully it was a minor blip and he can put in some decent performances however we could do with another quality centre half.

In all honesty I wouldn't mind Matt Connolly being recalled temporarily , he's more experienced and never really puts a foot wrong when he's played for us . Not much difference in the 3 of them .

Hudson - good distribution gives 100% but is slow and gets caught out of position
Turner - works hard , great at tackling and heading but inexperienced , poor distribution , and slow
Connolly - experienced , decent pace , works hard , average distribution , hasn't played for a while out of practice

I think solskjaer need to get a centre back in the next to weeks in all honesty .

I knew this thread was coming. Knew it.

Hudson hadn't played a league game all season until yesterday. He's also not played a Premier League game for years. Plus, he's never played with Caulker. To expect some sort of superlative performance is ridiculous.

Let's be honest it's not just Hudson,most of the team ain't premiership quality,and that's the reason why we are now in the bottom three,the players had to be giving a chance,after winning the championship,but it's clear that we will struggle if we don't make big changes in this transfer window

If you don't rate Hudson surely you cant rate the donkey Turner as he is by far no where near premier league quality ??????
Hudson should have been in the side all season imo.

Not that keen on Turner either anymore.

As to Hudson, a quality Championship player, but thats just my opinion.

Turner for me ....just! However Malky should have picked up Barnett

Better CB than Turner

Better Captain than Caulker

Would prefer a new CB to be honest.

If you don't rate Hudson surely you cant rate the donkey Turner as he is by far no where near premier league quality ??????
Hudson should have been in the side all season imo.

Not that keen on Turner either anymore.

As to Hudson, a quality Championship player, but thats just my opinion.

Turner for me ....just! However Malky should have picked up Barnett

Barnett was no better than either player,all championship standard

I rarely agree with Annis but he is spot on here. Hudson is a Championship player.

I totally disagree with this post

Can't see why people are getting so upset about this topic, as nobody is saying that he's shit or a donkey like other players have been labelled!

Whilst he has been very patient and probably deserves his chance, I personally thought it was a mistake to play him on the left yesterday, as I thought he looked as uncomfortable on the left, as Turner does in possession on too many occasions for my liking!

IMO, unless Caulker can play on the left alongside him, then I'd bring Turner back in, or better still, another centre back!

As leadership qualities have been brought up, I have to say that I only saw Bellamy show anything like the necessary qualities required in that department yesterday and I didn't see any leadership skills at the back at all!

Can't see why people are getting so upset about this topic, as nobody is saying that he's shit or a donkey like other players have been labelled!

Whilst he has been very patient and probably deserves his chance, I personally thought it was a mistake to play him on the left yesterday, as I thought he looked as uncomfortable on the left, as Turner does in possession on too many occasions for my liking!

IMO, unless Caulker can play on the left alongside him, then I'd bring Turner back in, or better still, another centre back!

As leadership qualities have been brought up, I have to say that I only saw Bellamy show anything like the necessary qualities required in that department yesterday and I didn't see any leadership skills at the back at all!

Spot on, No one is calling Hudson shit or a donkey, far from it

Can't see why people are getting so upset about this topic, as nobody is saying that he's shit or a donkey like other players have been labelled!

Whilst he has been very patient and probably deserves his chance, I personally thought it was a mistake to play him on the left yesterday, as I thought he looked as uncomfortable on the left, as Turner does in possession on too many occasions for my liking!

IMO, unless Caulker can play on the left alongside him, then I'd bring Turner back in, or better still, another centre back!

As leadership qualities have been brought up, I have to say that I only saw Bellamy show anything like the necessary qualities required in that department yesterday and I didn't see any leadership skills at the back at all!

Spot on, No one is calling Hudson shit or a donkey, far from it

IMO I think Hudson has not had enough premiership games & has not partnered Caulker much at all, I think he was playing a wrong sided central position. Carlton Cole kept loosing his marker all the time & you could clearly see he was going to score he kept getting into positions where no one was picking him up. I also think Turner would have had a good battle with Cole & a lot have been harsh on him granted he's made some mistakes but I suppose he will learn from them.

Hudson is not even close to being a premiership centre half.He is a good championship one ( but not great)
He reads the game well but is so slow and technically poor.way below the standard required. I always thought he was a liability in the championship too . malky knew he wasn't good enough too, but he was a back up player.
Turner is better, but not good enough either. Caulker is a good premiership centre half but is still learning and no where near his best yet, but he is the minimum quality we require in these positions especially now we may be playing a more attacking style of football. We could be countered more, often as we venture forward more so will need quicker defenders.Super Kev has had his day great heart but again too slow. John looks like he can step up and will be very good imho.Frenchy boy is a quick and attacking full back but seems to make a number of crucial mistakes ( Sunderland clearance)
a prime example.
Medel plays centre half for Chilie not that quick but technically good and reads the game very well, but then who would you put in this defensive midfield position??

Just my take on our defence

Can't see why people are getting so upset about this topic, as nobody is saying that he's shit or a donkey like other players have been labelled!

Whilst he has been very patient and probably deserves his chance, I personally thought it was a mistake to play him on the left yesterday, as I thought he looked as uncomfortable on the left, as Turner does in possession on too many occasions for my liking!

IMO, unless Caulker can play on the left alongside him, then I'd bring Turner back in, or better still, another centre back!

As leadership qualities have been brought up, I have to say that I only saw Bellamy show anything like the necessary qualities required in that department yesterday and I didn't see any leadership skills at the back at all!

Spot on, No one is calling Hudson shit or a donkey, far from it

IMO I think Hudson has not had enough premiership games & has not partnered Caulker much at all, I think he was playing a wrong sided central position.

It's not just your opinion, it's a fact, as Hudson started his first game alongside Caulker yesterday, but as you also said, I believe that it was the wrong side for him as well!

Can't see why people are getting so upset about this topic, as nobody is saying that he's shit or a donkey like other players have been labelled!

Whilst he has been very patient and probably deserves his chance, I personally thought it was a mistake to play him on the left yesterday, as I thought he looked as uncomfortable on the left, as Turner does in possession on too many occasions for my liking!

IMO, unless Caulker can play on the left alongside him, then I'd bring Turner back in, or better still, another centre back!

As leadership qualities have been brought up, I have to say that I only saw Bellamy show anything like the necessary qualities required in that department yesterday and I didn't see any leadership skills at the back at all!

Spot on, No one is calling Hudson shit or a donkey, far from it

Carlton Cole kept loosing his marker all the time & you could clearly see he was going to score he kept getting into positions where no one was picking him up. I also think Turner would have had a good battle with Cole & a lot have been harsh on him granted he's made some mistakes but I suppose he will learn from them.

You're right about Cole giving Turner a good battle as well IMO, as I seem to remember he gave both Turner & Hudson a torrid time in the Play Off semis a couple of years ago!

To repeat my own opinion though, I believe that if Caulker is unable for whatever reason to play on the left side, then Turner should be brought back in, or we get another centre back!

Neither of them are anywhere near good enough.

Malky knew that he wasn't up to standard

I know Turner gets abuse on here for being a donkey and having awful distribution (he does have awful distribution) but he is brilliant in the tackle and blocks loads of shots from reaching the goal

I think we need to get another CB to replace him but turner can do the job fairly well - Hudson unfortunately cannot

Hope OGS puts turner back on the pitch for our next ficture