" Where did it all go wrong? "

The big Cardiff City debrief: Where it all went wrong as Slade's men went from sublime to ridiculous against Bolton

Tues 7th April 2015


Cardiff City ended their run of good form by being thumped 3-0 at home by a Bolton team who have struggled themselves this season. Here Terry Phillips sums up exactly what went wrong

After a bright first half in the Easter Monday sunshine, everything went dark for Cardiff City as Bolton ran riot in the second half.

The Bluebirds didn't get close to a goal in the second period as the Trotters' ageing strike pair of Eidur Gudjohnson and Emile Heskey cut loose and created chance after chance for Welshman Craig Davies.

Whether you missed the game for an afternoon on the beach, left early or saw it and want to make sure the horror actually unfolded as you thought, here Terry Phillips sums it all up niceley.


How did Russell Slade set up?

It was the usual 4-4-2 and before Alex Revell went off it was a pretty good team display. Eoin Doyle was able to settle into a role playing off the centre-forward, looked comfortable and almost scored a couple.

He had one effort cleared off the line and then found the net only to be ruled offside.

Revell is a solid worker who gives his all, but he doesn’t carry anything like the impact of Kenwyne Jones.

Once Revell went off after a recurrence of his hamstring problem, Cardiff carried scarcely any threat at all.

Joe Mason took over alongside Doyle, while Harris went on later in the second half.


There were few chances, the tempo was poor and Cardiff slumped.

City were decent in the first half and set a good tempo against an admittedly poor Bolton team, but they faded badly.

Bolton started with Emile Heskey and Craig Davies in attack plus Eidur Gudjohnsen playing just behind them. They also used three centre-backs from the start in a 3-4-1-2 formation.

They tweaked that as the game progressed and were dominant by the end.

Who were the stars of the show?
Nobody stood out on the Cardiff team. They were poor in all areas during the second half.

Wales international Craig Davies scored twice and should have had four. He missed two far easier chances than those he scored.

Cardiff defenders made Davies look a top class striker. He isn’t, but he loved it.

There isn’t a player on the Cardiff team who can reflect with any satisfaction on their own performance.




The Bluebirds were toothless in attack, particularly after Revell went off, while they lacked tempo and a creative edge in midfield.

At the back City were simply awful. After a goalless first half they collapsed, allowing an ordinary Bolton team to finish 3-0 winners.

Wanderers have scored six and conceded none in two matches against Cardiff this season.

Turning Point
Half-time. Before the break City played with a good tempo and looked in reasonable shape. They deserved a goal and failed to score.

There was a warning sign just before the interval when Craig Davies ran clear, but his finish was shocking as he dragged his shot wide.

That was an escape, but there was worse to come as Eidur Gudjohnsen was allowed time and space to curl one in with Davies adding two more and missing a glorious chance of a third.

It all went wrong when VT splashed the cash under poor advice. We all were relieved he came in and saved the club, but nobody asked him to waste £140 million. We've had a colourful history of owners but this one takes 1st prize by a mile.
The red issue will never be forgotten and when he turned back to blue it has now become clear that he did so on the back of clawing back as much of his money as he could. We still don't have a clear picture of the current debt , however player sales of £20 mill plus from Medel, Caulkler Mutch and others plus falling payroll and Sky payments probably mean that he will reduce debt and offload.
I hope I'm wrong but unless there are big changes within the set up I can only see it getting worse. Our best hope is for a new owner, a fresh start as our fan base is there and the people of this great City will return and fill the stadium if we had a team worth watching

A fair assessment Imo, & toothless in attack is an understatement. Listening to Radio Wales after the game, I don't always agree with Kevin Ratcliffe's opinion of us, but he said that this was the poorest City team he has seen in years, & on yesterdays evidence we are going to struggle next season.

Thanks Kev,,,,but I think as things stand, We All know this!

It all went wrong when VT splashed the cash under poor advice. We all were relieved he came in and saved the club, but nobody asked him to waste £140 million. We've had a colourful history of owners but this one takes 1st prize by a mile.
The red issue will never be forgotten and when he turned back to blue it has now become clear that he did so on the back of clawing back as much of his money as he could. We still don't have a clear picture of the current debt , however player sales of £20 mill plus from Medel, Caulkler Mutch and others plus falling payroll and Sky payments probably mean that he will reduce debt and offload.
I hope I'm wrong but unless there are big changes within the set up I can only see it getting worse. Our best hope is for a new owner, a fresh start as our fan base is there and the people of this great City will return and fill the stadium if we had a team worth watching

Spot on!

To be fair without Revell, Jones, Macheda, playing Noone, an unfit Mason and players who must be so demotivated it's unreal:

"Play well this week lads and maybe you can go on loan to a top 8 club"

We should have expected much more. We did pretty well until Revell went off then Slades only game plan went out the window and he couldn't understand that there's more than the one way to play football.

This season - Selling Mark Hudson and putting a goalie as captain.

Overall - Not having a strategy at the club. If Ole was going to be the future who was holding the purse strings ? Ole thought he was at Man U have a squad akin to a NFL squad in size. Dalman is meant to be a finance guy with a passion for the game, who was regulating Ole ?

Ole - messed up recruitment and didn't have the balls to deal with it. He will only ever be a coach, but probably a good one.

Slade - His shot a the big time has been fraught. The jump from league 1 to the mad house of city has been tougher than he imagined, it didn't stop him thinking that any league 1 player could make that step..... He hasn't a clue at this level.Guts and heart are great but class tells and he doesn't know how to get our class players to play.

Yesterday - Class again. Bolton are shit. Two top class veterans and a genuine championship striker was the difference. Revell, Doyle,Mason, Harrris are all bottom championship/ league 1 players and it shows....

This season - Selling Mark Hudson and putting a goalie as captain.

Overall - Not having a strategy at the club. If Ole was going to be the future who was holding the purse strings ? Ole thought he was at Man U have a squad akin to a NFL squad in size. Dalman is meant to be a finance guy with a passion for the game, who was regulating Ole ?

Ole - messed up recruitment and didn't have the balls to deal with it. He will only ever be a coach, but probably a good one.

Slade - His shot a the big time has been fraught. The jump from league 1 to the mad house of city has been tougher than he imagined, it didn't stop him thinking that any league 1 player could make that step..... He hasn't a clue at this level.Guts and heart are great but class tells and he doesn't know how to get our class players to play.

Yesterday - Class again. Bolton are shit. Two top class veterans and a genuine championship striker was the difference. Revell, Doyle,Mason, Harrris are all bottom championship/ league 1 players and it shows....

I agree with all this, & a special mention must go to Dalman, after all OGS was His appointment,,,& so, in conclusion, was all the players that Ollie signed during his very short reign.

Interesting note, but from where I was sat, the Directors box appeared virtually empty yesterday afternoon???

It has never been right for it to go wrong, even when u got promoted you all got caught with your pants down allowing your club to become a laughing stock, colour change, debt, terrible owner, sacking managers, fans boycott, red stand, fake attendances, appointing a man on work experience, Malaysian flags everywhere, losing daehli, sexist and racist texts, .....

In all 3 goals, Fabio was within 6 feet of the goalscorer. Says it all to me. I really hope someone takes him off our hands but I don't think anyone will be that stupid.

Annis - you seem to have a blind spot as far as Fabio goes - we're all entitled to our opinion. Well, in my opinion, Kenwynne is being paid twice what he's worth. Fabio is being paid 20 times what he's worth!

A fair assessment Imo, & toothless in attack is an understatement. Listening to Radio Wales after the game, I don't always agree with Kevin Ratcliffe's opinion of us, but he said that this was the poorest City team he has seen in years, & on yesterdays evidence we are going to struggle next season.

Thanks Kev,,,,but I think as things stand, We All know this!

I agreed with Kevin ratcliffes summoning up of the game also agree when he said our attack was the weakest we have had in long time