" RUSSELL SLADE TONIGHT "

Cardiff City boss Russell Slade praises Bluebirds for coming out on top in a 'lively encounter'


Tuesday 21 July 2015


BY STEVE TUCKER


Tempers flared in Cardiff City's pre-season friendly with Israeli side Ironi Kiryat Shmona but Slade's men kept their cool to come out on top

Cardiff City boss Russell Slade hailed his players after they saw off Israeli side Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2-0 in a physical encounter in the first match of the Bluebirds' pre-season tour of Holland.

Goals from defender Bruno Manga and winger Anthony Pilkington proved enough to keep Slade and his men’s pre-season results ticking over reasonably nicely.

The Bluebirds’ manager said the match had provided exactly the sort of test he had been looking to give his side ahead of the start of the new Championship campaign next month.

“It was the sort of competition that we wanted,” said Slade.

“They are in Europe this season and we knew we were playing a good side and they turned out to be a good side and it turned into a good test for us. It was such a good work out for us.

“Everybody set their stall out in the game, that’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to start quickly, they started quickly too and it turned out to be a lively encounter from start to finish."




Shmona enjoyed a spell of early pressure and missed a handful of chances, but it didn't take long for the Bluebirds to come to life and they were soon in front.

Manga blasted home inside the first 20 minutes and by Slades own admission, that just settled things down a touch.

“There were some really good patches of play. We maybe did not expect Bruno to pop up and fire one into the roof of the net with his left foot, but he did and it was very welcome. It sort of settled us down.

“It was a half-decent move for the second, a great cross from Scott Malone who stuck it up at the back stick for Pilkington to head home. It was a good finish, But I thought there were some really good performances from us out there.

“What I enjoyed was the fact we played off a good structure and organisation. We looked really sound I thought."



The Cardiff City pre-season tour rolls on to Rotterdam where Russell Slade's men face Dutch second tier side Sparta Rotterdam behind closed doors.

The Bluebirds boss is expecting another tricky test on Friday, but insists it's difficult to know what they might be up against.

"We’ve got Rotterdam up next which will be a different test because there’s another side who had a good season.

"You never know what you are up against it’s not like you are playing typical Championship sides although that looked like a typical Championship match because it was feisty and physical.

"Every department got tested which is what we want right now"

Seemed a tough, physical work out against a decent team. Fans will say it's only an Israeli team, but they're in Europe. You could say it's the equivalent of us playing a team like Celtic. A 2-0 win and a clean sheet is a good result.

Seemed a tough, physical work out against a decent team. Fans will say it's only an Israeli team, but they're in Europe. You could say it's the equivalent of us playing a team like Celtic. A 2-0 win and a clean sheet is a good result.

Not sure if Celtic would be a good comparison. This Isreali team's squad is valued at around £3m whereas Celtic's are supposedly in excess of £30m.

Seemed a tough, physical work out against a decent team. Fans will say it's only an Israeli team, but they're in Europe. You could say it's the equivalent of us playing a team like Celtic. A 2-0 win and a clean sheet is a good result.

Not sure if Celtic would be a good comparison. This Isreali team's squad is valued at around £3m whereas Celtic's are supposedly in excess of £30m.

Our squad at the start of last season was probably worth 10 times more than Bournemouth's or Brentford's. Valuations don't mean anything, Celtic lost to Maribor last season.

Seemed a tough, physical work out against a decent team. Fans will say it's only an Israeli team, but they're in Europe. You could say it's the equivalent of us playing a team like Celtic. A 2-0 win and a clean sheet is a good result.

Not sure if Celtic would be a good comparison. This Isreali team's squad is valued at around £3m whereas Celtic's are supposedly in excess of £30m.

Our squad at the start of last season was probably worth 10 times more than Bournemouth's or Brentford's. Valuations don't mean anything, Celtic lost to Maribor last season.

I agree that valuations don't mean everything, and you will always find teams that surprise us through the course of a season. However, if you look at the teams that consistently dominate most leagues, they are the sides that tend to have the most valuable players such as Chelsea & Man City here, Celtic in Scotland, Barcelona, Real Madrid etc. Hard to compete in modern football without financial clout.

Seemed a tough, physical work out against a decent team. Fans will say it's only an Israeli team, but they're in Europe. You could say it's the equivalent of us playing a team like Celtic. A 2-0 win and a clean sheet is a good result.

Not sure if Celtic would be a good comparison. This Isreali team's squad is valued at around £3m whereas Celtic's are supposedly in excess of £30m.

Our squad at the start of last season was probably worth 10 times more than Bournemouth's or Brentford's. Valuations don't mean anything, Celtic lost to Maribor last season.

I agree that valuations don't mean everything, and you will always find teams that surprise us through the course of a season. However, if you look at the teams that consistently dominate most leagues, they are the sides that tend to have the most valuable players such as Chelsea & Man City here, Celtic in Scotland, Barcelona, Real Madrid etc. Hard to compete in modern football without financial clout.

I'm not disputing that. I'm just saying this Israeli team are probably not a bad team at all. I'm encouraged with our 2-0 win, especially when things heated up. We showed good togetherness today.

We beat the team in front of us. What more could we do?

We beat the team in front of us. What more could we do?

Exactly. Kept a clean sheet and got a couple of goals. Not really sure how much more positive the result could have been. Sounds like the performance was much better too.

Big positive for me was that Pilkington scored again and it seems like he has a point to prove. If he stays fit he will be a real asset.

Nice to hear that we came through a tough test with flying colours. All bodes well for the start of the season.