Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:52 am
' Paul Trollope already has a bigger win to his name '
Sunday July 17, 2016
by The other Bob Wilson
So, one first team game into his career as Cardiff City Head Coach and Paul Trollope already has a bigger win to his name than Russell Slade ever managed in his season and three quarters at the club – not only that, it feels like there was more tactical flexibility shown in that one match than there was in all of his predecessor’s time here!
Actually, having seen us playing with just two at the back in the closing stages of our win over Bolton at Cardiff City Stadium last season, that last bit’s not really fair. However, by starting with a Wales style 3-5-2 in yesterday’s 4-0 win at Shrewsbury, before making eleven changes in a switch to what looked like a 4-2-3-1 formation, Trollope did show an encouraging adaptability by using a warm up match for what it should be used for. There was a certainly a different feel to the approach used compared to what we were experiencing this time last year as we prepared for the 2015/16 campaign.
City started yesterday with a back three of Bruno Manga, Matt Connolly and Semi Ajayi in front of David Marshall with Fabio and Declan John operating as wing backs. In central midfield, the trio of Stuart O’Keefe, Peter Whittingham and Lex Immers combined, with the latter in a more advanced position behind Anthony Pilkington and new signing Frederic Gounongbe.
It was all change for the last third of the match with Simon Moore replacing Marshall and a very inexperienced back four of Theo Wharton, Jordan Blaise, Tom James and David Tutonda being given their chance. Tom Adeyemi appeared in a City shirt for the first time in nearly a year as he accompanied Kagisho Dikgacoi , with Craig Noone, Matt Kennedy and Kadeem Harris supporting lone striker Kenneth Zohore.
After the match, Trollope explained that Sean Morrison and Lee Peltier were hoping to be ready for the first league match at Birmingham in three weeks time following their operations during the summer and that Joe Ralls had been ill and so was not risked, but he was expected to available for selection for the upcoming matches in Germany.
As for the game itself, while it’s always best not to draw too many conclusions from such occasions, it is maybe worth recording that Shrewsbury were able to win 1-0 at City in the Third Round of the FA Cup last year, having shared a 2-2 home draw with us on this weekend last year – they also drew by the same score with Wolves in a behind closed doors game earlier this week.
So, I think it’s fair to say that when a Championship team visits the ground of a League One club for a pre season match, you don’t usually expect there to be a four goal margin between the sides. Of course, such an outcome might be indicative of a weak Shrewsbury team in the coming season, it may mean a strong Cardiff showing or, most likely, it will have no relevance whatsoever to what happens in the nine months starting from 5 August!
After a strong start, City got their first goal on twenty six minutes when Pilkington cut in from the left to hit a right footed shot into the roof of the net from twenty five yards and there was then a first goal for the club by Gounongbe when he nodded in a Whittingham corner shortly before the interval.
The other two goals were scored after the host of changes made by both sides, with a Noone free kick being glanced in by James (although those commentating on City’s website thought the final touch came off a Shrewsbury defender) and then Zohore was rewarded for his closing down of keeper Callum Brown, as he charged down a clearance to be left with a tap in from about a yard out.
Strictly speaking, the match yesterday was not the first under Paul Trollope’s leadership. City had made their annual trip to Forest Green on Wednesday, but, unlike on previous occasions, it was more of a Under 21 cum Academy team which took on the Conference club and the new Head Coach only had a watching brief as he left James Rowberry to take charge.
Just how far Adam LeFondre and Federico Macheda have fallen down the pecking order at the club could be emphasised by the fact that they were the only senior players to figure on Wednesday (I know LeFondre is currently training with the Under 21s and presume Macheda is doing the same).
The two of them combined as Macheda put City ahead and then keeper Ben Wilson distinguished himself by saving a penalty, only to be beaten by another one awarded a few minutes later. Level at the break, an impressive looking Forest Green side got on top after that and scored two more unanswered goals.