MATCH THREAD: “ CARDIFF CITY v SOUTHAMPTON “ MATCH THREAD

CARDIFF CITY v SOUTHAMPTON
Saturday 20th April, 3pm
Sky Bet Championship
Cardiff City Stadium 


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Aaron Ramsey to miss rest of season through injury. Started seven games on his Cardiff return, finished just one of those.



Adding to the club's injury woes are player of the season candidates Perry Ng and Karlan Grant, the former is out for the season in a massive blow. Jamilu Collins is also out, while Callum Robinson and Josh Bowler are ill.





TEAM NEWS:

EROL BULUT:


“We have a number of players out injured”:


“Callum O'Dowda could be out for the rest of the season.”

“Kion and Josh are out for the rest of the season.”

“Mark McGuinness is getting there.”

“Aaron Ramsey we are still hopeful.”





The Opposition's Manager

Russell Martin was appointed Southampton manager in June.

He has them in contention for the top two, they are already guaranteed at least a play-off place.

He previously has spells in charge of MK Dons and Swansea.

Opposition Dangerous Players

Adam Armstrong and Che Adams have 32 league goals between them this season.

We know the threat David Brooks has from watching him for Wales.

Head To Head 

Southampton beat us 2-0 in December.

That was one of two wins against us in the last five meetings, we won the other three.

Team News - Predicted Line-Ups

Cardiff City: Horvath, Ng, Goutas, Phillips, Collins, Siopis, Ralls, Colwill, Bowler, Grant, Meite

Southampton: Bazunu, Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Walker-Peters, Downes, Smallbone, Aribo, Brooks, Armstrong, Adams

Last Game

We lost at Millwall on Saturday.

On the same day, Southampton beat Watford at home. They also play Preston at home on Tuesday.

Match Odds

Cardiff City - 11/2
Southampton - 8/15
Draw - 3/1

Predictions

Post your predictions below 

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24/02/2024 Cardiff City 2 Stoke City 1 Crowd 18,976 Away Support 1,320



02/03/2024 Bristol City 0 Cardiff City 1 Crowd 24,035 Away Support 2,300

06/03/2024 Cardiff City 1 Huddersfield Town 0 Crowd 17,243 Away Support 320

09/03/2024 Cardiff City 2 Ipswich Town 1 Crowd 22,724 Away Support 3,213

16/03/2024 Swansea City 2 Cardiff City 0 Crowd 20,005 Away Support 1,700

29/03/2024 Cardiff City 0 Sunderland 2 Crowd 22,142 Away Support 2,180



01/04/2024 Coventry City 1 Cardiff City 2 Crowd 28,529 Away Support 1,680



06/04/2024 Cardiff City 1 Hull City 3 Crowd 20,688 Away Support 885



10/04/2024 19:45 Birmingham City 0 Cardiff City 1 Crowd 20,854 Away Support 590


13/04/2024 Millwall 3 Cardiff City 1 Crowd 18,838 Away Support. 1,390



20/04/2024 Cardiff City v Southampton Crowd Away Support



27/04/2024 15:00 Cardiff City v Middlesbrough

04/05/2024 12:30 Rotherham United v Cardiff City

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TEAM NEWS:

EROL BULUT:


“We have a number of players out injured”:


“Callum O'Dowda could be out for the rest of the season.”

“Kion and Josh are out for the rest of the season.”

“Mark McGuinness is getting there.”

“Aaron Ramsey we are still hopeful.”

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I’ll be travelling over for this one.

Can’t see anything other than an away win unfortunately. They’re hitting form at the right time and could even get top two.

We all know that Martin will do anything to beat us as well.

One thing in our favour is that they have a game in midweek and we don’t.

1-3 to Southampton - with our keeper or Phillips likely to be our Man of the Match.

Can't wait to see that smarmy prick Martin doing the swim away on our pitch after Southampton comfortably pick up three points.

I bet Erol is up early this morning thumbing through his 1970's Italian coaching manual looking at how he can send up the white flag in an even more defensive way. I reckon Mad Mick five centre halfs will look "progressive"

Can't see it being anything other than a 0-3 borefest

I am flying back again with one of my daughters Alexandra.

Bluebirds

Against Millwall


Erol Bulut:

“The first-half I accept and we were the better the side.”
“The second-half, I can’t accept as we never put the effort in, the difference was you could see how much they wanted to win.”

"It's not just about being safe, it's about how much you want something. Today, the opponent in the second half wanted to win, and they got it. We didn't want it in the second half, and that's why we lost three points.

"I can accept losing games but not if we aren't putting the effort in. We need to fight until the end. I demand maximum effort."

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Horrible state of affairs where we go into a game with no hope
lets hope next season we are a team like ipswich leeds sothampton etc

But realistically can anyone see a big rebuild and a team built for a top 3 this will only happen if like newcastle we get new owners
Most know we will be where we are now at best or a hull wba sunderland on the fringes of a top 6
if we do spend a rebuild will take a few seasons but if we keep getting rid of our best players we will just keep plugging the loss
if the likes of philips grant perry ng colwill all leave the rebuild will be bigger we need to retain our best and build around them.

I can't see us winning this but love the fact that the JBs have sued him. Horrible prick

Russell Martin thinks Flynn Downes is the best player in the Championship -

The former Swansea City boss made a bold claim following Southampton’s 3-2 victory over Watford on the weekend. Martin suggested that Flynn Downes was the best player in the division.

“The one who deserves to score, it would have to be him (Downes), I think,” the 38-year-old said....

“The way he’s played over the season he’s been here. A loan player, the commitment. I think he’s the best in the league for a lot of reasons. He’s shown it again with this performance.”

Downes, who is on loan from West Ham United, joined the South Coasters last summer and has looked every inch of a Premier League player throughout the campaign.

Whilst Martin’s claim is certainly an audacious one, perhaps there’s an element of truth in it, particularly when you take a look at his statistics.

Ramsey having his scan today.

Saints take on Cardiff City at the Cardiff City

Stadium on Saturday 20th April 2024 – 3pm Kick-off. We have received the full allocation of 3,193 tickets.

Brilliant away support by Southampton

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Match Odds. Cardiff City v Southampton

Cardiff City - 11/2
Southampton - 8/15
Draw - 3/1

Southampton resume Championship action on Tuesday evening as they play host to Preston and North End.

The good feeling is back at St Mary’s after securing a late victory against Watford on the weekend, which moved them to 81 points.

They are now just six points adrift of third-placed Leeds United with two games in hand, so they have their sights set on closing that gap tomorrow, as well as the seven-points to surmount on Leicester City, who occupy the final automatic promotion spot.

Erol Bulut:

“It’s normal that people criticise me, fans, media, this is my job. I am not perfect. I have to learn a lot of things,” said Bulut.

“But you cannot say this season that it is luck that we are here with 59 points. I am long enough in this business, I played football for 20 years.

“In the press sometimes I am reading these things, someone wants to show that all our work this season is bad. This I do not accept.

“I know what my guys did this season. What we did all this season. No one can speak badly about our work.

“It’s enough. All the last few weeks I am reading these things, getting these messages. Until now I never spoke about these things. But enough is enough.

“They can criticise me, I don’t have any problem with this. But I think they do it on purpose, these messages.

“Of course, we are reading this, the players are reading this, it affects us also. It affects players. When you speak about players, the coach, our game, things like this, it affects the players.”

Bulut also had harsh words for his players, questioning their mental strength after they lost for the fourth time in six matches.

“The main thing is the mentality, how you go in the game, if you want to change this game, if you want to win this game, what you are expecting from yourself individually,” he added..

“I can speak only to my players, but the mentality on the field has to change, especially in the second half.

“Consistency is the biggest problem that we have this season. If it was a little bit different then we would be speaking now about different things.

“It was like day and night. In the first half it was clear that the better team was Cardiff but we conceded two goals and the second half was not acceptable.

“If you have these small mistakes in your game then it is difficult to come back.”

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Southampton are too slick for this Cardiff City team. Can't see anything other than an away win; but PLEASE go out on your shield, lads. Make them work for it.

Saints timing their run to perfection. Winning again tonight
and still have a game in hand plus games Vs Leicester and Leeds. They will destroy us Saturday.

3 nil up after 30 mins if we try defending against these we are going to loose by 6 goals we have got to play in there half
but with meite or farmer dido for us upfront what a sh.t strike force embarrassing.

Got to TURN UP SATURDAY NO NONSENSE DEFENDING GET IN THERE FACEES and make a game of it get stuck IN

All logic says Southampton will destroy us on Saturday. They utterly blew us away at their place. But football is strange and we've often defied the odds against Saints. Will the real Cardiff City please stand up? A shock 2 v 1 home won it is.

Southampton now with a serious tilt at the automatic places, as the previously 'uncatchable' top 3 slip in form...

This will be a stiff test for the Bluebirds and a large, vociferous crowd will be a huge help to our boys...

Updated:

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My 2 boys and nephew are mascots for this Saturdays game , they are getting very excited , I hope they enjoy the experience cos it cost a fortune
The 3 Bowens , let’s hope we can do a upset for Southampton

Southampton re-entered the race for automatic promotion on Tuesday night as they came out as convincing 3-0 winners over play-off chasing Preston North End. That win moves the Saints just four points behind City, with them still to visit the King Power Stadium.

Both City and Southampton have a game in hand over their promotion rivals Leeds United and Ipswich Town. That game is between the two sides and will be played in just under a week, with Ipswich currently top with City in second and Leeds in third.

The game against Preston was the first of three where they will be without Mara, who was charged by the FA for an incident involving himself and Watford's Ryan Porteous. Although this was not observed by the match officials during play, a subsequent investigation by the FA highlighted the event.

The Football Association stated: "Southampton FC's Sekou Mara has been suspended for three matches following their Championship game against Watford on Saturday, April 13. The forward's behaviour in the 83rd minute was not seen by the match officials at the time but it was caught on video and the FA alleged it constituted violent conduct."

Accepting the charges levied against him, Mara also agreed to the automatic three-match ban. The statement continued: "Sekou Mara subsequently admitted this charge against him and also accepted the automatic three-match suspension."

This season, Mara, who is usually brought off the bench, has contributed six goals from 32 appearances for the Saints. He missed the win against Preston and will also be forced to sit out the weekend's clash against Cardiff City and the game against the Foxes, which could turn out to be crucial in the race for the top two positions.

In what could potentially be more good news for Leicester, Mara will make a return just in time for Southampton's final showdown of the season against Leeds United. The Saints make the journey to Elland Road on the final day on the season on the same day that City face Blackburn Rovers at the King Power Stadium.

Adding to the club's injury woes are player of the season candidates Perry Ng and Karlan Grant, the former is out for the season in a massive blow. Jamilu Collins is also out, while Callum Robinson and Josh Bowler are ill.

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Aaron Ramsey to miss rest of season through injury. Started seven games on his Cardiff return, finished just one of those.

A three-horse race for promotion between Ipswich, Leicester and Leeds was anticipated however, the promotion pendulum has swung back in Russell Martin‘s favour following a kind run of results.

As their rivals have dropped off in the last two matches, Southampton have collected maximum points against Coventry City, Watford and Preston North End.

In the 3-0 win over Preston on Tuesday night, Martin was struck with horrendous news as starting goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu injured his Achilles pre-match.

Veteran goalkeeper Alex McCarthy replaced the 22-year-old with the Saints boss confirming he would miss the remainder of the campaign.

Having controversially won his place in the starting XI over backup keeper Joe Lumley, McCarthy experienced a quiet night as Preston only registered one shot on target.