Watched the game with a City legend yesterday

I was in a hospitality box yesterday and Phil Dwyer was one of the guests. I was sat next to him at the start of the game. In referring to the atmosphere prior to the kick off he said to me and I quote “If this doesn’t get the team going...nothing will”

Ok so let’s move along swiftly. I need to get a few things off my chest and see what my fellow supporters think.

1) Yesterday was as I believe as has been described by other members as a “Bad day in the office” because Tony Mowbray did a good job on us. Swansea, Forest and Ipswich have all done the same to us at CCS and it’s no coincidence that Forest, Ipswich and Middlesbrough all did the double over us this season.

2) Tony Mowbray targeted our weakness in defence with pace down the wings. In doing this our defence fell apart Kev was targeted as a player out of position and found wanting, Keinan had his worse game in a city shirt, Heaton looked lost and Samuel was so far off the pace it was unbelievable.

3) McPhail, Burke and Olofinjana were given no time on the ball and therefore could provide no quality ball to the forwards and had poor games. In fact, more often than not they lost the ball and Middlesbrough countered and put the defence under pressure again.

4) We had a very decent penalty shout ignored and this could have changed the game, having said that I don’t think we were ever going to get a goal even if we had played for another 90mins.

5) Very disappointed with the fans who left and didn’t stay for the end of season walk around the pitch, I even heard the “Loyal Supporters” chant from the Grand Stand! Correct me if I am wrong but I didn’t see Dave Jones wandering around the pitch, he obviously sent the team out but didn’t fancy it himself?

So that’s that, game over and we lost to a good Middlesbrough side on the day.

So what was the problem last night, was it the fact that Dave Jones just can’t cut it against a manager who actually thinks and analyses how to stop Cardiff City playing or, did the players let him down? If the players let him down, and to be fair they all under performed in the first half, whose fault is that? Well in my opinion the answer both times is Dave Jones.

This is going to sound a bit controversial but if we do get promoted via the play offs, in my opinion it will be down to the players and not Dave Jones. Dave Jones future at this club must come to an end this season regardless of promotion or not. As we have witnessed on many occasions this season he can’t provide the tactical or motivational ingredients to beat the likes of Forest, Reading or Swansea at home in the league so how can he do it in the play offs? In my opinion he can’t, he will just rely on the abundance of talent he has at his disposal to do it for him, let’s hope they can, starting on Saturday to ensure we finish 3rd and are in a position to benefit from a possible QPR points deduction.

Very good post

Just shows how fragile our tactics are that they targeted us like you've described. Reading also did it to us.

DJ did nothing wrong yesterday, when players defend like that the opposition will score! Fergie or mourinho could have been in charge but when players make simple errors how is that the managers fault? Ill get slammed for this but superkev was at fault for all 3 goals yesterday yet no-one dare say it because everyone thinks he can do no wrong.....if it had been naylor he would have been hung by now. People harp on about DJ and motivation, well if the players cant get motivated for yesterdays game then they dont deserve to wear the shirt! I solely blame those starting 11 yesterday, BUT DJ signed those players and for that he is responsible, if we dont go up i feel its time to thank DJ and say goodbye as he has taken us as far as he can, we need a young manager who can build something, new ideas, eddie howe would have been ideal. We still have a promotion shot so lets support the club, manager and players until the season is over, only then will we know if its been a success or not

DJ did nothing wrong yesterday, when players defend like that the opposition will score! Fergie or mourinho could have been in charge but when players make simple errors how is that the managers fault? Ill get slammed for this but superkev was at fault for all 3 goals yesterday yet no-one dare say it because everyone thinks he can do no wrong.....if it had been naylor he would have been hung by now. People harp on about DJ and motivation, well if the players cant get motivated for yesterdays game then they dont deserve to wear the shirt! I solely blame those starting 11 yesterday, BUT DJ signed those players and for that he is responsible, if we dont go up i feel its time to thank DJ and say goodbye as he has taken us as far as he can, we need a young manager who can build something, new ideas, eddie howe would have been ideal. We still have a promotion shot so lets support the club, manager and players until the season is over, only then will we know if its been a success or not

That's a good comment. We gotta wait till season is over - you're right. If it don't go our way then thank DJ and say goodbye. We will have the summer to rebuild if it don't go our way.

DJ did nothing wrong yesterday, when players defend like that the opposition will score! Fergie or mourinho could have been in charge but when players make simple errors how is that the managers fault? Ill get slammed for this but superkev was at fault for all 3 goals yesterday yet no-one dare say it because everyone thinks he can do no wrong.....if it had been naylor he would have been hung by now. People harp on about DJ and motivation, well if the players cant get motivated for yesterdays game then they dont deserve to wear the shirt! I solely blame those starting 11 yesterday, BUT DJ signed those players and for that he is responsible, if we dont go up i feel its time to thank DJ and say goodbye as he has taken us as far as he can, we need a young manager who can build something, new ideas, eddie howe would have been ideal. We still have a promotion shot so lets support the club, manager and players until the season is over, only then will we know if its been a success or not

Totally agree about McNaughton, he had a nightmare in the first half along with the rest of the defence. My point is that DJ doesn’t have that much influence the outcome of the games, if the players don't play well we lose. But how can the whole team at this important stage of the season not perform or perform as badly as they did yesterday, I take your point about Fergie but I just can’t see him letting the team hit the pitch in the frame of mind they were in yesterday, they were clueless. Compare our lot to Norwich last night, they fought for every ball like their promotion chances depended on it.

DJ did nothing wrong yesterday, when players defend like that the opposition will score! Fergie or mourinho could have been in charge but when players make simple errors how is that the managers fault? Ill get slammed for this but superkev was at fault for all 3 goals yesterday yet no-one dare say it because everyone thinks he can do no wrong.....if it had been naylor he would have been hung by now. People harp on about DJ and motivation, well if the players cant get motivated for yesterdays game then they dont deserve to wear the shirt! I solely blame those starting 11 yesterday, BUT DJ signed those players and for that he is responsible, if we dont go up i feel its time to thank DJ and say goodbye as he has taken us as far as he can, we need a young manager who can build something, new ideas, eddie howe would have been ideal. We still have a promotion shot so lets support the club, manager and players until the season is over, only then will we know if its been a success or not

That's a good comment. We gotta wait till season is over - you're right. If it don't go our way then thank DJ and say goodbye. We will have the summer to rebuild if it don't go our way.

Gareth, do you honestly think Dave Jones is capable of managing us in the Premier League?

We got one shot at this and if it comes off this year and that’s a big if we have to make sure we survive our first season in the Premier League, I just think he will be massively exposed at that level and if we gave him to say Christmas we could be already doomed and heading back to the Championship.

Of course I don’t have any answers to any of this just interested in other opinions .

DJ did nothing wrong yesterday, when players defend like that the opposition will score! Fergie or mourinho could have been in charge but when players make simple errors how is that the managers fault? Ill get slammed for this but superkev was at fault for all 3 goals yesterday yet no-one dare say it because everyone thinks he can do no wrong.....if it had been naylor he would have been hung by now. People harp on about DJ and motivation, well if the players cant get motivated for yesterdays game then they dont deserve to wear the shirt! I solely blame those starting 11 yesterday, BUT DJ signed those players and for that he is responsible, if we dont go up i feel its time to thank DJ and say goodbye as he has taken us as far as he can, we need a young manager who can build something, new ideas, eddie howe would have been ideal. We still have a promotion shot so lets support the club, manager and players until the season is over, only then will we know if its been a success or not

i agree with you regarding kev mac but it is jones who is playing him out of position.
i thought we had found our best and strongest back four with quinn hudson keinan and kev so why did we not play it last night.
If jones signed neur he would try him in midfield before putting him in goal.
why continually play people out of position.

DJ did nothing wrong yesterday, when players defend like that the opposition will score! Fergie or mourinho could have been in charge but when players make simple errors how is that the managers fault? Ill get slammed for this but superkev was at fault for all 3 goals yesterday yet no-one dare say it because everyone thinks he can do no wrong.....if it had been naylor he would have been hung by now. People harp on about DJ and motivation, well if the players cant get motivated for yesterdays game then they dont deserve to wear the shirt! I solely blame those starting 11 yesterday, BUT DJ signed those players and for that he is responsible, if we dont go up i feel its time to thank DJ and say goodbye as he has taken us as far as he can, we need a young manager who can build something, new ideas, eddie howe would have been ideal. We still have a promotion shot so lets support the club, manager and players until the season is over, only then will we know if its been a success or not

That's a good comment. We gotta wait till season is over - you're right. If it don't go our way then thank DJ and say goodbye. We will have the summer to rebuild if it don't go our way.

Gareth, do you honestly think Dave Jones is capable of managing us in the Premier League?

We got one shot at this and if it comes off this year and that’s a big if we have to make sure we survive our first season in the Premier League, I just think he will be massively exposed at that level and if we gave him to say Christmas we could be already doomed and heading back to the Championship.

Of course I don’t have any answers to any of this just interested in other opinions .

I was referring to seeing season out rather than next season. I'm not in the "DJ In Camp" , but we got no choice for next few games is all I was saying.
I agree with you totally.

DJ did nothing wrong yesterday, when players defend like that the opposition will score! Fergie or mourinho could have been in charge but when players make simple errors how is that the managers fault? Ill get slammed for this but superkev was at fault for all 3 goals yesterday yet no-one dare say it because everyone thinks he can do no wrong.....if it had been naylor he would have been hung by now. People harp on about DJ and motivation, well if the players cant get motivated for yesterdays game then they dont deserve to wear the shirt! I solely blame those starting 11 yesterday, BUT DJ signed those players and for that he is responsible, if we dont go up i feel its time to thank DJ and say goodbye as he has taken us as far as he can, we need a young manager who can build something, new ideas, eddie howe would have been ideal. We still have a promotion shot so lets support the club, manager and players until the season is over, only then will we know if its been a success or not

i agree with you regarding kev mac but it is jones who is playing him out of position.
i thought we had found our best and strongest back four with quinn hudson keinan and kev so why did we not play it last night.
If jones signed neur he would try him in midfield before putting him in goal.
why continually play people out of position.

Why change a winning team? We were playing really well and unbeaten in 8.....if he had changed team and we lost he would get slaughtered for that

DJ did nothing wrong yesterday, when players defend like that the opposition will score! Fergie or mourinho could have been in charge but when players make simple errors how is that the managers fault? Ill get slammed for this but superkev was at fault for all 3 goals yesterday yet no-one dare say it because everyone thinks he can do no wrong.....if it had been naylor he would have been hung by now. People harp on about DJ and motivation, well if the players cant get motivated for yesterdays game then they dont deserve to wear the shirt! I solely blame those starting 11 yesterday, BUT DJ signed those players and for that he is responsible, if we dont go up i feel its time to thank DJ and say goodbye as he has taken us as far as he can, we need a young manager who can build something, new ideas, eddie howe would have been ideal. We still have a promotion shot so lets support the club, manager and players until the season is over, only then will we know if its been a success or not

i agree with you regarding kev mac but it is jones who is playing him out of position.
i thought we had found our best and strongest back four with quinn hudson keinan and kev so why did we not play it last night.
If jones signed neur he would try him in midfield before putting him in goal.
why continually play people out of position.

Why change a winning team? We were playing really well and unbeaten in 8.....if he had changed team and we lost he would get slaughtered for that

Maybe the preparation of the team was not good ? I agree with your point , many people on here were saying we had to keep same line-up , and why change a winning team ? Was the teams preparation and mindset right though ? We did seem awfully slow and they didn't play like it was a "put your body on the line" game

DJ did nothing wrong yesterday, when players defend like that the opposition will score! Fergie or mourinho could have been in charge but when players make simple errors how is that the managers fault? Ill get slammed for this but superkev was at fault for all 3 goals yesterday yet no-one dare say it because everyone thinks he can do no wrong.....if it had been naylor he would have been hung by now. People harp on about DJ and motivation, well if the players cant get motivated for yesterdays game then they dont deserve to wear the shirt! I solely blame those starting 11 yesterday, BUT DJ signed those players and for that he is responsible, if we dont go up i feel its time to thank DJ and say goodbye as he has taken us as far as he can, we need a young manager who can build something, new ideas, eddie howe would have been ideal. We still have a promotion shot so lets support the club, manager and players until the season is over, only then will we know if its been a success or not

i agree with you regarding kev mac but it is jones who is playing him out of position.
i thought we had found our best and strongest back four with quinn hudson keinan and kev so why did we not play it last night.
If jones signed neur he would try him in midfield before putting him in goal.
why continually play people out of position.

Why change a winning team? We were playing really well and unbeaten in 8.....if he had changed team and we lost he would get slaughtered for that

Good point but It wasn't the team that needed changing, once again if it the opposition play formation other than 4 4 2 Dave Jones is clueless, you could see the players were just not prepared for a 5 man midfield and were shouting at each other because nobody was making themselves available for a pass. It needed quick ball over the top, even direct from the keeper to Bothroyd, but we kept trying to move it through the midfield. Dave Jones was outwitted by Mowbray I am afraid.

I was in a hospitality box yesterday and Phil Dwyer was one of the guests. I was sat next to him at the start of the game. In referring to the atmosphere prior to the kick off he said to me and I quote “If this doesn’t get the team going...nothing will”

Ok so let’s move along swiftly. I need to get a few things off my chest and see what my fellow supporters think.

1) Yesterday was as I believe as has been described by other members as a “Bad day in the office” because Tony Mowbray did a good job on us. Swansea, Forest and Ipswich have all done the same to us at CCS and it’s no coincidence that Forest, Ipswich and Middlesbrough all did the double over us this season.

2) Tony Mowbray targeted our weakness in defence with pace down the wings. In doing this our defence fell apart Kev was targeted as a player out of position and found wanting, Keinan had his worse game in a city shirt, Heaton looked lost and Samuel was so far off the pace it was unbelievable.

3) McPhail, Burke and Olofinjana were given no time on the ball and therefore could provide no quality ball to the forwards and had poor games. In fact, more often than not they lost the ball and Middlesbrough countered and put the defence under pressure again.

4) We had a very decent penalty shout ignored and this could have changed the game, having said that I don’t think we were ever going to get a goal even if we had played for another 90mins.

5) Very disappointed with the fans who left and didn’t stay for the end of season walk around the pitch, I even heard the “Loyal Supporters” chant from the Grand Stand! Correct me if I am wrong but I didn’t see Dave Jones wandering around the pitch, he obviously sent the team out but didn’t fancy it himself?

So that’s that, game over and we lost to a good Middlesbrough side on the day.

So what was the problem last night, was it the fact that Dave Jones just can’t cut it against a manager who actually thinks and analyses how to stop Cardiff City playing or, did the players let him down? If the players let him down, and to be fair they all under performed in the first half, whose fault is that? Well in my opinion the answer both times is Dave Jones.

This is going to sound a bit controversial but if we do get promoted via the play offs, in my opinion it will be down to the players and not Dave Jones. Dave Jones future at this club must come to an end this season regardless of promotion or not. As we have witnessed on many occasions this season he can’t provide the tactical or motivational ingredients to beat the likes of Forest, Reading or Swansea at home in the league so how can he do it in the play offs? In my opinion he can’t, he will just rely on the abundance of talent he has at his disposal to do it for him, let’s hope they can, starting on Saturday to ensure we finish 3rd and are in a position to benefit from a possible QPR points deduction.

Enjoyed the read, very good post

I was in a hospitality box yesterday and Phil Dwyer was one of the guests. I was sat next to him at the start of the game. In referring to the atmosphere prior to the kick off he said to me and I quote “If this doesn’t get the team going...nothing will”

Ok so let’s move along swiftly. I need to get a few things off my chest and see what my fellow supporters think.

1) Yesterday was as I believe as has been described by other members as a “Bad day in the office” because Tony Mowbray did a good job on us. Swansea, Forest and Ipswich have all done the same to us at CCS and it’s no coincidence that Forest, Ipswich and Middlesbrough all did the double over us this season.

2) Tony Mowbray targeted our weakness in defence with pace down the wings. In doing this our defence fell apart Kev was targeted as a player out of position and found wanting, Keinan had his worse game in a city shirt, Heaton looked lost and Samuel was so far off the pace it was unbelievable.

3) McPhail, Burke and Olofinjana were given no time on the ball and therefore could provide no quality ball to the forwards and had poor games. In fact, more often than not they lost the ball and Middlesbrough countered and put the defence under pressure again.

4) We had a very decent penalty shout ignored and this could have changed the game, having said that I don’t think we were ever going to get a goal even if we had played for another 90mins.

5) Very disappointed with the fans who left and didn’t stay for the end of season walk around the pitch, I even heard the “Loyal Supporters” chant from the Grand Stand! Correct me if I am wrong but I didn’t see Dave Jones wandering around the pitch, he obviously sent the team out but didn’t fancy it himself?

So that’s that, game over and we lost to a good Middlesbrough side on the day.

So what was the problem last night, was it the fact that Dave Jones just can’t cut it against a manager who actually thinks and analyses how to stop Cardiff City playing or, did the players let him down? If the players let him down, and to be fair they all under performed in the first half, whose fault is that? Well in my opinion the answer both times is Dave Jones.

This is going to sound a bit controversial but if we do get promoted via the play offs, in my opinion it will be down to the players and not Dave Jones. Dave Jones future at this club must come to an end this season regardless of promotion or not. As we have witnessed on many occasions this season he can’t provide the tactical or motivational ingredients to beat the likes of Forest, Reading or Swansea at home in the league so how can he do it in the play offs? In my opinion he can’t, he will just rely on the abundance of talent he has at his disposal to do it for him, let’s hope they can, starting on Saturday to ensure we finish 3rd and are in a position to benefit from a possible QPR points deduction.

Enjoyed the read, very good post

Cheers Annis, like everybody else very bitter after last night and frustrated that not only did we blow our auto promotion chance (slim that it was, i didn't expect Norwich to slip up) we have pilled the pressure on ourselves for the weekend IF QPR get a points deduction. The first time in god knows how many years the team that finishes 3rd may get promoted and we still have to go away to Burnley and get 3 points to guarantee 3rd spot and ensure the Jacks don't pip us. You could make it up could you I know your feelings on the matter but I think this team could have managed its self this season. My big fear is if we win promotion the board foolishly keep him on out of some sort of misplaced loyalty.