Flying Bluebirds

Ive finally finished preseason after a busy week this week, and i can say its gone pretty well.

We started preseason with a set of easy games and slowly getting abit harder, thank you Kersdale for a great set of fixtures i must say.

Southend: With all my signings done very early (which i shall show soon) and a tactical overhaul for this season, i decided to play them all in the starting 11 accept 1/2. Most of them played pretty well. Okay we played Southend not the greatest. Bu still a good performance for there first game. New signing Sven Schipplock (cheap striker) got us off to a great start tackling a southend defender then to score a simple goal. Another goal from Schipplock, Sio and someone you know Peter Whittingham gave us a 4-0 lead within 32 minutes. Van Ginkel got our only other goal breaking through Southends defence from Hamdi Salihi ball to poke home a 5th. Down sides to the game was Injuries to Don Cowie and Robert Earnshaw, thankfully it wasnt for to long.

Zenit: Probably the most difficult side in our batch of games, and this proved to be, but we gave ourself a decent performance to the superior side, so was pretty pleased despite losing. Zenit started well and quickly broke through our defensive line and take the ball round foster for a simple goal. Hamdi Salihi equalized with a fantastic effort. Keepers positioning was pretty bad but still from 30 yards out a fantastic effort lobbing the keeper and just missing the cross bar to put us 1-1. Great goal. But nothing like Mark Hudsons v Derby in real life . Anyway, in the second half Zenit were the better side, but we didnt give them really any decent chances. But at the last minute we let our concentration slip and a poor defended corner gave Zenit the 2-1. Zenit are a better side in generally, but a decent performance against a top european side.

Now for the best part……

Lets start with the outs from Cardiff. A few players left on a free transfer including Zat Knight. pretty poor last season, old, biggish wages ment he was definitely leaving. We managed to get 500k for Aaron Wildig of Plymouth Argyle. Surprised they were able to offer 500k. Okay its all in installments but still i thought it was surprising. Jordan Rhodes left but only on loan unfortunately, Celtic have an option to buy him after his loan, so hoping it goes pretty well. Relegated Portsmouth brought Ben Turner off us and im sure all upfront. I hope Portsmouth owners know what they are doing, dont want them having another financially melt down.

Ins:

Nabil Messaoudi is one for the future. The young talented centre back brought from Twente is definitely one for the future. At 17 hes already got 12 under 21 caps for Holland and hes predicted 5 stars and a future leading star. Watch this man.

Craig Dawson is a youngish centre back. Yes i signed him for 5 million. Hes been decent preseason, but im starting to regret spending 5 million pounds on him. I dont reckon hes worth 5 million, i just hope now he can justify his price tag. Anyway he had great heading, strength and jumping so he shouldnt be beaten in the air to often hopefully.

Ezequiel Munoz is another centre back who will partner Dawson this season. Centre back was our main position to improve and we certainly have improved. Munoz is probably my favorite transfer transfer, even if he is on loan. I do have a clause to buy him for 4.3 million i think it is. I had a multiplayer game on last seasons FM and i was Palermo and he was a excellent centre back so hoping he will be just as good as he was on last years FM.

The boards minimum expectation was a midtable finish. Which is the one i picked. I do think we can achieve this easy enough, and assume 15th is minimum. I hope i can finish this season in the top 12 and hopefully a decent cup run.

Fixtures:

We have a pretty decent set of games to start off the season. Arsenal and Tottenham our only hard games, if we could grab 8/9 points id be pretty happy with the start we have made.

Thats it from me, see you all!

Results

We are still without a win, but thankfully premier league survival was already done and dusted before these batch of games. I just wanted to get the season done and dusted to prepare for next season. Performances were alot better, but we just couldnt find that win we could of done with. Thankfully our great first half of the season was enough to keep us up this season.

Key Games

West Brom: After a great performance against Newcastle the game before, i had big hopes we could finally come away with a win finally. As the game kicked off we got off to a horrendous start. Mikel Silvestre putting the ball into his own net. A West Brom corner wasnt cleared and in a crowded box Silvestre puts it into his own net. In fairness you cant really see who puts it in it was the crowded. We responded well and a fabulous strike from Marco Van Ginkel hitting the bar and in put us level at 1-1. We continued to play some decent football, but we could not take our chances. We created 4 clear cut chances, but couldnt take any of them. Played well, but must take our chances, its a points games at the end of the day.

Stoke City: Stoke were in deep trouble as the fight for Premier League survival, so we knew at this time of the season it wasnt going to be easy, but a game we should look to win. Again we played alright, a fair evenish game, but Stoke were the first to get on the scoresheet. Jermaine Pennant getting on the scoresheet with a nice finish from outside the box. The game was fairly even, but we didnt look like scoring really, and when time looked up for us, up stepped Peter Whittingham on the 90th minute mark. A header from a difficult position and gave the keeper no chance. Great goal Whitts! As we looked like we were going to grab atleast a point my bad luck continued. Pennant again the killer for us. A ball played him in 1 on 1 with the keeper and he slotted away nicely. So frustrating!

Tottenham: This was one of our poorest performances of the two months but we managed to gain a point against the giants. To my surprise we took a early lead, Robert Earnshaw with a poachers instinct  from Craig Conways cross. Im in lar lar land. Tottenham were as you expect the better side, but Fraser Forster in goal was having a great game. The score was 1-0 us at the break. After the break we got more into the game and we somehow took a 2-0 lead. Some poor defending from spurs let Earnshaw run from his own half. 2 on 1 with another defender Earnshaw goes into such a tight angle instead of passing it to Joe Mason for a easy finish. I was furious at Earnshaw for not passing, but he somehow scores from a tight angle putting us 2-0 up with just over 20 minutes to go. Finally our luck might be changing. Ehh Ehh WRONG! Oscar Cardozo putting Spurs 2-1 to set up a nervous finish. At 90 minutes i thought we must win this now, but no again Cardozo with a nice finish putting us at 2-2. I just cant buy a win, although i would of been very happy taking a point from Tottenham at the start the game.

League Table:

We finished 15th in our first season. The main goal of the season was to stay in the Premier League, but after being in the top 12 for most of the season, i am slightly disappointed, but not to down hearted. My fellow promoted clubs both go down as do Stoke. Bolton get a europa cup spot after winning the Carling Cup earlier in the season.

Players:

The players with a red ring around there name is probably the players who will more than likely will be leaving in the summer, while the two with blue rings i am undecided.  Magnus Troest has had a poor first season at Cardiff, but since it was his first season i am willing to give him a second chance next season. Paul Quinn is not really good enough, but he can play all across the back which makes him very handy to have incase of a injury crisis. Robert Earnshaws contract was about to run out and i was going to let it run down, but when i seen this i just had to keep him.

As a Cardiff fan myself id love to see “Earnie” be our record goal scorer so ive given him a new contract in the hope he can score atleast 6 league goals next term.

Our main problem this season was defiantly the defence. Most of the bottom pack there are defenders and i couldnt agree more. Mikel Silvestre wasnt to bad, but hes retiring, other wise i would of kept him for another season. Hamdi Salihi was brilliant at the start of the season but second half he really really went off the boil. I was very surprised when he was voted runner up in signing of the season.

Just before i leave to prepare for next season, i would like to announce that our stadium is being expanded.

A extra 5,250 seats will take our capacity to around 31,000 mark. I didnt ask for the ground to be expanded it was a decision taken by the board.  I am happy with the expansion as we sold out most games, but at the cost of 7 million it takes quite a big chunk out of the bank.

Thats all from me, see you before i kick off the new campaign!

As you can see from our results in February and March, weve scored a ton of goals! One. Just by saying weve scored one goal in two months already shows we have had a bad time.

In fairness weve had a few difficult games including Manchester and Arsenal. But we should really be scoring games teams like QPR and bottom side Portsmouth.

Key Games

Portsmouth: Playing bottom side Portsmouth should have been a comfortable win. But no a 1-0 defeat to the bottom side. The game was pretty dull right throughout. The game lacked chances, quality, and goals. The only goal of the game was scored by Luke Varney. A simple finish from close range put us a goal down. We never looked like getting a equalizer neither did Portsmouth. The only player causing us problems was Erik Huseklep. The winger was causing a few problems down the wing but no end product. The game was evenly poor through out the game, and maybe we should of got a draw. But being so poor uptop at the minute is proving costly.

Manchester United: After a poor performance last game against Liverpool, we had a home tie against United. We didnt play to well, but i set out to get a 0-0 draw. Only time i dont mind not scoring. Surprising we started the better side and created two early chances but that was really it for the majority of the game. United from there on in dominated the game, and finally took the lead 27 minutes in. We defended pretty well in truth most of the time. But we all know they have quality, and they were on a good run of form. But we managed to keep it down to one. At the end of the game, alot of players moral was quite high. So even they knew they put in a decent effort despite uniteds dominance.

Newcastle United: The last game of the month seen us take a trip to high flying Newcastle. This was definitely by far our best performance of the 2 months here. We started off the brighter side and were rewarded a penalty 20 minutes in. Up stepped Robert Earnshaw. And missed. Newcastle responded to there poor start at Demba Ba punished us for the penalty miss. The game leveled out in this entertaining encounter and we got a reward for our good performance. Marco Van Ginkel with a lovely strike on the edge of the box, hitting the bar as it sailed past Krul. The game was vastly entertaining and we created some good chances but we couldnt take them. We were perhaps the better side overall. But we definitely deserved a point from this game but we could have win with some of our chances.

League Table:

We are still nicely up there, but 16th place QPR are just 5 points from us. We really need to start picking up the points again if we are to finish in the top 12. But my main goal of the season was to stay up, we will defiantly be playing Premier League football next season. Hopefully next season we can break into the top 12 if we dont this time round.

At the end of March our new youth recruits were hoping be able to make the cut for our youth academy for a season or two possibly more. There we a few decent players. No next Messi or Van Persie in there, but maybe  midtable players in the future which could provide decent backup in the future. Our best intake was probably Ryan Powell.

Not amazing but might be able to break into the side on day. Only downside as a striker his finishing is pretty poor. Thats something ill be keen to help him on. We have a few decent players who came in, but he was probably the best, but only just.

Remaining Fixtures:

A great chance to pick up points in April, but alot more tricky in May. If we can perform how we did against Newcastle, im sure we can atleast win at Reading and Stoke, whom are both in relegation.

Thats it from me, next post maybe tomorrow as i have a pretty free day.

Good day all!

Hello FM Crowders! Havent posted in about 2 weeks now. The suns been out in Wales and my FM time was taken over by my second sport. Golf. Im not that good, but enjoy a good round . Anyway, lets crack on!

Quite a busy December and January as you would expect. Not the greatest of form, but we’ve had some tough games to play.

Reading: We started off to what i thought was going to be a easy win as Reading were in the relegation zone. It wasnt that easy. Reading gave us a good game and the match was even, but Reading got on the scoresheet first with a nice effort by Jem Karacan on the half hour mark. It took us a while to get the equalizing goal, but we finally managed to grab it 70 minutes into the game. Jens Hegeler heading Peter Whittinghams corner. The match stayed level. 1-1 was definitely a fair result.

Stoke: We were very fortunate to pick up all 3 points against a very good Stoke side. However we took the lead just 10 minutes gone. Whittingham again the provider putting Earnshaw in on goal and slotting nicely. Some poor defending from a set piece gave Stoke there equalizer 10 minutes later.10 minutes later, Stoke defender Jonathan Woodgate was set of for a foul in the box. Harsh really. But anyway from the resounding penalty we missed. Earnshaws penalty missed was soon forgotten 2 minutes later as Veteran centre back Mikael Silvestre headed in Peter Whittinghams freekick. Althrough the 2nd half stoke continued to make soo many chances but shooting was way-wood. Thankfully we held on, but we should have done abit better considering we had a man extra for the majority of the game.

Norwich: A brilliant performance against Norwich, but we only managed to score just the 1 goal. It could have been atleast 3. We started off brightly with a very early goal from Don Cowie, and assisted by Earnshaw. We continued to dominate early stages of the game, but no goals. This happened through out the game, but we could not find that 2nd goal. I really thought this wasnt to be our game and Norwich were going to make us pay with all our missed chances, but no. They didnt have a shot on target all game. A 1-0 win which could have been more. A great performance just lacked goals.

Tottenham: The start to a very tricky 4 games. I definitely got this tactically wrong. We did managed to take a surprising 1-0 lead thanks to Robert Earnshaw. but thats the only positive i can take from this game. Other that that we were shocking. But we managed to keep it at 1-0 until half time, but spurs dominated the play. In the second half spurs conjured shot after shot after shot. and managed to put 4 past our poor defence. Tottenham managed to create 32 shots and having 55% of possession, while we created 5 and 45% of play. Abit strange, but poor.

Chelsea: We were bang unlucky to come away with no points. We should have grabbed atleast 1 point. Chelsea started off the better side and they scored two early goals. Goals from Torres and Sturridge within 13 minutes set them on there way to what looked a comfortable victory. But from there on in we made it hard for Chelsea. We were rewarded with good play with a goal from loanee Jonjo Shelvey. Right back Darcy Blake with a killer ball that split the Chelsea defence and Shelvey was there for a easy finish. We continued to give chelsea a good game throughout the entire game, but we could not find a leveler. Despite the result it was a pleasing performance and hope we could keep them up against our next 2 opponents.

Everton: A tough trip to Goodison Park to play improving Everton. We never really got going in this game, passing was woeful. Everton took the lead half our into the game, Jelavic with a sliding shot beating the helpless Fraser Forster. Everton continued to be the better side, and were rewarded with another goal in the second half. Former striker Kenny Miller with a rocket effort from the edge of the box. That was Millers first goal of the season. Would be against us wouldnt it… Anyway another defeat, but this one was a deserving one.

Manchester City: We almost got a great result in the first game of the season against these. And we almost did again, but in a totally different way. City dominated the whole game. The performance was worse than the one against Tottenham. City didn’t create that many amazing chances. But created loads. We hung on up until the 82nd minute when Sergio Aguero finally managed to beat Forster. Kompany grabbed another soon after to the relief of there fans. Very very poor performance but managed to somehow keep it at 2.

January

Sunderland: With 4 defeats on the bounce against tough teams, a home tie at Sunderland was what we needed to start off the new year. We wernt to brilliant, but i was expecting it to be that way. Sunderland were the slightly better side but couldnt convert there chances. At the brake there had been no goals. I didnt take us long after the break to get the first goal. Petter Whittingham whipping a ball into the box for Craig Conway to tuck in nicely. Sunderland pressed for the equalizer and they got it from Hopper. Poor defending on our part, not clearing our lines and were punched. The game finished that way. 1-1 was a alright draw considering our recent run of games.

Aston Villa: A surprising 3-0 victory away at Villa. I was hoping we could come away with a draw, but we were very good today. Especially first half. We created early chances, but the hardest chance we scored. Just 7 minutes in and centre midfielder Jens Hegeler with a brilliant attempt to lob the keeper from 25/30 yards out. Perhaps the keeper could of saved it? I thought he could, but ill take it. 35 minutes into the game and we were 3-0 up. Goals from Hamdi Salihi and Peter Whittingham crushing Villa in the first half. In the second half Villa performed better, and creating more chances. The didnt create to many decent chances and were rightly deserved the win. At the end of the game Darcy Blake who had been getting a deserved run in the side went off injured, and out for 6 weeks giving us problems in the full back area’s.

Bolton: We didnt deserve to lose this game, we were much the better side, but couldnt take out chances. Bolton took the lead with 10 minutes of the first half left. Some very poor defending and not closing him down, we let him have a 25 yard shot which flew into the top corner, was a great goal cant take anything away from it. We created 1/2 chances before half time. But nothing. We started well in the second half and were rewarded with goal. A sloppy one at that. A freekick into a crowded box, the ball fell to Hamdi Salihi who just tapped it in. We continued to create chances, but nothing. Bolton soon took advantage of our poor finishing and sloppy defending. Bolton walked through out defence, and gave Kevin Davies a simple finish. Even i could finish it, and im a fullback. A disappointing defeat where we should have really won.

League Table:

We sit very nicely in 11th place, and relegation is surely out of the question now. And as the tittle suggests we are now trying to stay in the top 12 which would be great in our first season. 5 points above Bolton soo not alot of breathing space. Fellow promotion teams really struggling at the foot there. Both teams never really strenghed in the summer window nor the winter window and its hard to see them staying up. Both them sides have a higher wage bill than me, so we are doing very well this season.

FA Cup:

Disappointing we never proceeded into the 4th round, but we really should of been in the hat for the 4th round. In the first tie, we took a early 3-0 lead, but Simeon Jackson and Norwich said we wernt allowed. In the reply, we again took the lead, but yet again Simeon Jackson played a blinder against us.

Transfers:

Just the one player in during the window. As i said about Darcy Blake getting injured which left us abit short, as Kevin McNaughton has been shifted to left back. Soo a right back was needed, and who did we bring..?

Neal Eardley. The welsh right back was having a great season with Blackpool in the championship, and had attracted interest from us, Blackburn and Sunderland. Only us and Blackburn actually made bids for him, and both had a offer accepted at 3.3 million. Luckily for us, he choose us. Very happy to get him as i feel he is the best welsh right back in the game at the minute. And having Welsh players in my side i want to be an important factor. Gareth Bale next! haha.

Thats about it for now until next time. As i have less time on my hands now, i will be shortening posts, but dont think i will change to much. I have an idea of how im going to do it, but shouldnt be much different to how it is now. Anyway, Thanks for check my post out .

Welcome back to my Cardiff story. Lets get stuck in!

Arsenal: We started of October with a tasty home tie against the Gunners. We played pretty poorly, but that was expected by playing a team like Arsenal. Arsenal dominated the early periods of the game and continued through out the first half. With just 30 minutes in we were two down, playing poorly, i thought things could only get worse. We came out second half looking abit brighter than the first half, and were rewarded with a goal, Craig Conway with the cross for Peter Whittingham to head in from 3 yards. Arsenal continued to be the better side, but we defended pretty well. We kept it down to 2-1. Pretty pleased we only lost by the one goal.

Liverpool: Usually Liverpool seem to be a bogy side for me on Football Manager for some reason. But this game was a different story. We were worth of getting 3 points as we showed some great teamwork to more or less match Liverpool. The game was pretty even through out. But we started the brighter side in the first half. But no goals for either sides, just a injury to right full back, Kevin McNaughton. The second half started with the sides even, but we managed to take the lead early on. Joe Mason getting a rare start for us slips in a ball to Hamdi Salihi, who slotted the ball nicely to send the fans into raptures. The game remained even, both sides creating decent chances, but both keepers were on form today. Full time whistle goes! Cardiff City 1-0 Liverpool.

QPR: Personally im not a big QPR fan. (Sorry to all playing or supporters of QPR) So i wanted to win this game. We didnt, we were shockingly poor today. Usually we like to keep the ball down on the floor, but today we seemed to want to play hoof ball, which clearly didnt work. QPR started off well, creating chances, but couldnt score. Only until a minute into injury time of the first half. And that was it for the first half. Early into the second half QPR got there 2nd of the game, and i knew that was game over. 2 late goals for Djibril Cisse gave him the hatrick ball to condemn us to a heavy defeat. But this really could have been 6-0. Very poor. Not even a shot on target.

November

Manchester United: Another poor but difficult game at Old Trafford. Man United dominated the whole game, and we would get a rare opportunity now and then. We held off the United onslaught up until the 34th minute when Nani nodded in a clear header, keeper no chance.  Surprisingly we was just 1 down at half time. But united added a 2nd and 3rd within 61 minutes. We just had to see the game and and keep it only at 3. We did somehow, so a 3-0 defeat. Our great early season start coming in handy right about now.

Newcastle: We were very very lucky to get all 3 points against Newcastle. Never the less, it did make for a highly entertaining game for the Cardiff fans, despite a pretty poor performance. Newcastle started the brighter side, but with half hour gone we took the lead thanks to Robert Earnshaw. A great little run from the halfway line, keeper Krul in a bad position and Earnshaw slotted it nicely in the net. We were level for a matter of seconds. Papiss Cisse with a long ranger strike curled in at the bottom corner straight from kickoff. 2 Goals within seconds. Just before halftime Cisse got his 2nd of the game, a long ball to him, and a nice chip over Forster 1-2. The half was not over! 1 minute into injury time Hamdi Salihi with a simple finish from poor defending put us 2-2. Throughly entertaining. Newcastle continued to press in the 2nd half, but an hour gone and we were up 3-2, a own goal, which i thought was Peter Whittinghams goal but no. We held on somehow. Didnt deserve it, but ill take it.

West Brom: I had to play this game about 5 other times due to a few laptop problems. My record i think was L/W/W/L/W. This working time i lost unfortunately. But i suppose since i lost it first time, it was okay to lose. A even game through out, a game of very poor finishing with 3 shots on target for both sides. Nothing to separate the sides at half time, but a early start from West Brom got them the only goal of the game with a nice finish from Peter Odemwingie seen us back to losing ways. Only talking point of the game really. No yellows, red or injurys. Quite game.

Blackburn: I had to play this game other 2 times from laptop problems but the other 2 games provided drama, and so did this one. Another game where luck was on our side, as i will show now. We got off to a decent start. Just 5 minutes in and we were 1-0 thanks to a Scott Dan own goal from a Peter Whittingham cross. We wernt ahead for long. A nice strike by Steven N’Zonzi at 14 minutes put the game level. We wernt level for long as Hamdi Salihi with a finish right on the penalty spot put us 2-1 up. We were 3-1 up 5 minutes before time, another Scott Dann own goal, but this one was alot harsher. A shot from Robert Earnshaw was deflected by Dann past Robinson. Earnshaws strike looked like it would of gone in, but there we gone. The second half started just as entertaining as the first, but no goals until the 68th minute mark. ANOTHER own goal but this time from our centre back Magnus Troest. He was just trying to tackle, but mistakingly knocking it past Fraser Forster. Blackburn pushed for a winner,, but unable to find it. Another 3 points this season, by now were looking very safe from relegation this season.

League Table:

Sitting nicely in 9th place a nice 13 points above relegation. We should be well safe from our main objective this season. If we could finish in the top 12 i would be amazed. But still a long way to go yet, and im sure there will be alot of twist and turns to come this season.

Player Ratings:

Hamdi Salihi, Robert Earnshaw and Craig Conway continued to impress this season. I do feel Peter Whittinghams rating is abit harsh on him this season. I feel hes performed better than his rating says, and i will continue to play him as my first choice left midfield, and hopefully he prove his ratings wrong and climb up the rating table.

Fixtures:

Alot of games during the Christmas and New Year period. Which will also include 1 or 2 FA cup ties. A difficult patch from Tottenham and Man City which will provide tough tasks. We also have the transfer period in this time. But i dont think i will buy anyone during the window. If i was to buy, it will only be for young talent of players for the future.

Thats all for now, and thank you for my Blog Of The Day Award a few days ago, its a honor!

Good day all!