03.13.12

Who’d Want To Be A Manager??

Posted in Cardiff City, Football Manager 2012 at 23:41 by TheHunter

A few eye opening games here. I know which ones your all looking at.

West Ham: We started off with a tough home tie to improving West Ham. The first incedent of the game came just 3 minutes from kick off. West Ham’s fullback Guy Demel was sent off for a reckless challenge. This gave us a confident boost, and with our form on a high, i was pretty confident of taking all 3 points. It took us a little while to get our first goal. Robert Earnshaw yet again on the score sheet slipping one past Robert Green. The game was fairly even, but we looked more likley to score and creating the better opportunities. We soon made our numerical advantage and secure the 3 points thanks to a fabulous goal from Earnshaw. Robbing Green from about 30 yards out. Lovely goal from out top goal scorer.

Ipswich Town: Another home game to underachievers Ipswich. The game was evenly balanced, but we managed to grab the lead thanks to new boy, and former tractor boy Jordan Rhodes. Rhodes getting his first goal for the club and against his former team. We entered halftime with the score at 1-0. Ipswich started off the better side after the brake and were rewarded for there efforts with a penalty. A unnecessary tackle from Ben Turner, well you couldnt really see the tackle amongst all the players in the box, but never the less, Ipswich slotted the penalty away. We pushed on to retake the lead and we were rewarded. A nice ball to Rhodes and he slotted it in off the post. Right at the bitter end Ipswich pushed all there players forward, we cleared and Rhodes ran from the half way line to slot in his 3rd of the match. Well done lad!

Bristol City: Urmm… just pretend its not there yeah? Thanks!!

Barnsley: WHAT!!!! At this point i turned Football Manager off and cried in the corner of my room…. Okay i didnt cry in my room, but i turned it off. Blerghhhh. Stuff this.

Peterborough: A home game against lowly Peterborough was probably the game i needed. We played poorly all game, but so did Peterborough. We managed to carve out a slender 1-0 win. Thanks to a early goal from Stephen Mcphail. Great play from Haris Vuckic beating 2 or 3 players and chipping a lovely ball to Mcphail and volleying it nicely into the back of the net. Thats all i can really give you on this game, but it was good to see us come out with a win after 2 horrible results.

March

Leeds United: A Tv game to start off March. For the many people watching at home, this was a entertaining game even with just 2 goals. Leeds got off to a flyer 4 minutes in. Some poor defending from Paul Quinn replacing the injured Kevin McNaughton let Robbie Rodges take a early lead. It didnt take us long to reply to Leeds’s goal. Harris Vuckic, getting a rare run in the team equalized just two minutes later. A great run from Don Cowie from the half way line to the by line a short pass to Vuckic who slotted it past the keeper. Two bookings were the other bits of action in the first half. 1-1 at half time. 2nd half began and we started off the stronger side. But we could not find that second goal. We were given a slight boost when Leeds defender Andy O’Brian was sent off for denying Jordan Rhodes a clear run in on goal. We could not turn our numerical advantage into a goal, so we had to settle for a point.

Middlesbrough: A trip to the Riverside Stadium where we played Midtable Middlesbrough. We played pretty poor all game, but we somehow took the lead. A nice low and hard ball in the box from Peter Whittingham, and Craig Conway got on the end of it to put us 1-0 up. Middlesbrough put us under alot of pressure and it looked set to continue. Peter Whittingham was sent off with 5 minutes of the first half to go. A unfair red card, i would of given a yellow if i was the ref. Boro got a penalty with the last kick off the first half. Mark Hudson with tackle that didnt need to be made as Marshall picked up the ball from a non dangerous cross. Marshall saved the penalty, which fell back to Julio Arca but Marshall produced a magnificent save.  Middlesbrough continued to press, but were unable to score thankfully. A scrappy 3 points, thanks to two super saves from David Marshall!

Doncaster Rovers: What seemed a automatic win against the bottom club, it wasnt to be. We got off to the worst start possible. Within seconds of kickoff, Doncaster broke forward and managed to stick on past David Marshall. We dominated most of the play in the first half, but going forward we were poor. Couldnt create decent chances, and passing was sloppy. We managed to find the net however thanks to Harris Vuckic, a neat finish from him put us deservedly level in a way.We continued our dominance into the second half, but in the finally 3rd we were very very poor today. We could not make any decent chances and resorted to long shots. A disappointing 1-1 draw. This season we could not beat bottom side Doncaster once. Just 2 points taken from them.

Burnley: Ohhh dearrrr. Well, the scoreline doesn’t really reflect how the game went. Burnley were the better side, but not by much. They had 4 shots on target all game. All 4 went in, what are the chances of that. Well the game started in favor of Burnley by getting on the scoresheet early on, but on the 15th minute mark Jordan Rhodes levels the game with a simple finish. 7 minutes later, Burnley were back on top. A nice pass slices our defence, and Stasinslas rockets the ball home from close range. It remained even up until Burnley grabbed there 3rd of the match, and to put us out of site, and to heap misery on us, Ross Wallace smashes hes 2nd of the game from a acute angel. Bring on Coventry.

Coventry City: A disappointing home performance to lowly Coventry. We started the brighter of two teams, but unable to create chances. When Coventry got forward and created chances, they looked more threatening and took there chances putting them 1 up half way through the first half. Not long after there first, they grabbed the second of the game. Some awful defending from a corner left Marek Niki unmarked with miles of space to nod in the 2nd. Just to make things worse. 73 minutes in, Ross Barkley gets sent off.  However that seemed to spring us into life, Stephen Mcphail nodding in to give us a glimmer of hope. A glimmer was all, as we could not find another goal to draw level.

Millwall: A complete change of tactic for this game, as performances had been below standards. When we kicked off, i thought maybe this will work as we scored in the first minute of the game. Robert Earnshaws diving header getting us off to a flyer. However the first minute didnt last throughout the game. This became a boring match, both sides playing pretty poorly. With 15 minutes left, i thought we might just be able to win this match as Milwall were just as bad as us, but i was wrong. Former Cardiff City player Andy Keogh with a neat finish, to condemn us to just a point.

Birmingham City: FINALLY!! A really good performance first time in many games. We battered Birmingham right throughout the game creating some great chances, and dominating possession. It took us a little while to brake the deadlock, but we finally managed it thank to the usual suspect Robert Earnshaw. A nice pass from Whittingham, Earnshaw turns the defender and beats the keeper at the near post. We pushed for another but no joy in the first half. Second half started as the first ended, but for some reason we could not score. I was beginning to think, Football Manager is going to kick me in the balls and Birmingham were going to grab two goals. Football Manager never. Craig Conway finally nodding in our second. The relief when the ball russelled was just amazing. Again assisted by Peter Whittingham. Finally a decent performance, lets hope this can continue to the end of the season!

And a FA Cup tie, but who cares…

Our poor performances have come at a cost however.

We have lost our hold on second spot, are Bristol City just to far to catch now? Can reading go on poor form? Looking unlikely, but if we can go into the playoffs on top form, hopefully 3rd time lucky, Cardiff City can make the Premier League. Fixtures for the run in…

Reading and Portsmouth the only teams in the top half, not a bad run in if you ask me.

Im off to bed, im shattered! Cheers all!

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