Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

[djc7677]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

Shepherd Fans Flames Ahead of South Wales Derby

Speaking a few days before the 106th South Wales Derby, Cardiff City manager Thomas Shepherd had some choice words for their hated rivals, Swansea City.

Swansea City have a "small club mentality," which means they will always struggle to achieve as much as their bitter rivals, according to Shepherd.

"We know that this upcoming game is all they will have talked about for a while," the Cardiff City boss suggested. "That kind of small club mentality stops them fulfilling their potential, in my opinion. At this club, we don't treat these games any different to our other matches and I think that's what sets us apart."

When a reporter pointed out that Swansea won last year's League Cup, Shepherd responded, "Good for them. Who'd they beat? Bradford City?"

Shepherd's comments are sure to stoke the flames heading into one of the fiercest rivalries in British football. Cardiff currently lead the all time series record with 43 wins to Swansea's 34, with 27 draws.

While sure to cause outrage amongst Swansea's players and fans, some believe Shepherd's comments serve the ulterior motive of deflecting attention from his team's poor run of form recently, which may have begun to trouble the Cardiff board.

A source close to the board tells us the Norwich match was not one they wanted to see end in defeat, and the board is concerned it may have negatively affected Shepherd's stock amongst the supporters. The board is said to remain behind Shepherd, but they would also like to see him make more noticeable changes when approaching important matches. And what match could be more important than the upcoming derby?

In other, wholly unrelated news, West Bromwich Albion have recently been purchased by wealthy new owners who have pledged to pour massive funds into the team to see them bring in the players they need to compete in the Barclays Premier League.

[Matt10]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

Tough loss to Norwich - also one of those clubs that I enjoy watching. Would have loved to seen the foul as well myself.

Do you have access to video or in-game screenshots? I love reading the match report, and it'd be great to see the gameplay as well.

This just reminds me I need to get my butt in gear and start uploading more of my Fleetwood matches.

[djc7677]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

Tough loss to Norwich - also one of those clubs that I enjoy watching. Would have loved to seen the foul as well myself.

Do you have access to video or in-game screenshots? I love reading the match report, and it'd be great to see the gameplay as well.

This just reminds me I need to get my butt in gear and start uploading more of my Fleetwood matches.

I'm going to go ahead and admit I'm a little old school and not very tech savvy. I would like to upload some video highlights, but I'm trying to figure out how to do that. I just bought my PS3 in January, so I haven't figured out how all of that works yet, and I'm a little slow on the uptake. I would really like to though, because in the Swansea match (which I hope to write up and post later today) I scored a wonder goal with Eikrem and saved the video replay of it.

The foul in the Norwich game truly was a foul though. Just inside the box, Lescott tripped Hooper. On replay it looked so realistic though, that lazy sticking out the leg as the ball rolls past and then the attacker trips over it. I just wanted Shepherd to question it for the sake of narrative.

And yes, please post some Fleetwood updates soon! I want to see more.

[Matt10]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

I'm going to go ahead and admit I'm a little old school and not very tech savvy. I would like to upload some video highlights, but I'm trying to figure out how to do that. I just bought my PS3 in January, so I haven't figured out how all of that works yet, and I'm a little slow on the uptake. I would really like to though, because in the Swansea match (which I hope to write up and post later today) I scored a wonder goal with Eikrem and saved the video replay of it.

The foul in the Norwich game truly was a foul though. Just inside the box, Lescott tripped Hooper. On replay it looked so realistic though, that lazy sticking out the leg as the ball rolls past and then the attacker trips over it. I just wanted Shepherd to question it for the sake of narrative.

And yes, please post some Fleetwood updates soon! I want to see more.

They make pretty cool stuff these days with posting and uploading videos. If you have PS3, and it connected to the internet - you should be able to upload your saved highlights. I'm a PC player, so I have a completely different set up

Looking forward to the Swansea Update!

[djc7677]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

Bluebirds Stun Rival Swans



Man of the Match: Mats Møller Dæhli


The 106th Meeting of the South Wales Derby
Cardiff City 4 - 0 Swansea City
Eikrem 41', Dæhli 45', Campbell 50', Jones 89'

Coming off two straight losses, Cardiff City looked to make a statement against their bitter rivals, Swansea City. Even the most ardent Cardiff supporter likely never expected a 4-0 dismantling though.

For the first 40 minutes, Swansea looked in complete control of the match, maintaining around 60% possession, completing crisp passing in open lanes, and pressuring Cardiff the second the Bluebirds gained possession. Yet for all of their dominance, Swansea could not manage to find any openings in front of goal, not registering a single shot until the second half.

The match completely changed on a swift counterattack in the 41st minute. Teenage fullback Callum Chambers found possession and tore down the right flank before launching a cross into the box. Midfielder Mangus Wolff Eikrem managed to connect on an acrobatic bicycle kick that slammed off the pitch and bounced over a diving Michel Vorm.


(Sorry for the poor video quality; it's my first attempt at this.)

Eikrem's wonder goal seemed to breathe new life into Cardiff's fans and players alike, and the team never looked back. Mats Møller Dæhli made it 2-0 in the 45th minute as he sprinted toward the center of the pitch between the edge of the box and the Swansea backline before burying the ball in the back of the net.

After the break, the in form Fraizer Campbell scored a third goal on a wonderful bit of link up play. Eikrem sent a through ball past the Swans line to a streaking Jordon Mutch who got around his marker on the first touch and launched a cross into the box with his second. The cross fell to the waiting Campbell who buried the volley from six yards.

Substitute Kenwyn Jones finished the rout when Gary Medel dispossessed Ashley Williams and found Jones open at the edge of the penalty area. Swansea's players could do nothing more than hang their heads as the final whistle blew to end their misery.

The recently under fire manager Thomas Shepherd was jubilant after the match. "The guys played great," Shepherd said. "They played like warriors, like vikings. I told them before the match to ravage and burn everything in their path, and they did that."

Shepherd was asked about the fact they limited Swansea to only 4 shots, and but 1 on target. "Give credit to the back four," he said. "They didn't give Swansea a peek at the goal all day, even when the match was decided. But really you have to give credit to every one of the guys. Every one of them contributed to this clean sheet by marking tight and playing good defense."

Shepherd has been under scrutiny recently, and he raised several eyebrows with today's team sheet, which saw Fabio and Kevin Theophile-Catherine dropped in favor of young fullbacks Champbers and Declan John, as well as choosing young players like Eikrem and over the more experienced Peter Whittingham. But in recording only their second clean sheet of the season, not to mention a 4-0 shellacking, Shepherd's tinkering seems to have paid off.

Cardiff City now lead the all-time series against Swansea City with a record of 44-27-34.

Nov 2, 2013 - Cardiff City vs Swansea City
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Cardiff City (3-3-4)	2	2	4
Swansea City (4-2-4)	0	0	0

Team Stats Comparison
Cardiff City		Swansea City
4	Goals	0
12	Shots	4
7	Shots on Target	1
51%	Possession	49%
2	Fouls	1
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
1	Injuries	0
58%	Shot Accuracy	25%
73%	Passing Percentage	92%

[Matt10]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

There we go! Nice video, wow - ironic you get your first video up and it's a bicycle kick! Great job, great win!

[bhurst99]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

Sweet goal.

How come this dynasty isn't called Attack of the Red Dragons?

(Sorry, but I had to).

[djc7677]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

There we go! Nice video, wow - ironic you get your first video up and it's a bicycle kick! Great job, great win!

Hoped you'd like that. Yeah, my first successful bicycle kick and my first successfully embedded video. I'm on a roll!

Sweet goal.

How come this dynasty isn't called Attack of the Red Dragons?

(Sorry, but I had to).

Thanks! Hope you're enjoying.

The storyline I'm going with is a new owner has restored Cardiff to the Bluebirds, blue kits and all. I'm a big fan of traditions in sports, so it bugs me that Tan threw away so much tradition to market in Asia. And I'm not even a Cardiff supporter!

Plus, it's just a bias of mine. I have a really hard time supporting teams that wear red, as silly as that may sound. Almost every team I support wears blue.

As a Manchester City fan, I'm almost wishing I had gone with Crystal Palace for this since they just became my unofficial second favorite club.

[djc7677]

Matchday 11

Cardiff Forget to Pack Their Defense in Trip to Villa



Man of the Match: Christian Benteke


Aston Villa 4 - 2 Cardiff City
Cisse 29', 47'; Benteke 32'; Clark 56'
Campbell 16', Zaha 30'

Defense was a scarce commodity when Aston Villa beat visitors Cardiff City 4-2.

Cardiff opened the score in the 16th minute when Wilfried Zaha found Fraizer Campbell in the box on a standing free header. It was Fraizer's 8th goal in 11 matches, and Zaha's 5th assist.

Villa responded on 29 minutes when Christian Benteke used some fancy footwork to turn his defender inside out before finding Demba Ba who out-jumped Steven Caulker for the goal.

A minute later Cardiff made it 2-1 when Zaha tracked down a perfect through ball from Mats Møller Dæhli and curled it around Brad Guzan with his first touch.

Unfortunately, that would be the last bright spot for Cardiff as they conceded the final three goals of the match. Benteke scored on a header in 32nd minute, and Ba scored his second in the 47th, proving that Cardiff has some serious work to do on defending in the air.

Defender Ciaran Clark finished off the Bluebirds in the 56th minute on a rocket from outside the box following a poorly-cleared corner.

"It's disappointing," Cardiff manager Thomas Shepherd admitted. "We scored two early goals and looked in control, but you have to give Villa credit, they fought back. They were the stronger side."

Up next for Cardiff City is a visit from Manchester United.

Nov 9, 2013 - Aston Villa vs Cardiff City
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Aston Villa (4-2-5)	2	2	4
Cardiff City (3-3-5)	2	0	2

Team Stats Comparison
Aston Villa		Cardiff City
4	Goals	2
9	Shots	16
6	Shots on Target	10
50%	Possession	50%
1	Fouls	2
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
0	Injuries	1
66%	Shot Accuracy	62%
80%	Passing Percentage	79%

[djc7677]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

Bluebirds Squander Yet Another Early Lead



Man of the Match: Anders Lindegaard


Cardiff City 1 - 2 Manchester United
Wittingham 17'
Rooney 45', Nani 45'

Cardiff City once again jumped out to an early lead, this time against defending champions Manchester United, only to see it slip away as a result of horrendous defending.

Peter Wittingham gave the hosts the advantage at 17 minutes when he dispossessed Phil Jones outside the United penalty box and curled one around Anders Lindegaard. It would prove to be the only mistake of the evening from the deserved Man of the Match.

Cardiff looked in control for much of the first half, until their back line seemed to go to sleep in stoppage time and conceded two quick goals. First Wayne Rooney beat Joleon Lescott on the jump to score a header. Lescott and Steven Caulker have been beaten to headers far too often this season, and Cardiff have paid a heavy price for their flat-footedness.

About a minute later, Rooney had the ball inside the Cardiff box. Goalkeeper David Marshall rushed out to meet him and in the process of diving for the shot, managed to collide with both Rooney and Caulker. As Marshall scrambled to try to track down the rebound, his legs tangled with the prone form of Caulker and he fell to his face once more as Lescott stood watching Nani toe the ball across the line.

Cardiff had plenty of opportunities in the second half, but could make nothing of them. Substitute Kenwyn Jones flat out missed two free headers that would have likely equalized had he been able to manage to put either of them on target, rather than well over the crossbar. Lindegaard managed to paw away every other shot Cardiff players managed, recording nine saves over all.

"It's just not good enough," manager Thomas Shepherd said after the match. "I can't keep saying this to you every week, but we just aren't doing enough, especially on the defensive end. Looks like we've got to spend a lot more time in training on marking and defending in the air because we're conceding far too many easy goals. We're gifting the other team free shots on our net."

A larger problem for Shepherd is he has no real alternatives behind Lescott and Caulker, both of whom have had tremendous runs of form at points this season. Meanwhile, 'keeper David Marshall is badly out of form, and his confidence seems to be shaken. But the only option behind him is 17 year old Ruben Blanco. It would seem a poor trial by fire to put him on the line against Arsenal.

The upcoming Arsenal match is the first of two Cardiff face in three days, and first of three in a week to begin a hectic December.

While they ultimately got the win, Manchester United were dealt a heavy blow in this match as Shinji Kagawa had to be stretchered off in the first five minutes. We are hearing it's a broken ankle that will keep the Japanese international sidelined for three months.

Nov 25, 2013 - Cardiff City vs Manchester United
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Cardiff City (3-3-6)	1	0	1
Manchester United (7-3-2)	2	0	2

Team Stats Comparison
Cardiff City		Manchester United
1	Goals	2
13	Shots	6
8	Shots on Target	4
52%	Possession	48%
1	Fouls	2
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
0	Injuries	1
61	Shot Accuracy	66
77	Passing Percentage	89

[djc7677]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

Barclays Premier League Table
1 December 2013

Barclays Premier League Table, 1 December 2013
TEAM	GP	W	D	L	PTS
1. Manchester City	13	11	2	0	35
2. Chelsea	13	9	2	2	29
3. Arsenal	12	8	4	0	28
4. Liverpool	13	7	6	0	27
5. Manchester United	12	7	3	2	24
6. Tottenham Hotspur	12	7	2	3	23
7. Everton	13	6	3	4	21
8. Swansea City	13	6	2	5	20
9. Aston Villa	13	5	2	6	17
10. Norwich City	13	5	1	7	16
11. West Ham	13	2	7	4	13
12. Stoke City	13	4	1	8	13
13. Sunderland	13	3	4	6	13
14. Newcastle United	13	3	3	7	12
15. Fulham	13	2	6	5	12
16. Cardiff City	12	3	3	6	12
17. West Bromwich Albion	13	2	4	7	10
18. Crystal Palace	13	2	4	7	10
19. Southampton	13	3	1	9	10
20. Hull City	13	1	4	8	7

After a mixed November, in which we beat our biggest rivals but lost two matches we led in, Cardiff sit in 16th place on 12 points out of 12, a mere two points above the relegation zone. We have seven matches in December; I would like to get 10 points out of those, but we will see if that's attainable.

[Matt10]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

Yikes a couple painful losses there and now 16th. Time to get those 10 points! Avoid the sack!

[djc7677]

Matchday 13

Cardiff Fight Back for a Point Against Arsenal



Man of the Match: Wilfried Zaha


Cardiff City 3 - 3 Arsenal
Zaha 8', Whittingham 44', Campbell 76'
Cazorla 31', Arteta 45', Flamini 45'

Once again, Cardiff City managed to score an early goal to take the lead against Arsenal. Once again, they gave away the lead through terrible defensive marking. But this time, manager Thomas Shepherd's tactical shift allowed them to fight back to take a point from the unbeaten Gunners.

Wilfried Zaha continued a good run of form lately when he opened the scoring in the 8th minute on a diving header. It was yet another early lead for Cardiff, and their supporters were obviously nervous about their team holding out against Arsenal's onslaught.

The Gunners found a breakthrough in the 31st minute on yet another poor job of marking in the air, when the 5' 6" Santi Cazorla managed to outjump the 6' 3" Steven Caulker. It would prove a miserable, short afternoon for Caulker, who proved culpable on all three of Arsenal's goals.

Cardiff briefly regained the lead in the 44th minute when Peter Wittingham buried a rebound. Wojciech Szczesny made two great saves to deny first Zaha and then Kenwyn Jones, but Wittingham connected on the volley and Szczesny was too far out of the frame to parry a third shot in a row.

In a painful flashback to the Manchester United match a few days previous, Cardiff then conceded two quick goals in first half stoppage time. First Caulker left his man to try to shut down Cazorla on the edge of the box, only for Cazorla to find the now unmarked Mikel Arteta who had no trouble beating the recently hopeless David Marshall.

Almost right after, Arsenal had stolen the ball and pushed back upfield. Mathieu Flamini dribbled around the edge of the box, and Caulker chose to give him a few yards rather than close down. Flamini took the invitation and nutmegged Caulker to score Arsenal's third goal.

Manager Shepherd had apparently seen enough from his skipper as he pulled the central defender at halftime and subbed on striker Fraizer Campbell, shifting the team's shape from a 4-4-1-1 to a 4-4-2, with Jordon Mutch dropping into a holding midfield role, and enforcer Gary Medel stepping into the center of defense. It was the most drastic move we've seen yet from Shepherd, and it paid off.

Cardiff took the pitch the second half with an entirely different mentality, no longer allowing Arsenal to dictate play on their pitch. From the opening kickoff, Cardiff managed to earn four corners in succession. They maintained possession and swarmed to the ball when Arsenal managed to take it. Medel's leadership in defense also helped as Cardiff was more aggressive and did not allow a single shot on goal during the second half.

For all their positive steps, however, Cardiff could not find a goal. Szczesny was equal to their every attempt, and Kenwyn Jones continued to make a mess of clear opportunities. But Campbell was finally able to find a equalizer in the 76th minute when he connected with a Zaha cross on the volley and rippled the Arsenal net to earn the point.

"It was a good result," Shepherd said after the match, "and I think we earned the result fairly. But we could have had more. With better defending, we earn all three points. Not to take anything from Arsenal. They're a strong team, undefeated. So we're happy with the result, but it should have been better."

When asked about the decision to bench Caulker, and whether he would feature in the upcoming match against Stoke, Shepherd said, "Steven's a young guy. He made some mistakes out there, but he's a professional. He'll be fine."

Cardiff travel to Stoke after one day of rest in a brutal week. We will wait to see what changes Shepherd makes to his squad.

Dec 1, 2013 - Cardiff City vs Arsenal
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Cardiff City (3-4-6)	2	1	3
Arsenal (8-5-0)	3	0	3

Team Stats Comparison
Cardiff City		Arsenal
3	Goals	3
21	Shots	8
14	Shots on Target	6
50%	Possession	50%
2	Fouls	1
1	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
1	Injuries	0
66%	Shot Accuracy	75%
81%	Passing Percentage	93%

[AdamJones113]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

Just picked this up, looking superb so far! Similar to my "Dynasty" with Sunderland (check it out ), on the edge of relegation.

I'm not a big EPL watcher, but you seem to have consistently high scores. Is that normal or due to your style of play?

[djc7677]

Re: Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

Just picked this up, looking superb so far! Similar to my "Dynasty" with Sunderland (check it out ), on the edge of relegation.

I'm not a big EPL watcher, but you seem to have consistently high scores. Is that normal or due to your style of play?

Thanks for checking it out! I picked Cardiff in part because I wanted to see if I could keep them up, but wanted it to be a challenge. I think we'll beat the drop, but it should be close all season.

Yeah, I guess my scores have been a little abnormally high. Part of that is probably just down to my style of play. I take a LOT of shots, and I can't defend very well as I'm finding out. The 15 minute halves offer a lot of opportunities for scoring. I'm working on slowing down my style a bit, and focusing on getting better at defending consistently, so we'll see if that changes any.