Cardiff go top again after passing stiff Northampton examination.

[the other bob wilson]

BBM concern over Rubin Colwill injury.

Cardiff City mauve and yellow army. | A Cardiff City blog covering seven decades of supporting the club – in association with The Owl Centre.

Cardiff City mauve and yellow army.: A Cardiff City blog covering seven decades of supporting the club - in association with The Owl Centre.

mauveandyellowarmy.net

 

[Robin Friday's Ghost]

Cheers Bob. Taken on its own the game was, as you wrote, encouraging in that we ground out a win when not at 100%. Taking a longer term view though, in most recent league games we've looked below par. That's a worry.

 

[the other bob wilson]

Cheers Bob. Taken on its own the game was, as you wrote, encouraging in that we ground out a win when not at 100%. Taking a longer term view though, in most recent league games we've looked below par. That's a worry.

I thought we played quite well on Saturday against a team which beat Bolton (the side I've been reading are the best in League One an awful lot lately) 2-0 earlier in the season. I'd say as well that the conditions were hardly conducive to good footbsll and I was pleased to see us battling for the points with some grit and determination because they are qualities which I don't think have always been present in the last three months or so.

 

[HotshotHamish]

Thanks Bob another good read

Personally I liked the look of the NG and Kpakio combo on the right hand side with the youngster very effective at getting forward while also helping out NG when needed
Bagan put some very impressive crosses in again from the left so with Colwill seemingly out for a while maybe it time to go 3-5-2 with Kpakio and Bagan wing backs
This would also mean Salech getting some support up front with another striker playing
Willock was impressive again in his cameo so maybe the number 10 role for him in that system?

 

[Jimmytaff]

Thanks Bob another good read

Personally I liked the look of the NG and Kpakio combo on the right hand side with the youngster very effective at getting forward while also helping out NG when needed
Bagan put some very impressive crosses in again from the left so with Colwill seemingly out for a while maybe it time to go 3-5-2 with Kpakio and Bagan wing backs
This would also mean Salech getting some support up front with another striker playing
Willock was impressive again in his cameo so maybe the number 10 role for him in that system?

Kpakio was very impressive for the second goal. Pace, fitness, skill and tenacity at the end of a game in difficult conditions.

I've wondered why we haven't played him in more advanced roles before. Maybe it's because he is so fast and fit he can attack from deeper and not get picked up / marked as much as if he was playing as a winger?

 

[HotshotHamish]

Kpakio was very impressive for the second goal. Pace, fitness, skill and tenacity at the end of a game in difficult conditions.

I've wondered why we haven't played him in more advanced roles before. Maybe it's because he is so fast and fit he can attack from deeper and not get picked up / marked as much as if he was playing as a winger?

Good point Jimmy..Bellamy is quoted as saying how impressed he was with Kpakio’s fitness, strength and speed
I think he can play Full Back, Wing Back or Winger but personally I think his best position is wing back and long term yhat where his future probably lies

 

[Boo]

Fair summary of the game @the other bob wilson

Two players are starting to frustrate me. Firstly Salech. He always gives 100% and gets a raw deal off the refs (who are clearly poorer in this league) but what is he offering us really? He doesn't win that many headers and can't seem to hold up the ball effectively. Is it poor service or the system we play? He chips in with the odd goal but is that enough?

The other one is Kellyman. He seems a talented boy and shows glimpses. I dont know much about him but are we playing him out of position? I just feel he could give us so much more if he was "in the mood" as you put it in your game summary of Willock.

Other than that we now need a fair number of the squad to step up to cover Colwill's absence. Isaac looked sharp for a while but he needs to give a solid "90". Robertson and Ashford need to improve and be more consistent but overall we cant complain where we are.

 

[Jimmytaff]

Fair summary of the game @the other bob wilson

Two players are starting to frustrate me. Firstly Salech. He always gives 100% and gets a raw deal off the refs (who are clearly poorer in this league) but what is he offering us really? He doesn't win that many headers and can't seem to hold up the ball effectively. Is it poor service or the system we play? He chips in with the odd goal but is that enough?

The other one is Kellyman. He seems a talented boy and shows glimpses. I dont know much about him but are we playing him out of position? I just feel he could give us so much more if he was "in the mood" as you put it in your game summary of Willock.

Other than that we now need a fair number of the squad to step up to cover Colwill's absence. Isaac looked sharp for a while but he needs to give a solid "90". Robertson and Ashford need to improve and be more consistent but overall we cant complain where we are.

Salech is frustrating so far but whilst not playing well is scoring well and is a proper handful for the opposition. One of very few players we have who can properly mix it physically. The refs are giving him a raw deal and it feels like he's being punished for not being as 'cute/cynical ' as other players i.e. he doesn't cheat enough

 

[the other bob wilson]

Kpakio was very impressive for the second goal. Pace, fitness, skill and tenacity at the end of a game in difficult conditions.

I've wondered why we haven't played him in more advanced roles before. Maybe it's because he is so fast and fit he can attack from deeper and not get picked up / marked as much as if he was playing as a winger?

I'm not convinced Kpakio would be as effective an attacker if he played on the wing. I think he's a real test for any winger to overcome when the roles are recersed and it's Kpakio who is doing the attacking. Most winger's defensive instincts aren't that great and Kpakio is able to often get free in advanced positions in a way I'm not sure he would do if he had a specialist full back/wing back marking him. Yes, there's improvement needed from him defensively, but I think that will come with experience - at 18, he's probably still got a fair bit of growing to do yet as well.

 

[the other bob wilson]

Fair summary of the game @the other bob wilson

Two players are starting to frustrate me. Firstly Salech. He always gives 100% and gets a raw deal off the refs (who are clearly poorer in this league) but what is he offering us really? He doesn't win that many headers and can't seem to hold up the ball effectively. Is it poor service or the system we play? He chips in with the odd goal but is that enough?

The other one is Kellyman. He seems a talented boy and shows glimpses. I dont know much about him but are we playing him out of position? I just feel he could give us so much more if he was "in the mood" as you put it in your game summary of Willock.

Other than that we now need a fair number of the squad to step up to cover Colwill's absence. Isaac looked sharp for a while but he needs to give a solid "90". Robertson and Ashford need to improve and be more consistent but overall we cant complain where we are.

For me, Salech was more impressive in the Championship than he has been in League One. I have sympathy with him because the officiating is shockingly bad when it comes to his duels with League One centrebacks), but for me he's been outplayed by two opposition forwards who wouild cost a lot less than we paid for him (Wheatley on Saturday and Bloxham of Blackpool).

Kellyman has to be cut come slack because he's coming back from what was obviously a serious injury, but I agree that it's just been glimpses with him so far.