Last one before the extended break. Every team in the league wants to win their match, to go into the period feeling good. For us, a win would cement an excellent start to the season (four wins and only one defeat), a point would be OK but would mean three consecutive draws, a defeat would mean a record of 3-3-2 for the first eight but no win in five. All against a team which has struggled so far on its return to the Championship with no win to date but four draws themselves in seven - and with the stats showing they’ve created a considerable number of chances but converted few.
Well, we were beaten. Badly. I found it more dispiriting than Stoke. You could write that one off as a combination of poor refereeing, bad luck, errors, and just one of those days. This time we were lucky to get away with conceding only three. Their set-up, in particular their number 10 Moylan, caused us all sorts of problems in the first half – and we did nothing to try to close him down. That the game was still a contest at half-time was down to poor finishing, excellent goalkeeping, luck, and Campbell taking a good opportunity. We did change formation for the second half and for a while seemed to be competing, only to concede again, Moylan hitting a screamer after not being closed down.
Behind all that, we were too often poor in possession, struggling to control and pass the ball. In that area Cardiff gave us a real lesson. They had weaknesses of their own, with a vulnerability in defence that we too seldom exploited. Even then, at 3-1 with perhaps 10 minutes to go you felt if we just get another it could be interesting. Then our lack of ambition was evident in all 11 back for a corner and everyone getting behind the ball when out of possession. Had we given up on the game? Perhaps we had. We deserved nothing and the game will give Jones the Boss a great deal to ponder over the next couple of weeks.
The team was unchanged from Portsmouth. A back four in front of Okonkwu of McNamara, Jones, Bindon and Mesik, with no sign yet of a return for Koumetio, Mesik continuing to get the nod ahead of Bell, and increased competition on that side with the very welcome return of Edwards, among the subs. Coventry and Skipp would be the defensive midfield pairing, with Ouma among the subs (but not Mwamba or the still injured Chalobah) as well as Rankin-Costello. The three further forward of Campbell, Grant and Alli meant Carey and Knibbs still waiting their turn, with Nkeng another option but again no place for Apter. Up front it would be Leaburn again with Kelman on the bench.
As often the case recently, we started the game brightly, looking the better team. But that only lasted until the seventh minute, when they scored. It has to go down as an error by Jones (the Player). A ball forward to their guy and Jones committed himself to an interception, as he had in the first game against Derby. He didn’t get there and effectively took himself out of the game. The ball went through to another, who played the pass to Moylan, Jones’ guy, now unmarked, who shot well into the far corner.
Another period of relative parity followed, with Leaburn flicking it on for TC, who didn’t make the most of the chance, then Alli on the left (they had switched sides very early in the game) was played in by Docherty and his low cross was blocked. Until they scored again. Okonkwu had already turned a low shot around his post when a ball into our box was controlled by their centre-forward with his back to goal. He totally outmuscled Bindon, turned while protecting the ball, and before anyone else intervened was able to shoot home from close range, Okonkwu again having no chance.
On 28 minutes we got the lifeline. Bindon brought the ball forward and spotted the run of Campbell. He played the pass into the space and nobody was catching TC. He got to the ball and slotted it low under their keeper. Now, we thought, perhaps we can get more of a grip on the game and expose their back line. Instead the remainder of the first half turned into a series of gilt-edged chances for Cardiff, which they somehow failed to convert.
On 31 minutes a Cardiff guy was played in inside the box on their right side. He managed to get the ball past Okonkwu but it ran just wide of the far post, with a corner given. On 36 minutes a cross to our far post found two Cardiff players free. The ball was headed back but their guy muffed the shot from close range. On 42 mionutes we made a mess clearing our lines, guy into the box. He squared it for another, seemingly to tap into an empty net, but Okonkwu managed to get back and down to the ball to stop that happening. In between McNamara picked up a yellow card to tugging someone back, which through the second half meant he was treading a fine line with every foul.
At the break one thing was clear: if we carry on playing like this it could become a rout. The stats showed they had 58% possession and 10 attempts on goal, four on target, against three and one for us. We scored but otherwise their keeper did not have a save to make, while Okonkwu and inept finishing had kept us in the game.
Jones did make changes. Bell and Ouma came on for Alli (who had looked rather lost, especially after switching wings) and Bindon, which meant switching to a back three/five but actually replacing one of the central three. Mesik and Bell were either side of Jones, McNamara and Campbell now wing-backs, a midfield of Coventry, Skipp and Ouma, Leaburn and Grant up front.
For a while the change did confuse, or at least stymie, Cardiff. But Steve Brown as usual got it right on CATV by saying they would sooner or later work out where the spaces and opportunities would come from. Skipp picked up a yellow, putting him in the same boat as McNamara, with his foul resulting in a free-kick in a dangerous position, although the wall did its job. On 52 minutes we did fashion a chance as a throw was flicked on by Leaburn and played on by Ouma to Grant in space on our right side. He chose to shoot and found only the side-netting from a difficult angle, when a squared ball for TC seemed the better option.
At the other end Cardiff came close again as a cross to our far post eluded defenders but not their guy, whose decent header was saved by Okonkwu. And we were for one the right side of a poor refereeing decision as Skipp slipped and lost the ball in a dangerous position only to get awarded a very dubious free-kick.
On the hour we conceded another. Didn’t seem their most dangerous situation as Moylan moved onto the ball just outside the area. But he hit an absolute screamer, with enough curl to send it into the net off the post. That knocked the fight out of us and it was almost four on 68 minutes as Skipp and Ouma managed to mess up and their full-back took it on, skipped past a couple of static defenders, and shot powerfully against the base of the post.
On 69 minutes it was Kelman for Coventry, which meant another formation change, to a 4-4-2. And Kelman almost scored with his first touch. Grant found him with a ball through the middle. He got to it before their keeper but couldn’t get enough lift on the ball to clear him, instead the keeper’s face got in the way.
A goal back then and the closing stages might have been interesting, but it was not to be. Instead the game petered out. Edwards and Carey came on for Leaburn and McNamara and we seemed more intent on not conceding again than going for an unlikely rescue act. Edwards might have given away a penalty in stoppage time, with a clear tug on the guy’s shirt, but the ref deemed he had gone down too easily and gave him a yellow card. It really didn’t matter, nor did Mesik managing to pick a fight at the end, earning him (and the other guy) a yellow card.
The game exposed several vulnerabilities and shortcomings. Bindon against their big centre-forward was a mismatch, Skipp looks a good player but surely the role of the two in front of the defence is just to tackle, cover and win the ball back. It was hard to avoid the conclusion that Docherty could do that job better. Ouma looks prone to errors. Alli had a poor afternoon, Grant didn’t convince in the central advanced midfield role, and Leaburn’s struggles were in vain. Campbell was asked to play on the left of midfield, then on the right side, then wing-back, then back to left-winger as we changed formation. He must have felt that nothing had changed from last season. And through the first half at least we allowed Moylan to control the game, as if blinded by the fact that so far this season Cardiff had usually failed to take the chances they created.
The only positives were the return of Edwards (although not surprisingly he looked rusty) and Okonkwu. We surely have to get better at playing a 4-2-3-1, playing between the lines, passing and doing the basics better. If we can’t, the formation will not be working. Having more players back from injury will help for sure, but Jones needs to find the right mix if we are to turn around what is now three points in five games.
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