BFTG - Cardiff

[blueroyals]

It's early days for this new system but the weakness will be against teams who pack the midfield and force us out wide. That's exactly what happened in the second half vs Wycombe and we struggled. I don't think we have enough quality at wing back.

[Denver Royal]

@ the usual moaners, sharpening their knives on pages 4 & 5 of the match thread.
We're very inconsistent, but it was pleasing to see some ability and desire on show for 90 minutes today.

It’s easy to say comments like yours after an event has taken place.

Yep, fair play, you've never said comments like that after an event has taken place.

[Denver Royal]

I think we just found our best 11 for the moment, the only thing ambiguous is whether Rino or Pele should be partnering Ejaria. Rino deserves to be starting but I understand Jose's tactical inclination if Pele is providing better defensive cover. We might have a selection headache in midfield now that 5 at the back is looking like the way forward and Swift + Ejaria were unplayable.

Well yeah, we've gone from the headache of having no depth, to the headache of having depth. Grab some popcorn.

[Hound]

Anyone else seen the replays of the pen? Looked a total dive from Yiadom, not what I want to see really. Spose there could have been a fraction of contact but Morrison certainly looked peeved.

Was sitting in front of it - pretty sure there was significant contact - looked an absolute nailed on pen. Morrison peeved cos he was 3-0 down and just made a dreadful tackle

No doubts the fall was exaggerated though, which Yiadom does have some form for tbf

[Snowflake Royal]

Ok. Will take another look.

[The Enfield Royal71]

@ the usual moaners, sharpening their knives on pages 4 & 5 of the match thread.

We're very inconsistent, but it was pleasing to see some ability and desire on show for 90 minutes today.

They are some of the worst posters on this place so what do you expect.

Anyway. Was it really a good performance or did it just seem good to us because mostly we play trash? Lets hope this is not a pan in the flash and we draw against WBA minimum.

[Snowball]

Was it really a good performance or did it just seem good to us because mostly we play trash? Lets hope this is not a pan in the flash and we draw against WBA minimum.

Even if we turn out to be good enough to win this league, a defeat at WBA
would not mean we are not a very good side. WBA are at home and already
looking comfortable top six and a strong bet for one of the automatic places.

If we had won our first three, we could still go there and lose.*

===============================================================

I watched it live and again on SKY, rewatched the important bits.

That really was a comprehensive win against a side STILL 3rd favourites
for the top spot in the league, a side just down from the Premiership
and with a stated aim of bouncing straight back.

All the pundits said we were very good, that Joao and Puscas were
a very strong attacking force, that the midfield three were excellent
and the back five defended solidly throughout. The keeper was totally
unruffled, made a few routine saves, one excellent reflex tip-over and
one VERY good save from a nasty deflection.

It wasn't that we won 3-0 (could have been 5 or 6) but that there were so many
8 and 9 performances, we have found a very solid target man and, in Puscas, a
guy that has the makings of a star.

There was no luck in this performance. It was comprehensive. remember, too that
the bookies, 85% of Championship fans, and at least a third of RFC fans expected
Cardiff to win. We had a 0-4 and 1-4 prediction!

Now consider that our LB/LWB is a kid, Ejaria is very young, Swift is barely 24
and Puscas is only 23. We have every right to expect this side to noticeably improve
as the season progresses, and if we don't go up this year, next year we will be challenging.

Let's also remember we have Rhino, Boye, Meite, McIntyre, Olise, Baldock, Loader, Novakovitch,
Blackett, Barrett, Adam, East +++ all fighting to break into that first 11, with Obita soon to be fit

It has been a long time since we have had this top-quality depth

==========================================================================

* Mind you, on the back of this win v Cardiff, a good points-winning performance
at The Hawthorns and I will really believe!

[Snowball]

Anyone else seen the replays of the pen? Looked a total dive from Yiadom, not what I want to see really. Spose there could have been a fraction of contact but Morrison certainly looked peeved.

Was sitting in front of it - pretty sure there was significant contact - looked an absolute nailed on pen. Morrison peeved cos he was 3-0 down and just made a dreadful tackle

No doubts the fall was exaggerated though, which Yiadom does have some form for tbf

Morrison clipped Yiadom's knee.

Though maybe Yiadom could have stayed on his feet, he WAS clipped and it WAS a penalty

[If you still hate Futcher]

I think we just found our best 11 for the moment, the only thing ambiguous is whether Rino or Pele should be partnering Ejaria. Rino deserves to be starting but I understand Jose's tactical inclination if Pele is providing better defensive cover. We might have a selection headache in midfield now that 5 at the back is looking like the way forward and Swift + Ejaria were unplayable.

Well yeah, we've gone from the headache of having no depth, to the headache of having depth. Grab some popcorn.

If we persist with 3 at the back then Pele has to start and the choice is whether we play Rhino with either Swift or Ejaria. I would expect Rhino is more likely to feature in away games where we will probably want to have a less expansive midfield and keep it tighter

[WestYorksRoyal]

The first goal was an awesome solo effort, but I think the second showed what we've desperately been missing for years. He ran across the near post, beat his man to it and tucked it home. The sort of goal you'd see clinical strikers like Shearer and Van Nistelrooy score. From what I've seen, get good balls into the box and he will get us goals.

[Westwood52]

It was only when I watched the highlights on You Tube ,that I realised how many empty spaces there were yesterday.Even Cardiff couldn’t fill their end.
The only downside on a great day.
Nice halloumi wrap afterwards as well.

[Hound]

It was only when I watched the highlights on You Tube ,that I realised how many empty spaces there were yesterday.Even Cardiff couldn’t fill their end.
The only downside on a great day.
Nice halloumi wrap afterwards as well.

lunchtime kick off on a Sunday when its also on Tv. And holiday season. No real surprise.

Keep playing like that and we'll be at 18-19k soon enough

[Snowball]

It was only when I watched the highlights on You Tube ,that I realised how many empty spaces there were yesterday.Even Cardiff couldn’t fill their end.
The only downside on a great day.
Nice halloumi wrap afterwards as well.

lunchtime kick off on a Sunday when its also on Tv. And holiday season. No real surprise.

Keep playing like that and we'll be at 18-19k soon enough

Keep playing like that and we'll be top six and rising.

Keep playing like that and after Xmas we'll be challenging the top two.

What size gates then?

[stealthpapes]

Anyone else seen the replays of the pen? Looked a total dive from Yiadom, not what I want to see really. Spose there could have been a fraction of contact but Morrison certainly looked peeved.

Live they showed different angles and one showed Morrison clearly knocking his knee out. Did Yiadoms flop after the contact to ensure winning a penalty? Yes. But it was a penalty.

Just a shame the modern game calls for "over emphasising" fouls. It's not good to see.

yeah, cardiff defender clearly knocks the trailing knee out but also Yiadom is expecting that.

err, what else to say. Can't think of a better performance in years, other than a couple of spells at the start of both halves, it was just an overwhelming sense of "OK, lads, we've got this". My favourite spell didn't feature a goal, or even any notable chances, it was the spell from about 60 to about 75 when we just took the sting out of the game. Lots of triangles in midfield, defense linking in well. Normally this is when cloth gets touched, even with a 2-0 lead, but it was just something I've not seen a RFC side do for a very long time.

[The Enfield Royal71]

It was only when I watched the highlights on You Tube ,that I realised how many empty spaces there were yesterday.Even Cardiff couldn’t fill their end.
The only downside on a great day.
Nice halloumi wrap afterwards as well.

lunchtime kick off on a Sunday when its also on Tv. And holiday season. No real surprise.

Keep playing like that and we'll be at 18-19k soon enough

Keep playing like that and we'll be top six and rising.

Keep playing like that and after Xmas we'll be challenging the top two.

What size gates then?

They plastics can quite frankly do one. We don't want their support. I would rather have hard-core 12k to 15k then an extra 6k happy clappers who tell people to sit down and boo the players (if they even know their names) at a wrong pass

[Snowball]

lunchtime kick off on a Sunday when its also on Tv. And holiday season. No real surprise.

Keep playing like that and we'll be at 18-19k soon enough

Keep playing like that and we'll be top six and rising.

Keep playing like that and after Xmas we'll be challenging the top two.

What size gates then?

They plastics can quite frankly do one. We don't want their support. I would rather have hard-core 12k to 15k then an extra 6k happy clappers who tell people to sit down and boo the players (if they even know their names) at a wrong pass

Yeah, the last thing the club wants is an extra 6,000-10,000 people paying £30+ into the coffers

[The Enfield Royal71]

Keep playing like that and we'll be top six and rising.

Keep playing like that and after Xmas we'll be challenging the top two.

What size gates then?

They plastics can quite frankly do one. We don't want their support. I would rather have hard-core 12k to 15k then an extra 6k happy clappers who tell people to sit down and boo the players (if they even know their names) at a wrong pass

Yeah, the last thing the club wants is an extra 6,000-10,000 people paying £30+ into the coffers

If they don't care About the club or team and will just go to chelsea or man united when we lose a couple then no. We want hard-core fans who will support through thin and thick and thin again.

I guarentee there are thousands of "fans" who left after we got relegated from the EPL and have never returned. That coincides with our financial troubles and nearly going into administrations. Coincidence?

[paultheroyal]

Simply outstanding from minute 1

Rafael 9 - looks composed on the ball and made a great save at 2 down

Yiadom 8 - won his dual and was an engine on the pitch. Needed to stay wider at times but very good
Miazga 8 - rock solid
Morrison 9 - a promotion team sort of signing, so impressed
Moore 8 - looks a lot better with the ball, threw himself at everything
Richards 9 - bullied Mendez Laing (made me shut up) and offered natural width. Very well done

Pele 8 - unsung hero. Often the hallmark of a good CDM is you don’t notice him that much. Moved the ball effectively
Swift 9 - looks so much better
Ejaria 9 - Don’t rate him as much as the majority on here but he was superb today

Joao 8 - very good holdup play. Tired out but I don’t like him throwing himself to the floor
Puscas 9 - very clever movement. Shocker of a miss but I think we’ll let him off

Subs did well, Meite is a useful player to have off the bench and Boye looks lively. Meite needs to grow up though, he was happy when it was all about him, disappointed to see him storm off the pitch

For me, the biggest difference is the attitude of the players. Players like Bacuna, Barrow are exactly what’s gone wrong these last two seasons. Bacuna is an absolute disgrace of a player, and seeing genuine pros like Morrison play today really highlights the difference

Cardiff - it’s easy to say they were awful which made us look good but that’s harsh on us. Granted they weren’t great but that was more down to our strengths IMO of nullifying their long ball tactics. Bacuna and Vaulks were truly dreadful for them, Mendez Laing was bullied and as for their sub Nelson, he may well be the worst Championship player I’ve ever seen. Morrison was probably their standout

Ref and linesman were poor, especially the one on the North side. Missed so many blatant fouls on Joao

In a way, this feels similar to Ipswich in 2015 with the 5-1 win. It was our first proper game after the window, and we battered them. Let’s hope this season is a different outcome!

Stop with the ref bashing already. Joao repeatedly fell over to easily. Most were never fouls and in the main the ref was spot on.

[Hound]

The ref was pretty average to poor until about 60 odd mins when he picked up what Cardiff were up to and started pulling them up for their multiple fouls

Joao did fall over to easily, but he was still being constantly kicked, pulled and wrestled before the ball came to him. You're not actually allowed to do that and could easily have been a foul to him on numerous occasions

[NewCorkSeth]

I cant remember a single call the ref got wrong tbh. Hull fouled way more and that ref was useless.