So, another international break come and gone and I’ll just quickly go through some age group results this week which tend to confirm that it’s fair to say this break has not been one of Wales’ most successful.
The under 21s were beaten 2-0 in Austria in a friendly game in which Eli King, who was the only City player involved, play the second half in an encounter which saw the Welsh team changed completely at the interval. The Under 19s had a huge 9-2 win over Gibraltar in their qualification group for the upcoming Euros, but needed a victory by more than eight goals to pip Hungary for second place and further progress in the tournament – City players were responsible for four of the goals with two for James Crole and one each for Morgan Wigley and Joel Colwill.
As for City, they return to a schedule of eleven games in six weeks before the mid season break for the World Cup and it’s hard to avoid the feeling that it’s just business as usual apart from the fact that one member of staff has left and been replaced by his understudy. A piece by Football League World, which is a clickbait site that’s always churning out stuff about City was entitled “Cardiff City’s inaction in replacing Steve Morison is as absurd as his dismissal” – it’s not much of a site, but, for me, they’ve got that headline spot on, the complete lack of action from the club in the eleven days since Steve Morison was sacked can only be construed as meaning that Mark Hudson is going to have to do really poorly not to be given the job for the rest of the season.
Hudson’s 100 per cent losing record as a caretaker manager at other clubs should not be held against him, but I’m not too hopeful of it improving on Saturday in our home match with Burnley I’m afraid.
Anyway, back to the usual pre game quiz, seven questions on our next opponents with the answers to be posted on here on Sunday.
60s. This north easterner joined Burnley as a youngster and made a few appearances for them in their midfield, including in a big win over City, but he saw more first team action at his second club where he had a decent scoring rate in sixty odd matches over three years for striped song birds. Dropping down a level as he made a short journey to play for blues with a vague golfing connection, but was never a regular starter with them and, after three more years, he moved on to play the rest of his career in stripes for a couple of clubs. The first of these sides are really prospering these days after years in the doldrums and the opposite applies to the second club which is at its lowest after spending time in the top tier late in the twentieth century. He managed the first of these clubs as a caretaker, but got the job on a permanent basis with the second, where he did pretty well over a two year period, but it was as an Assistant Manager at their rivals where he earned most fame after retiring from playing – who is he?
70s. He made more than three hundred league appearances for Burnley and was sent off while playing against City for them during this decade, who?
80s. Initially not Northern Irish, a banner is on a loser at Ninian Park during this decade (3,7).
90s. DJ with a City connection in Burnley midfield?
00s. Repeated flop with big county neighbours tries his luck at Burnley.
10s. This forward has played on both sides of a cross city rivalry where, it seems to me, David has been beating Goliath a fair bit in recent times. His spell at Burnley could hardly be called a success, with just a single goal, against Cardiff, to show from twenty five league appearances. However, at international level for his country’s under 21 team he was very effective with thirteen goals from twenty one appearances. Since leaving Burnley, he’s prospered with the Flingeraner scoring at better than a goal every three games for them, can you name him?
20s. Kidnap religious leader maybe!
Answers
60s. Ron Fenton was in the Burnley team which beat City 4-0 at Ninian Park in a League Cup tie in October 1960. He was sold to West Brom in 1962 and played fifty nine times in the First Division, scoring sixteen times, for them before moving to Birmingham in 1965. Fenton enjoyed less success with the St. Andrews based side in the Second Division than he had at West Brom in the top tier and was eventually transferred to Brentford where he was a regular starter for a couple of seasons. Fenton took over as caretaker manager at Brentford when Jimmy Sirrell left for Notts County, but, eventually followed his former boss to Meadow Lane where he served as manager between 1975 and 1977. Fenton was employed as a coach at Nottingham Forest and spent sixteen years at the City Ground with six of them being as Assistant Manager to Brian Clough.
70s. Colin Waldron was sent off in the 2-2 draw at Ninian Park in the Second Round of the League Cup – the game was played in October 1973.
80s. Ian Brennan was in the Burnley team beaten 2-1 at Ninian Park in February 1980.
90s. David Hamilton had a loan spell with City in 84/85 and spent two years at Burnley in the early nineties.
00s. Eric Djemba-Djemba, who tends to feature high on lists of Manchester United’s worst ever signings, was loaned to Burnley in 06/07 while at Aston Villa and, by all accounts, did very well for them.
10s. Rouwen Hennings played for both Hamburg and St. Pauli as a youngster and scored plenty of goals for Germany’s Under 21 team. He joined Burnley in 2015, but his only goal came as they scored twice late on to snatch a 2-2 draw at Cardiff City in November of that year. Rouwens was first loaned to and then signed for Fortuna Dusseldorf following his release by Burnley.
20s. Nick Pope.