The same personnel who showed all balls and shafted Leeds United on Tuesday night were castrated and impotent by tonight as they sank without trace 3-1 to Watford in front of Sky tv cameras and just 9,256 fans, City's lowest crowd since returning to Championship action.
Quite a few worried about City producing an "after the Lord Mayor's Show performance", failure to follow up a classic display with another good display has been a classic City theme over the years. Nobody wants to criticise a new side and new manager so early on as we have to realise a new team will take some time to gel and even that the very best teams will have bad games over a season.
However there is no point denying this was a sorry showing, pitiful beyond belief and an absolute shocker comparable with the lowest moments of Lennie Lawrence's tenure. The only positive I'll take from it is that Watford stuffed us 3-0 at home under Lennie Lawrence last season so we must be improving!
Friday night football returned to Ninian Park as Sky tv, for reasons best known to themselves only, decided this was THE game to televise the night before the new Premiership season. If their plan was to get viewers to try out other channels instead or subscribe to Premiership Plus if viewers want to see decent football, Sky would have been delighted. This was a game worthy of the Horror Channel, not a Sports one.
The most ardent football fan must have allowed their partners to turn over to Corrie or QVC (even that must have been more entertaining) whilst they counted down the minutes to Babestation XXX starting or maybe they just went to bed early.
The crying shame was this was a perfect chance for the club to parade itself to potential future spectators, they blew it big time. City fans tuned in from America, Africa and Europe (including my holidaying family and a dozen City followers in Turkey) to watch the boys. If it looked awful and embarrassing to them, they should count themselves lucky that they weren't inside the ground with a shocking but, all in all, quite fitting for the game we endured.
Watford and Cardiff's new managers have adopted entirely different approaches. The Hornets Adrian Boothroyd decided that the only wrinkly needed around his club is Elton John. Youth and pace is the way ahead for him. Dave Jones has essentially opted for age and experience, solid instead of spectacular. The differing policies emphasised by City including ex-Watford thirty somethings Neil Ardley, Jermaine Darlington and Neil Cox.
The average age of City's starting eleven was approaching 29, five of the starters aged 30 or over. Watford's Paul Devlin was their oldest player, six years more than their next oldest, their eleven's average age was 25.
On the night, Cardiff played like old men against young boys and never made their experience or qualities count one iota. Make no mistake, Watford completely surpassed City in every telling factor and every area of the pitch. Their pace, movement, skill, passing, organisation, movement and composure and play at the back, in midfield and final third were all ahead of The Bluebirds. Yet they were still relatively ordinary so how can you begin to describe City's showing?
They were one paced, one dimensional, unable to send basic passes to each other, hoofed everywhere, never put one ball in front of their players and were tactically and mentally bankrupt. There's no question every player let themselves and the team down, the biggest laugh of the night came when Ali announced that there was a City Man of the Match - Cameron Jerome (either for his goal or because he was picked out of a hat). Sometimes it really is best to shut up and say nothing.
City's side
Alexander will be one of the few exceptions, it could have been worse but for him. Darlington has his moments but has a worrying knack of being out of position. Purse and Cox has simply awful nights, Cox doing nothing to allay early impressions that he is the new Spencer Prior. Barker couldn't get forward and was one of many to be hitting aimless passes.
The midfield stank. Nobody took on a man, it was all sideways, backwards and moving inside. Apart from Mulryne who didn't even do any of that and just seemed to stroll around in ever slower patterns. Then there's Paul Parry who never got in the game again and Cameron Jerome, an 18 year old with pace and who needs someone to play off having to play with his back to goal and try to compete against two defenders in the air when there's no support if he wins the ball anyway.
For what little it's worth, City lined up with Alexander, Darlington-Cox-Purse (Captain)-Barker, Ardley-Mulryne-Whitley-Cooper and Parry playing behind Jerome as a lone striker. The bench were Margetson-Koumas-Lee-Loovens-Weston. Two surprises were Mulryne starting and Willie Boland not even in the squad. Injury everyone assumed but DJ later admitted it was a tactical choice of his, doh! On the bench, Martyn Margetson was back in from the cold with Tony Warner (the man of 101 mistakes) surprising gone to Premiership Fulham causing an outbreak of Victor Meldrews as City fans exclaimed, "I don't beeleeve it!".
The players undoubtedly let down their manager but a question nobody wants to ask this early on but which perhaps needs to be asked, did the manager let himself and us down as well by over-experimenting? Darlington is new to his role, Cooper is a left winger playing on the right, Ardley is a right winger playing on the left, Mulryne is a wide midfielder asked to play central, Paul Parry a wide man asked to play up front.
Square pegs in round holes everywhere and meanwhile, Willie Boland who hasn't let City down gets dropped from an automatic pick and bombed out of the squad altogether. And what must Alan Lee, who may not be what we once expected but is still a striker fitter and keener than ever, be thinking watching from the bench? All capped off with that 4-4-1-1 used in every match including both home games. You mess around with personnel to that extent and it seems inevitable that, sooner or later, you'll going to be punished for it.
It's early days, too many people have been harbouring the false expectation that beating Leeds suddenly meant we were something special so this was a wake up call needed. Let's hope they heed it or it's going to be another very long season.
Watford's side were Foster, Chambers-Carlisle-DeMerit-Stewart, Devlin-Mahon-Blizzard-Young, King, Henderson. Ben Foster was recently bought by Manchester United, highly impressed with his loan spell at Wrexham last season, and immediately loaned to The Hornets. Most familiar to us in defence was Clark Carlisle now fully dried from alcohol addiction and the forwards were Marlon King (on loan from Forest) and Darius Henderson signed for £450k in the summer from Gillingham.
City started poorly and it only got worse. The first half was dread, the second just dreadful. The opening action saw nothing but misplaced passes and smack'em anywhere long balls and it just never got better.
Watford were ahead inside 7 minutes and highlighted defensive weaknesses again. A gaol kick from Roberts who could belt a ball should have been won by Cox but he neither jumped or challenged, a flicked head found MARLON KING who was allowed time and space to skip around Purse before unleashing a low cross drive from the outside edge of the area that beat Alexander and ended inside his far post. Excellent finish but the defending ahead of that was poor in the extreme.
City were terrible. Lacking any ability to pass or move, they were static, devoid of imagination or creativty and looked lost. They looked slow, the big screen taking a Sky feed four or five seconds behind real time made it look slower still. Their only efforts of the half were a Chris Barker prod that bounced to Foster, so desperate were things that I have to report that as a shot on target. Whitley scuffed an effort wide after a scramble and the isolated Jerome gave Foster a basic stop.
At the other end, Watford almost produced a replica of Leeds midweek goal as thy broke away in acres of space on the left through Henderson but he cut back, his shot was parried by Alexander and had to be cleared off the line by Darlington. The subdued crowd cheered anyone who could carry the ball 5 yards, they didn't have to cheer to often.
Half-time: CITY 0 WATFORD 1
There was a general air of disbelief in half-time talk that a team who could produce the effort they had earlier in the week could sink as low as this. Some fans were speculating whether City should start selling half price tickets so we could watch 2nd halves only once Koumas is involved.
Back out, Glen Loovens replaced Neil Cox. Cox was injured but nobody, other than Mrs Cox, would have complained had it been tactical. He is slow and his next error has never looked too far away on evidence so far. Loovens got stuck in winning three strong tackles and the crowd were doing their bit cheering on City but that turned to despair when Watford doubled their lead on 52 minutes.
It's not as if City hadn't been warned. Young was only denied bursting clean through on a 50 yard run by Jeff Whitley just nudging him away and Henderson had a free far post headewr that he pout straight at Alexander. Less than 30 seconds later, Devlin crossed again and HENDERSON headed again, Purse missed the opportunity to shut it out and then had the slightest deflection but enough to beat Alexander.
Just before the hour, Lee and Koumas replaced Parry and The Invisble Man (Mulryne) and did inject some life and interest into the game but it was asking too much for Koumas to completely transform the match again and before they had settled, it was 3-0.
66 minutes, City powerless to stop a move, Purse blocked one shot by Mahon but the rebound fell across goal to MARLON KING who angled home his second goal, again helped in a very large way by a Loovens deflection giving Alexander no chance.
It was game, set and match. Many City fans disappeared to the bars in need of a drink to get over what they were seeing, many more left the ground altogether and just got away. With the game tucked away safely, it was like watching a training exercise with City looking totally demoralised and shell-shocked.
Jokey whispers of "Jones Out" and "We Want Lennie Back" went around but, overall, there was the realisation that it will take some time to get it right. Those who heeded Hammam's internet pleadings to "bring a friend" are probably spending the entire weekend restoring that friendship, it would have been tough going to take an enemy to watch that.
A consolation game came on 80 minutes as CAMERON JEROME got over the immense shock of seeing a ball played in front of him to run onto for the first time all night, Ardley's pass sent him away and his finishing was excellent, holding off one challenge, going around the oncoming keeper and coolly slotting home.
An edge of area free kick threatened to bring more joy but Koumas whipped it over the wall and straight at Foster. That was yer lot.
The good news is that the club have a week to get Koumas fitter and more involved and will surely move heaven and earth to bring in a striker before Derby away next Saturday. Ahead of that, so much coaching, tactical and positional work to be done. It's hard to know where to start as it was a complete mess everywhere you looked but let's hope they sort it out and put that behind us. A "one off" DJ later labelled it. I hope so, I couldn't bear to see that again.
The Cost of Being A City Fan
Match Tickets = 2 in the Grandstand = £40
(I know, took the missus again, bad, annoying and expensive habit but it was enough to stop her thinking of going back for a while so blinding result really!!)
Travel to/from home: £3
Programme: £3
Food and Drink: £15
Total cost today: £61
Cost for season to date: £316 (could have gone to Las Vegas or New York for that!)
Report from FootyMad
Cardiff City crashed to defeat to a Watford side superior all over the field.
Marlon King scored in each half and strike-partner Darius Henderson piled on the agony for the Bluebirds who only had a late Cameron Jerome goal to appease the home fans.
City made one change to their starting line-up with Philip Mulryne taking over in midfield from Willie Boland.
Both sides took time to settle but it was the Hornets who struck first in the seventh minute when King wrong-footed City skipper Darren Purse before firing low and hard across Neil Alexander and into the far corner of the net.
King, on a season-long loan from Nottingham Forest, then rose above Purse to meet a cross from Paul Devlin but his header went wide of the post.
The Hornets should have doubled their lead in the 23rd minute when Dominic Blizzard outstripped Mulryne down the right. He cut inside and fired low into the six-yard box where Henderson was waiting, but his point-blank shot was parried by Alexander before being hacked clear by Jermaine Darlington.
The Bluebirds' first attempt on goal did not come until the 38th minute when, following a neat move involving Jerome and Darlingon, Jeff Whitley raced into the middle but he pulled his shot wide of the goal.
The visitors took advantage of yet another Purse slip and the ball was sent out to the on-rushing Deviln but Alexander went full-length to save.
There was a little more purpose about City after the restart and they were able to mount a couple of attacks, but it was Watford who had the first strike on goal in the 51st minute when Henderson headed tamely at Alexander.
He made no mistake one minute later, however, when he rose above Purse to head in a Deviln cross off the City skipper to increase the visitor's lead.
Cardiff's saviour against Leeds, Jason Koumas, entered the fray along with Alan Lee on the hour.
The changes made little difference to the Hornets and they put the game beyond Cardiff with a second strike by King in the 67th minute.
Gavin Mahon let fly from the right and the ball came off a City defender to the waiting King who rifled his shot into the net across Alexander.
With 10 minutes remaining Jermone chased a long ball down the middle rounded Watford keeper Ben Foster and stroked the ball into the empty net for a small consolation.
External reports
Western Mail
Sporting Life
Blind Stupid and Desperate