LET BATTLE COMMENCE !

The relegation battle, that is. A season that started with high hopes of possibly a top six spot has already dissolved into a relegation battle by December. Last night they were just bad bad bad. I have rarely left a game feeling so depressed. Most of the crowd were too miserable to boo. We were awful and just not in the same class as Charlton. Not that Charlton were that good but we were terrible.Dave Jones will have to work miracles to pick this team up for Saturday. And after the good performances of the last week. Gloom. :-(

Just to make things more worrying, there is the threat of administration hanging over the club. If the court case is not heard next week then the club could run out of money. This seems rather farcical and shows the worst excesses of the legal system if this is allowed to happen. £20,000 a day in legal fees? For what is an open and shut case (if Mr Ridsdale is to be believed). I'm in the wrong game.

Even Terry Phillips in the South Wales Echo couldn't rate any body at more than 5 out of 10 for last night. Two games now against teams on the same number of points as us. Crucial relgation 6 pointers already! I hope they pick up their form but I have a nasty feeling its going to get worse before it gets better. Jones' days are numbered, again. 2 defeats and he's out. Gloom.gloom.

First goal on radio!

RAVE: I was actually listening to Radio Wales when Roger Johnson scored the equaliser. This is the first goal I have heard "live" this season. I even listened to the Sheffield United match and missed all 3 Cardiff goals but heard all 3 of the opposition! Lets hope I've started a new trend for the rest of the season.

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: (but probably a rave): Well - the score on Saturday. There's something about a late equaliser that gives you confidence for the next match. The Radio Wales commentators said that this was one of city's best performances of the season so to have come away with nothing would have been an injustice. Well, a late equaliser after some of the games this season was very welcome - perhaps we are starting to make our own luck and some of the good performances will be rewarded and the bad ones not punished!

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Kaspar Schmeicel -penalty save then missed cross for second goal. Lets hope he learns from it - he owes us nothing, that's for sure!

Charlton tonight - lets keep up the pressure on a team out of form and do ourselves some good at the same time!

Great Dane!

Watched the game on SKY. A good first half performance when we probably edged it but definitely under pressure in the second half and it was a good hard earned point by the end of the game. One or two of the lucky bounces went our way which is overdue.

RAVE: Kaspar Schmeicel's first half save - absolutely stunning and virtually earned him the man of the match accolade with one moment of inspiration! He definitely kept them in the game after halftime.

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Mr Ridsdale says that he has been exonerated over his support for Dave Jones and that the last 2 performances have shown that the players are firmly behind their manager. I'm not so sure that another loss or two wouldn't put the pressure back on again but there can be no complaints about the commitment of the players.

Better!

RAVE: A one-nil win. The win is particularly welcome and a clean sheet as well! A good hard working performance and they never really looked like losing the game during the last quarter of an hour. Impressive the way they defended in the Ipswich half as well as our own.

RAVE: A cracking goal from Parry.

Lets hope for another good performance at Leicester tomorrow night - a second win now could really kick-start the season.

Vote of confidence? Now the pressure's really on!

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Well, the board have backed Dave Jones but said that he will be judged by results. In my humble opinion he has until December 8th to turn it around - there are 5 games between 24th november and the 8th of December and I think we will need to win at least 3 of them and not lose the other 2 if he is to keep his job. If they lose to Ipswich on the 24th and then to Leicester on SKY 2 days later then he will be gone straight away.

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Is Joe Ledley as good as the Wales on Sunday and Echo make out? He had a great game against Burnley but I thought the were a bit over the top about his performance against Palace. I notice he got high ratings again on Saturday but I don't know whether to trust their opinion.


RAVE: Kaspar Schmeicel. Please Mr Ericsonn, can we keep him for the rest of the season?

" I say Mr Referee, were you born out of wedlock?"

RANT: The referee. I'm not one to complain about incompetent referrees as long as they are equally incompetent to both teams. They have to do a difficult job and can't do it right all the time. But this one was more incompetent to us than them and it probably cost us the win. We've been having enough problems recently without these sort of things going agains us.
Now I can't really comment on the penalty against us as I was in the Gents at the time, but there was suficient idignation amongst the crowd to suggest that it was a questionable decision. I will see if the clip on Virgin media shows anything and will amend the blog if necessary.

RANT: Robbie Fowler.Not good enough and didn't look as if he was interested. The team looked more balanced and dangerous after Thompson came on and I think the time has come to try a different combination from the Fowler/JFH combination up front.

RAVE: Kaspar Schmeicel. I can't believe Man City have a better keeper than him. I f we get a chance to sign him for the rest of the season then we should grab it with both hands.

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: I suspect Dave Jones will be under severe pressure for his job if they lose at Charlton today.

Anyone but Man Utd!

RAVE: Good performance against Liverpool but got knocked out of the competition. Rumour has it that the club pockets around £400,000 aswell but this appears a bit unlikely to me. My views on cup competions have already been made clear in this blog and generally speaking I'm glad we're out - now for the league! Can't complain about being beaten by a winner from Steven Gerrard!

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Its weird having a weekend without a game when everyone else is playing. Caught some of the Arsenal-Man Utd game earlier - nice to see the Gunners pull back a late goal (Anyone but Man Utd!). Some of the results went against us today and some of the teams below us appear to be hitting form - the match against Palace on Tuesday takes on extra significance as a potential relegation battle already. Mind you, they have just appointed a new manager which is not always the best time to play a struggling team. Mind you, we're a struggling team at the moment!