Playoff 2nd leg - Cardiff City Away Post Match Thread

[FoxyPV]

The defeat has made me look like a complete dick as I have been telling all and sundry that we will be challenging for champs league next year!

Oh well a bit of midless optimism can't do any harm!

[Raj]

But the tie WASNT lost else it wouldnt have got to penalties.

All along it felt like we were just holding onto Cardiffs coat tails.

Looking back at the chances thay had over the 2 legs we should have been dead and buried long before Yanns stupid chip.

Not one player or scenario lost us the play offs...its just how it is....next people will be blaming fryatt for getting his jaw broke and potentially costing us automatic promotion.......

[foxaholic]

looking for positives

right , so campbell to play at wembley and score so that holloway is morally bound to sign the twat . we get some dosh and we never have to discuss him again

cardiff have spent bundles of money they don't have, loaning the likes of bothroyd instead of paying their tax- that alone assures blackpool of my support regardless that they are managed by the worst manager in the history of our club

How can he be the worst manager we have had Taylor and McLintoch for starters . He would probablly have got us promoted . Well as Pearson has done the fact is that Holloway has made Campbell a top striker and with half the resources done better than us . You need to ask why managers like Holloway and Craig Levein have done so well at other clubs and rubbish with us . If Leicester have done well which they have Blackpool have done miracles and you should give Holloway the credit he deserves .

[ousefox]

So dissapointing not to win yesterday but we always do get shit decisions from officials and i guess we always wil.....

It was such a great performance and I was probably less upset that we had been knocked out than i normally would be because the team did everybody connected to the club proud. Every single player on the pitch was fantastic yesterday. Wellens, Howard, Hobbs, Bruce, Bruno, King, and Fryatt were all heroic and Wellens was great even when he could hardly walk!

Feel so sorry for Waggy cos he didn't deserve to be the player who missed the last kick and he looked distraught.

Gutted but feel we can come back a lot stronger next season and hopefully win the playoffs next yeat

[Koke]

Holloway isn't a bad manager. Even when we got relegated I maintained that he would go on to do well somewhere else - and he's proved me correct.

He was wank for us. I want Cardiff to stuff the **** and his cuntish team.

[Edmund]

When I watch this years end of season dvd I shall only be watching up until the end of extra time. Season ends there for me. I couldn't bare watching that shootout again

[MC Prussian]

Unsurprisingly it appears that all the Foxiles are sticking up for Yann. He wasn't to blame for our defeat but you have to question his wisdom in taking a stupid penalty like that in such an important match at such a crucial stage in the penalties. It's not the miss that we're criticising, it's the manner in which he took the penalty that angers people. If Waghorn had missed by chipping it and Yann had missed by hitting it to the corner, I can assure you Waghorn would be criticised and not Yann. It's just that when Yann has had a terrible season and then tries to be a fancy dan, that really winds up the supporters.

If only it were true.

And I can't tell whether Yann's had a terrible season. Would have to ask the man himself.

[Daggers]

This would all have been so much different had we recalled Campbell.

[Bluefoxtim]

If only it were true.

And I can't tell whether Yann's had a terrible season. Would have to ask the man himself.

To be honest, the majority of his appearances have been the last 10 minutes of games . He's always seem to come on, won his headers and shown a few nice flicks. I don't really know what else he could have done this season. Not like he's been having goal scoring chance after chance and the time to set the world alight.

He took a class goal against Boro and has forced a few great saves from the keeper. Also bear in mind he's often been played behind the front man.

[whitlock]

He took a class goal against Boro and has forced a few great saves from the keeper. Also bear in mind he's often been played behind the front man.

Next season we will see the best of Yann.

[Finnegan]

As some have already mentioned before me, I'd like to see the Kermorgant Hate Brigade doing better in a penalty shootout under these circumstances.

That really is the last, sad, desperate refuge of someone who doesn't have an argument or a leg to stand on.

"Like to see you do better than the, er, professional footballer." Grow up, Alex. It was an idiotic penalty and you know it - stop trying to be some grand voice of reason, you're coming across as a twit.

[red5]

Is non-one gonna have a go at Pearson for playing so defensively at home, .

Yes I am, this is the reason we're not going to wembley, walking to the walkers on Sunday I said to my son, I hope we play 2 up front and attack, but I just knew we wouldn't, totally bad team selection.

Pearson, why did you do it??????????

[Edmund]

I also don't buy Alexies argument or anyone else for that fact who is spouting the same crap.

A professional footballer being asked to take a penalty, what's next a pilot being asked to fly a plane?

Unfortunately I've ran out of my daily quota of positive votes as I've used them all on Finnegan. He'd be getting another one otherwise

[Lillehamring]

Unsurprisingly it appears that all the Foxiles are sticking up for Yann. He wasn't to blame for our defeat but you have to question his wisdom in taking a stupid penalty like that in such an important match at such a crucial stage in the penalties. It's not the miss that we're criticising, it's the manner in which he took the penalty that angers people. If Waghorn had missed by chipping it and Yann had missed by hitting it to the corner, I can assure you Waghorn would be criticised and not Yann. It's just that when Yann has had a terrible season and then tries to be a fancy dan, that really winds up the supporters.

yes, but my complaint is that some of the criticism on here are pretty is much implying that he missed on purpose, that he walked up to the spot laughing into his sleeve and thinking 'shall i smack this into row 'z' or really piss the fans off by weakly chipping it and hoping that the goalie dives early to his left or right'.

its not about vindicating what he has done, its about having a sense of perspective and knowing that whatever was going through kermo's mind, i can guarantee that he expected to score a penalty when he agreed to take one, the same as waghorn did. and let us not forget that had waghorn scored, we would still have been in the shoot out.

and as far as the 'exotic' issue is concerned, i'm sure it works both ways, finnegan, there are a lot of people who have hated him this season, who would probably treat him the same as a player like adams, were he not a foreigner. i distinctly remember the amount of shit that was directed at bruno berner when he first came here, some posters on here just seem to have a real grudge against foreign players.

furthermore, i don't think the kermo-fans like him solely because of his 'exoticism', personally i think he offers us certain things that we don't have from other players, the only comparable player to him is howard, yet he has proven he offers us things that howard can't provide. surely, there is nothing wrong with just wanting a player to do well cause he's a city player. if it was just because he is french, he would be traeated exactly the same as n'guessan - which he is not.

[CKB]

Hey don't know if anyone mentioned this but Milan has failed on his 3 year promise!

Can't quite remember what he said at the time if we did fail, something along the lines of he would see it as a personal failure?

[MC Prussian]

That really is the last, sad, desperate refuge of someone who doesn't have an argument or a leg to stand on.

"Like to see you do better than the, er, professional footballer." Grow up, Alex. It was an idiotic penalty and you know it - stop trying to be some grand voice of reason, you're coming across as a twit.

Well Finners, when you don't have anything more productive left to say and twist and turn your way around my previous post, then I know I'll be sleeping tight tonight.

As already previously stated, in a penalty shootout, it's either hit or miss.

We lost against Cardiff over two legs because they were the better team. We forced them to the edge of losing out on Wembley, but in the end, the overall squad quality decided this matchup.

It was nice to know we could go this far while it lasted.

You can blame Yann as much as you want to, but it makes you even sillier than you were before. Because the team lost, not just Kermorgant. We just weren't good enough as a whole.

It was heartbreaking, but the story doesn't end here. It has only begun.

There is no "voice of reason" here (yet I appreciate the compliment), but over the past few years I've realized that, as much as I love Leicester City, there's more important things in life.

Hence my rather laid-back attitude towards the outcome of this playoff semi-final. And yes, being a foxile probably also helps remaining in a more healthy state - I don't want to die of a football-related heart attack at my age.

I wouldn't call myself optimistic in absolute terms, but I am surely less negative than you, Finners.

If that ain't growing up, please tell me how I should change my things around in life to lead a proper existence.

And I maintain my claim that Kermorgant will score more than just one goal next season.

[CKB]

And I maintain my claim that Kermorgant will score more than just one goal next season.

2 goals?

[MC Prussian]

2 goals?

In one game.

[Corky]

Is there really a Yann hate brigade? I've seen mant slate (including myself) McGivern, Neilson and to an extent Oakley a great deal, never really noticed widespread antipathy towards Kermorgant

[CKB]

In one game.

And that will be it?

[MC Prussian]

And that will be it?

You wouldn't say no if he scored more than that, would you?

[Jordan]

Alex, I know you've been behind Yann for a while now while pretty much everyone else here has been disappointed with him, but really, it's not just the penalty.

Look at how Steve Howard played last night (my pick for MOTM). He was a beast; he won so many balls in the air, he did a great job holding the ball with his back to goal, he found himself some space to carve out some of his own scoring opportunities, and he even tracked back in the midfield on occasion to help win a few tackles. Oh, and he didn't mess about on his penalty, just picked a spot in the back of the net and hammered it there.

Sure, Howard hasn't exactly played to the standard he showed last night in his time in the Championship with Leicester in every game, but he did an immense job as the big "target man" forward in a 4-4-2 last night. I think you can count on one hand--perhaps even one finger--the amount of times Kermorgant has made anywhere near the type of impact Howard made last night.

He had 10 starts and 13 sub appearances--plenty of time to make a good impression. IIRC Waghorn, Gallagher, N'Guessan and Solano all came off the bench for most of their early appearances and were able to at least become regulars in the starting XI (though N'Guessan was later dropped from the right wing) thanks to a few decent performances. Even Howard was dropped to the bench but still battled his way back. The two biggest things that helped Kermorgant's chances of beating out Howard for that role were knocks and suspensions for Howard.

The distressing part about all of this is that you don't even need to be all that good to do the job Howard and Kermorgant were brought in to do in the Championship.

[CKB]

You wouldn't say no if he scored more than that, would you?

I'd love him then

Lets face it we are all angry (well most) but if he scored 4 goals in a game next year, scored a last min winner, etc, etc then he's a hero... So it's fickleness in ways, just such a cruicial game he did that is hard to take

[MC Prussian]

Alex, I know you've been behind Yann for a while now while pretty much everyone else here has been disappointed with him, but really, it's not just the penalty.

Look at how Steve Howard played last night (my pick for MOTM). He was a beast; he won so many balls in the air, he did a great job holding the ball with his back to goal, he found himself some space to carve out some of his own scoring opportunities, and he even tracked back in the midfield on occasion to help win a few tackles. Oh, and he didn't mess about on his penalty, just picked a spot in the back of the net and hammered it there.

Sure, Howard hasn't exactly played to the standard he showed last night in his time in the Championship with Leicester in every game, but he did an immense job as the big "target man" forward in a 4-4-2 last night. I think you can count on one hand--perhaps even one finger--the amount of times Kermorgant has made anywhere near the type of impact Howard made last night.

He had 10 starts and 13 sub appearances--plenty of time to make a good impression. IIRC Waghorn, Gallagher, N'Guessan and Solano all came off the bench for most of their early appearances and were able to at least become regulars in the starting XI (though N'Guessan was later dropped from the right wing) thanks to a few decent performances. Even Howard was dropped to the bench but still battled his way back. The two biggest things that helped Kermorgant's chances of beating out Howard for that role were knocks and suspensions for Howard.

The distressing part about all of this is that you don't even need to be all that good to do the job Howard and Kermorgant were brought in to do in the Championship.

I see your point, but would also remind you that Howard played from the start and Kermorgant came on as a sub. What would the outcome have been if it had been the other way around? Mere speculation, I know.

Howard had much more time to have an impact (and what an impact he had). But then again, Pearson must've realized that he could no longer stick to a harmless 4-5-1 if they wanted to turn that game around in Cardiff.

"The Beast" also has much more playoff experience than Kermorgant, who's a newbie to all of this spectacle.

I don't even know whether Yann actually ever realized what he had gotten himself into and what it meant for the club and the fans.

People also seem to forget that Kermorgant had a couple of good scenes during the first 90 minutes and in extra-time. The free-kick saved by Marshall springs to mind.

And in general, he does offer something up front, much like Howard does - by winning long balls, putting them down and providing his striking partner or the wingers with scoring chances.

As for your player impact comparison, N'Guessan has lost his starting spot for months now (as you've pointed out yourself), Solano was brought in to restore stability and to add another choice on the right hand side besides Morrison (and to replace Neilson, with rookie O'Neill the only other available option). He also has shitloads of Premier League experience. Gallagher's form is hit and miss and he's also been mis-used as a winger (which he is not). I don't think he's been such a regular starter, after all (but here I might be wrong).

[Edmund]

I don't even know whether Yann actually ever realized what he had gotten himself into and what it meant for the club and the fans.

So our players are now oblivious to the matches they are playing in?

Seriously though I don't think anyones knocking Yans performance, just the peno, well that's my agenda anyway.

I will forgive Yann and will back anyone who plays in a city shirt but it still doesn't mean that the way he took the penalty wasn't diabolical considering the circumstances.