Pre-Match: Cardiff City v Doncaster Rovers

CARDIFF CITY

V

DONCASTER ROVERS

I remember many years ago, coming into work to be faced by the Prince of Wales' feathers as my desktop wallpaper.  England had been defeated by Wales 9:8 the previous afternoon and Llanelli wasn't the best place to be an Englishman just then.  The wind-up doesn't sound a great deal but it was in the days of Windows 3.11.  Changing wallpaper was not as easy as it is today and I was stuck with it for several weeks.

Happily, Wales were beaten 15:8 by the English the next season and needless to say, the victory was reflected on the desktops of all computers in the department.  Maybe this is why I ended up leaving the principality.

Onto the round-ball game and I was wondering what my former colleagues would have made of Tuesday's events.  For me, there were no bragging rites on this occasion.  England got the points, but were crap.  Had I still been in Llanelli, there would have been complaints.  The production line on which I worked would have a disturbing whine that I would have had to check out.

Moving on to Cardiff and last season, in hindsight, Rovers' early-season meeting with Cardiff was a foreteller of things to come.  At the time, I put the 4:0 defeat down to the bubble Cardiff were on due to capturing the loan-signing of Craig Bellamy.  Cardiff certainly were inspired by Bellamy, and in the second half, completely out-played the Rovers but the game was the first indication of the defensive frailties that helped make Donny's season one we prefer not to think about too much.

By the time the tie at the Keepmoat came around, it was all too apparent that Rovers were up against it.  That leaky defence could no longer be excused by the presence of multi-million pound strikers in the opposition ranks and our injury crisis was biting.  That said, Rovers put in a spirited performance and deserved the point they looked like earning up until the 89th minute.  The Jason Koumas late late shw put paid to that point though,  as he first fired in a great free-kick and then took advantage of a quick break to get his second leave a scoreline that flattered the Welshmen.

CARDIFF CITY

Darcy Blake - Impressive for Wales

Two Cardiff players featured in Tuesday's international at Wembley.  Rob Earnshaw should have sealed a point for Wales although I can't see him fretting too much about that.  The other Bluebird, Darcy Blake, actually played Earnshaw in for that chance and he earned many plaudits by frustrating Wayne Rooney to the extent that he was dropping ever further back into midfield to gain some meaningful possession (and in so doing reducing the threat he obviously poses).

Listening to Malky MacKay's pre-match, it was all about Darcy and how MacKay preaches fitness above everything in his coaching.  Not much at all said about Doncaster other than the predictable "its going to be a tough game" and that Sean O'Driscoll's sides are always awkward to play against because of the way he tinkers with his system.

Looking at the last games' highlights that Cardiff have played, the first words out of the commentator's lips for the game against Portsmouth reminded us that we were watching a repeat of the 2008 FA Cup final.  Another reminder of the exhalted company Donny are keeping these days.  The thing that struck me from the game was how the Bluebirds were getting into messes from set-pieces played into their box.  There were two almighty scrambles,  which were somehow kept out.  

The goal Cardiff scored came from a great overlapping run down the left flank.  Where you would expect the runner, Andrew Taylor to go to the byline and cross, he opted to shoot instead and a very good shot it was.  The equalizer was almost predictably a high ball into the box that saw Kanu out-muscle the Cardiff defence.

Against Burnley, and again a high ball into the box caught the Bluebirds napping and they were a goal down after 2 minutes.  They equalized when Rob Earnshaw was given an obscene amount of space and finished as he would have liked to have done against England on Tuesday night.  Every striker misses a sitter from time-to-time.

The game against Brighton, for me showed the real weakness of Cardiff.  Attack them at pace.  Retreating defenders left spaces for Brighton's attackers so Coppinger, Bennett and/or Milankovic could be useful weapons for Donny.  On the plus side for Cardiff, I noticed Rob Earnshaw again looking like the very good striker he is and running at defenders, which is what he does best.  

All in all, Donny are up against a side who have finished 4th for the last two seasons.  I think the division is tougher, so Cardiff may not do that this season but I'll eat my hat if they are not top ten.  But there are chinks in the armour.

DONCASTER ROVERS

If you were to pick a team that will do well in the Championship this season then Cardiff shouldn't be too far off the top of the list. - Sean O'Driscoll

Jimmy O'Connor - Good to have him back

Cardiff's internationals all returned from their international exploits fit and well.  Donny's players didn't concern themselves with such diversions and instead concentrated on getting fit.  As a result, Brian Stock, Shelton Martis and Jimmy O'Connor are all back in the contention to start.  

For me, O'Connor is the most important of that trio at the moment.  The Right-Flank of our defence has been an issue this season and I think Jimmy's experience is really needed there at this time.

With the performances of Richard Naylor and George Friend being so good so far this season, I can really see Martis struggling to get back into the starting line-up.  That leaves Stocky.  He is a class player but to accomodate him who do Rovers sacrifice?  Oster and Gillett are playing well.  Could Sean actually have a selection dilemma as opposed to Hobson's choice?

Sadly, the Rovers' recoveries haven't really included the strikers, unless we are counting James Hayter, who has been great in the last two games while still recovering from injury.  Hayter will surely be fully fit against Cardiff and will give Darcy Blake (it was tempting to type 'Bussell') a bit more of a examination than Rooney!  

But as one comes back another goes as Chris Brown is now recovering from a knee operation.  Billy Sharp is of course still out but the  boot is off and he's running again.  Its probably still at least a month before we'll see him again but he seems to be ahead of schedule.

Tough game for Rovers to get their first win but fingers-crossed, I don't see the drubbing we received last season.  Wow - almost a prediction there from the Duck!