AAR: Cardiff City

[Reg]

Out of sheer anticipation and due to a slim margin...Cardiff City it is....

Here's some chants you may want to learn if you want to cheer us on.

Cardiff a history

It has been awhile (1920's) since our greatest run of success, but we are widely viewed as one of the most successful Welsh clubs

Oh and more musical delights....

The team's key player is thought to be Gary Medel. He will probably be lining up in his natural defensive midfielder role and looking to get the counter attack started. Most players are happy he is on the team...the only problem??? He doesn't speak English and only one other player on the team is fluent in Spanish. Look for possible problems of Medel fitting in at first.

If you listened to the music above you may have picked out Hudson and Bellamy as names in the song, they are the captain and vice-captain respectively. Hudson is a center back and Bellamy is proficient at multiple positions, but will most likely be seen at striker.

My first order of business was to call a team meeting. The teams response to the challenge of staying up this season was lukewarm but positive.

Looks like we will start the year in a counter attacking 4-1-4-1. First, friendly of the year is coming up vs. Spartak Moscow and will be great chance to see my players in action.

Ok one last song.

[Reg]

Vincent Tan strikes again


A few hours before the first friendly was to be played, Cardiff City's manager was sacked and replaced by a relative unknown American named Paul Tanner. Tanner has spent time at several lower league clubs including Stockport and Margate finding moderate success with an overachieving Margate side. Tan has made it clear that financial overspending was at the root of the sacking and would not be opening up the bank for Tanner anytime soon either.

Tanner for his part has sung the praises of Tan and his vision for keeping Cardiff in the premiere league by avoiding relegation. Already rumors are swirling around changes to the side, including a question asked about the future of current captain Mark Hudson. Tanner responded calmly to the assertion that Hudson might be leaving, assuring fans he would attempt to keep him around. However, some critics are voicing the opinion that Hudson isn't even one of the top center backs on the team, let alone worthy of the title of captain. Tanner may have a row to deal with within his first few weeks of being at Cardiff.

Tanner took over at the club in the morning and by the afternoon the players were on the pitch taking on Spartak Moscow. The game ended with a 2-1 result, but early grumblings about Hudson seemed to be in the forefront of the minds of coaches and some of the players. Compounding the effect was the addition of new man Medel who can't speak English, and a team that doesn't speak Spanish. Key prospect Amondarian does though and so the early season may see a link up of him and Medel in defense of the center of the pitch.

Tanner has also listed a few strikers who he deemed surplus for fairly hefty sums in hopes of generating some revenue for the transfer market and payroll budget. The team looks to face Falkirk in four days time. Tan continue to be a polarizing figure with Cardiff fans as he is seen as a major factor in promotion, but continues to challenge Cardiff traditions.

[Nigel]

[Reg]

Cardiff's secondly friendly was against Falkirk. Even though it was just a friendly, the bluebirds in red were expected to win easily due to the amount of quality on the side. Tanner fielded a totally new team in order to get a look at all of his options on the team. Midfielder/Striker Bellamy took the captain's armband for the match.

4grm5ap.jpg

The game was a singularly heroic effort for striker Frazier Campbell who scored 4 goals as well gathering one assists and finished the game with a 9.9 average rating. The team allowed Falkirk just 4 shots with only one being on goal, a truly satisfying dominance of a lower league team.

Campbell has certainly stated his case for being in the starting eleven when the new season starts. This is good news as one the major signing during the offseason was for a striker named Andreaus Cornelius is down with a long term ankle injury. Andreaus is one of the highest paid players at the club, so the staff is anxious to see him back in good health and form, but he is currently missing valuable time with the team as it works to come together. Rumors state that Malkay spent 8 plus million dollars on Cornelius and so there is a lot of pressure surrounding the young striker to produce. If Campbell is able to continue to gain high marks in form then Andreaus simply may not get the playing time to prove he is worth all the money.

After seeing 22 players play, Tanner has stated that there were still many spots up in the starting eleven and into the rotation. "I know that when Cardiff won promotion a high priority was put on increasing the quality of the side. But having high profile, expensive players won't win us any games if they can't perform. We want to see the most out of the money investment, but in the end the 3 points from a win is the true test of the team. As far as I am concerned right now, no one is guaranteed to be in the starting eleven."

Statements like these and rumblings about a change in captainship can send tremors throughout a locker room - but perhaps a shake up will push the team towards newly found premier league success.

[Reg]

So preseason is preseason....we won 4 drew 1 and lost one. The 4-5-1 with a counter mentality seems to work pretty well, though it may have problems creating scoring opportunities against better quality opponents.

We survived without to many injuries, and Cornelius made it back to be a bit underwhelming given the fact that we pay him 70 thou a week to take up space. Campbell was our best scoring threat so he will get the nod going into our first Premiere League Game. We will face Chelsea, and the stadium has already sold every single one of its 27, 650 seats out.

I talked with Mark Hudson and he saw the light in stepping down as captain, you know when I told him he didn't have a choice. For now, other players will get a chance to be the top starting back. Sunderland seems to have some interest in acquiring Hudson, so I have transfer listed him, in case he wants to be gone from this team. (Side note: None of this is good for his morale...which could come back to bite me)

***Here is a quick explanation of game mechanics for those who are interested***

There are many factors which play into having a successful team. First and foremost are the players. The different skill categories, plus different positions, plus different levels of proficiency at those positions. Regardless of where they are on the pitch though, they will have both offensive and defensive responsibilities, though some may be very minimal in each phase. Also - there are a few hidden factors such as consistency which effect the player from game to game. A final though on players is that each player has a morale factor and many different reasons for their level of morale from coach interaction to not fitting in with the squad to how they are playing.

Secondly, the tactic and the proficiency of how well the tactic has been understood. This is perhaps one of the hardest challenges for a new manager because generally the understanding of any tactic you bring to the team starts our very low and must be learned through dedicated practice time. You can have 3 tactics which the team works on so varying your formations and mentalities can help make your team more versatile, but also makes learning any singular tactic longer. If you players can't understand or haven't learned their roles in the selected tactic it may not go well for your team. Some players also simply won't fit well into a tactic. There is no singular tactic that works for every team and will guarantee success every match. Some will work better than others based on your team and the team you are facing.

Third, players condition (energy levels plus health considerations) will effect whether or not a player can play in any given match. Most matches are spread out enough that there isn't need for a lot of depth, but if you are able to compete deeply into cup matches etc then you may find yourself stretched thin.

A final note...no two players are alike - even if they play the same position - so finding the right roles and positions for your team is paramount to success. You could even add finding the right players for your tactic in there as well...

**End game Mechanics talk

The odds are stacked against us this year with Sky bet reportedly giving us 300-1 odds of winning the league. Of course our focus is just staying our of relegation...which may be an equally difficult task.

[Reg]

I know most of you are sitting on the edge of the seat for an update...so here it goes:

Game One: Chelsea 2, CC 1

It was never as close as it looks, with Cardiff picking up a late consolation goal and Chelsea dominating throughout. Nonetheless fans cheered on their home side.

Game two: Tottenham 3, CC 2

A little closer but still the team is lacking in creating goal scoring opportunities...or at least my brain trust thinks so (me, myself and I)

Game three:Sheff Wed...a team we should have beat with our eyes closed 2, CC 1

Definitely not creating enough scoring opportunities. But lets give it one more game and test out a few things after that.

Game Four: Everton 3, CC 1

The lack of goal scoring has convinced me I must make a change. Look to see a much more offensive style in the next game.

Game Five: West Brom 7, CC 2

That game plan quickly became the "kill it, burn it with fire, let no one see it" of course I will probably give it just one more chance with a few tweaks...

I would like to say that things are certainly going to get better, but so far...it seems I have bitten off a bit more than I can chew....

and I hate my big dollar signings because they don't produce...or haven't yet...at all...nothing.....sigh

[Shinkansen]

Is this game worth the $50? I was looking into it, but wasn't sure if I wanted to drop the money for it...

[Reg]

If you like soccer and already understand the game to some degree (strategy, transfer market, etc.) then I would say that it is a great game to buy. If you don't already have a working knowledge of the workings of soccer then you will probably have to commit serious time to learning a good bit in order for the game to be fun to you. I have had to do a bit of reading and research in order to really understand the whys and whats of the game, which I have enjoyed, but the learning curve can be a bit steep.

It is a great game if you take the time to learn it..and I am far from mastering it, but it almost has the Civilization like quality where you say to yourself...one more turn...or one more game in this case to see how your team and your strategy or your team talk or your new signing might change or make a difference to your team...fair warning it will consume free time in chunks....:)

That being said it is probably not for everyone and it take a few tweaks to the interface to make it look good (imo) though it does have a classic mode which sort of streamlines and changes the interface so that it is a bit easier for beginners to learn...but the real challenge is found in regular football manager mode...which interestingly enough is actually less visually pleasant - though you can change it with different free mods...

[Reg]

The next game saw Southampton put in five to nil...so the change in strategy was ill conceived and ill carried out. Back to square one...


If this were a movie or a story at this point some hero would rise up and lead the team to glory...

Well...

Well...

Nope...we continued pretty much along the same route for the next few games, a lone bright spot a 2-1 victory versus Arsenal. The board called me up for a meeting...I begged for my sorry skin and they game me an ultimatum...12 points in the next 5 games...2 losses later and they dumped me for sorry form and I said my goodbyes to the team...

13 games with 2 wins and no draws....a sorry run if there ever was one

Time to dust off the old resume and get back out there...

[Morris Ragland]

Unfortunately, the real life Bluebirds haven't been faring too much better. Cornelius turned out to be a bust, and Cardiff sold him back to his old Danish team at a loss. That signing, perhaps more than anything, doomed Mackay.

Medel is actually playing some really good soccer as a roving defensive center midfielder.

New manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, hasn't done much to turn things around, but you can imagine how hard it is to take over a team fighting for its life in mid-season.

[Reg]

yeah...they have had a tough go of it, though they do seem to have acquired a fair bit of young talent in the last transfer window...probably not enough to stay up though....


Just to prove I am no slouch...I did go on to manage a team in the German Second League (Dusseldorf) which just set this record for points gained in a season on my way to promotion....I haven't played in the first league yet...but I am working at it...

I will probably do a reboot of cardiff and give it a second try as well....