CARDIFF WERE LIMP / SO DISSAPOINTING SAYS
Thu May 02, 2019 3:45 pm
Ex Cardiff City player Nathan Blake outlines his shock and disappointment at limp Fulham showing and fears Premier League dream is over
By Nathan Blake
Thursday 2nd May 2019
Look, I know all about relegation and fighting it.
When I first came into the Cardiff side, when I signed for Sheffield United, when I went to Bolton and when I joined Blackburn, I fought against it.
I didn't get out of it enough times perhaps, but I've got experience of it and can honestly say we went into every single game and gave it a good go.
It's what you do in a situation like that. If you fall, you fall on your sword, guns blazing.
That's why, five days on, what happened between Cardiff and Fulham on the weekend continues to shock me. Nearly a week on and I'm still shocked.
I'm not angry, I'm just so disappointed.
With the result, of course, bur more with the meek manner of the Bluebirds' performance.
I still cannot get my head around why we were so cautious in a must-win game. Don't be fooled by the gung-ho approach in the lat 10 minutes, Cardiff should have gone for this from the off and the fact they didn't piles enormous pressure on the necessity to win the remaining games against Crystal Palace and Manchester United.
It didn't have to be like this. Cardiff could have been in the box seat by the end of this weekend, beating Palace while Brighton lose at Arsenal.
Instead, even if Cardiff win, Brighton will still be in pole position. At least a point clear.
What an opportunity missed. Fulham are already down. If you score first, or just get stuck into them, their heads drop. Yet, as I say, we waited until 80 minutes had done and were already a goal behind.
I'd have been building this game up all week given how big it was.
Colin Todd did that with us when I was at Bolton and we were facing Wolves - who were heavy favourites.
Even before the season started, he was getting into us.
"You going to let Wolves come and over-run you."
"Blakey, I hear Dean Richards is going to come and throw you about."
By the time kick-off came around, we were like bulls to a red rag. We didn't take a backwards step. We beat them 3-0 and we beat them up.
There's a mentality where you build towards a crescendo. Saturday is everything. You can't look beyond it.
Don't win this Saturday and the next one doesn't matter.
I don't know what was said at Craven Cottage, you'd love to be a fly on the wall, but the team didn't seem to play like this was win or bust.
The most disappointing thing is motivation has been Neil Warnock's forte at Cardiff. That's what he does brilliantly normally.
In his most important game since he's been here, after everyone has slated you all year and everything that's happened, I couldn't see a way Cardiff would lose that match.
It should have been the calm before the storm, holding people back. Cardiff have fight and determination in abundance.
But they lacked fire at Craven Cottage. Not to see it was hugely disappointing.
Cardiff felt as if they were waiting for something to happen, rather than creating the opportunity for themself.
It reminds me of what Eddie May used to tell me.
He'd go round the dressing room, giving his tactics. I was only 19 and I didn't want to be the main man of the team.
I just wanted to have fun and not take responsibility. Then, one day, he called me into his office and sat me down.
"We need to chat."
As a young kid, I thought 'Woah'.
"What were you waiting for on Saturday?"
What do you mean?
"Whenever you got the ball, you were passing it."
I'm just being a good team-mate.
"Why wait for it to happen when you can make it happen? Go out and do it yourself"
It wasn't about asking players to take responsibility, it's making them take it. For me, they took a teddy bear to a gun fight.
Neil said Rhys Healey had trained well - so what? He's not as much of an impact player as Bobby Reid or Josh Murphy. It's not Healey's fault, but he shouldn't have been playing.
It's my opinion that on the weekend there were decision made that weren't for the betterment of the team or the club.
3,000 fans went to Craven Cottage waiting to see Cardiff take this must-win game by the scruff of the neck.
It never came.
Only when Fulham went in front and then sat back did Cardiff create something. And it wasn't like Fulham played in a way that convinced you they were anything other than an already relegated side.
They were there for the taking. The way the game was approached as a whole was the problem.
It looked like the fight had gone, like Cardiff had already been relegated.
But the thing is, they hadn't been. They were the team with something to play for. Fulham were the ones low on belief.
I think I could have got something out of their backline even today and I can't run for more than 10 minutes!
It's not over yet, two wins can yet keep Cardiff up. But are we really going to win at Old Trafford against a Man Utd side pushing for the Champions League spots?
Sadly, I don't think so. United are not the force they were, but they still have some great players up there. You never know, there may be a David de Gea error and Cardiff could win against the odds.
But I don't think so. And it shouldn't have had to matter anyway. Cardiff could have gone above Brighton this weekend, meaning they only had to match their result on the final weekend to stay up, not better it.
That's why if Cardiff beat Palace this weekend - and hopefully we will - my over-riding feeling will probably be one of frustration. Why on earth didn't we go for the three points properly at Fulham, too?
By Nathan Blake
Thursday 2nd May 2019
Look, I know all about relegation and fighting it.
When I first came into the Cardiff side, when I signed for Sheffield United, when I went to Bolton and when I joined Blackburn, I fought against it.
I didn't get out of it enough times perhaps, but I've got experience of it and can honestly say we went into every single game and gave it a good go.
It's what you do in a situation like that. If you fall, you fall on your sword, guns blazing.
That's why, five days on, what happened between Cardiff and Fulham on the weekend continues to shock me. Nearly a week on and I'm still shocked.
I'm not angry, I'm just so disappointed.
With the result, of course, bur more with the meek manner of the Bluebirds' performance.
I still cannot get my head around why we were so cautious in a must-win game. Don't be fooled by the gung-ho approach in the lat 10 minutes, Cardiff should have gone for this from the off and the fact they didn't piles enormous pressure on the necessity to win the remaining games against Crystal Palace and Manchester United.
It didn't have to be like this. Cardiff could have been in the box seat by the end of this weekend, beating Palace while Brighton lose at Arsenal.
Instead, even if Cardiff win, Brighton will still be in pole position. At least a point clear.
What an opportunity missed. Fulham are already down. If you score first, or just get stuck into them, their heads drop. Yet, as I say, we waited until 80 minutes had done and were already a goal behind.
I'd have been building this game up all week given how big it was.
Colin Todd did that with us when I was at Bolton and we were facing Wolves - who were heavy favourites.
Even before the season started, he was getting into us.
"You going to let Wolves come and over-run you."
"Blakey, I hear Dean Richards is going to come and throw you about."
By the time kick-off came around, we were like bulls to a red rag. We didn't take a backwards step. We beat them 3-0 and we beat them up.
There's a mentality where you build towards a crescendo. Saturday is everything. You can't look beyond it.
Don't win this Saturday and the next one doesn't matter.
I don't know what was said at Craven Cottage, you'd love to be a fly on the wall, but the team didn't seem to play like this was win or bust.
The most disappointing thing is motivation has been Neil Warnock's forte at Cardiff. That's what he does brilliantly normally.
In his most important game since he's been here, after everyone has slated you all year and everything that's happened, I couldn't see a way Cardiff would lose that match.
It should have been the calm before the storm, holding people back. Cardiff have fight and determination in abundance.
But they lacked fire at Craven Cottage. Not to see it was hugely disappointing.
Cardiff felt as if they were waiting for something to happen, rather than creating the opportunity for themself.
It reminds me of what Eddie May used to tell me.
He'd go round the dressing room, giving his tactics. I was only 19 and I didn't want to be the main man of the team.
I just wanted to have fun and not take responsibility. Then, one day, he called me into his office and sat me down.
"We need to chat."
As a young kid, I thought 'Woah'.
"What were you waiting for on Saturday?"
What do you mean?
"Whenever you got the ball, you were passing it."
I'm just being a good team-mate.
"Why wait for it to happen when you can make it happen? Go out and do it yourself"
It wasn't about asking players to take responsibility, it's making them take it. For me, they took a teddy bear to a gun fight.
Neil said Rhys Healey had trained well - so what? He's not as much of an impact player as Bobby Reid or Josh Murphy. It's not Healey's fault, but he shouldn't have been playing.
It's my opinion that on the weekend there were decision made that weren't for the betterment of the team or the club.
3,000 fans went to Craven Cottage waiting to see Cardiff take this must-win game by the scruff of the neck.
It never came.
Only when Fulham went in front and then sat back did Cardiff create something. And it wasn't like Fulham played in a way that convinced you they were anything other than an already relegated side.
They were there for the taking. The way the game was approached as a whole was the problem.
It looked like the fight had gone, like Cardiff had already been relegated.
But the thing is, they hadn't been. They were the team with something to play for. Fulham were the ones low on belief.
I think I could have got something out of their backline even today and I can't run for more than 10 minutes!
It's not over yet, two wins can yet keep Cardiff up. But are we really going to win at Old Trafford against a Man Utd side pushing for the Champions League spots?
Sadly, I don't think so. United are not the force they were, but they still have some great players up there. You never know, there may be a David de Gea error and Cardiff could win against the odds.
But I don't think so. And it shouldn't have had to matter anyway. Cardiff could have gone above Brighton this weekend, meaning they only had to match their result on the final weekend to stay up, not better it.
That's why if Cardiff beat Palace this weekend - and hopefully we will - my over-riding feeling will probably be one of frustration. Why on earth didn't we go for the three points properly at Fulham, too?
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Re: CARDIFF WERE LIMP / SO DISSAPOINTING SAYS
Thu May 02, 2019 4:03 pm
Can't disagree with much of what he says about the Fulham game.
Re: CARDIFF WERE LIMP / SO DISSAPOINTING SAYS
Thu May 02, 2019 4:23 pm
That was a must win game, they blew their chances and Warnock got team selection all wrong
Re: CARDIFF WERE LIMP / SO DISSAPOINTING SAYS
Thu May 02, 2019 4:42 pm
Bluebird1990 wrote:That was a must win game, they blew their chances and Warnock got team selection all wrong
It was a win win situation for nw go out to win game we win great result and need
only beat palace probably.. lose and its hard luck we tried but always palace & utd to come! But to play holding game like all other games this season hoping for draw as we never looked scoring was really poor tactics and team selection, Blake right for once
Re: CARDIFF WERE LIMP / SO DISSAPOINTING SAYS
Thu May 02, 2019 6:54 pm
Couldn't disagree with Blakey on any of that tbh.
Re: CARDIFF WERE LIMP / SO DISSAPOINTING SAYS
Fri May 03, 2019 11:22 am
Got to agree with him. Warnock got everything wrong what on earth did he say in his pre match team talk? For me it was the most disappointing match for many seasons. I can take losing but not even giving it a go is unforgivable. I think it was so bad that many people started having serious doubts about Warnock after that match.