City are likely to remain unchanged for the
visit of Peterborough today. Posh have a great recent record at Ninian Park.
4 wins and 3 draws in the last seven visits. City must get into a winning
run and today is a great time to start that, hopefully a return to football
will also start to break up the media circus that has been slaying City all
week.
Cardiff City fans must today
support their club and be loud and proud. There will be a lot of media
attention and they will be hoping for it to kick off so they can justify
their ridiculous headlines and glorified stories. Lets prove to them we are
not all hooligans.
Lets hope for a big
passionate and well behaved crowd. Anyone looking for Sam Hammam will find
him in the directors box after the FA banned him from pitch-side immediately
before, during and after the game.
City fan Rob Trubey takes a look at Peterborough prior to todays game
The FA Cup, regardless of what the press will have you believe, is still a
wonderful competition.
Of course, given last Sunday, City fans are the last set of people who need
reminding of this fact. One of the most memorable days in our
Bluebird-supporting lives, for all the off-the-field nonsense that has
followed, is still bubbling around inside us.
The Third Round, were the small clubs are thrown in amongst the supposed
big-boys, has always been quite special, of course. The importance of the
outcome, though, will always vary from club to club.
Take Peterborough, for example. Next Tuesday's postponed Third Round tie
away at Darlington is a huge game for them, for an entirely different
reason.
That it would set up a Fourth Round home tie against Premiership Newcastle
United extends beyond the realms of a big day out for the Posh fans. An
already guaranteed live TV match would earn them, in total, £365,000. And,
whilst some fans may scoff - it's all too easy when our chairman seems happy
to splash that sort of cash on reserve team players - the money is paramount
to the well-being of the London Road club, who are yet another of the
growing list of Nationwide sides in something of a monetary mess.
The financial troubles have culminated in owner Peter Boizot's decision to
put the club up for sale, last month. Meanwhile, acting Managing Director
Phillip Sagar has, this week, given Posh manager Barry Fry the equivalent of
a "shut up and sit down" warning, after Fry admitted to having been in
discussions with the PFA, regarding player wages. All a bit of a mess, it
seems...
You suspect that a good league run would have provided at least a modicum of
breathing space for both staff and players alike, but anyone who takes a
passing glance at their recent league form, however, will note that
progression past Darlington is by no means a foregone conclusion. In fact,
last Tuesday's 3-0 league win over Port Vale was as long-awaited as it was
celebrated.
Having started the season slowly, the London Road boys started picking up
some serious momentum in mid-September. Six wins out of seven, on their way
to November, included notable victories over Bournemouth (6-0), Bristol City
(4-1) and QPR (4-1). But that's where it all started going wrong.
Off-the-pitch mumblings were matched by on-the-pitch nightmare, as Fry's
side failed to pick up a single victory in the space of eight games.
One thing Fry does have, though, is slightly more time on his hands than his
opposite number, Alan Cork. As the season begins to head towards it's end,
you suspect that the ever-inflating levels of expectation are likely to
prove just as crucial an opponent to the Bluebirds as Mark Viduka, Robbie
Fowler or anyone else.
In goal for the Posh, on Saturday, will be Mark Tyler. A highly respected
goalkeeper, if not quite the unbeatable colossus that Barry Fry's "best
keeper outside of the Premiership" tag may initially suggest. His cover is
young Irish keeper Dan Connor.
At the back, team captain Andy Edwards will be partnered by the committed if
somewhat slower defender Simon Rea. Ex-Cambridge wing-back Tom Williams will
provide plenty of pace down Peterborough's left, though, and, apparently, is
Cardiff's answer to Andy Legg in the long-throw stakes. At right back,
meanwhile, is Marc Joseph. Another former Cambridge player, our Posh
correspondent suggests that, whilst he's a capable centre-back, he may be
the weak link whilst playing in a more unfamiliar right-back role.
The engine in midfield is provided by the experienced Australian Dave
Oldfield, last year's Player of the Season for the London Road side.
Alongside him, in the centre, is the floppy haired figure of former West Ham
action-man Jimmy Bullard, who already has seven goals to his name, this
season.
On the wings will be David Farrell, the slightly inconsistent danger-man of
the side and Spurs loanee, Ciaran Toner. Captain of the Northern Ireland
U21s, Toner is nonetheless affectionately referred to as "a waste of space"
by our Peterborough man.
Tragically, an early season injury has robbed us of every football fans'
favourite striker, Jason "pineapple" Lee. There'll be no breathing space for
Spencer Prior and Scott Young, though, as Barry Fry looks set to continue
with two rather good front-men, instead. Former Spurs player Neale Fenn
offers excellent control and the ability to hold the ball up well, whilst
his partner Leon McKenzie, signed from Crystal Palace, is one of the
quickest and most promising forward players around.
Make no mistake - despite their recent poor form, Peterborough are not a bad
team at all. Questionable form or not, they still only lie four places and
seven points behind Cardiff and, if we're not careful, they're still more
than capable of doing us some FA-style post-Cup-celebration damages, today.
