MONTHLY NEWSFILE
FEBRUARY 1998

Saturday 28th February 1998

Scunthorpe 3 - 3 Cardiff City - Report.

Andy Saville grabbed an 87th minute equaliser to earn himself a hat-trick and Cardiff's 20th draw of the season. Cardiff had to come from behind three times to get the point. Saville is now City's leading scorer so far this season.

Thursday 26th February 1998

A strong Bluebirds XI played a team from the Welsh Colleges yesterday. City won the game 4 - 1 with goals from Scott Partridge, Robert Earnshaw, Christian Roberts and Gareth Stoker. Earnshaw and Roberts are two youngsters who must be knocking on the door of a first team start. Roberts did play earlier in the season but was injured in training shortly afterwards. He is now back with the youth team and is gaining match fitness after two knee operations. Earnshaw has been prolific at youth level and has netted a hatfull of goals.
City team. Rendall, Smith, Rollo, Stoker, Jarman, Phillips, O'Sullivan, Partridge, Roberts, Earnshaw, Kelly. Subs (all used). Cadette, Clark, Stevens, Hughes, Wedgebury.

Peter Zois is unlikely to play for Cardiff again after a very dodgy game against Rotherham last Tuesday. Jon Hallworth is expected to play at Scunthorpe on Saturday after resting a thigh strain. City have recalled John Rendall as cover for Hallworth and have also added defender Lee Phillips to the squad for Saturday's game.

Steve Borley, Managing Director of away shirt sponsors CMB has been appointed to the board at Ninian Park. He becomes City's 6th Director.

Wednesday 25th February 1998

Cardiff's home FAW Invitation match against Conwy has been confirmed for Tuesday 17th March. Kick off at 7:15pm.

Tuesday 24th February 1998

Cardiff City 2 - 2 Rotherham - Report.

Saville man of the match. Zois looks to be a dodgy keeper.
Rating 5/10. At times we played well. At other times we were sadly lacking. Rotherham looked a good side. Both teams had chances to win. White hit the bar, Fowler missed a couple. Rotherham had a few shots go just wide or just over. Zois mad a few good saves in 1 on 1 situations, but his goal kicking was poor and he did not catch one cross. He puched away three or four.

Cardiff have announced the non contract signing of the previously unknown Peter Zois as goalkeeping cover for Jon Hallworth. It is possible that Zois will make his debut tonight as Hallworth is carrying a thigh strain. Hallworth is the only recognised keeper at the club at the moment after Tony Elliott's departure to Scarboro. Frank Burrows has also asked former Aston Villa goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer to coach Zois for a couple of days a week. Rimmer, who has been coaching in China, was Burrows' youth team coach at Swansea.

Scott Partridge could be in line for a recall tonight as well. Danny Hill will definately play. City will be without Carl Dale who has dislocated his shoulder. The ban for Mark Harris is confirmed as the Torquay and Swansea games, the ban for Craig Middleton will be the match at Swansea and the home tie with Doncaster Rovers.

City squad for tonight, Hallworth, Zois, Middleton, Beech, Young, Eckhardt, Harris, Fowler, Hill, Saville, Carss, O'Sullivan, Penney, Partridge, White.

City welcome back Ronnie Moore to Ninian Park tonight. Moore was signed by Cardiff 19 years ago to the day from Tranmere for £110,000.

Monday 23rd February 1998

Carl Dale looks set to miss the next 5 / 6 weeks of the season after dislocating his shoulder on Saturday.

Craig Middleton and Mark Harris are both facing bans after accumilating too many bookings. Harris will miss out on the trips to Torquay and to Swansea. Middleton also looks set to miss two games but it has not been confirmed yet as to which two.

Saturday 21st February 1998

Cardiff City 0 - 0 Cambridge Utd - Report.

Friday 20th February 1998

Billy Ayre has joined the coaching staff at Ninian Park.

Danny Hill will make his Cardiff debut in the home game v Cambridge tomorrow. Frank Burrows has conformed he will definately play. There are no new injury worries before tomorrows game.

Thursday 19th February 1998

Danny Hill has today completed his loan signing to Ninian Park. Hill goes straight into the squad for Saturdays game at home to Cambridge. The 23 year old is relishing the chance of first team football and was over the moon when Frank Burrows asked him to come to S.Wales.

Cardiff's interest in Kwame Ampadu has come to nothing. The Swans midfielder has has expressed no interest in moving East to Cardiff and the Blues are unlikely to try and woo him. The talk regarding Steve Torpey also seems to have dried up.

Robbie James, 40, who was Cardiff's player of the season when we won the third division in '93, has sadly died. James was playing last night for Llanelli when he slumped to the ground. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Prince Phillip hospital in the town. James was a long time Swansea player and a Welsh International with 47 caps. He was part of the Swansea team who hit the heights in the early eighties when they climbed to the old first division. My heartfelt condoloncies go out to his family and friends.

Wednesday 18th February 1998

Frank Burrows is looking to bring Danny Hill to Ninian park today on loan. Hill is a midfielder and is currently with Tottenham. Danny Hill factfile:-

Born:           Edmonton 1.10.74
Height:         5'9"
Weight:       11st 3lb.
Career:        FA/GM School of Excellence, Spurs trainee July 1991, professional September 1992.
Spurs debut:20.3.93 v Chelsea (A)
Honours:      England Under-18 1 cap. England U21 4 caps.
Position:      Midfield.

Tuesday 17th February 1998

Cardiff City 4 - 1 Mansfield - Report.

Cardiff cruised to their biggest win of the season and completed the double over Mansfield. A penalty just before half time from Andy Saville was followed by three outstanding goals from Jason Fowler, Anthony Carss and David Penney. Frank Burrows was impressed by the committment and the quality of play that Cardiff came up with tonight.

Frank Burrows will take charge of his first match tonight as City welcome Mansfield to Ninian Park. Cardiff are looking to complete the double over the "Stags" after winning 2 - 1 at Field Mill in our second game of the season (at that time we had won two out of two for the season and both were away from home, the promotion dream was alive and kicking). City will field a similar side to the one that played at Barnet. David Penney is available again after suspension. Burrows is hoping to make two loan signings this week, the club is alloweed to make 5 in a season and we have already used three places (Glenn Crowe, Chris Greenacre and Scott Paterson). It is widely reported the two players could be Swansea'a Kwarme Ampadu and Bristol City's Steve Torpey. Torpey is out of favour at Ashton gate and could be a possible full time signing but Bristol City would look to recoup the £400,000 they paid to Swansea for him and that would probably be a stumbling block. It was also mentioned yesterday that Leo Fortune West could be a target but I'm not wasting bandwidth with that thread after all the speculation about him before Christmas.

Now that we have a new manager we must get behind him. There are many arguments for and against the appointment but in the cold light of day Frank is our man. If he can get the club promotion and give the club a future he will be a hero. I for one am more optomistic than when Osman was here. Lets show our support by giving him a good welcome tonight and combine it with 3 points. It is expected that Billy Ayres, who was Jan Molby's no.2 at Swansea, will be his assistant. Burrows has been told there is no money at the moment to actually buy new players but if a play off place this season becomes a possiblility then squad strengthening would be allowed. We'll see! There's a small matter of clawing back 15 pts before we can think about play offs.

Some of Frank's comments from yesterdays press conference......

On being asked about coming back to the Club for a second spell and about failures second time around..
"I'm aiming to break the mould,. And, anyway, more managers have failed first time. I have a hard work ethic and expect everybody else to work hard. I've never done harm to any football club I've been with. I'm modest when it comes to talking about my track record, which I think earned me the job. I've left clubs in better positions than when I joined them, be it Portsmouth, Cardiff, Swindon or Swansea. I beleive in my methods. Hopefully, if everyone gets behind me, I can take Cardiff City to a hiher league. I've got two years to gain success. If we don't get it I won't be here. There's no long term security for football managers."

On the squad of players he is taking over..
I'm not going to turn everything upside down. There's no pressure on me to make quick changes. We are in no danger of going down, so I have time to work with and assess the players we have. No doubt I'll upset some. The good players will stay in the team. Those who can't handle the pressure won't be picked."

On leaving West Ham to come to the third division..
Don't ask me to explain it. I can't. My wife, Wendy, would pay someone £100 for a logical explanation. I was with a great London club. But I wanted the buzz of being a manager in my own right again, experiencing all the ups and downs of the job."

Monday 16th February 1998

Frank Burrows has ben confirmed as the new manager. He takes control of the team immediately and his first match in charge will be the home game at Ninian Park against Mansfield tomorrow.

Report by Nationwide League..

Frank Burrows has stepped back into the manager's office at
Cardiff City.

And he is convinced he has made the right decision to leave
Premiership club West Ham and take over at the struggling Third
Division outfit for the second time.

"West Ham are a super club, everybody there treated me very
well and I wish them every success," said 54-year-old Burrows,
who has signed a two-year contract with the Ninian Park club
after quitting Upton Park where he was coaching and scouting
under Harry Redknapp and Frank Lampard.

"But the urge to manage a club was still there and when the
Cardiff job came up I jumped at it. For one thing, I'll be coming
back to a place in which I used to live."

Burrows previously managed the Bluebirds under then-chairman
Tony Clemo between 1986 and 1989 and took them to
promotion from the old Fourth Division at the end of the 1987-88
season.

"I left on that occasion because I felt I had taken the club as far
as I could and after a chat with Mr Clemo I found out there was
no money to make further improvements.

"The structure just wasn't there at the time but I have been
assured by the chairman Samesh Kumar and the directors that
situation has changed."

Burrows' first match in charge will be against Mansfield on
Tuesday and will be followed by a second home match against
Cambridge United on Saturday.

"If we can pick up six points from those two matches then
anything is possible," said Burrows. "So far as this season is
concerned, I don't necessarily feel it is too late to make a
challenge but I'll have a much better idea by Saturday night.

"There will be some money available and if we can get ourselves
into a position where we are pushing towards the play-offs I'm
sure the directors will be pushing, too.

"I'll be working very hard and I will expect everybody else to be
working just as hard."

Saturday 14th February 1998

Barnet 2 - 2 Cardiff City - Report.

City threw away a two goal lead today and made history by drawing in the league for the 17th time in one season. Goals from Andy Saville and Jason Fowler were cancelled out by a Paul Wilson penalty and a 68th minute equaliser from Scott McGleish.

It is speculated that former Swansea player Steve Torpey is to sign for Cardiff on Monday. There is also a word the the lad Ampadu from Swansea is also likely to join the Bluebirds. These are both mere rumour. We'll find out on Monday.

Friday 13th February 1998

The search for a new manager could finally be coming to an end. The has been rumour, counter rumour, speculation and more speculation as to who will manage S.Wales' premier football team. Today the South Wales Echo have made their mind up. They have run the following two articles which are fairly conclusive. If they are wrong some ass will get kicked in Havelock House on Monday.

FRANK Burrows, the man who guided the Bluebirds out of the Fourth Division 10
years ago, will be named as Cardiff City's new team manager on Monday.
And he will be given backing to bring in new players to spark an immediate
promotion charge.
Burrows has not yet signed a contract and City will not comment on the
situation, but negotiations are at an advanced stage and he will watch Cardiff
City at Barnet tomorrow as an anonimous figure among supporters.
With 16 matches left City have only an outside chance of reaching the play-offs,
but they see Burrows, currently third-in-line at West Ham, as the man who will
give them the best chance.
City would not comment today on the speculation, although contacts at West Ham
confirm he is on his way to Wales.
The Bluebirds' board are unanimous in their choice of Burrows, who impressed the
directors during talks.
Tough-talking Scot Burrows knows what it takes to lift a side off the bottom
rung.
As a player he was an uncompromising defender, but as a manager he likes to
build teams who can play good football.
To the fans he is entirely obliging, frequently waving during matches, little
gestures that endear him to supporters.
During negotiations he asked for, and was given. the backing to build 'his'
team.
He will chase the 'impossible dream' of a place in the play-offs from Cardiff's
current place in 19th place - just behind Swansea City.
Burrows, who looked certain to be appointed assistant to Wales' manager Bobby
Gould last year, is once again set to show how much he loves South Wales.
He is set to quit a well-paid job at Premiership club West Ham, where he coaches
alongside Harry Redknapp and Frank Lampard.
The Hammers, of course, lie seventh in the Premiership and tomorrow face
Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup.
Burrows has been absent from training at West Ham over the last couple of days
and he will miss tomorrow's Cup clash to be at Barnet.
City would not make any comment on Burrows today, but Chairman Samesh Kumar
said: "No manager has signed and until we complete our discussions and the
contracts are signed we do not have a manager.
"We want to settle this as quickly as possible, but we also wish to be fair as
far as we can to all those who applied for the position."
City received 35 applications for the managers job and that was cut to a
shortlist of five - Burrows, Colin Addison, Mick Wadsworth, Alan Devonshire and
Bruce Rioch.
Merthyr Tydfil boss Addison was a clear favourite even up to this week as he and
Burrows moved ahead of the rest, but straight-talking Burrows pulled every
member of the board behind him.

Followed by.....

FRANK Burrows, who will be appointed manager of Cardiff City on Monday, believes
Cardiff City should be in the First Division.
He has big experience of soccer in South Wales, having been manager of both the
Bluebirds and Swansea City.
And he has said of his new club: "South Wales desperately needs a higher grade
of football.
"The Cardiff catchment area is easily big enough to sustain a First Division
club.
"I can lead City to further success if they have the financial resources to
fulfill the fans and my ambitions."
Tough-talking Scot Burrows, whose dad was a coal miner in the Lanarkshire pits
near Alloa, first came to Ninian Park as manager in 1986.
He had already led Portsmouth to the Fourth Division title a few years earlier
and he was eager for more success.
He guided the Bluebirds out of the Fourth Division, gaining promotion as
runners-up, and back into Europe.
It was, without doubt, a major achievement after he had taken over a club who
had been relegated for the second successive season and were playing in the
Fourth Division for the first time.
His inheritance was a squad stripped bare during the summer and he was left with
four senior pros, two of whom were out of contract, and seven players aged under
21.
His first job was to bring in Newport County manager Bobby Smith as his
assistant and former City boss Jimmy Goodfellow as coach/physiotherapist.
His first signing was Steve Sherlock from Stockport He was followed by Welsh
internationsls Alan Curtis and Terry Boyle, Brighton goalkeeper Graham Moseley
and winger Alan Rogers from Southend.
He eventually had 17 players, nine of them Burrows' own signings, and he had
paid one fee, œ22,500 for skipper Boyle.
In Burrows' first season in charge, City finished well down the table. But in
his second they achieved the 'double ' - promotion and a Welsh Cup triumph.
Now Burrows must do it again.
City have languished for too long in the lower reaches of the Third Division. It
is - surely - too late this season, but he must build for next season and start
the climb towards Cardiff City respectability.
Burrows has had his share of success as a manager.
And he is a member of an exclusive club along with the likes of Terry Venables,
George Graham and Kenny Dalglish.
All of them have played in and managed winning Cup final teams at Wembley.
Scotsman Burrows, of course, was a rugged defender for Swindon when they won the
League Cup, beating Arsenal in 1969.
Don Rogers scored a couple of goals for Swindon, while current Wales manager
Bobby Gould played for the Gunners.
As a manager, Burrows led Swansea City to success in the 1994 Autoglass Trophy
final when they defeated Huddersfield Town 1-0.
Now he is charged with bringing success back to Ninian Park.

It has been suggested that former City favourite Jimmy Gilligan could be his No.2. Although the list of possible assistants is as bad as the original race to be manager.

David Penney is still suspended and will miss the trip to Barnet tomorrow. Kevin Nugent who has had some good news today, see below, will also be missing. Jason Fowler successfully came through the FAW Cup match last Tuesday and will be fit for tomorrow. Mark Harris will skipper in Penney's absence. Wayne O'Sullivan will be missing but it is hoped that both Scott Young and Jeff Eckhardt will be able to play.

Tony Philliskirk has signed for Macclesfield on a months loan.

Kevin Nugent has undergone successful keyhole surgery on his knee. It is hoped he will be back in action earlier then previously reported.
With all due respect to Kevin he has had more coverage on these pages than almost any other player, and he's only played about 3 matches.

Thursday 12th February 1998

Word is that some if not all of the Cardiff City board have travelled to Stoke today to interview Lou Macari. That must say something about the man if his prospective employer is willing to go to his house for the interview. Does this mean that Macari is still a possible candidate?

Kevin Nugent has been rocked with another injury blow. Kevin has torn knee ligaments and will be out for a month.

Tony Elliott has signed for Scarboro on a free transfer. He has a medical today and providing all is well he will be a Scarboro player. We wish him all the best as he was a firm favourite at Ninian Park and helped the club to the play offs last season.

Wednesday 11th February 1998

Colin Addison is ready to take on the managers job at Cardiff if he is asked. He has made no secret that he is willing to take over the job and says he is flattered to be considered. Addison said on TV last night that he had had talks with Cardiff but was not giving much more away. In my opinion he could already know his fate. I think he may well be offered the job. Todays Western Mail claims the short list for the job is Addison, Mick Wadsworth, Frank Burrows, Alan Devonshire (where'd his name come from?) and Bruce Rioch.

My thoughts on Addison, 57, are that he presented himself in front of the camera's last night as a very confident man. His experience in management is flawless. He has manged Derby County and Athletico Madrid amongst others and was assistant to Ron Atkinson at West Brom over 20 years ago. His acheivements with Merthyr this season are excellent, the club nearly folded last season but are now favourites to win promotion to the Conference.

Whoever we take I will obviously support. Addison was not top of my list but of the names mentioned above (with the possible exception of Rioch) he would be the best candidate.

Reserve keeper Tony Elliott is being linked with a move to Scarborough.

Tuesday 10th February 1998

Cardiff City 1 - 0 Merthyr Tydfil - Report.

Cardiff beat Merthyr tonight courtesy of a freak own goal. A Gareth Abraham back pass was fumbled into his own net by Martyrs keeper Gary Wager. It was a game that City should have won by three or more goals. City are therefore group winners and have earned themselves £15500 for tonights work. Cardiff now go on to play Conwy in the quarter finals. In the other match played tonight Bangor earned a 1 - 1 draw at Swansea. Bangor are now rewarded with a home quarter final tie.

Full quarter final draw

Cardiff v Conwy
Wrexham v Swansea
Barry v Merthyr
Bangor v Newtown

City entertain Merthyr tonight in the final group game of the FAW Invitation Cup. If City win then we will have a home tie against Conwy in the quarter finals as well as a cheque for £12500 for being group winners and £3000 for winning the game. A draw or a defeat will mean a home tie with either Swansea or Bangor, they play their match tonight as well. City go into the game with Craig Middleton, Jimmy Rollo and Steve White all suspended. David Penney is eligable to play as his suspension is for division 3 matches only. There are injury doubts over Jason Fowler, Jeff Eckhardt, Scott Young and Kevin Nugent.

The first tickets for the division 3 match at Swansea go on sale on Thursday. They are available to season ticket holders and supporters club members only. At the moment there are only 631 tickets available. You will actually get a voucher for the coach from Ninian Park. Match tickets will then be on sale on the journey to Swansea. No supporters will be allowed to travel independantly to the Vetch. Only people on the coaches will get match tickets. It is hoped that Swansea will be able to make another 631 tickets available if safety work at the ground is completed.

There is chance of an announcement later this week regarding our new manager. Watch this space.

Monday 9th February 1998

All eyes and ears are waiting on an announcement from Ninian Park regarding the new manager. Local bookmakers are convinced it is a head to head between Lou Macari and Frank Burrows. I did hear early on that Macari was put into the hat as a red herring. I hope not. I think he has more ambition and more chance of success than Burrows. Ratcliffe talk has gone quiet. One of the other front runners, Colin Addison, brings his Merthyr side to Ninian tomorrow in an FAW Cup clash.

Saturday 7th February 1998

Cardiff City 0 - 1 Lincoln City. Report.

Cardiff managed to pull off what must be the worst performance of the season today. I can't recall one shot the Lincoln keeper had to save. The visitors were not much better with only one threatening effort themselves, the difference being they scored from theirs.

City are looking to get back to winning ways in the League after a poor run which has seen us win only once in the last 10 games. A draw today would be a new club record of 17 league draws in one season. The overall record is 23, with 17 matches remaining that unenviable feat is within reach.

Friday 6th February 1998

I have avoided sensationalising the crowd trouble at Reading on these pages. I was at the game, and apart from the mindless yobs who hurt the young girl and the idiots throwing things, I thought 99% of the City support was very passionate and well behaved. I am as disgusted as anybody about the actions of some of the crowd. It has not been helped by the national press branding us racists as well as hooligans. I take exception to both accusations because I am no racist and no hooligan either. I did not like being branded as a hooligan just because I am a Cardiff City fan. The Guardian run an incorrect story line on Wednesday calling us racist. In yesterdays paper they printed the following:-

In reporting the Reading v Cardiff FA Cup tie replay, Martin Thorpe
misheard the chant of Cardiff fans and wrote in some editions of
yesterday's paper that they sang "You black bastard". They were actually
singing "You Jack bastard", Jack being a derogatory term for people from
Swansea. One of the Reading players had formerly played for Swansea City.

Hopefully that clears that one up.

As far as the Football Association goes the following was reported by the Sporting Life yesterday:

The Football Association will take no action over the
trouble which marred Reading's FA Cup match against
Cardiff at Elm Park. A female steward was hit in the face and a ball girl
was shoved in separate incidents at Tuesday's fourth
round replay, which Reading won on penalties.
FA spokesman Steve Double, who was at the game,
said they had investigated the incidents and concluded
that nothing further should be done.
"We have contacted the relevant authorities, including
the police and the clubs, and we are satisfied that
nothing warrants immediate action from us," he said.
"We're satisfied that the arrangements dealt with the
potential problems adequately and the match officials
were impressed with how everything was handled. As
things stand, that is the end of the matter."
The trouble at Elm Park caused concern because it came
three days after an assistant referee was punched
unconscious during Portsmouth's match against
Sheffield United at Fratton Park.

Now back to the football.

The latest Supporters Club Newsletter is now available in full on the website. Just click on the frontpage link or this link to get all the up to date news and views from the Supporters Club. There is a big mention of these pages and the internet contained within the newsletter.

Thursday 5th February 1998

Skipper David Penney starts a two match ban this weekend after accumilating 5 yellow cards. He will miss the visit of Lincoln to Ninian Park on Saturday and the trip to Barnet a week later.

Tuesday 3rd February 1998

Reading 1 - 1 Cardiff City - Report.
AET. Reading won 4-3 on penalties.

Cardiff were unlucky to get knocked out of the FA Cup at Elm Park tonight. They lead the first division team at half time and after conceeding an equaliser should have won the game within the 90 mins when Kevin Nugent went one on one with the keeper in the 85th min, but it was the Reading man who saved the Royals and he went on to make two outstanding extra time saves to deny O'Sullivan and Dale, he then made three excellent penalty shoot out saves to give Reading a 5th round away tie at Sheffield Utd.

Craig Middleton was the unlucky City player to miss the descisive penalty but no blame can be made upon him. He struck a good kick low towards the left hand corner but the keeper stretched magnificently to push the ball away. Joy for Reading, despair for City who will feel they should be in the next round.

Samesh Kumar has told the local media that he has a shortlist of 4 - 5 men in line for the vacant managers job. He will be contacting the necessary men and their clubs and would hope to have a new man in place with 14 days.

Kevin Nugent is fit and expected to play against Reading tonight. Scott Young and Jason Fowler should both be in contention to play.

Welsh intnl Paul Bodin, currently with Reading, has said he is interested in the Cardiff City managers job. Also Mick Gooding, a former player manager at Reading will be in the crowd tonight. He has said that the job interests him too.

I do not agree with the idea that the manager should be Welsh. Kumar has said he would like a Welshman. The important thing is we get the right man, whether he is Welsh, English or Outer Mongolian, it makes no difference. we need a strong character, somebody with a proven managerial record, if it means paying a bit extra we should do it. Otherwise we will be in the same position in 12 mths time. Languishing in the lower reaches of the 3rd division with a manger we cant afford to sack.

Monday 2nd February 1998

Its been reported today that the City board have held discussions with former City manager Frank Burrows. Burrows is currently with West Ham who supposedly gave their permission for the talks. Just another twist in the media merry go round that will continue until we appoint a new man.

Bobby Gould has rejected ideas that he could be the new man in charge. He states his involvement is to help out Kenny Hibbitt and will be back on duty for the Welsh National team later in the week. He is however hoping to be at Reading on Tuesday.