Manager:
Dave Jones
Ground Name:
Ninian Park
Capacity:
  20,000
Last Season Prediction:
7th in the Championship
Last Season Position
12th in the Championship
Official Web Site:
http://www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk
Unofficial Site:
http://cardiffcity.rivals.net
     
Betting Odds
from
Paddy Power
   
To Win the League 20/1
To Get Promoted 13/2
To be Relegated 10/1
   
Players In

Darren Dennehy (Everton)
Ross McCormack (Motherwell)
Mark Kennedy (Crystal Palace)

Pre Season
 
Date Opponents
Score
Scorers
12th July Merthyr Tydfil
3-1
J.Brown, S.Thompson, B.Taylor
12th July Carmarthen Town
5-0
P.Parry (3), R.Kelleher, C.Thomas (og)
19th July Vitoria de Setubal
1-1
S.Thompson
22nd July Guimaraes
2-0
McCormack (2)
24th July Celtic
1-0
J.Ledley
29th July Swindon Town
1-1
P.Parry
1st August Ajax
0-0
 
       
Last Season

The 2007/08 season was almost a great one for Cardiff City as they reached the FA Cup final.

They started the season with great hopes as they signed top strikers Robbie Fowler and Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink along with former QPR winger Trevor Sinclair.

The side had quality all over the pitch and they got off to a decent start battering QPR at Loftus Road in a one sided 2-0 win. They were never really consistent enough though to mount a serious challenge always just ion the outskirts of the playoffs.
In fact some fans wanted Dave Jones out as Christmas approached but the experienced manager worked on improving things and a great run in the FA Cup helped.

They made a push for the playoffs with Joe ledley and Whittingham in midfield looking very impressive and youngster Aaron Ramsey showed touches of class.

They made it to Wembley with a 2-0 win at Middlesbrough where they edged out Barnsley in a hard fought encounter to make it to the final. The playoffs were still a possibility but understandably they took their eye off the ball and concentrated on the cup final rather than the league which saw them slip down to a mid table finish.

They gave a great account of themselves in the final but ended up losing 1-0 to Portsmouth.

How Will They fare

When people talk about promotion challengers for the coming season Cardiff are not a team that gets much of a mention.

That seems strange to me as they have a squad certainly capable of mounting a challenge. Last season they fell away towards the end of the season with the Cup final on the horizon.

If you look at the back four and midfield the options Cardiff have are pretty strong. Parry, Whittingham, Ledley and new signing Ross McCormack. They will again be very organised and tough to beat but the loss of Hasslebaink could prove to be a big one.

They have some decent strikers with Thompson capable of goals but they will need to add new faces if they are to mount a serious challenge.
I think the lack of quality up front could hurt them in the end and I can see them just coming up short finishing in mid table again.

In what will be their last season at Ninian Park they will want to go out with a bang and if they do get some quality in up front they could cause a few surprises.

PREDICTION: 11th in the Championship

Cardiff City Fans View

I asked Cardiff fan Rhodri the editor of cardiff.vitalfootball.co.uk for his thoughts on the new season and here is what he had to say.

How do you think Cardiff will fare this season?

Cardiff fans are kind of waiting on this one - we desperately need a striker and whoever it is could well define our season. We could have a very good year, or else another in mid-table. I can't see relegation.

Who are your players to watch out for?

In a danger sense Joe Ledley and Ross McCormack seem to be our most threatening players - but neither is garaunteed a starting place! Our defensive unit is the strongest area of the team.

Is your Manager the right man for the job?

He would say so! He moans a lot, even though his favourite grumbles have now been fixed. I think he's done well in the past, but now needs to make an impact in the top 6.

Which three teams will be promoted this season?

Birmingham City, Reading and Cardiff City!

Which teams will be relegated?

Blackpool, Barnsley and Doncaster.

How do you think QPR will fare this season?

Pretty good, although with all the changes a top half finish is the most likely outcome. If the team can gel together quickly, play-offs could be a realistic goal.

Player Connections

Chris Barker is the only current QPR player to have been at Cardiff. Barker was the first choice left back for several years at Cardiff during the clubs time in division two and in the Championship. Barker played against QPR in the 2003 play off final and was a regular for the Welsh side until he left on loan to Colchester in 2006 before joining QPR in 2007.

Trevor Sinclair is still on the books at Cardiff and played some of his best football at QPR at the start of his career.

Other players to play for both clubs has been Matthew Brazier who came through the QPR youth set up in the 1990's and ended up dropping down a few divisions to do a decent job for Cardiff.

One player who always split fans of both clubs is Richard Langley The talented midfield player looked to have a big future ahead of him before he picked up a bad injury in 2001. He came back strong as a right winger rather than a central midfield player and with more space out wide he began to create a little more and score more goals.

He had an excellent season in 2003 where his goals played a huge part in us getting into the playoffs but it was then that many fans fell out of love with him. Langley scored an equaliser at Oldham before being sent off for what looked a nothing incident. He missed the second leg and the final which many feel cost us a chance of promotion.

The following season he started well scoring in the first two games of the season before being sold to the team that beat us in those playoffs.

Langley did ok at Cardiff without ever hitting his best form for them and he got plenty of stick from QPR fans when the two sides met in 2005.

Richard Langley returned to QPR in 2005/06 season but never regained his best form again and was given a free transfer by Gary Waddock in 2006.

Previous Meetings

Recent games between the two sides have been interesting to say the least.

Back in the 1999/00 season we faced them in the first round of the Worthington cup. A 2-1 win at Ninian park saw Richard Langley get the winning goal, a feat he would repeat a few years later.

The return leg saw Rangers produce the usual home cup performance losing 2-1 and then going out on penalties. Even Matt Brazier scored against us. Within two years Rangers were relagated and Cardiff promoted so league games became a regular occurrence.

A midweek match at Loftus Road saw Graham Kavanagh score a controversial penalty in the first half. Rangers stormed back though with Andy Thomson equalising through an equally controversial penalty before Thomson scored a superb winner to send us home happy.

The return game saw Cardiff on a storming run towards the playoffs and a creditable 1-1 draw kept our own playoff hopes alive. Richard Pacquette scored one for Rangers before being sent off and defender Scott Young gave the Bluebirds a point with a second half equaliser.

The following season saw three very significant matches between the two sides. First off Loftus Road saw a Friday night game moved on police advice. The policeman advising this was not the smartest and thousands of drunk Cardiff fans made it a very intimidating night with plenty of crowd trouble before and after the game.

It was just days after QPR's humiliating defeat against Vauxhall Motors so confidence was at an all time low. Despite a much improved performance which saw the scores level at half time and us having the better chances, we ended up on the wrong end of a 4-0 hammering.

Robert Earnshaw tore Rangers apart with a hat trick and not for the first time that season Andy Campbell grabbed a late goal to finish the game off.

Paul Furlong came on a second half sub and was booed by the moronic elements of the QPR crowd his crime being that he used to play for Chelsea. Ian Holloway was expected to resign after the game but thankfully he pledged to stay on and fight and he soon turned the club back round.

By the time we met Cardiff again it was a different QPR. Paul Furlong was now one of our most popular players, Gino Padula was a rock at left back and Richard Langley was playing some of the best football of his career. Goals from Furlong and a last minute winner from Langley gave Rangers all three points as we clung onto our playoff position.

Rangers of course met Cardiff again in the 2003 playoff final. In a tight game both sides had chances possibly the best of them fell to Andy Thomson in injury time but his header went wide.

Rangers had several chances to win it in extra time before Andy Campbell broke clear and scored a stunning goal to send Cardiff to the first division and broke the hearts of the 30,000 QPR fans in the stadium.

Once Rangers eventually won promotion a season later one of the first fixtures QPR fans looked out for was the visit of Cardiff. It came in November with a Saturday lunchtime kick off.

It didn’t quite live up to the hype with Cardiff struggling and Rangers without manager Ian Holloway who was at home ill.

Danny Shittu smashed in his first goal of the season to win an easy three points and the QPR fans began to dream of sending Cardiff down on the last day of the season.

That didn’t happen though with the Welsh side already safe at that stage and an uneventful 1-0 win for Cardiff ended the season for both sides.

In the 2005/06 season we had to wait until December to meet and with Richard Langley back at Loftus Road he wa snow being booed by Cardiff fans. Rangers won a tight game 1-0 thanks to a Marc Nygaard header.

The away game was an equally tight affair with Nygaard going close to helping Rangers to a double over the Welsh side but a 0-0 draw was a decent result against the playoff hopefuls.

The 2006/07 season was a better one for Rangers as we did the double over Cardiff. With the Welsh side top of the league we traveled to Wales for a live tv game on a Friday night in November. Rangers stunned them though with a good performance and a late goal from Ray Jones won us three points.

The return game was a vital one for us as we knew a win would keep us in the Championship for another season. We got the win thanks to an early Dexter Blackstock goal for a third 1-0 win in a row at home against Cardiff.

Last season both games were pretty poor for QPR. Our first home game of the season was against Cardiff and we were thrashed 2-0 by what looked a very strong Cardiff side. At Ninian Park we were again thrashed this time 3-1 and to be fair to them they looked one of the best teams against us last season.

Click on the match for a report of the game from this web site.
 
Season Venue Score Scorers
       
Coca Cola Championship
       
2005/06 Away Cardiff 3 QPR 1 P.Agyemang J.Ledley (2), P.Parry
2007/08 Home QPR 0 Cardiff 2 S.McLean, P.Parry
2006/07 Home QPR 1 Cardiff 0 D.Blackstock
2006/07 Away Cardiff 0 QPR 1 R.Jones
2005/06 Away Cardiff 0 QPR 0
2005/06 Home QPR 1 Cardiff 0 M.Nygaard
2004/05 Away Cardiff 1 QPR 0 J.McAnuff
2004/05 Home QPR 1 Cardiff 0 D.Shittu
       
Nationwide Division Two Playoff Final
       
2002/03 Neutral Cardiff 1 QPR 0 A.Campbell
       
Nationwide Division Two
       
2002/03 Away Cardiff 1 QPR 2 P.Thorne, P.Furlong, R.Langley
2002/03 Home QPR 0 Cardiff 4 R.Earnshaw (3), A.Campbell
2001/03 Away Cardiff 1 QPR 1 S.Young, R.Pacquette
2001/02 Home QPR 2 Cardiff 1 A.Thomson (2), G.Kavanagh
       
Worthington Cup
       
1999/00 Home QPR 1 Cardiff 2 G.Peacock, M.Brazier, Hughes
1999/00 Away Cardiff 1 QPR 2 J.Bowen, R.Langley, J.Fowler (og)

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previous Meetings
Queen's Park Rangers wins
draws
Cardiff wins
League Game
23
9
22
Cup Games
6
1
4
Total
29
10
26