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