It is now time to switch to a new Money AM football blog as the world cup is now over and we all look to the future.....World cup 2010 is over, Bravo Espana, and Forlan, once again and bring on the new season !.....I never expected the last thread to be such a success...thanks all.... so this new one might go on for years without the need to edit the title...we shall see...

Stan , tweet from Paddypower :)

After a Daily Mail investigation where Malkay Mackay was exposed as a racist and sexist , he has now been offered a job as their editor.

On the Cardiff forum there are still a lot of huge Malkay fans who are always very vocal and which has been almost as divisive as the red/blue argument.

A lot of these guys are well connected to the club and also to Malkay and Moody.

Their silence since this news broke speaks volumes.

You couldn't make it up could you.

This is just the start , this going to run and run.

Moody has now offically resigned from Palace and the Malkay supporters on the forum (who also run it) have now admitted to knowing why he really got sacked months ago but decided to keep it quiet , probably to save face but are now being savaged by all and sundry.

Maybe our owner Vincent Tan isn't the villain we have all been led to believe.

You cannot be serious Dil? If some gobshite bought EFC and decided they would wear RED there would be blood on the streets. Trust me :O)

The Park End Stand - 20 years old this week
by Karl Masters | 21/08/2014 Comments (11) jump
It's 20 years yesterday since the Park End stand opened for its first League game, a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on August 20, 1994.

Although a big improvement on the old 1906 built structure, it looks now to have been a massive missed opportunity. The original plans, unveiled in April 1991, were for a 10,000 seater double decker stand to line up and join the Bullens Road stand.

However, symptomatic of the depressing 'Dr David Marsh' era, the Board, including a certain Bill Kenwright, deemed it unlikely we would need a capacity of more than 40,000. So, instead a single tier 6,000 seat structure was built, costing a mere £2.3m, of which £1.8m was a grant from the Football Trust.

Even at the time, it seemed short sighted and we ended up with something not big enough, noticeably further back from the playing area than the Gwladys Street end, and out of keeping with all the other multi-tiered stands.

So, 20 years on, do you regard it as a missed opportunity of 4,000 extra fans at many games from a penny-pinching Board or a prudent move to get the stand replaced at the lowest possible cost?

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Peter Laing
1 Posted 21/08/2014 at 17:11:56 Spent one season in the Park End 2 years ago with my two boys (on their first junior season tickets) and didnt enjoy the experience and renewed last year in the Upper Glady. Terrible to trying to exit the stand from the back on the final whistle, generally a bit moody in terms of atmosphere and freezing cold with the sun shining towards the Glady when it makes a very rare appearance !
Steve Carse
2 Posted 21/08/2014 at 17:39:59 An awful stand, not befitting of our status and certainly out of sync with the rest of the ground. Far too small and bland. And amazingly, as I discovered with going to the preseason friendly there, smaller than the home goal stand at Tranmere!
As I recall it wasn't a matter of it being believed there was no need for it to be any bigger, rather the decision was, as usual, to do with affordability.

I notice that Cardiff have just added a tier to one of their stands at a cost of just a few million. Despite all the money coming into the club via new TV deals (£20m pa) there seems to be no inclination to address the capacity or the corporate facilities issues. Depressing.

Paul Hewitt
3 Posted 21/08/2014 at 17:46:41 Cant believe its been twenty years. Had a season ticket for 10 season in the Park End. I thought there was plans to make it bigger?
Phil Guyers
4 Posted 21/08/2014 at 17:45:00 That whole time of the early nineties was a massive missed opportunity from which we are only slowly RECOVERING even now. We helped to create the Premier League and then had absolutely no idea how to exploit the new situation to our advantage.
From being Champions in 1987, we really should have been relegated in 1994 and it has always baffled me how we managed to deteriorate so quickly. It seems to me that, once we had a couple of mediocre seasons, the board completely lost its nerve and budgeted for failure. The Park End stand was just one aspect of this totally unambitious policy - Brett Angell being another!

Mike Allison
5 Posted 21/08/2014 at 18:14:54 Steve that's because the plan is to move to a new stadium. You wouldn't undertake major building work on something you were planning to move out of.
What's depressing is that apparent lack of any progress whatsoever on a new stadium. We risk just going over old ground here, but despite the footprint difficulties I'm still convinced Goodison could be redeveloped into an excellent stadium of around 50,000. A bigger Park End would be a start.

Dave Williams
6 Posted 21/08/2014 at 20:19:11 Phil - we spent crazy money on mediocre players – eg.Cottee £2.3m, Nevin £900k, McDonald £500k, Newell £1.1m, Beagrie £750k – so when HK returned for his second stint there was nothing left in the pot. He sold our two remaining good players in McCall and Keown and proceeded to waste £1m of it on Mo Johnston.
A catalogue of poor management from Everton legends and zero support from the most inept board in our history.

That is why Moyes deserves a medal for how he pulled us around on a shoestring rather than the rubbish which some have written about him.

Paul Hewitt
7 Posted 21/08/2014 at 20:43:10 Phil, the reason things went down hill was the RS got us banned from Europe. I’m convinced Kendall would have stayed if we had been in Europe and things would have been different.
Danny Broderick
8 Posted 21/08/2014 at 21:03:44 4,000 extra seats paying £40 each 20 games a season = £3.2 million. If it costs £10 million to do, it's paid for itself within 3 years.
Fag paper maths, but however you work it out, it pays for itself within a few years as long as you sell the tickets. And seeing as we have sold 75% of tickets for this season already, it's not a massive leap of faith to say we would sell an extra few thousand every week. We might have cup runs, European nights, sponsorship around the sign, catering etc which would bring in money too.

If only the board had a bit of foresight...

Nick Entwistle
9 Posted 21/08/2014 at 21:14:08 It would look mundane even in Stadium TESCO. Never liked it.
Karl Masters
10 Posted 21/08/2014 at 22:11:27 Well, whether we stay at Goidison or not, every year that goes by I get more and more annoyed by the antics of our Board.
Yes, a complete lack of ambition back in the early 90's with the patronising Club Secretary, Jim Greenwood always good for pouring a bucket of cold water over any ideas to take the Club forward. As conservative a bunch of pepe as you could ever get. Complacent doesn't even begin to describe it in my opinion.

But today, there is talk of a new stadium, but with what capacity? 50,000 is not enough, 60,000 might be.

I get so tired of hearing people say we can't fill the stadium now, so where are all these fans coming from? Firstly, we already have more than enough fans to fill it, we just don't all go every week due to many factors, but not being able to buy tickets in groups of more than one or two puts you off taking the kids for a start, despite the generous children's proving structure. Obstructed views are another. I certainly don't want a 500 mile round trip to have a pillar blocking my view of the goal or the peering through a letterbox view of the Lower Bullens.

Sunderland's crowds more than doubled after the move to the Stadium Of Light, same for Southampton, Leicester, Derby, while Arsenal saw an instant gain of more than 20,000 fans a match. Man City's crowds went up 12,000 a match after leaving Maine Road and their team was crap. I do hope that we don't look back in another 20 years and regret having an inept Board......

Patrick Murphy
11 Posted 21/08/2014 at 22:31:29 Karl of course we could find 60,000 people to fill the ground if we had a good winning team and the prices were reasonable, although I happen to believe that 50-55k would be acceptable less than that and it probably wouldn't be worth the hassle. Remember the 1985 average gate was circa 32,000 but we could have pulled in excess of 50,000 on certain occasions if the ground had been permitted to hold so many.
I think we have a good hard-core of supporters and many more who would visit Goodison if they were guaranteed a good view of the game. Problems with the average age of the current fan-base may prove problematic in 10 to 20 years.

Chris , red aside Tan saved us from admin and has subsequently pumped millions in enabling Cardiff to reach Premier League for first time in 50 years. If some clown hadn't then blown a massive transfer budget on crap and players he never picked to play then we would probably still be there.

When Tan turns us back to blue and I believe he will at some point he will then be hailed a hero for what he has done for us.

Til then the fight goes on.

Needless to say i'm more concerned with Screaming Alice not having a manager yet, Sean Dyche is one of the obvious choices and would be a fool to go.. but that's what I said about oily Coyle.

Whoever they get it'll be better than if Malky had been appointed. Palace got a worse squad than we had last season and he would have played 10 in defence and Campbell (bought from Cardiff last month) flogging himself to death chasing hopeless courses up front with no support like he did last year.

Campbell deserves better.

As for the ongoing Malkygate drama :

His apology Friday for "2 or 3 texts" seems to be contradicted by a story that will run later today in the Daily Mail ( told u they got a mole inside our club).

The whole text crap is just a diversion imo and apparently one of the Sunday papers will reveal the truth about what all Cardiff fans are really interested in ... the sh^t players him and Moody bought and the stupid prices they paid for them !

My guess is it'll be a Sunday Mail exclusive !

And would you really hang a guy out to dry for 2 , 3 or 25 texts like that , its the bungs/fraud that are really being investigated.

Hands up all you ugly , fat , short , poofy , foreign English tw*t bast*rd retards who have ever posted , emailed or text me something that was inappropriate !

I have feelings too :-)

Watch Malkay's interview then read this.

Eye contact

Saving the real stuff til Sunday

If we lose today I bet Malkay gets the blame :)

Good luck whoever u support this weekend except of course Swansea.

And the same to you..I couldn't agree more.

From My Seat: Arsenal (H)
By Ken Buckley 24/08/2014 Comments (3) jump
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Another season and first home game, so it’s off to our Room of Nonsense in our local Cathedral of Dreams. The staff give us a warm north Liverpool welcome in true guttural tones that are to the uneducated ear almost intelligible – suffice to say, a loose translation would be: "Hello, nice to see you gentlemen back again."

The ale was ordered and soon the room filled with familiar faces and we got down to the nitty-gritty of sorting the team out and compiling a list of players that Roberto should be bringing in. No real agreement reached but, in the knowledge that the room was full of managerial experts, someone would have it right so we had another swig and moved on to the next subject – today's correct score. Some wild guesses there and all for a home win. The team came through and no real argument about it with almost all agreeing that it was probably our first pick. Time passed quickly and even with Chelsea on three screens no-one seemed that bothered as one optimistic chant rang out that we were to win the league. There is just nothing like a gang of Blues in a boozer on match day.

Time for the walk up arrived and the jiggers that led to Spellow Lane were thronged. Soon, Goodison Road was reached and the iconic street sign hove into view – I must have a word with Mayor Joe as some of the letters are in RED! The road was a mass of bodies, queues at the Fat Van, Blue Dragon and the Chippy long, and the badge and scarf stall was doing a bomb. The Fan Zone was pumping out music with a base beat that went to the very soul and the mural of Roberto looked down on the goings on from his perch on the end of the main stand. On past the ‘Winslow’ now renamed ‘The New Winslow, The People's Pub’ and into the ground. Z-Cars and here we go again – another season of whatever it brings... and who knows what that maybe. The only certainty is that we all believe we will be there, week-in & week-out, to find out.

The game started and, from the off, we looked to be at it; in truth, we took the first half with some delightful football played in a controlled manner that had the Gunners wilting.

After only five mins. Pienaar went down in a tackle and got a free-kick which came to naught after he had RECOVERED. Not much in that at first glance but it was to be the end of Pienaar’s day as he could be seen gesticulating to the bench that he had an injury. He went down and sat there and Arsenal put the ball out. Physio’s ran on but no-one was in doubt that that was him done for the day; the big question being: Who would replace him?

The answer was Osman, into the playmaker role, as we went 4-3-3 with Rom right, Mirallas left, and Naismith central. Pienaar lasting just nine mins raised the question: How fit was he to even start? Osman is Osman and everyone knows he is not the strongest but he has got a great understanding of the game and he soon settled to his role of always being available and keeping moves ticking with both short and long passes.

Ten mins after Pienaar leaving us, we struck. McCarthy, who was covering ground at pace and breaking up Arsenal's rhythm, was scythed down by Sanchez. The free-kick saw Barry put in a dangerous cross that looked to be aimed at Lukaku but he must have heard a call from Coleman behind him as he left it and the Irishman buried and turned and celebrated in front of the packed Park End with much gusto. Hell, he was as pleased as us.

We were having to repel the inevitable Arsenal response and I must say we were doing it with some aplomb as we played keep-ball in Catalan fashion. The Arsenal fans had taken up their full allocation and were noisy and had questioned our lethargy in the singing department so the time was now right for a response as we belted out :We only sing when we’re winning", while "Allez Ally O" rang out amongst others.

Mirallas was a threat down the left but no-one, not even him, seemed to know what he might do next but he did get put in one-on-one and should have netted; he seemed to slip at the vital moment and shuffle the ball wide. Some of the faithful were less than kind with their comments. However, we continued to boss the game with good footie and the tireless WORK FROM McCarthy and Naismith were a standout feature that Arsenal found hard to staunch. The visitors did make some chances but most were put wide or smuggled away from danger by a committed rearguard.

Mirallas was fouled at the corner of the 18-yard box. He took the free kick himself and the ball flew in at great pace and many assembled thought for a split second he had scored – alas only the side netting was disturbed. We were on top to such an extent that the Arsenal players started to make a few sly digs and kicks which, by the end of the game, would see four of them BOOKED and Wilshere very lucky to stay on.

Half-time beckoned and a move started at the back saw the ball fed to Lukaku who had been limping but he powered past the German centre-back, showing good strength, and – wouldn’t you just believe it – the impressive Naismith was busting a gut to offer himself; the pass duly came and Naismith SLOTTED with ease and arrogant confidence. If only Mirallas had done that earlier, I thought, before jumping up and down as you do in such circumstances. We waited for the big screen to show a rerun but it seemed to show possible offside so it was halted quicker than you could blink. Must have been okay though as the Premier League's finest lino didn’t flag.

The half-time whistle came and went and the chat was of how well we had played that half and how it may have been more... yet, in many a conversation, the thought was we need to keep on the front foot and get at least one more and not go into Leicester mode. Oh, if only Roberto had been listening...

Second half and Wenger had pulled the underperforming Sanchez and sent on the Frenchman Giroud. The Blues started the half in what looked like it might be "What we have, we hold" mode, with passing movements that went nowhere. Pretty triangles that frustrated the Arsenal to the point of some nasty digs, and one shameful tackle on Barry from Wilshere that should have seen red, not yellow. Barry RECOVERED after treatment.

We now seemed to allow Arsenal to come on to us and look to hit them on the break. Good plan but as it turned out we were not too good at it for when we did break we either lost possession or played a poor pass which had Arsenal coming back at us which in turn seemed to give them extra confidence.

The fans were getting restless but, as we had kept them out, we sort of went along with the method without really believing we were not dicing with death. Many thousands of the fans present have been coming for years and, in many of those years, we have seen this trait to let good leads slip and either lose or draw from a winning position, so we had good reason to be a tad apprehensive. When an attempted backheel to find Naismith in their box went hopelessly wrong, the Arsenal broke and quickly, ending in Giroud being put in and – but for a quite brilliant save from Howard – it would have been 2-1. Nerves jangled on the terraces and, somehow, we all knew that, if Arsenal did get a goal, anything could happen.

Our nerves were not helped by our players now powering forward in search of a third without the necessary thought being put in place to deal with a quick counter; this was epitomised when Baines did great to swap passes with a teammate and put a peach of a pass into the box where both Naismith and Osman were just too far ahead of the trajectory of the ball and Arsenal swept to the other end – but for sterling WORK FROM the tireless McCarthy in breaking up the move, the opposition would have been in.

Lukaku was now limping badly but was soldiering on. Arsenal were still committing nasty fouls when, on 75 mins, Wenger pulled Wilshere before he saw red, as well as Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had hardly shown, and replaced them with Cazorla and Campbell, respectively. A couple of minutes later, Lukaku had SIGNALLED he was spent and was replaced by McGeady.

I have to say this didn’t sit right with me as Arsenal were now on top and in Cazorla they had the ingredient they were missing. A playmaker who could pick a pass to join up their play. We had a proven man marker on the bench in Besic who had man-marked Messi in the World Cup to some acclaim; if our intention was to hold what we have, what better chance could we give ourselves than neutralise their main creative force? But I was overruled by Roberto and McGeady it was. Fair play, though: right away a Coleman – McGeady link-up down the right saw McGeady show good pace but, alas, no end-product and Arsenal broke yet again.

We were now going deeper and deeper and clearances were becoming panicky lumps to anywhere; all you could do was just watch the clock tick ever so slowly... 83 mins came up and another attack saw us defend desperately but still allow Ramsey freedom to hit a loose ball home. Shrugs and sighs and trepidation that there were still 9 mins to go. The Arsenal players grabbed the ball and raced back for the kick-off ready to attack again. Would or could our manager respond? Well, he did... in as much as we got a look at our new loanee and clapped off Mirallas, who had had an in-and-out game.

Now we needed a leader to rally the troops sufficiently to at least see out the game; alas, none came forward... and we continued to hack balls forward in hope rather than purpose – and that just doesn’t work. 90 mins came up as Arsenal equalised and we jeered as a cross was wild and bypassed our box and headed for the away fans section; however, it was retrieved and a regulation cross came in that found the head of Giroud, who levelled. We all saw it coming but what a downer as a draw felt like a loss. Final whistle and no ‘Grand Old Team’ as the fans filed silently out of the ground.

MotM – McCarthy or Naismith for me.

Overall a disappointing end to what should have been a win –compounded by the number of players who seemed to finish the game limping, as well as those who had been forced off. Much work for Roberto in this coming week, where I believe his main task will be to work out how to get a consistency of performance in both halves, rather than a good first and a wasted second.

Still, a couple of seasons ago we would have celebrated holding Arsenal to a draw at home, so we are progressing. It would seem to me we need some reinforcements but I think the manager will leave it till after the Chelsea game then go on a mad dash if he feels it is necessary. It will be either an exciting Deadline Day or a damp squib for those a blue persuasion.

Many are down tonight but we will be up next week to have a crack at the title favourites – see you there.

UP THE BLUES.

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Reader Comments
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Dick Fearon
1 Posted 24/08/2014 at 04:37:55 Hey Ken, except for a few omissions you covered it.
You seem to have this same outlook as Roberto, attack attack attack!
IMO that would normally be OK but with less than 15 mins to go and sitting on a two goal lead it was a stupid mistake to throw caution to the winds by bringing on attackers when our defence was barely hanging on. If ever the bus should have been parked it was in those final few minutes against Arsenal.
A few other gripes;
Whoever is our fitness coach should be shown the door.
Osman should not be allowed anywhere near the first team. Rant over.
Matt Traynor
2 Posted 24/08/2014 at 07:22:02 Good report Ken. I was sat in the top balcony - first time since Wayne Clarke ended Liverpool's unbeaten start to the season back in 88, and I'd forgotten how good a view it is.
You've pretty much summed it up. I thought after 55 minutes we offered nothing, and it was a question of when, not if, Arsenal would peg us back.

I agree about bringing someone like Besic on to see the game out. I would've brought Atsu on when Pienaar was crocked, just for his pace. Had we got the 3rd goal I think Arsenal would've collapsed, but the pundits often call 2-0 a dangerous score, as when they get one back, their tails are up and the other team often becomes nervous - just like today. As it was it looked almost as if our players were deliberately avoiding passing to Atsu!

Naismith MotM for me.

Ajay Gopal
3 Posted 24/08/2014 at 06:58:57 Martinez admitted in his post-match interview that the players were tired during the last 15 minutes. I am sure he will figure out how to keep the bodies working the full 90 minutes and how to rotate the squad and make the right substitutions. I agree, he should have brought on Besic in place of Mirallas. Losing Pienaar early was a bit of a blow - as a result, Osman came on very early and he was also running on empty in the last 15 minutes. McGeady should have started instead of Mirallas - he would have surely buried the 1-on-1 chance that came his way in the 1st half.
The positives were Lukaku's effort and sublime pass to set up the 2nd goal, and the more I see Naismith, the more I like him. He and Lukaku will form a good partnership for us and score a lot of goals between them. We do badly need 1 more striker - Wellbeck will be a fantastic signing for us, if that ever happens (unlikely, I know).

Although the 2 results are bitterly disappointing, in the context of the entire season, I think valuable lessons would have been learnt by the coaching staff and the players. I am taking the Martinez view of things here, to overcome the disappointment.

Dil, You lot lost yesterday.. I blame Malkay -):

91st minute own goal , just our bloody luck !

Will just have to beat Fulham away next week to get back above the 2 points a game level.

Can't believe you lost to the gypos Stan I've got them nailed on for relegation along with Man U :)

I think this might be the Gunners year for a champions league win.....

rf ... Ramsey is worshipped in Caardiff , get the rest of the buggers playing like him and you wont be far wrong.