Cardiff (A) Preview
Brady Frost, Feature Writer
Twitter: @brady0894
Source for image above: HTAFC
A midweek visit to the Welsh capital awaits for Huddersfield, but can they build on the win against Middlesbrough? Cardiff fan Tom Taylor tells us what to expect from The Bluebirds.
A great result and a great win against a defensively strong Middlesbrough side, you can’t ask for much more than that. Going into the game, the Teesside team had the best defensive record in the league and had only conceded six goals, but it’s another goal-fest when Huddersfield are involved and this time, The Terriers came out on top.
It’s not just us who thought it was a good result, manager Carlos Corberán stressed the importance of the win in his post-match presser. He said: “We hadn’t changed a negative result into a positive result and won until today, so I think it’s a very positive step for the team that shows they have a lot of personality and character.”
I was curious to see what I had said about Town at the start of the season, compared to how I feel about them now. When searching for the pre-season predictions for fellow fan podcasts, I discovered a quote I’d written at the start of September that sums up how this season will go in my opinion.
“I think inconsistency is going to be too much a factor for a higher league finish, but we’ll probably have some eye-catching unexpected wins that help boost the feel-good factor around the club.”
This isn’t an opportunity to show off my ability to make a blindingly obvious prediction, but it’s interesting that you can see that from the start. Huddersfield are entertaining and frustrating in equal measure, but here they are 14 games in, 13th in the table, five wins, three draws, six losses, the epitome of midtable. They can put on a show and win 3-2 against Middlesbrough, they can put in a shocker and lose 4-3 to Stoke.
We’ll stop with the Cowley comparisons after this final point because it’s been done to death, but on Saturday I asked my friend if he wanted to watch the match. They don’t support Town but I knew they would enjoy it because it’s entertaining and sure enough, it delivered with a five-goal thriller. If you’re a neutral to Town games, at this moment it’s hard to look elsewhere for a team in the Championship that’s going to give a match that’s more exciting than Huddersfield. Defensive disasters at one end and goals at the other, you’re tearing your hair out as a supporter but attracting plenty of admirers in the league. I wouldn’t have suggested to watch a game under The Cowleys, but again there’s circumstances around that.
Can this Jekyll and Hyde of a side build on this win with another at Cardiff? The Bluebirds have been lacklustre this season when you consider the players they’ve brought in, but did pick an impressive victory of their own at the weekend, with a 4-0 win against Luton Town. To find out, we spoke to Cardiff fan Tom Taylor to learn more about what has been happening with the Welsh side this season.
Cardiff Manager Neil Harris is under pressure and some fans have called for him to be sacked. Photo source: Cardiff City
It’s a surprisingly bad start for Cardiff, were you expecting this?
After we finished on such a high last year and expectations were quite high for this season with a lot of City fans (myself included) hoping for a playoff place finish. Our start has been really disappointing, our biggest problem is that we’ve not been able to get any kind of consistency. It was an issue last season and that has carried on this year.
What are your general expectations for the season now that we’re a quarter of the way through?
Looking realistically, I’m not sure Cardiff can get a playoff place finish barring a serious change in how we play. We’re in desperate need of a few wins and if we can get a couple before Christmas, go on a decent run of form and build some confidence then maybe we’ll end up in the top six but I think even at this stage it’s too little too late.
We’ve seen some fans calling for Neil Harris to be sacked, which seems a surprise after reaching the playoffs last season. What’s happened?
I’m not sure Harris really knows his best eleven. We’ve been unfortunate with injuries this season but even then there’s been a lot of rotation. Annoyingly as well whatever system works for one game usually disappoints the next. We definitely have the quality to be a top team in the division but we need to get a grasp pretty quickly about what exactly is our strongest team.
Despite the poor start to the season, The Bluebirds won 4-0 at the weekend against Luton. Photo source: Cardiff City
Cardiff brought in a couple of players over the transfer window, have you been impressed with the business, and have any of your new signings made a difference so far or you think will do well?
I was pleased with our activity in the window and we strengthened in positions we needed to. I’m happy we managed to get Kieffer Moore, he’s a player I rate highly. However, our best signing was Harry Wilson on loan. He’s such a quality player going forward and would be a great addition to any Championship club and definitely one to look out for.
What are Cardiff’s weaknesses, is there anything Huddersfield can take advantage of?
Our biggest weakness in the last few weeks which Huddersfield could exploit is at the back. Our defence looked better against Luton but was really poor against QPR, Coventry and Millwall. If the Town attack have a good performance then it could be fairly grim reading for us. With the Luton win, I hope we’ll be able to get a win however as has been the story so often this season I can see us getting a draw having got a decent result before.
What are your expectations for Huddersfield Town this season?
I think Huddersfield will have a decent season. Last season surprised me a bit, the year after relegation is never bound to be easy but I was surprised that Town finished 18th. I think it will be a better season this time around for the Terriers. I think they’ll end up around mid-table purely because of the quality of some of the teams in the championship this year. There’s always a team who go on a decent run after Christmas to the playoffs and Huddersfield could well be that team, however, I think it’ll be either just a top half or just a bottom half mid-table finish.
What’s your score prediction for the game?
1-1.
How do you think Huddersfield will get on against Cardiff? Let us know in the comments!
Our Predictions:
Brady: 2-1 win for Huddersfield.
Kosi: 2-1 win for Cardiff.
Matt: 3-2 win for Cardiff.
Neil: .
Pozza: 1-1.
Si: 2-1 win for Huddersfield.
Scoring system: A correct score wins three points, a correct result wins a point.
