by Dunne's Half-Time Pint » Sun Aug 25, 2013 9:58 am
City v Cardiff
The writer, short of ideas, desperate and sweating in the heat of the August night, turned to the Telegraph for inspiration. It was there, amidst the buy-to-lets, polenta recipes and Pippa Middleton’s tips, that your part-time hack found this gem: Cardiff City has renamed the [strike]historic[/strike] Canton Stand “Croeso”. Welcome.
Welcome to Cardiff City Stadium for the first Premier League clash in the Bluebird’s 114 year history. History that Cardiff’s billionaire owner, Vincent Tan, has been reshaping with alacrity. The Bluebirds, now Red Dragons, must face off against Sheikh Mansour’s Manchester City in the Welsh capital’s curtain raiser.
Whilst David Moyes has taken umbrage at the fixtures dished up and served cold by the FA’s very own A.B.U. H.A.L., another Glaswegian manager, Malky Mackay, is looking forward to tucking in. Massive Malk, as nobody calls him, has spoken of the “buoyancy” and “positive energy” which has accompanied the Welsh warriors’ (patent pending) stuttering climb to the top flight. Cardiff will need all that and more to resist a Manchester City side which looks irresistible after its summer course of holistic therapy.
Talent has been added to the Cardiff squad in the form of £8.5m man Andreas Cornelius, in contention for his first competitive start and brimming with the sort of confidence that has so endeared compatriot Nicklas Bendtner to the Premier League gallery. Old faces look set to make an impact with the rickety knees, strong opinions and private charitable contributions of former City fan favourite Craig Bellamy bringing guile and class to the Cardiff City flank.
Manuel Pellegrini won’t be the only Chilean on parade today. Carafe-sized midfield man Gary Medel missed the Seville to Manchester City lifeboat and must now float around the Cardiff back line hoping to fend off former colleagues, Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas. Whether the “Pitbull” can form an effective barrier in front of Cardiff’s back four will have a significant bearing on a game in which City will look to attack at pace and in numbers.
City’s blueprint for success has not been colour changes and mythical names (though a new badge would be welcome). The Emirati boys have looked to build infrastructure and buy class whilst maintaining a relationship with the core support. Vincent Tan take note.
However, perhaps for the first time in the Sheikh’s reign, an old fashioned Manchester City solution has been deployed to address the dressing room disharmony that appeared to dog our last campaign. The tried and trusted P45 so beloved of Swales and Lee has been revived and Mancini is gone. With him, though not sharing a cab, goes the first successful talisman of the new era, Carlos Tevez.
Pellegrini is smoother than a waxed duck, more charming than David Niven and has a luxuriant head of hair. It is, no doubt, these attributes that have helped him restore shared purpose to a dressing room of stars who were simply too expensive to replace.
This is his first test. Cardiff will be fired up, their fans more so, and the atmosphere will be red hot. Like a dragon. City are favourites but Kompany is missing. Our savvy work this summer has earned the grudging respect of a media which continues to pick and prod at spendthrift rivals: Fail to win and Pellegrini will get his first negative review.
No chance. 0-4. “Croeso” to the Premier League.
Cardiff City v Manchester City
Kick-off Sunday 4pm
Venue Cardiff City Stadium
Last season n/a
Live Sky Sports 1
Referee L Probert
Cardiff
From: Marshall, Caulker, Connolly, Turner, Taylor, Medel, Kim, Bellamy, Gunarsson, Whittingham, Campbell, Lewis, Hudson, Cornelius, Brayford, Gestede, Noone, Smith, John, Mutch, Cowie, Mason, Conway, Lappin, Maynard, McNaughton, Kiss, Velikonja
Manchester City
From: Hart, Zabaleta, Lescott, Nastatic, Clichy, Garcia, Toure, Fernandinho, Navas, Silva, Aguero, Pantilimon, Wright, Kolarov, Barry, Milner, Nasri, Razak, Sinclair, Jovetic, Negredo, Guidetti, Milner, Dzeko
Doubtful Nastasic (ankle)
Injured Richards (hamstring, Sep), Kompany (groin, Sep)
Source: The Guardian
All we are saying is give Doug a pass.
