Phew! Think we deserved three points, but I would never have predicted that finale. After a very good first half we lost our way and although penalties have obviously become our favoured form of self-harm, we often don't seem to know how to react to teams who change tactics, disrupt our midfield (not difficult to do) or just up their game. We rarely start a second half well, even when we've played well in the first forty five.

I get the impression that the coaching staff don't know how to react either as there doesn't seem a lot of feedback from the bench when thinks go wrong. Maybe Warbs' gammy knee doesn't help. This is not an anti-Warburton rant, but I just wonder if the coaching staff as a whole could help the team more when things don't go well and prepare them for likely opposition changes after half time.

Chair was MotM, esp for his first half showing. Very pleased for him after struggling in recent games. Hamalainam (without umlauts) did better and Kane was more solid than we've come to expect. Dykes worked hard with little reward and there were promising signs that Carroll is settling in.

I thought the ref was very generous to Cardiff, esp in the first half, and can't believe we've ended up with more yellows (4) than them (3).

Something to build on. Onwards and upwards??

0