With My Little Pick and Shovel - A Cardiff City Story

APRIL
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We enter the final stretch and have a HUGE game against Atletico, the excitement never ends!

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Cardiff City 1-1 Crystal Palace
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Meret, Bazoer, Grant, Cooper, Poyet, Oliver, Zielinski (Rossiter 65), J.Williams, Duelund, Perovic (Boyle 65), Avdijaj
A poor performance which was saved by a calm finish by Daniel Zielinski just before half-time. I'd hoped this would spur the team on but it didn't, with Palace missing from the spot in the second half

EUROPA LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL FIRST LEG
Atletico Madrid 0-1 Cardiff City
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Meret, Bazoer, Ilori, Cooper, Green, Poyet, Zielinski, Rossiter, Duelund (Nakagawa 45), Oliver (Avdijaj 62), Ings (Boyle 62)
"Long ball forward from Meret.. it's a heavy touch by Godin... Boyle's through here.. he's one on one, it's GREIG BOYLE!!! 1-0 CARDIFF!!!" Absolutely amazing. A great defensive performance with our 3-5-1-1 (With wing backs) and a great goal on the counter, with Scottish international Greig Boyle benefiting from Diego Godin's mistake

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Burnley 1-0 Cardiff City
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Meret, Lascelles, Ilori (Zielinski 56), Templeman, Grant, Cook, Ledley, J.Williams, Brady (Oliver 56), Boyle, Avdijaj
The league is now home to CCardiff City Reserves as we rest players for the Europa League, Marc Albrighton scored the only goal in a drab match

EUROPA LEAGUE QUARTER-FINALS SECOND LEG
Cardiff City 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Cardiff win 2-1 on aggregate
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Meret, Bazoer, Ilori, Cooper, Poyet (Duelund 90), Green, Zielinski, Rossiter, Brady, Ings (Oliver 90), Avdijaj (Boyle 65)
Greig Boyle you sexy mother.. I love this man, Atletico don't! A thunderous game played with passion and desire, as shown by our EIGHT yellow cards, not the most beautiful of games but an entertaining one none the less with both sides going for it up until the 120th minute, Atletico were the favourites and we've beaten them, amazing. Who do we face in the semis? I hear you ask, well I'll show you...
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BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Cardiff City 1-3 Derby County
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Meret, Templeman, Lascelles, Cooper, Grant, Green, Ledley, J.Williams, Oliver, Boyle (Perovic 66), Avdijaj (Duelund 61)
Greig Boyle is on fire, your defence is terrified. Except it isn't, because we only scored 1 and lost 3-1 to Derby, poor. We couldn't hold onto the lead once more and Derby won it with two goals in 2 minutes. Oh, and Greig Boyle is out for a few weeks, *Sigh*

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Chelsea 1-0 Cardiff City
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Meret, Bazoer, Ilori, Cooper (Gunter 72), Poyet, Green, Zielinski, Rossiter (James 72), Oliver (Brady 72), Perovic, Avdijaj
We don't like the league, and the league doesn't like us, we should just stay in Europe, maybe move to the south of France, I could have a house in Bordeaux, overlooking the seafront, Greig Boyle would have on next to me and we'd co-own a vineyard....

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Cardiff City 0-1 Southampton
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Meret, Bazoer, Grant, Cooper, Poyet, P.Boyle (Green 45), Soumahoro, J.Williams, Duelund, Oliver, Carlos
A mixture of our first team and our under 21s battled against Southampton in what was a tight game, Jose Carlos and Paddy Boyle made their débuts, I don't care about the league anymore to be honest

EUROPA LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL FIRST LEG
Dynamo Kiyv 1-1 Cardiff City
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Meret, Bazoer, Ilori, Cooper, Green, Poyet, Brady, Zielinski, Rossiter, Oliver (Avdijaj 17), Perovic (Ings 71)
A game where we deserved more but couldn't convert our chances, we should have won this game 2 or 3-1 but only managed the 1-1 draw. It's better than a loss though and I'm full of confidence going into the second leg

LEAGUE TABLE
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Nice results against Letico, decent draw against Kyiv. Might put a tenner on you winning it. :D
 
MAY
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The second leg of our Europa League semi final and two league games that will have no real effect on the league, how fun!

EUROPA LEAGUE SEMI FINAL SECOND LEG
Cardiff City 1-0 Dynamo Kiyv
Cardiff win 2-1 on aggregate
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Meret, Bazoer, Ilori, Cooper, Poyet, Green 45, Zielinski, Rossiter, Brady, Avdijaj (Gunter 45), Perovic
WEM-BER-LEY, WEM-BER-LEY, WE'RE THE FAMOUS CARDIFF CITY AND WE'RE OFF TO WEM-BER-LEY, WEM-BER-LEY.... Amazing! Absolutely amazing! In our first season in Europe since 1994 we've reached the final! Andre Green put everything in doubt with an elbow to the face of Dzsudzsak so naturally I went with a flat back 5 in the second half, 3 in the middle and Dusan on his own up front. It worked. Who's up next?
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They beat Napoli 5-0 in the second leg. Gulp.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Manchester United 4-0 Cardiff City
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Meret, Bazoer, Ilori, Cooper, Gunter, Poyet, Brady, Zielinski, Rossiter, Avdijaj, Perovic (Ings 76)
We were asbolutely destroyed at Old Trafford by Manchester United, who've already won the league (4 in a row) and have reached the Champions League final after beating Real Madrid 6-1 at home. We got off lightly.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Cardiff City 2-3 Fulham
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Kyle, Lascelles, Grant, Templeman, Ledley, P.Boyle, Soumahoro, J.Williams, G.Williams, G.Boyle, Diba
11 players, 9 surnames. We lost to Fulham in an entertaining ame with George Williams bagging his first of the season (Yay) and Fresnel Diba grabbing his first for the club (Double yay). We have the Europa League Final on the Wednesday after this (Ridiculous scheduling) so I made 11 changes. I could pretend I cared about this match, but I didn't.

LEAGUE TABLE
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13th. One place below where the bookies thought we'd be and 3 places lower than last year. Progress.​
 
EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL
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BENFICA V CARDIFF CITY
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ROAD TO THE FINAL
BENFICACARDIFF
1stGROUP1st
Fenerbahce 7-2R32SC Bastia 5-2
Newcastle 4-3R16Lyon 2-1
Lazio 5-1QFAtletico 2-1
Napoli 6-1SFKiev 2-1

Benfica score a lot of goals but it can be argued that Cardiff had a tougher route to the final than the Portuguese champions

LINE-UPS
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Benfica have gone for an attacking 4-4-2, playing 2 holding midfielders but with 2 advanced wingers, while Cardiff go for a 3-5-1-1 with Donis Avdijaj playing behind the striker as Oliver is forced out wide due to the suspension of Andre Green

KICK-OFF
5th Minute-Robbie Brady takes the corner, it's an in swinger, Riechedly Bazoer rushes in.. his header's blocked, it falls to the feet of Jake Cooper!!!! 1-0!!!
22nd Minute-Brady with the throw deep in Benfica's half, it's thrown to Jake Cooper who's in an advance position, it goes back to Brady, to Oliver on the edge of the box, to Jordan Rossiter, he takes a touch into the area, it's Rossiter... GOAL!!!! 2-0!!
31st Minute-Jorge with the ball in the midfield, over the top for Iker Muniain! He's through on goal.. GOAL! Benfica score with their first shot!! 2-1!
35th Minute-Rossiter on the ball in the midfield, out wide to Avdijaj, infield to Perovic, he beats one, and another, it's still Perovic!!! Straight at the goalkeeper
HALF-TIME
Benfica 1-2 Cardiff City
Cardiff have dominated and deserve to be ahead
SECOND-HALF
56th Minute-Alan Dzagoev replaces Ljubomir Fejsa
57th Minute-Alan Dzaoev with the corner, it's an out swinger, header by Cazares, off the bar, cleared by Cardiff, but its another corner
58th Minute-Oliver is replaced by Chris Gunter
81st Minute-Giorgi Chanturia replaces Andre Carrillo
89th Minute-Nabil Bentaleb replaces Renato Sanches
91st minute-Rossiter's shot is blocked, it comes out to Poyet, out wide to Gunter, who slips it through for Zielinski!! Good save by Rulli
92nd Minute-Benfica come forward, here's Guedes, tackled by Cooper who clears it... and that's it!!! Full time! Cardiff have won the Europa League and Benfica's wait goes on
FULL-TIME
Benfica 1-2 Cardiff City
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END OF SEASON 2019/20
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A poor league season, but an excellent one in Europe, the tense Europa League Quarter Final against Atletico Madrid being a personal highlight

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We achieved what was expected of us in the league by finishing in mid-table and went above and beyond the expectations of "Reach the Group Stage" in the Europa League. The Champions League beckons.

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Oliver won Player of the Season, with Fresnel Diba winning Goal of the Season with his first ever goal for the club. Andre Green won Young Player of the Season while Danny Ings was Signing of the Season

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Danny Ings was our Top Goalscorer this campaign with 16 goals in 40 appearances. Oliver had the most assists with 12 from 50 games, he also won the most Man of the Match awards with 7 as well as having the highest Average Rating with 7.40. Darnell James had the highest pass completion ratio with 85%

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A disappointing end to the league campaign, with us losing our last 6 league games of the season and not winning in April or May

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Some money to spend

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We're all going on a European tour, a European tour, a European tour

FA Cup Winners-Manchester United
League Cup Winners-Manchester United
Champions League Winners-Manchester United
Europa League Winners-Cardiff City
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FOUR JOIN CITY
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Cardiff City manager Matthew Hawkins has continued his "Youth first, experience later" policy into his sixth season as manager of the Bluebirds

The four youngsters have joined Cardiff for a combined fee of £2,025,000.

The most expensive of the four youngsters is another pinched from rivals Swansea, Hawkins has shown once again that he doesn't care for for controversy through the signing of Adam Felgate, who joins the Bluebirds for just over a £1m

Hawkins' signing of Mitchell Grant and Adam Felgate, as well as his success at Cardiff, have led to him earning the moniker "The most hated man in Swansea", a title he relishes
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Felgate can operate in the middle or on the right, making him perfect for Cardiff's 3-5-2

The second signing is that of English midfielder Matty Miller from Middlesbrough for £550,000
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The 16 year old, who is known for his work rate and vision, is the second player Cardiff have signed from Middlesbrough in the past two years

The third player through the door was Welshman Stuart Knight, who has joined from Bolton for £375,000
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Knight, who can play anywhere on the left hand side, has been capped at Under 19 level and is known for his high work rate

The final signing is that of Greek striker Tasos Dakoutros
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The 18 year old, who's been capped at Under 19 level, rejected offers from around Europe to join the Bluebirds
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DEFENCE ON THE AGENDA AT CARDIFF CITY
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Cardiff City have opened the transfer window by splashing the cash on two defenders ahead of their first ever appearance in the Champions League

The Bluebirds, who shipped 66 goals in the Premier League last season and 89 in all competitions, have spent £22m on defensive improvements, with both players being England internationals

The first signing is that of 23 year old Reece Burke, who joined the Bluebirds from West Ham for £12m.
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The Londoner, who made 119 league appearances for the Hammers, made his England début against Wales just days before joining Cardiff
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He is said to be delighted to join such an ambitious club as Cardiff and looks forward to playing for the Bluebirds

The second signing was another Londoner, Chris Smalling, who joined Cardiff from Manchester United for £10m
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The England international, 30, made 210 league appearances for the Red Devils in a glittering career featuring 6 Premier League trophies, he has left Old Trafford as an icon
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Samlling, who has 64 England caps, lifted the World Cup in 2018 and Hawkins hopes that his experience will benefit the younger players at Cardiff, who squad is the youngest in the Premier League
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Delighted you won in europe mate! Those youngsters look pretty handy too.
 
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BLUEBIRDS BAG WONDERKID
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Cardiff City have today announced the signing of Marco Angerschmid from Mainz on a three year deal, a signing some are labelling the "Deal of the Decade"
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Angerschmid, 20, has joined the Bluebirds on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract at the German club, who failed to qualify for the Europa League this season
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The German Under 21 international plays on the left hand side and it is thought he will slot into that left-wing berth, replacing 28 year old Irish winger Robbie Brady, who has re-joined Stoke following two years on loan at Cardiff.
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Angerschmid, who has played twice for Germany, made 52 Bundesliga appearances over a period of 5 seasons for Mainz, who celebrate their 125th year in existence this season
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BLUEBIRDS SPEND BIG ON BAYERN YOUNGSTERS
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Champions League side Cardiff City have spent a combined fee of £17m on Bayern Munich duo Max Block and Gunther Tausendpfund
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The duo, both 16 and capped at under 19 level, are seen as future stars of the German National Team and many Germany pundits are questioning Carlo Ancelotti's decision to let the duo join Cardiff

Cardiff manager Hawkins said of the transfers "The fees may look large due to their ages but in a couple of years time, teams will be prepared to pay £40m+ for just one of these guys"
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Regardless, the transfers showcase the Bluebirds rise in stature, going from a mid-table Championship club to one with the power to sign some of Europe's hottest prospects from Europe's biggest clubs
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8 LEAVE CCS
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As the transfer window draws to a close, we take a look at the 8 players we said goodbye to over the summer

First out of the door was 18 year old Italian winger Boris Dellago, who joined French champions Paris Saint-Germain for £4.5m

Dellago, ho has made 8 appearances for the Italian Under 21 side, joined the Bluebirds from Serie B side Salernitana last summer for £500,000, before being sent out on loan to Tranmere and Morecambe, where he made 16 apppearances. It is believed there is a sell on clause in Dellago's contract, detailing that 30% of his next transfer fee will go to the Bluebirds

Second to be sold was another youngster, this time Australian defensive midfielder Vasilis Kokorelis, who joined FC Porto for an initial fee of £4m which could rise to £4.8m

Kokorelis joined the Bluebirds from the Central Coast Mariners in August last year for £375,000 before being loaned to Plymouth Argyle

The Australian interntional as seen to have some potential but found his path to the first-team blocked by stars such as Riechedly Bazoer and Diego Poyet, as well as youngster Mitchell Grant. 35% of Kokorelis' next fee will go to the Bluebirds

The third player to leave was 22 year old Danish midfielder Steffen Hansen.

Hansen joined the Bluebirds on a free transfer from Esbjerg in the summer of 2018. He failed to make an appearance for the club before re-joining his boyhood side for £250,000

Another player to leave was Jamaal Lascelles, who joined Norwich City for £350,000

Lascelles was a decent backup but wanted first team football, he made 12 league appearances after joining from Burnley in January 2019 but found his first team minutes limited

The fifth player to leave was another central defender, Scottish international Steven Templeman, who has joined newly promoted Aston Villa for £5m

Templeman, 21, has made 7 appearances for his country, which is 3 more than the 4 league appearances he made for the Bluebirds in his solitary season in the Welsh capital after signing from his boyhood club, Hearts of Midlothian, on a free transfer. 30% of his next fee will go to the Bluebirds

Next to go was 23 year old Spanish defender Julio Pleguezuelo, who has returned to Spain, joining Almeria for £700,000

The former Arsenal and Barcelona man is considered a flop by many Bluebirds fans, having been signed for £1.8m in the club's Championship-winning season, he went on to make just 1 league appearance for Cardiff, spending time on loan Sporting Gijon, Sheffield United, Huddersfield Town, Rotherham United and Luton Town before leaving the Bluebirds

Seventh to leave was winger Ademola Lookman, who has joined Norwich City for £1.5m.

The winger, 22, has left the Bluebirds after joining from Charlton Athletic just a year ago, he failed to make an appearance for the Bluebirds. 25% of his next fee will go to Cardiff.

And last but not least was the forgotten man of Cardiff City, Louis Reed, who has joined Championship side Blackburn Rovers for £950,000

There were high hopes for Reed after he signed from Sheffield United for £1.5m in 2017, making 12 appearances in Cardiff's Championship winning season.

Unfortunately, things didn't work out for the England Under 21 international, who spent time on loan at Rotherham United, Ipwich Town, Bolton Wanderers and Derby County before leaving the Bluebirds
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