Cardiff City go into the south Wales derby on Sunday against opponents who have walked all over them in recent meetings. They’ve played poorly in their last two games, while Swansea have won five out of six and came back from 2-0 down to beat Reading on Tuesday. With no sign whatsoever in the three and a half weeks since Steve Morison was sacked of the club actively searching for a replacement, there is a sense of drift about the place which would surely need to be addressed if we were to see a repeat of the sort of spineless, just don’t get it type showings which have become the norm in games against Swansea, and, to a lesser extent, Bristol City lately.
I wouldn’t give Mark Hudson much chance of keeping his caretaker manager’s job if we surrender as meekly as we did in the two derby’s last season. However, given how bad we’ve been in the fixture and Swansea’s current form, a positive result (a creditable draw would suffice in my view) would work wonders for his job prospects when it came to our next permanent manager.
I’m not optimistic regarding that positive outcome mind.
60s. The term journeyman can definitely be applied to this player who racked up over six hundred appearances without getting the chance in the top two divisions that his talent probably merited. Down the years, he appeared against City at Ninian Park wearing white for Swansea, as well as green and black stripes, as an away kit if I remember rightly, for his second club and he was a scorer against us wearing red for another team during the same season. His career spanned three decades and during the last of them he featured against us while wearing amber – who is he?
70s. This defender spent the whole of his career playing for clubs west of his Wiltshire birthplace, seemingly with a career motto of anywhere but Cardiff! He didn’t play too often for his first club where he could look out at a bridge while playing at home, but he became a regular when he moved to Swansea where his eye for a goal became a feature of his game – he once scored twice in a game at Ninian Park. His next move took him closer to home as he played just under a hundred times for a club which also had his brother on their books for some of his time with them. He experienced a promotion with this club as well before he moved on to end his career with non league Tigers. – can you name him?
80s. Loser chic adds man to produce a Semi Finalist. (5.7)
90s. By the time he arrived at Swansea, this winger’s career had gone into a pretty steep decline. Six years before he signed for the jacks, he’d scored over twenty times to become one of the biggest clubs in the land’s top scorer. He also played in a Wembley Final for them before losing his place to a union man. He would go on to play for clubs in all of the countries in the UK, but once he’d left his first club, it was only at Swansea where there was something approaching a sense of being settled. He played over sixty times in his two years with the jacks and later managed various non league clubs in south east England including one that was involved in a ridiculous game with Wrexham last season – who is he?
00s. Who played thirteen times for Swansea during 03/04 and was on City’s books in 2020?
10s. Add to Bluebirds by the sound of it!
20s. President pops up in Bolivia maybe?
Answers:
60s. Dave Gwyther played in the Football League for Swansea, Halifax, Rotherham and Newport (two spells) during a nineteen year career between 1965 and 1984 – he also had a short spell with Crewe on loan from Newport.
70s. Dave Bruton started his career with Bristol City, before moving on to Swansea in 1973. Bruton scored at both ends of the pitch in 1-1 draw against the jacks at Ninian Park in the Welsh Cup in February 1976 before a move TO Newport in 1978. His brother Mike was on County’s books for a while in 79/80 and Dave stayed with them until 1981. He finished his career with a spell at Gloucester City.
80s. Chris Coleman.
90s. Martin Hayes was a regular in the Arsenal side in the mid eighties and scored twenty four times for them in 85/86 – he was also a goalscorer in the Gunners’ League Cup Final defeat by Luton. He lost his place in Arsenal’s starting eleven when they signed future PFA Chairman Brian Marwood and a move to Celtic did not work out for Hayes. In 1993 he signed for Swansea – Hayes scored for them in a 1-1 draw at Ninian Park in September 1994. Hayes also played for Northern Irish team Cliftonville for a while and was a manager of four non league clubs, one of which was Dover Athletic.
00s. Brian Murphy.
10s. Mo Barrow.