Random Stuff!!

[TheLocalYokel]

Neil Warnock

I see that the above has left his post as Cardiff City manager by mutual consent. He was due to leave at the end of the season anyway but his departure has been brought forward following a less than impressive start to the season.

He was a bit of a whinger, with referees his usual target, and his direct style of football didn't win the approval of all the supporters. Nevertheless, Colin is a character and a septuagenarian, and I had a soft spot for him.

Early bookmaker favourites to replace him are former Millwall manager Neil Harris and current Newport County manager Michael Flynn. Other names believed to be in the frame include Chris Hughton, Tony Pulis, Nigel Adkins, Alan Pardew, Lee Bowyer and David Moyes.

It would not surprise me if they look abroad for a new manager. That seems to be the fashionable thing to do.

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

Nathan Jones another ex Welsh Stoke manager is also looking for a new job after being sacked.

He did wonders at Luton Town before heading to stoke.

Only know as he is my friends cousin .

In regards to Neil Warnock I came across him several times while passing through Global Trek Aviation and he was actually a true gent to my surprise if you read all the hype. It is a shame that it is likely won’t have the pleasure of seeing him again as Cardiff City pass through.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Neil Warnock managed 14 clubs in his time (15 if two stints at Crystal palace are included). There are still stories about him wanting to manage in Scotland. He is a Yorkshireman but I believe he now has a family home in Cornwall.

I'm not sure how much interest Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan takes in the club these days. When he first took over he had all sorts of plans and briefly changed the colour of the team's shirts for a while - not a popular move with supporters.

I still visit football message boards from time to time although I no longer contribute and many Bluebird supporters say they want to see a more entertaining brand of football. I suspect though they, like most supporters of any club, would put up with any style if it meant success on the pitch. It's when it doesn't that their moans begin.

Neil Warnock usually employed a fairly direct style - not as crude as 'kick and rush' or route 1 as it's called these days - that could be very effective as his managerial career record shows, including getting Cardiff City into the Premier League a couple of years ago although they were relagated after one season.

I don't know whether the old boy really will retire for good this time. Whatever he does I hope he enjoys it.

As for the Bluebirds, I wonder what type of manager they will go for. Nathan Jones jumped from tremendous success at Luton Town to a disappointing spell at Stoke City. Whether this will count against him with a club that has aspirations to return to the Premier League remains to be seen. He is yet to show that he can succeeed at Championship level.

 

[Jarvo]

Cardiff would do well to seriously consider Michael Flynn of Newport.
Looking to their superior neighbors in white, Swansea have gained much success from giving young, aspirational managers, who expressed a desire to play passing, attacking football, their chance. Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers, Graham Potter and now Steve Cooper. The times Swansea have struggled over the last few years can be directly correlated to long ball, route 1 managers such as Gary Monk and to a degree Paul Clement.

Cardiff have some big players in Neil Etheridge, Bacuna, Hoilet who can all change a game through their ability. But with tactics like Warnock's, where each man beats their opposite number for strength and ability to pick out a cross is easily found out once you leave the Championship. Building a new style and ethos from a hungry young manager who's still looking for new tactics and ideas as opposed to another dinosaur like Pulis who's got one ugly style he's found out works and has been using it for over a decade .

Flynn hasn't got the years and years of championship experience Warnock had, but sometimes that's not a bad thing.

 

[Jarvo]

I see Cardiff have narrowed it down to Lee Bowyer of Charlton and Neil Harris, most recently of Millwall.

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

Didn’t Michael Flynn just sign a new contract with Newport?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I see Cardiff have narrowed it down to Lee Bowyer of Charlton and Neil Harris, most recently of Millwall.

Neil Harris has a longer track record as a manager in the Championship having got Millwall back into the Championship via the play-offs. The two and a bit seasons he led Millwall in the Championship following the promotion were reasonably successful but no more than that. He had a long association as a player with Millwall and, incidentally, played three matches on loan at Cardiff City 15 years ago.

Lee Bowyer took over the manager's role at Charlton Athletic 19 months ago, originally as caretaker manager, and led the club to promotion from League One to the Championship via the play-offs in his first full season in charge. This season Charlton have started well in the Championship under Bowyer's leadership. As a player and manager he can be volatile and has a track record of indiscipline, including court appearances.

Both might be considered surprise contenders to be at the top of the list and either would be something of a gamble but, who knows, the Bluebirds might hit the jackpot.

Didn’t Michael Flynn just sign a new contract with Newport?

Contracts don't mean much in football.

 

[Jerry]

Wales have qualified for the Euro 2020 championship by beating Hungary by 2 goals to nil. Wales are heading to another major tournament!
Should hopefully be some interesting charters from Cardiff this summer!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Wales have qualified for the Euro 2020 championship by beating Hungary by 2 goals to nil. Wales are heading to another major tournament!
Should hopefully be some interesting charters from Cardiff this summer!

Unusual format next year in that the competition will take place in 12 separate countries with the host cities being:
Baku
Copenhagen
London
Munich
Budapest
Rome
Amsterdam
Dublin
Bucharest
St Petersburg
Glasgow
Bilbao

Until the draw for the group stage is made we shan't know where Wales will be playing. Possibly the most interesting venue in terms of rarity value from Wales is St Petersburg. That city will host Group B matches along with Copenhagen.

The semi-finals and final will be played at Wembley Stadium which will also stage three Group D matches involving England - the other Group D matches will be played at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Wembley and Hampden Park will also both host one last 16 match.

So Wales followers might enjoy a Cook's Tour if their country progresses through the tournament.

 

[Jerry]

Until the draw for the group stage is made we shan't know where Wales will be playing. Possibly the most interesting venue in terms of rarity value from Wales is St Petersburg. That city will host Group B matches along with Copenhagen.

I saw something on twitter which put up the possible destinations they could be going to and St Petersburg and Baku would be the furthest. Until the groups are drawn we'll not know. Hopefully for the fans the destinations will be more closer and more will be able to travel.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I saw something on twitter which put up the possible destinations they could be going to and St Petersburg and Baku would be the furthest. Until the groups are drawn we'll not know. Hopefully for the fans the destinations will be more closer and more will be able to travel.

There is talk in the press that Wales are very likely to be in Group A or Group B. The former will see matches in Rome and Baku and the latter in Copenhagen and Saint Petersburg.

The draw will be extremely complex with the usual seeding and political considerations (Russsia can't play Ukraine for example - I don't know what happens if they both reach the final itself although that eventuality is unlikely). A new factor is the UEFA Nations League which provides a 'back door' way into the Finals for countries that fail to do so through the usual method of the qualifying groups. This means that some countries that will reach the Finals won't be known for some time, but the draw for the Finals takes place next week.

 

[Jerry]

There is talk in the press that Wales are very likely to be in Group A or Group B. The former will see matches in Rome and Baku and the latter in Copenhagen and Saint Petersburg.

Either of those options provides a long trip for the fans and a decent European trip for them.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Either of those options provides a long trip for the fans and a decent European trip for them.

Even Baku, perhaps not the most obvious tourist venue of the four, seems to have its attractions. The only snag for supporters that I can see is that Wales would play at least one game in both centres within the group in which they are drawn, ie Rome and Baku or Copenhagen and Saint Petersburg. Rome is a fair old way from Baku and a long way to travel for those Welsh supporters who want to see all their country's group matches.

Copenhagen to Saint Petersburg might be an easier journey distance-wise (about a third of the distance of that between Rome and Baku). Lots to look forward to for the die-hard fans.

 

[Jerry]

Does anyone know why there isn't any direct trains from Cardiff to Scotland? Either day or night ones.
Has there ever been a direct service?

 

[superking]

Most trains going to Scotland stopped in Crewe to change cabin staff and drivers. Drivers are trained for certain sections of rail routes so what ever happens they have to change the driver,and 1 driver also could not take train all the way as too long on duty.There seems to be more rules and regs regards train staff on trains. Shows how strong the unions were in the past.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Does anyone know why there isn't any direct trains from Cardiff to Scotland? Either day or night ones.
Has there ever been a direct service?

I doubt there were ever direct trains to Scotland in the day because of the way the routes are set up, but see paragraph 3 below.

In the pre-nationalisation days (pre-1948) railway companies operated mainly on their own lines although they often had running powers over lines operated by other companies. Cardiff was GWR territory (the proper GWR not today's ersatz First Group variety) and the GWR didn't run trains all the way to Scotland. Post nationalisation British Railways didn't really alter things that much in terms of routes on what became the Western Region except to axe numerous lines after the 1963 Beeching report.

There might have been sleeper trains from the likes of Cardiff and Bristol in BR days but I can't remember with any certainty. GWR and later the Western Region of BR certainly operated them to Devon and Cornwall from London Paddington and that service still operates.

When the railways were de-nationalised long distance trains began to operate from Devon/Cornwall via Bristol, Birmingham, Derby, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle to Edinburgh with some continuing to Glasgow. That situation still obtains. It would have been too circuitous to have included Cardiff in this routing, hence Bristol has direct trains but Cardiff hasn't, as have such places as Exeter, Taunton and Cheltenham because they are all on the route from Cornwall to Scotland.

Glasgow seems to have the more frequent indirect service from Cardiff but it's necessary to either change at Manchester or Crewe, depending on which Cardiff departure time is selected. The other alternative for Glasgow is to change at Bristol Parkway and then at Birmingham, departing Cardiff on the London trains. It's possible to travel all the way to London and take a direct train from there but it might be a more expensive way of doing it and of course it would mean a cross-London journey from one terminus to another.

For Edinburgh the simplest way is to change at Bristol Parkway from where the trains then go direct. There are also more complicated alternatives for Edinburgh involving three or sometimes four en route train changes.

 

[Jerry]

There might have been sleeper trains from the likes of Cardiff and Bristol in BR days but I can't remember with any certainty.

I do wonder if in the long term it would be something that the Welsh government could pursue to help have better connections to Scotland or whether lack of demand or practicality like unsustainable tracks means it's just not feasible?

 

[Jarvo]

I imagine any subsidy required from the Welsh gov would be huge. So few passengers getting on the service in Cardiff or Newport would continue traveling on to Scotland. Especially when, appropriately for F4A, far quicker and cheaper flights exist already.
The majority of passengers would be for intermediate stops, for which there are already adequate connections.

The only benefit I could see from a CDF- Scotland route would be the 'prestige' of having such a distant destination on the departure boards.

 

[Jerry]

I imagine any subsidy required from the Welsh gov would be huge.

Especially if it was to be s sleeper service. I'm sure I read somewhere that both the UK and Scottish governments gave the Caledonian sleeper £100 million for new trains. Thinking about it even if the WG wanted to any subsidy of a service like that would probably cause a political hurricane with Transport for Wales not exactly providing a stellar service at the moment!

 

[geoff]

I travelled a couple of times in the very early sixties on special rugby excursions for the six nations games, direct from the Rhondda valley to Edinburgh, and caught a sleeper train from Scotland to South Wales on one occasion, but had to change at Birmingham for a train to Cardiff.