[SHEP_HTAFC]

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN v CARDIFF CITY......SAT 21st FEBRUARY.....K.O 15:00

SEASON SO FAR

Town come into this game after a fantastic result against a promotion chasing Bournemouth last week. It might have been only a 1-1 draw, but with Bournemouth going top after that result it was a great away point.
This stopped a see-saw run of results for Town. Including the 28th December game at home to Bolton which we won 2-1, our form has been...W L W L W L W L
In our previous 5 away league games, Town have only lost once (v Middlesbrough), and have won two (Wigan, Millwall).
In fact our home form in our last 5 league games is worse than our away form, winning two (Bolton, Watford), but losing three (Birmingham, Dirty L666s, and Wolves).
Town currently sit 8 points clear of the bottom three on 38 points, and a whopping 15 points from the last play off place. So mid table obscurity is really our goal for this season.
For the last two seasons we have ended with 58 and 53 points. The last relegation place for each of those seasons has been 54 and 44 points. So the next 2 home games, should we win them both, could theoretically almost see us safe this season.
Of our remaining 15 games, I suspect 5 wins and 2 or 3 draws should be more than enough.


Cardiff come into this game after a midweek draw at home to Blackburn. They were all set for a win, but a last minute equaliser from former player Gestede ruined that. They have drawn their last 3 league games.
They currently sit 1 point and 1 place behind Town in 15th place.
It was turmoil for Cardiff at the start of this season. Relegation from the Premiership hurt even more as they were still playing in red shirts for only the second season in over 100 years. They have now reverted back to blue shirts, and can again rightly call themselves the Bluebirds.
After a bright start, the manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær was sacked in Sept 2014. He was eventually replaced by Leyton Orient's manager Russell Slade.
Their last 8 league games have resulted in 4 losses, 3 draws, and only one win (v Fulham at home). Away from home they have been appalling this season. They have 7 draws, 7 defeats, and only one win (v Watford).
The corresponding fixture at Cardiff was only the second game of the season, and resulted in a 3-1 win over Town with our goal coming from Murray Wallace.
Russell Slade has already stated that a push for the play off places is very unrealistic, although he states that they will not be dragged into a relegation battle. Saturday's game will hopefully make him think otherwise.

PREVIOUS HISTORY

We have played each other 68 times, with a total of 29 wins for Town, and 20 for Cardiff, with 19 draws.
There have been some memorable games between the two. Cardiff's biggest wins v Town has been 4-0 twice. Town have beaten Cardiff 5-1 twice in recent memory (1990 and 1995). However all that pales into comparison with the game played in October 1927. Town ran out 8-2 winners....and this result isn't even Cardiff's worst ever (1-9 v Wolves).

Any game between Town and Cardiff will always be overshadowed by what happened in season 1923/4. Cardiff went into the last game of the season, one point ahead of second-placed Huddersfield.
Town beat their opponents that day, Nottingham Forest 3–0, meaning that for Cardiff City to lift their first ever league title they would have to overcome Birmingham City. With the scoreline deadlocked at 0–0, Cardiff City were awarded a penalty. Top scorer Len Davies took the spot kick, however he missed and Birmingham held out for a draw, meaning Cardiff would have to settle for 2nd spot on goal average.
Although having scored one more goal than Huddersfield during the season, Cardiff also conceded one more meaning they had a worse scoring-to-conceding ratio of 1.794 compared with Huddersfield's 1.818, which meant Huddersfield won the First Division championship. If goal difference had been used, Cardiff would have been champions. (Although if 3 points for a win applied, Town would still be champions).
This was the first of three title wins for Huddersfield, and by far the closest.
Thrice Champions !!!!

HISTORY, FACTS & FIGURES

The club was founded as Riverside A.F.C. in 1899 as a way of keeping players from the Riverside Cricket Club together and in shape during the winter months.
In 1905 Cardiff was granted city status by King Edward VII, and 2 years later they became Cardiff City.
In 1920 they joined the Football League.
The 1920's was their most successful period in the club's history (heard that somewhere before!!). They won the F.A cup in 1927, appeared in another final, and also finished runners up in 1923/4.
They were promoted to the Permier League in 2012/13, but were relegated the following season.

LINKED TO BOTH

There are three current Cardiff players that have played for Town.

Lee Peltier


Anthony Pilkington



Sean Morrison

SHEP's TEAM

After the Bournemouth draw last week, Chris Powell has stated that he will be more positive in the next two home games.
With that in mind and with no new injury worries (Lynch possibly still not available), I expect the team to look something like this:-

SMITHIES

SMITH WALLACE HUDSON ROBINSON

SCANNELL COADY HOGG BUTTERFIELD

MILLER VAUGHAN