Why Cardiff City are not in the play offs

‘ CITY’S FAILURE AGAINST BOTTOM 8 TEAMS ‘

By Carl Curtis

http://www.cardiffcityforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=171280

I was keen to look at City’s results over the season and study where points have been lost, I decided to break the table down into three sections, top 8, middle 8 and bottom 8, with there being 24 teams in the championship.

City’s best return of points has come against those in the middle 8 section but our Achilles heel this season has been the number of points dropped agains the lowest teams in the division, we have won less than half of the games against the weakest teams in the league and missed out on 21 points as a result, drawing as many as we won.

If City fail to make the play offs this season, I think that Russell Slade will look at the points dropped against the bottom 8 as the main reason for our failure.

We have a lower points return against the Top 8 than the Bottom 8 but City fans would have hoped to see a greater points haul against the struggling teams than we have gained.

The results below are against teams by their current league position.

RESULTS/POINTS VERSUS TOP 8 TEAMS ( CITY ARE THE EIGHTH TEAM )

Cardiff City 2 Burnley 2
Burnley 0 Cardiff City 0

Cardiff City 1 Middlesbrough 0
Middlesbrough 3 Cardiff City 1

Brighton 1 Cardiff City 1
Cardiff City 4 Brighton 1

Cardiff City 0 Hull City 2
Hull City 2 Cardiff City 0

Derby County 2 Cardiff City 0
Cardiff City 2 Derby County 1

Cardiff City 2 Sheffield Wednesday 2

Ipswich Town 0 Cardiff City 0
Cardiff City 1 Ipswich Town 0

PLAYED 13 GAMES – 17 POINTS FROM POSSIBLE 39 (PLD 13, W 4, D 5, L 4)

POINTS AVG. V Top 8 teams = 1.31 points per game

RESULTS/POINTS VERSUS MIDDLE 8 TEAMS

Birmingham City 1 Cardiff City 0

Preston North End 0 Cardiff City 0
Cardiff City 2 Preston North End 1

Queens Park Rangers 2 Cardiff City 2

Cardiff City 2 Wolves 0
Wolves 1 Cardiff City 3

Cardiff City 3 Brentford 2

Cardiff City 2 Reading 0
Reading 1 Cardiff City 1

Leeds United 1 Cardiff City 0
Cardiff City 0 Leeds United 2

Blackburn Rovers 1 Cardiff City 1
Cardiff City 1 Blackburn Rovers 0

PLAYED 13 GAMES – 22 POINTS FROM POSSIBLE 39 (PLD 13, W 6, D 4, L 3)

POINTS AVG. Versus Middle 8 teams = 1.69 points per game

RESULTS/POINTS VERSUS BOTTOM 8 TEAMS

Cardiff City 1 Fulham 1
Fulham 2 Cardiff City 1

Cardiff City 0 Bristol City 0
Bristol City 0 Cardiff City 2

Cardiff City 2 Huddersfield Town 0
Huddersfield Town 2 Cardiff City 3

Nottingham Forest 1 Cardiff City 2
Cardiff City 1 Nottingham Forest 1

Rotherham United 2 Cardiff City 1
Cardiff City 2 Rotherham United 2

MK Dons 2 Cardiff City 1
Cardiff City 0 MK Dons 0

Cardiff City 2 Charlton Athletic 1
Charlton Athletic 0 Cardiff City 0

Bolton Wanderers 2 Cardiff City 3

PLAYED 15 GAMES – 24 POINTS FROM POSSIBLE 45 (PLD 15, W 6, D 6, L 3)

POINTS AVG. Versus Bottom 8 teams = 1.6 points per game

TOP 8 TEAM TO PLAY:

Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff City
MIDDLE 8 TEAMS TO PLAY:

Cardiff City Queens Park Rangers
Brentford v Cardiff City
Cardiff City v Birmingham City

BOTTOM 8 TEAM TO PLAY:

Cardiff City v Bolton Wanderers
SEASON TOTAL

PLAYED 41 GAMES – 63 POINTS FROM POSSIBLE 123 (PLD 41, W 16, D 15, L 10)

POINTS AVG. V All teams = 1.53 points per game