Phil Smith is joined by Jeff Brown to discuss the 2-0 win over Cardiff City and to answer reader questions
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00:00Hello there and welcome to the first edition of the new season of On The Whistle from the
00:14Cardiff City Press Room. You can just see the King watching over us, so let's hope he
00:18enjoys it. I'm delighted to be joined by Geoff Brown, who of course you all know from
00:22Look North and various other enterprises these days. Geoff, thanks for joining me. No problem.
00:26Simon started with three points. What did you make of the performance? For a first off
00:31under a new coach, you couldn't ask for more really. He can never ask for more to win your
00:36first game of the season. For him personally and for the club to get off to such a good
00:40start probably helped that they played a Cardiff team who looked like they are still getting
00:47to grips with the changes they've had over the summer and never really looked like scoring.
00:52They suddenly had not much possession, the few chances that there were, and they took
00:59two of them. That was it, you couldn't ask for more. It wasn't quite what we expected.
01:03We heard a lot about the high press and getting back to the possession football and we were
01:08just beating to the breeze there in this press conference. He pretty much admitted that wasn't
01:11the game he expected because Cardiff didn't threaten but they did dominate, didn't they?
01:14I don't know whether we should be positive that someone ground it out and didn't create
01:18many chances or a little bit concerned that they weren't really in the game.
01:22I think the one message that he'll take away and all the fans will, great three points
01:28but they still lack that threat in the box. My ender isn't the answer, not at the minute.
01:34He said himself after the game, they've got lots of strikers but just not experienced
01:40enough to be carrying any of them, to carry the team through the whole season. He had
01:46a fantastic chance, wonderfully carved out by Roberts and Job. Came in first time, keeper
01:53just managed to stick it out the foot. Should really have finished it.
01:56And it's not just the goals, there's a second half actually, something that would
01:58pin back and sometimes in football you have to go long, don't you? You have to hit the
02:02big man, to use the old phrase, and some of these don't really have that option.
02:05Yes, and he's not strong enough. He's not strong enough on the ball, he's not strong
02:07enough to win it back and you felt for him a little bit because he didn't have an awful
02:13lot of support up there because some of them were pinned back so much. They were well organised,
02:19they never really looked like they were going to concede and then of course, Jack Clark
02:25does what he can do.
02:26That's what he does and that's a big positive isn't it, you mentioned that, because Ballard
02:29is one of Summerland's best players and we were all a bit worried when he got that injury.
02:32Alissio was good, Denis Sertain was excellent, in the field, Brown was canny wasn't he?
02:36That is a big positive. Some of the times, having it look that well organised this year,
02:42that was probably the big takeaway from today do you think?
02:44Yes, definitely, because when it all boils down to it, there were a couple of saves in
02:50the first half for Anthony Paterson to make but apart from that and a half chance for
02:55Ramsey, really for all Cardiff's possession, Summerland actually managed the game really well.
03:00So, I'll take a few questions from you. I've had Kevin asked about Denis Sertain and he
03:04says that when he's fit, he looks like one of the best left backs in the division.
03:08It's massive isn't it, he doesn't look impacted by his injury at all and actually going forward
03:11today, I mean Clark is brilliant but it's another dimension when he's got Sertain
03:15overlapping him. That was a big problem last year wasn't it, when Clark was pretty much
03:19doing it by himself. The other thing about Sertain was that he's obviously an attacking
03:25threat as well from set pieces. I mean, to score a goal from a set piece was a bit of a reality.
03:30So, he set up the first one, had a good chance for a similar sort of range in the second half,
03:35headed it into the ground. Couldn't decide whether to head it back or go for goal but
03:41that will be a new dimension which should be much, much needed.
03:45And, you know, there'll be a competition when Ballard's back. It'll be nice to see
03:47Elisa and Sertain in the team because they're two good players that we didn't see enough of
03:50last year. Yeah, I think Elisa, when he first came in, he thought this kid has really got
03:54something and then he just had so many injuries in and out, in and out. It's been a tough time
04:00for him but it was lovely to see him get game time and look comfortable.
04:04Two big positives there. Okay, so Northern Meerkat, that's a great Twitter handle,
04:08says, will we get away with surrendering that much possession and territory to a team
04:11better than Cardiff? It's a fair point, isn't it? Because, like, it was a really good three
04:16points today. Lots of positives but there's a lot of work on him. You know, you can talk a little
04:20bit about, we've just been speaking to Labreece there and he was under no illusions, was he? He
04:24was very much not quite what he expected from the game and pleased with a lot of what he saw,
04:28the character side of things, but obviously gave us the impression he's got a lot of work to do.
04:31Yes, I think any Sunderland fan who saw it would admit that if it had been a better,
04:36more clinical team than Cardiff, then it could have been a different result. But fair play to
04:41them, you know, they had a tough sort of 10-15 minutes to start with and then got the goal out
04:46of nothing and then looked in control up until half-time. Cardiff came again second half but,
04:52you know, hey, in the end, you can't argue. You only play who you're playing.
04:57It did look dangerous on the break. Obviously Roberts, I think, looks back to Roberts and,
05:02although he was quiet in the first half, I mean, Job in the second half was at the heart of a lot
05:05of good play, wasn't he? That was a brilliant little tackle he made to win the ball back.
05:09You can see the talent he's got for someone so young, can't you?
05:12It seems to have developed a lot more strength as well. He looks a stronger player all around
05:16but the move of the game where Roberts turned and created the opening for Job and the first
05:21time ball across to my end. If it had gone in, it would have been perfect.
05:27Last question from Ross. How far can this team go if a striker joins? How optimistic
05:31are you generally, Geoff, for this season? If a striker, if, you know, everybody...
05:37If Clarke's in is a big one. That was the difference between two teams today,
05:41really, wasn't it? It was a good move but Clarke, that individual quality,
05:45it's not this level, is it? I can't believe he's not in the Premier League.
05:48No, I know, I know. You've just got to keep your fingers crossed.
05:52With a proven striker, they are hard to come by, but if that team had a proven striker and had an
05:58outlet and someone who's going to hold the ball up, then it could be challenging for the play-offs.
06:04At the moment, you'd think it would be a bit of a long shot without that,
06:08without someone who's going to guarantee you 15, 20 goals a season.
06:12There we go. On that mostly positive note, we'll leave it there, Geoff. Thank you very
06:15much for your time. Thanks, everyone, for sending your comments in and we will see you sometime next
06:19week. Cheers.