Backing, Sacking and New Arrivals

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  • Cardiff
  • Dave Jones
  • Ridsdale
  • Wrexham

Cardiff City have backed under-fire boss Dave Jones - but have left him in no uncertain terms that he needs to turn results around.

Chairman Peter Ridsdale is a firm fan of Jones and the ex-Wolves and Southampton chief also has supporters among the rest of the board and key investors.

And they showed they're not in the business of pressing the panic button by standing by their man after a meeting earlier today.

But they pointed out the recent form has been unacceptable - and if Jones' needed a timely reminder of what's at stake it was the swift sacking of Paul Simpson at Championship rivals Preston.

Preston, like Cardiff, were among the high-flyers last year but have not lived up to expectation this time around.

It means Preston, Norwich, Palace and QPR - the only sides below City in the table - have all given their bosses the boot.

Meanwhile, Wrexham are set to announce who will step into the manager's role at the Racecourse to work "alongside" Brain Carey. It could be a fight between Stan Ternent and Brian Little. If it's the former, Carey will be packing his bags.

Ridsdale, Refs and Ringside - The Week That's WoS

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  • Calzaghe
  • Cardiff
  • Ridsdale
  • Swansea
  • Wrexham

What a week it's been - and still could be - in Welsh sport.

Apologies for those who've logged on and not seen much updating recently - this blog's author has been on a Halloween holiday.

But with Guy Fawke's Night almost upon us, the fireworks are all set to go off tonight at the Millennium Stadium as Joe Calzaghe takes on Mikkel Kessler in a super-middleweight slug-out.

If you stay online (and awake), this blog will take a veer away from football for a few hours to give you live updates.

Then you can read the very first detailed reports from Wales on Sunday's top boxing writer Pete Shuttleworth on www.icwales.co.uk, or in later editions of tomorrow's paper.

Still, it's not all about boxing and Welsh football held its own in terms of an explosive week.

First we had Peter Ridsdale's launch of his new book United We Fall, a great insight to the life at the top of a Premier League football club and his early days at Cardiff.

Wales on Sunday has spoken to the City chairman, who admits there could be a few more chapters to add yet, plus exclusive extracts from the book.

It comes on the back of Cardiff's trip to Anfield and the official start of work on the club's new stadium - but results around the Championship today mean eyes will very much be on Tuesday night's game against Palace to lift them away from the bottom places.

In League One, Swansea dropped points at home to Gillingham last night but could still hold their heads up high after a superb performance against the odds.

Referee Stuart Atwell - 25, in his first year as a ref and in his first ever League One game - gave one of the most woeful performances from a man in black I have ever seen. Ever.

But the ten men Swans still really should have won the game - even before Andy Robinson's last gasp penalty miss.

There's the fall-out from that game in tomorrow's paper - plus a look ahead to next week's FA Cup game.

We look forward to Wrexham's big cup clash with Peterborough and a certain reunion with Darren Ferguson, plus the big derby clash with the Shrews tomorrow.

See, told you it was a hell of a week.

Now, C'mon Joe - make it even better.

What a Weekend . . .

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  • Brian Carey
  • Cardiff
  • Martinez
  • Swansea
  • Wales
  • Welsh Football
  • Wrexham

So rugby unites as a nation then, does it?
Well, the smiles on faces this morning suggests football plays a small part too.
Try telling Cardiff fans it's a miserable time to be a Welshman after their first home win in seven months.
And try pulling Swans supporters down off cloud nine after faith in promotion was restored five times over at top-of-the-table Orient on Saturday.
And even Wrexham followers - down in the dumps for weeks - are seeing things a bit brighter after Friday night's success.
Now all we need is for Tosh's team to follow suit against Cyprus on Saturday and we're done!

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Crem de la Welsh Prem

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  • Cardiff
  • Swansea
  • Toshack
  • Wales
  • Welsh Football
  • Welsh Premier
  • Wrexham

When Lee Trundle lines up in the Championship for Bristol City, followers of the Welsh Premier should allow themselves a small smile.

Because lost in the hype following Trunds' move from Swansea was the fact the Welsh Prem had produced its first £1m player.

Not a bad feat for a league that's suffered some unfair criticism over the years.

In case you missed it - and for some reason the story wasn't posted online this week - click to read the rest of this entry and you can see Wales on Sunday's extended look into the Football League graduates from the Welsh leagues and the hopes for the next generation.

Continue reading "Crem de la Welsh Prem" »