By Paul Jones
Mick McCarthy is going to enjoy his bully boy strike pair of Kieffer Moore and James Collins for however long they throw their weight around for Cardiff City.
Bluebirds manager McCarthy praised Collins for “bullying” Blackpool’s defenders in his side’s 2-0 win at the newly-promoted club and said Moore had “put himself about” before clinching the win with the second goal.
The twin-headed threat could be in jeopardy if Wales striker Moore is the subject of offers from other clubs in the remaining two weeks of the transfer window, but McCarthy insists he will not lose sleep over an outcome he cannot control.
After Cardiff had secured their first three points of the fresh campaign, McCarthy was in bullish mood and said: “I could get a bit anxious about a few things, but overall it’s not worth it. What’s the point?
“We’ve put in a terrific shift collectively and this is a big three points for us.
“I knew Blackpool would be competitive and they have momentum from getting promoted, so it was always going to be a tough day. It’s great to get off the mark and I thought we were good value for the result.
“I thought James Collins was immense – he just works his socks off. He’s chased the centre-halves around all day and he’s just bullied them.
“I knew that bringing Kieffer on with 20 minutes left could make a difference and that’s been proven. He opens up chances for us and really puts himself about. He really deserved his goal.”
Cardiff – who had been held 1-1 at home by Barnsley in their opening clash of the 2021/22 season – were on top from the off, with Aden Flint, Ryan Giles and James Collins all going close in a frantic first half at Bloomfield Road.
Any fears that Cardiff were to rue their lack of cutting edge in front of goal were put to bed within seven minutes of the restart, with Leandro Bacuna heading home from close range after meeting Sean Morrison’s flick-on.
And as Blackpool piled forward in search for an equaliser substitute striker Moore wrapped up the win for McCarthy’s men four minutes from time, finishing off a pinpoint cross from Giles to send the travelling fans into raptures.
McCarthy added: “The fans enjoyed it and we enjoyed them, they travelled in numbers and made a load of noise and to be fair, they saw a good performance.
Wrzutka, wykończenie, Kieffer Moore ♥️ https://t.co/VojRuGmQxz
— Krzysiek Bielecki (@KchampK) August 15, 2021
“We should have been in front at half time and we maintained the performance, got a couple of goals and kept a clean sheet. I am really pleased with the performance.
“It is always a worry when you should be ahead at half time and you aren’t. But thankfully it didn’t come back to bite us.
“I thought we played well last week against a really good team, but we backed it up with a good performance today… it’s nice to get the first win.”
Blackpool had been hoping to build on a point earned against Bristol City last time out, but head coach Neil Critchley admitted they were second best back on home soil.
Luke Garbutt, Jerry Yates and Josh Bowler couldn’t make the most of the Seasiders’ rare sights of goal, but 42-year-old Critchley believes there is more to come from his side during their first season back in the Championship after a six-year absence.
“It’s been a difficult day for us and a bit of a wake-up call,” he said. “It was definitely a tough day at the office and we probably can’t have too many complaints.
“The lads have given it everything against a really strong, well-organised Cardiff side, but of course that hasn’t been quite enough for us today.
“I can’t fault the application from the players, we were at it from the start but a few little errors or mistakes prove so costly at this level. That’s all part of the learning curve.
“We had one or two moments ourselves when we could have done better or grabbed a goal, but that quality you need at this level was missing.
“They scored a really good counter-attacking goal to make it 2-0 towards the end, and I suppose I’ve got no qualms with the result in the end.”