BACUNA MATATA
No worries for Cardiff as Leandro double sinks Rams
Cardiff 4 Derby
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BY ROB COLE
TWO-GOAL Leandro Bacuna fired Mick Mccarthy’s rampant Cardiff back into the play-off places.
Five games short of 1,000 as a manager, Mccarthy gave new kid on the block Wayne Rooney a lesson.
Bacuna struck either side of a Kieffer Moore goal – his 16th of the season – City underlining their growing credentials as promotion candidates by thrashing Derby.
Will Vaulks’ thunderbolt at the death was the final nail in the Derby coffin, Cardiff making it 10 games unbeaten. Rooney rung the changes in his side from the team that drew with Nottingham Forest at the weekend, bringing in six players.
Bluebirds striker Moore caused immediate problems and should have scored after 10 minutes when a long throw from Vaulks caused panic in the County defence.
Derby went close when Graeme Shinnie’s long-range shot forced keeper Dillon Phillips to dive full length to his left to push the ball wide.
Cardiff kept pressing and were rewarded in the 22nd minute.
A fine ball down the left edge of the box by Joe Bennett set Bacuna free and he shot across Kelle Roos for his first goal since
November 2019 and only his second in 85 league outings for the Bluebirds.
Soon after Bennett was carried off on a stretcher with a serious-looking knee injury.
The home side almost snatched another goal just before the break when Derby’s defence again failed to deal with a Vaulks long throw. Moore had a shot blocked on the far post and then Roos denied Bacuna a second with his legs.
But two minutes into the second half Moore rose to head past Roos.
Bacuna then lashed home his second seven minutes later and Vaulks rounded off a great night’s work.
FULHAM’S Kevin Mcdonald faces a kidney transplant next month after revealing he has been battling the chronic disease for 12 years.
Mcdonald, 32, who has not played for the Cottagers since July, has had problems with kidney failure for virtually his whole career.
The former Wolves midfielder, who has been at Fulham since 2016 and twice been part of Championship promotionwinning teams, explained how either his best friend or his brother could be the donor.
In an emotional interview, Mcdonald (right) said: “I have been under doctor’s orders my whole career. No one sees this part of football. I have had people asking why am I not playing, why do I not go on loan.
But it is something we did not want to share until now.”
Mcdonald realised he had the life-threatening condition at his medical when he joined
Burnley from Dundee in 2008. He said: “It showed I had blood and protein in my urine.
“I didn’t concern myself. I remember thinking I had some sort of kidney issue, give me a couple of tablets.
“We hoped to get through my career and then get a transplant. But I have one kidney that does not work at all and another that’s at probably 10 per cent now. I have been playing with stage one to, right now, stage five kidney disease.”
Mcdonald, who has won five Scotland caps, is aware the operation could end his 16-year playing career, which took the midfielder to Dundee, Burnley, Sheffield United and Wolves. But he said: “I have prepared myself my whole career, knowing this was the end goal.
“We wanted it to happen after football and do it at say 40 years old, but it is going to come quicker. We are hoping to get it done by the end of April.
“I want it to get back to a normal life – I take 10 tablets a day. It is humbling having people offer you a kidney. And there are benefits in having a living donor and getting it before dialysis, so there are so many pros to get it done sooner rather than later.
“Obviously the person who is going to end up doing it, then I owe my life to them.
“I know when I get the transplant I might not want to come back and play football. I might not be able to physically do it.
“I need to prepare my mind to maybe not play again, which I am comfortable with.
“The doctors are confident I can get back, but the priority is my wife and family. If it means retiring at 32, then I’ve had a great career.”
CHRIS WILDER has cast doubt on his Sheffield United future by saying he does not know if he will still be manager next season.
Wilder knows the Blades are almost certain to be relegated because they are stranded a distant 15 points from safety following Sunday’s home loss to Liverpool (below).
But while owner Prince Abdullah (above) has vowed to keep Wilder in charge if they do go down, the coach himself has hinted at tensions over their differing visions of the club’s future.
When asked yesterday if he would still be in charge next season, Wilder (right) said: “I don’t know. We always plan short, medium and long term, but that plan is determined by other people, not me.
“I know which way I want to take the football club. I’ve not had those conversations.
“I think they should be had, but they’re not happening.”
Wilder, who led United from mid-table in League One to ninth in the Premier League in his first three years in charge, wants to keep the nucleus of his squad and rebuild around their younger players.
He also wants the board to invest in the club’s infrastructure. Work to modernise their outdated training facilities has been hampered by the coronavirus outbreak.
He did not outline
Prince
Abdullah’s view, but the Saudi owner may want to cash in on their best players, such as John
Egan and
Sander Berge, to help balance the books following relegation. Wilder, whose side face Aston Villa this evening, does not feel this is necessary because they have been careful with their spending on transfers and wages.
When pressed if he would like to remain, Wilder said: “Yep, definitely – if we stick to the plan.
“The plan as always is to leave a legacy.
“To change things off the pitch, which need changing, stick with the players we have invested in, add a couple and try to bounce back.”
BY GIDEON BROOKS FOR tips on how to floor his Premier League rivals, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is leaning on his own Big Daddy – wrestler father, Oivind.
The Manchester United boss admits he regularly turns to his 76-year-old dad for chats on tactics.
And the six-time Grecoroman wrestling Norwegian national champion has urged his son to stick with the ‘ropea-dope’ before hitting sides on the counter.
“There are many ways of creating the space you want and sometimes I do have discussions, especially with my dad,” said Solskjaer.
“He likes to say, ‘Why don’t you just draw them on to you and let them come and press?’
“In some games to soak up the pressure and to give away the ball, sometimes that creates the space.”
Solskjaer will be trying to tie Roy Hodgson in knots and floor Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park tonight with a view to keeping a grip on second place in the table.
And he is looking for a spark from his side after the Reds (Edinson Cavani in training, above) have taken just 10 points from their last 21.
United may be just keeping their noses in front of the chasing pack, but have been left in Manchester City’s wake at the top.
Asked whether he had given up hope of catching Pep Guardiola’s side, Solskjaer insisted United have to keep believing, citing the example of racing driver Sir Jackie Stewart.
Stewart posted his first win at Monza in 1965, taking advantage of leader Jim Clark’s mechanical failure 12 laps from the finish and the lastbend mistake of team-mate Graham
Hill. “We have to go all the way. Don’t think about City, don’t think about the points tally,” he added. “You’ve got to go every single game, step-by-step.
“It’s like Jackie Stewart’s first win in Formula One. You never know what’s going to happen in life and definitely not in football and sports.
“Do our job and don’t have any regrets when the season is over – just pick up as many points as we can, play as much as we can and improve as much as we can.”
Solskjaer remains without injured midfielder Donny van de Beek, who has a muscle injury. But Paul Pogba is inching back towards resuming training following his thigh injury.
The France star is expected to be available before the international break at the back end of the month.