Once behind, to a Joe Mason goal five minutes before half time, we never threatened to get back in the tie and went out without ever again seriously threatening the Cardiff goal.
The way we are playing football right now is definitely making it very difficult for me in terms of reporting. I know many had little time for the way we played under Steve Cotterill and others felt just the same way when Brian Laws was in charge.
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| Ross Wallace - our best player |
Between those two came Owen Coyle and only a fool wouldn't have been excited at the style of play; that was, of course, until the defensive frailties saw us conceding bucket loads of goals away from home in the Premier League.
However, the football we play now is just not for me I'm afraid. I sat there bored to tears last night for much of the game and the same can be said for many games this season. I don't think I've ever seen football played at such a pedestrian pace, game after game.
There's no incisive play; there's just no tempo to it, and, as someone described recently on the message board, it's pass and move without the move.
It's a personal choice. I know others will enjoy this passing game, and as I've said it is just not for me.
Last night we shuffled things round as Eddie Howe had suggested. Ross Wallace, Marvin Bartley, Andre Amougou and Charlie Austin were all on the bench, three of them nursing minor injuries and Amougou back out of favour following Coventry's goal on Saturday.
Dean Marney came back, as did Ben Mee. Zavon Hines got a start and there was a first ever start in Burnley colours for Alex MacDonald against the same team he made his debut against at the end of the 2007/08 season.
The Burnley fans were squeezed into one small section in the corner and we'd hardly got our seats warm when Cardiff should have scored. Mason too easily got the better of David Edgar but with the goal gaping in front of him he managed to fire wide.
It was one of three very easy chances Cardiff failed to put away in the opening part of the game. Lee Grant pulled off a stunning save to deny Craig Conway and Don Cowie, like Mason before him, failed to find the target.
At the other end we did start reasonably brightly. Marney and Keith Treacy, in particular, made positive starts, but the main focus of our attack came down the right with Kieran Trippier.
Twice we tested home goalkeeper Tom Heaton. He saved well from both Treacy and Ben Mee but that bright opening soon faded and Cardiff began to dominate the possession.
When the goal came five minutes before half time it was a bad one to give away. Chris McCann lost possession but then we just retreated and retreated until we just allowed Mason his shot. He took it well and by half time all we'd got for our efforts was a collection of yellow cards from the erratic Darren Deadman.
Wallace and Bartley were introduced at the start of the second half, and Wallace, no doubt, was our best player. Austin came on too, twenty minutes in, but unfortunately, we were never able to put Cardiff under any pressure at all.
We didn't have the ball often enough and when we did there was no real urgency to get men forward. Once upon a time, in cup ties, losing teams used to give it a real go, but we didn't change and in the end just went out without a real fight.
It was horrible stuff. The reaction from the Burnley fans at the end just about told the story. There was no anger, almost silence as we all filtered out.
And so the cup run is over. It's back to league action on Saturday with Blackpool at Turf Moor in front of the television cameras. I just hope there is more energy and more tempo to the performance than there was last night. There certainly won't be less.
The teams were;
Cardiff: Tom Heaton, Kevin McNaughton, Mark Hudson, Anthony Gerrard, Anthony Taylor, Pete Whittingham, Don Cowie, Stephen McPhail, Aron Gunnarsson, Craig Conway (Filip Kiss 70), Joe Mason. Subs not used: David Marshall, Paul Quinn, Joe Ralls, Darcy Blake, Dekel Keinan, Robert Earnshaw.
Yellow Cards: Anthony Gerrard, Kevin McNaughton.
Burnley: Lee Grant, Kieran Trippier, David Edgar, Ben Mee, Brian Easton, Alex MacDonald (Ross Wallace 45), Dean Marney, Chris McCann (Marvin Bartley 45), Keith Treacy (Charlie Austin 65), Zavon Hines, Jay Rodriguez. Subs not used: Jon Stewart, Andre Amougou, Alex-Ray Harvey, Steven Hewitt.
Yellow Cards: Dean Marney, Alex MacDonald, Zavon Hines, Marvin Bartley.
Referee: Darren Deadman (Cheshunt).
Attendance: 11,601.