The new Cardiff City.
Sat Aug 13, 2011 2:04 am
I’ve found it difficult to gather the motivation to write about Cardiff City since that play-off semi-final loss to Reading back in May. There was a feeling of apathy amongst myself and other Bluebird fans. As fans we are used to witnessing our beloved team take part in a race that is always going to be competitive, gritty and most importantly entertaining but unfortunately we’re used to witnessing our beloved team fall at that final hurdle; we’ve never had that battle to take us over the edge. It is, then, with a new managerial appointment in a young and passionate Malky Mackay that we find our hunger as football fans somewhat refreshed back to normality, we’re back stronger than ever ready to support our boys – no matter what.
That play-off loss against Reading was weird. I think after the Middlesbrough 3-0 loss deep down, in terms of our promotion chances, we weren’t confident at all, both fans and players alike. Don’t get me wrong we were all disappointed when the final whistle went at the Cardiff City Stadium and Cardiff City were adjudged losers, and Reading were on their way to Wembley, but after that continuous feeling of disappointment it was just kicking a man while he’s down – you can do damage but there’s enough damage already done. There’s absolutely no point pointing the blame at anyone because I’m 100% sure every player and backroom staff tried their very best to reach the promised land, it just wasn’t enough unfortunately and we’ve just got to accept that it takes a lot more than bringing in big names to defeat the giant that is the Championship.
Leicester City have made some superb signings this season, but if you compare their current starting line-up to the one we put out for the most-part of last season then there really isn’t a competition, we had superb players for the Championship. However, our championship players were just that… players, not a team. We had individuals and, with the exception of some (Bellamy, McNaughton, Whitts and Hudson), there was no real desire, no loyalty, no passion. At the end of victories we were lucky if the players would clap our supporters, so it was hardly surprising that they’d almost disappear as quickly as possible into the tunnel when the final whistle went if we were defeated. That really grated on me, I thought it was so ignorant and unprofessional to not even acknowledge us, the paying customers.
Craig Bellamy used to give me goosebumps sometimes when watching him run up and down a football field in the blue of Cardiff, giving it his all no matter what the score. He quite obviously had such an influence on our team – even getting Bothroyd to run around the grass pitch a bit! – he is a born leader, and I find myself following his example when playing football myself and wanting to chase every ball down just because Craig Bellamy showed the difference giving it your all can have on your side. We need players like that in our side as I feel in the Championship it’s very rare to come across a player that is so committed to his club and is not just seeking a deal from a bigger, better club. He is just focused on the job at hand. It’s very important that Mackay does his best to get Bellamy to put pen to a Cardiff City contract again.
In the weeks after Dave Jones’ departure it was the worst I’ve felt since being a Cardiff fan. The transfer embargo before the 2010/2011 season was bad enough but I always knew we’d pull through that somehow. However, after Dave Jones had gone it felt as if we lost a big part of our club and we had an absolute massive rebuilding job to initiate. It was, though, with Malky Mackay’s appointment that optimism started kicking in instantly after his first press conference stating his ambition to succeed and saying our club had “Massive ambition, massive passion” and that he sees a club that “Has an infrastructure that is exciting”. The bluebird faithful was instantly won over by a manager that most hadn’t really heard of that much. We were won over even more by the signings he made almost days after his announcement as Bluebirds boss.
First was Dundee winger Craig Conway, then highly rated former England u21 international Andrew Taylor swiftly followed by the heart of Watford FC’s team Don Cowie. 19-year old hot prospect Joe Mason then joined us from Plymouth, who had a few Premier League clubs keeping tabs on him. Icelandic international Aron Gunnarsson followed Mason into signing for the blue of Cardiff, who many find an ideal replacement for Seyi Olofinjana, and then the much celebrated signings of Cardiff City hero Robert “Earnie” Earnshaw, Kenny Miller and Rudy Gestede. This was all done in 3 weeks time. Malky clearly doesn’t have the word ‘hesitation’ in his vocabulary. Cardiff City fans were instantly restored with confidence, a new-look Cardiff City was to be shown off to our fans for the forthcoming campaign.
Me and the old man watched city’s opening championship match against West Ham and I couldn’t help but laugh when he asked, “Where the f**k have all our players gone?” – he’d been busy over the summer and obviously hadn’t had time to check up on our transfer activity! When I heard the line-up read out it was like last season didn’t even happen, and that we’d always had these players. It was quite saddening and I felt almost dejected that I’d never see Bothroyd and Chopra lead the front line anymore. I wasn’t that upset when Bywater wasn’t in-goal, though.
Joking aside, it was incredibly surreal seeing a totally different Cardiff team run out against West Ham at Upton Park, I’m sure with time I’ll get used to it but one thing that’s for sure is that I was so uplifted at how well our new Cardiff City team worked with each other, and even getting into a little huddle before the match; it shows how Malky has managed to get the team united during pre-season, something Dave Jones could never quite master.
What should our expectations be for this season? Well, I guess promotion is definitely on the cards again, it certainly wasn’t a few weeks ago though, so it feels good to start talking about it again. Let’s not get carried away though because one thing we showed ourselves up on as fans was expecting to win every match last season and get promoted so easily. No team has a divine right to win in this league, it’s so unpredictable it’d be impossible to form a team that is unbeatable. In fact, if I look back at our team last season it had many flaws, the biggest flaw being, what I’ve already pointed out, that it wasn’t a team. We have a team now, we don’t have individuals. It might not be, in terms of ability, as good as last season’s but you only have to look at teams like Blackpool, Norwich and Swansea to see that ability isn’t everything in this league.
In my humble opinion though, I don’t think we will get promoted this season. I’m not being pessimistic, I just think we need to rebuild first and start afresh, build the foundations and then work from there next season. But for now we can enjoy seeing a team that plays for the fans and not for themselves, and seeing some youth players develop and hopefully make their mark.
Be patient and give Mackay and the brand new Cardiff City our undivided support.
That play-off loss against Reading was weird. I think after the Middlesbrough 3-0 loss deep down, in terms of our promotion chances, we weren’t confident at all, both fans and players alike. Don’t get me wrong we were all disappointed when the final whistle went at the Cardiff City Stadium and Cardiff City were adjudged losers, and Reading were on their way to Wembley, but after that continuous feeling of disappointment it was just kicking a man while he’s down – you can do damage but there’s enough damage already done. There’s absolutely no point pointing the blame at anyone because I’m 100% sure every player and backroom staff tried their very best to reach the promised land, it just wasn’t enough unfortunately and we’ve just got to accept that it takes a lot more than bringing in big names to defeat the giant that is the Championship.
Leicester City have made some superb signings this season, but if you compare their current starting line-up to the one we put out for the most-part of last season then there really isn’t a competition, we had superb players for the Championship. However, our championship players were just that… players, not a team. We had individuals and, with the exception of some (Bellamy, McNaughton, Whitts and Hudson), there was no real desire, no loyalty, no passion. At the end of victories we were lucky if the players would clap our supporters, so it was hardly surprising that they’d almost disappear as quickly as possible into the tunnel when the final whistle went if we were defeated. That really grated on me, I thought it was so ignorant and unprofessional to not even acknowledge us, the paying customers.
Craig Bellamy used to give me goosebumps sometimes when watching him run up and down a football field in the blue of Cardiff, giving it his all no matter what the score. He quite obviously had such an influence on our team – even getting Bothroyd to run around the grass pitch a bit! – he is a born leader, and I find myself following his example when playing football myself and wanting to chase every ball down just because Craig Bellamy showed the difference giving it your all can have on your side. We need players like that in our side as I feel in the Championship it’s very rare to come across a player that is so committed to his club and is not just seeking a deal from a bigger, better club. He is just focused on the job at hand. It’s very important that Mackay does his best to get Bellamy to put pen to a Cardiff City contract again.
In the weeks after Dave Jones’ departure it was the worst I’ve felt since being a Cardiff fan. The transfer embargo before the 2010/2011 season was bad enough but I always knew we’d pull through that somehow. However, after Dave Jones had gone it felt as if we lost a big part of our club and we had an absolute massive rebuilding job to initiate. It was, though, with Malky Mackay’s appointment that optimism started kicking in instantly after his first press conference stating his ambition to succeed and saying our club had “Massive ambition, massive passion” and that he sees a club that “Has an infrastructure that is exciting”. The bluebird faithful was instantly won over by a manager that most hadn’t really heard of that much. We were won over even more by the signings he made almost days after his announcement as Bluebirds boss.
First was Dundee winger Craig Conway, then highly rated former England u21 international Andrew Taylor swiftly followed by the heart of Watford FC’s team Don Cowie. 19-year old hot prospect Joe Mason then joined us from Plymouth, who had a few Premier League clubs keeping tabs on him. Icelandic international Aron Gunnarsson followed Mason into signing for the blue of Cardiff, who many find an ideal replacement for Seyi Olofinjana, and then the much celebrated signings of Cardiff City hero Robert “Earnie” Earnshaw, Kenny Miller and Rudy Gestede. This was all done in 3 weeks time. Malky clearly doesn’t have the word ‘hesitation’ in his vocabulary. Cardiff City fans were instantly restored with confidence, a new-look Cardiff City was to be shown off to our fans for the forthcoming campaign.
Me and the old man watched city’s opening championship match against West Ham and I couldn’t help but laugh when he asked, “Where the f**k have all our players gone?” – he’d been busy over the summer and obviously hadn’t had time to check up on our transfer activity! When I heard the line-up read out it was like last season didn’t even happen, and that we’d always had these players. It was quite saddening and I felt almost dejected that I’d never see Bothroyd and Chopra lead the front line anymore. I wasn’t that upset when Bywater wasn’t in-goal, though.
Joking aside, it was incredibly surreal seeing a totally different Cardiff team run out against West Ham at Upton Park, I’m sure with time I’ll get used to it but one thing that’s for sure is that I was so uplifted at how well our new Cardiff City team worked with each other, and even getting into a little huddle before the match; it shows how Malky has managed to get the team united during pre-season, something Dave Jones could never quite master.
What should our expectations be for this season? Well, I guess promotion is definitely on the cards again, it certainly wasn’t a few weeks ago though, so it feels good to start talking about it again. Let’s not get carried away though because one thing we showed ourselves up on as fans was expecting to win every match last season and get promoted so easily. No team has a divine right to win in this league, it’s so unpredictable it’d be impossible to form a team that is unbeatable. In fact, if I look back at our team last season it had many flaws, the biggest flaw being, what I’ve already pointed out, that it wasn’t a team. We have a team now, we don’t have individuals. It might not be, in terms of ability, as good as last season’s but you only have to look at teams like Blackpool, Norwich and Swansea to see that ability isn’t everything in this league.
In my humble opinion though, I don’t think we will get promoted this season. I’m not being pessimistic, I just think we need to rebuild first and start afresh, build the foundations and then work from there next season. But for now we can enjoy seeing a team that plays for the fans and not for themselves, and seeing some youth players develop and hopefully make their mark.
Be patient and give Mackay and the brand new Cardiff City our undivided support.
Re: The new Cardiff City.
Sat Aug 13, 2011 3:00 am
Excellent article!
I mean, fair play top notch.
Still need more signings.... However, you seem to be right.
2010/2011 Cardiff were individuals
2011/2012 Cardiff seem so far to be a team.
Looking forward to having a solid back line this season. Taylor an excellent acquisition; as well as the return of Gezza
I mean, fair play top notch.
Still need more signings.... However, you seem to be right.
2010/2011 Cardiff were individuals
2011/2012 Cardiff seem so far to be a team.
Looking forward to having a solid back line this season. Taylor an excellent acquisition; as well as the return of Gezza
Re: The new Cardiff City.
Sat Aug 13, 2011 11:13 am
DannyBluebird wrote:Excellent article!
I mean, fair play top notch.
Still need more signings.... However, you seem to be right.
2010/2011 Cardiff were individuals
2011/2012 Cardiff seem so far to be a team.
Looking forward to having a solid back line this season. Taylor an excellent acquisition; as well as the return of Gezza
Thank you.
I think Bellamy is a must, or at least someone who can come close to replicating what he brought to our side last season. Apparently Mackay is after Danny Collins, so at least for once we'll have strength in depth in defence.
Re: The new Cardiff City.
Sat Aug 13, 2011 11:36 am
Great Post Team spirit and commitment is everything. The Cardiff team I watched last Sunday showed both of those characteristics in abundance and as a fan that's all I can ask of them. If we do achieve promotion this year it will be a bonus and from what I saw of the other teams last weekend may just be achievable.
Re: The new Cardiff City.
Sat Aug 13, 2011 11:44 am
I agree, bringing Bellamy back is a MUST if we want to challenge for promotion
Re: The new Cardiff City.
Sat Aug 13, 2011 11:52 am
Welcome back. 
Re: The new Cardiff City.
Sat Aug 13, 2011 5:47 pm
Cheers fellas.
Anyone think Danny Collins will be a good signing, then? He was linked to us on SSN yesterday.
Anyone think Danny Collins will be a good signing, then? He was linked to us on SSN yesterday.