6.5 out of 10?

Well, the season is one game short of the half way point, with the busy Christmas and New Year period coming up where most teams play 4 games. A combination of 3 weeks holiday in the USA (seems such a long time ago now) and a return to work has meant that I haven't updated since the 14th October, and so now seems as good a time as any. 

As the title of the post suggests, the Bluebirds are playing quite well, and remain in contention for a playoff place, without setting the world alight. We have the potential to be a very good team, and with more than half of the season to go there is still plenty of time to achieve this, but somehow its just a little more hope than expectation. Lets hope they prove me wrong.

There have been 12 matches since my last post, the first 5 of which were while I was on holiday. However, I didn't miss much as in those 5 games, we had a 1-0 win, a 1-0 defeat and 3 0-0 draws, so in total we scored 1 goal while I was away (and that was an own goal!).

PRESTON 0 CARDIFF 0
CARDIFF 1 MIDDLESBOROUGH 0
CARDIFF 0 BRISTOL CITY 0
IPSWICH 0 CARDIFF 0
LEEDS 1 CARDIFF 0
CARDIFF 2 READING 0
DERBY 2 CARDIFF 0
CARDIFF 2 BURNLEY 2
BOLTON 2 CARDIFF 3
CARDIFF 2 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 2
CARDIFF 3 BRENTFORD 2
BIRMINGHAM 1 CARDIFF 0

We rushed back , jet-lagged, from Florida to get to the Reading game. There were various mutterings from the supporters groups about the club not being able to score goals from open play, and general disillusionment with the way the team was playing, but suddenly we were more adventurous! Goals from Kenwynne Jones and Matthew Connoly either side of half time were enough to see us through on a fairly comfortable win. An encouraging performance.

Kenwynne Jones celebrates against Reading. He also scored 2 goals against Brentford including a stoppage time winner

Unfortunately, our next game was at high-flying in form Derby, and we were beaten comfortably by a team of promotion favourites. By the time our home game against Burnley arrived, we had signed a new striker on loan from Charlton, Tony Watt. I think most supporters were underwhelmed by this signing. After all, Charlton are struggling near the bottom of the Championship, so if he couldn't get a game there, why were we getting him?

Well, it could yet be the turning point of our season. Hard working and mobile, he has fitted in well with our team and we have started scoring goals - 2 of them by Watt himself!

But the Burnley game began a disturbing run of games, as we led 2-0 with 4 minutes of regular time left, only to draw 2-2 with a very unlucky own goal. We then went to struggling Bolton, where Watt scored his first goal for the club in a 3-2 win. Bolton equalised twice during this game before Anthony Pilkington capped a great move with a late winner.

Sean Morrison heads the second goal against Burnley.

Sheffield Wednesday were the next team to visit the Cardiff City Stadium, and again we played good attacking football where yet again we went into a 2-0 lead before half time. We played some good football, and a Craig Noone penalty was followed by a great solo effort breakaway goal by Anthony Pilkington. But, the team panicked again and allowed Wednesday to pull back to 2-2, and in the end we were happy to settle for the draw.

3 days later, and Brentford were the visitors. Goals from Kenwynne Jones and Tony Watt put us up 2-0 before half time. Surely, after the previous 2 home games we couldn't mess it up again? Well, yes we could! The side got notably anxious after Brentford pulled one back, and almost inevitably with 4 minutes to go Brentford equalised! Boos echoed around the Cardiff City Stadium and the crowd left in huge numbers. Only this time, there was a sting in the tail of the game as a cross from Fabio in the 3rd minute of stoppage time was turned in by Kenwynne Jones for a 3-2 win!

Then for our 3rd game in a week we went to Birmingham for the Friday night televised game. We were really unlucky here, with a bad penalty decision given against us for handball when replays showed that the ball clearly hit Matt Connolly in the face, not on the hand. This turned out to be the only goal of the game, although we made enough chances to win but did not convert them.

Tony Watt - from Celtic to Cardiff via Liege and Charlton!

THE TRANSFER WINDOW APPROACHES

January looms, when the buying and selling of players commences. Rumours abound, but at the moment the only fairly concrete news is that the permanent signing of Tony Watt is likely to take place. Kenwynne Jones seems to want to move, but it is to be hoped we can persuade him to stay at least until the end of the season. I think we could do with another strong midfielder to support Gunarssonn and Ralls, and perhaps another fast wide player. But time will tell, and there are 4 games to play before then. Onwards and (hopefully) upwards.

Lets Get Down To Business

Well, the most recent international break is now over and the proper football starts again. A quick mention at the point for the Welsh National team to congratulate them for achieving qualification for the first major tournament since before I was born! Lets hope they don't mess it up when they play in the European championship finals in France next summer.

Former Bluebirds players Aaron Ramsey (top) and Chris Gunter played a major part in the qualification of Wales to the European championship finals in France next summer.

RESULTS SINCE MY LAST POST:

CARDIFF 2 HUDDERSFIELD 0

CARDIFF 0 HULL CITY 2

ROTHERHAM 2 CARDIFF 1

CARDIFF 2 CHARLTON 1

BRIGHTON 1 CARDIFF 1

Cardiff 2 Huddersfield 0

Cardiff achieved their third consecutive league win against struggling Huddersfield, the first time we have won 3 consecutive league matches since the promotion season. In truth, Huddersfield were poor and offered little attacking threat. Cardiff had to be patient, however, and the introduction of Sammy Ameobi with 30 minutes remaining turned out to be the decisive move of the game. His cross to Anthony Pilkington was turned in following a tight turn, and soon after Joe Mason sealed the game with a calmly taken finish.

Fabio in action against Huddersfield - he is finally showing much better form this season.

Cardiff 0 Hull City 2

Could it be 4 wins in a row? Sadly not, as recently relegated Hull City came to Cardiff a few days later. It gave a stark reminder of the amount of money at the highest level, with Hull fielding a side all with much Premier League experience. If there is such a thing as an encouraging loss, the this was it. Hull took the lead after 8 minutes when a rebound fell conveniently for Sako to fire home. but Cardiff did not let this get them down. They continued to play football and put much heavy pressure on the Hull defence. There were one or two good calls for a penalty which were turned down by the referee and it just wasn't our night. A late breakaway by Hull made for a flattering score of 2-0, but this was not really a true reflection of the game.

Rotherham 2 Cardiff 1

This was a disastrous game where everything went wrong. Most importantly, goalkeeper David Marshall got himself sent off for petulant behaviour following an argument with Rotherham forward Matt Derbyshire, giving away a penalty in the process. Despite this, Cardiff equalised before half time and put on much of the pressure in the second half. but just when it looked like we were going to hang on for a point, Matt Connolly scored an unfortunate own goal in stoppage time, giving Rotherham their first win of the season. A bad day at the office all round.

Naughty boy David Marshall

Cardiff 2 Charlton 1

Another game where patience paid off against inferior opposition. These were the sort of games that we would have lost last season. Cardiff dominated the game, but then went behind against the run of play early in the second half. But another Joe Mason goal4 minutes later brought Cardiff back into it. The introduction of Sammy Ameobi again caused problems, and following a corner, Peter Whittingham was given a second chance to cross which Sean Morrison was able to put away. A much more convincing win than the scoreline suggests.

Sean Morrison acknowledges Peter Whittingham's part in the winner.

Brighton 1 Cardiff 1

Another strong test, this time against top of the table and unbeaten Brighton. This game showed some of the resilience of the team, and their ability to play for each other. An excellent early move saw Joe Mason give Cardiff the lead after 5 minutes. Brighton then continued to dominate for the rest of the match. Their equaliser came after 37 minutes, but they were unable to get any further goals. For the last 10 minutes of the game, Cardiff seemed to have the Brighton attack under control, and had one or two chances to score on the break themselves. Ultimately a satisfying result against a team now expected to be near the top of the table at the end of the season.

Joe Mason celebrates his 5th goal of the season with Kenwynne Jones.

Lets get down to business!

As usual, the Championship is incredibly competitive.There are only 3 points separating the teams in third and twelfth place, with Cardiff between them in eighth. I think that the top 8 teams at the end of the season will come from the current top half of the table. We play 2 of the challenging teams (Middlesborough and Ipswich) and 2 of the struggling teams (Preston and Bristol City) during the rest of October, and if we can get  7 or 8 points from those matches it can give us a chance for a strong push into the Christmas period. We are challenging, and are good enough to at least make the playoffs. now is the time to prove it. 

Moving On Up.

Well, the first pause in the new season is here with the first 2 week international break. The season is young, with only 5 league games gone (that is more than 10% of the season though!), and we don't want to get too carried away at this point. But, the start to the season has been pleasing, to say the least. We still haven't lost a game in 90 minutes(more of that later), we remain unbeaten in the Championship, and we find ourselves occupying one of the playoff places. 

And to make things even better, we have managed to keep our best players in the "Transfer Window" despite interest from Premier League clubs, particularly concerning goalkeeper David Marshall. Despite getting the club on a more sound financial footing with a number of cost cutting measures, the club held out for their full valuation for Marshall from West Bromwich Albion, and when WBA didn't come up with that figure, then Marshall stayed. I honestly thought he would be leaving us, and I think this shows a positive statement of intent from the club. 

Cardiff and Scotland's number 1, David Marshall.

There have been four more matches since my last update:-

BLACKBURN 1 CARDIFF 1

CARDIFF 2 WOLVES 0

MK DONS 2 CARDIFF 1 (Capital One Cup - After Extra Time)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 CARDIFF 2

Blackburn Rovers 1 Cardiff 1 

This time the boot was on the other foot for Cardiff. After 2 late equalisers in the first two Championship fixtures, this time it was Cardiff who were unable to hold on for the whole 3 points when Blackburn captain Grant Hanley equalised in the 88th minute, following an early Joe Mason goal which had put us 1-0 up after 5 minutes. Match reports suggest that Blackburn could easily have come back to win this game, and Cardiff should have killed the game off in the first half, but a second away draw against a team I expect to challenge this year is more than acceptable.

Joe Mason - encouraging start to the season.

Cardiff 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

Now we are making progress! A really good team effort. After his heroics in the previous games, including his stunning equaliser at QPR, Scott Malone had to be left out of the team with a virus. So Fabio turned out at left back and was outstanding, easily the best I have ever seen him play for Cardiff! I have often criticised Fabio in the past for living on the glory days of his occasional appearances for Manchester United, but this time he proved that he can still play. Kennwyne Jones marked his return to the starting lineup following injury with a brave headed goal, and Sammy Ameobi replaced KJ and scored his first goal for the club!

Kenwynne Jones beats the Wolves defence in the pouring rain to get his first goal of the season!

Wolves were tipped to do well this season, but we controlled this game from the 10 minute mark. In truth, Wolves weren't very good. But last season we allowed ourselves to be dragged down to the level of the opposition,and in this match it was pleasing to see that this didn't happen.

MK Dons 2 Cardiff 1 (Capital One Cup)(After Extra Time - 90 minutes 1-1)

A very different team from the one who beat Wolves on Saturday, with a number of key players rested and a number of back up players given a start. An Alex Revell goal was cancelled out after 78 minutes and the game went to extra time, when Murphy scored his first goal for MK Dons. Not a very satisfactory performance, but no-one is too upset to be out of the trophy as no team seems to take it too seriously until about the 4th Round anyway.

Nottingham Forest 1 Cardiff 2

The final league game before the break produced our first away win of the season. A goal each from our strikers Kenwynne Jones and Joe Mason gave the Bluebirds a 2-0 lead early in the second half. A Forest goal with 4 minutes remaining made the end of the match interesting, but we held on for a well deserved win. David Marshall made a number of key saves and was voted Man of the Match.

The Transfer Window closes.

And we kept our key players. We made few new signings over the summer, but the fact that we kept David Marshall, Kenwynne Jones and Bruno Ecuele Manga is probably more important than bringing in new players. That said, Russell slide was able to announce the signing of French League 2 striker Idriss Saadi on the day before the transfer window closed, from Clermont Foot (great name for a football club!). Idriss is expected to immediately challenge for a first team place. 

Idriss Saadi

The club also signed Hungarian International Gabriel Tamas who was previously a free agent. It seems that Tamas is expected to provide defensive cover for the back four. although he clearly has experience and ability, he has also had some disciplinary issues with other clubs, so lets hope he has put those behind him.

 Gabriel Tamas

Of course, in addition to the new signings, the return of Kagisho Dikgacoi and Anthony Pilkington from long term injury, and the return to the club from loan of Joe Mason has made a considerable difference, and is almost like having 3 new players! I'm not getting carried away yet, as there is much of the season to go. But this is a more promising start than anyone ever hoped. Lets hope that with 3 matches at home out of the 4 September fixtures we can continue our push at the top of the Championship.  Onwards, and (hopefully) upwards!

  

Looks Promising.

Well, the first week the season is behind us. How you feel about the week depends on whether you are a glass half full or a glass half empty person! I like to take a positive slant on things, and at least we are unbeaten in 3 games!

Its fair to say that the lack of new signings in the summer caused a little concern. The only major signing being Sammy Ameobi on loan from Newcastle United. But the advantage of this is coherent team work amongst a group of players who clearly know each other very well. There were certainly one or two issues this week, but in general it was an improved and encouraging start to the season.

Due to injuries, we were left with the 2 centre backs Sean Morrison (also made club captain) and Matt Connoly. This is unlikely to be a regular pairing, and undoubtedly Bruno Ecuele Manga will replace Connoly when he returns from injury (by this weekend probably). But they are a competent pairing and have performed well together. Simon Moore has been playing in goal for the League games while David Marshall is suspended, and young back up Ben Wilson given the chance for the Capital One Cup match against Wimbledon.

Despite these defensive uncertainties, the defence has generally performed in a satisfactory way this week, and left back Scott Malone has probably been player of the week, capped off with a stunning stoppage time equaliser against QPR!

Results this week:-

CARDIFF 1 FULHAM 1

CARDIFF 1 AFC WIMBLEDON 0 (Capital One Cup)

QPR 2 CARDIFF 2

Cardiff 1 Fulham 1

An encouraging start to the season. Plenty of chances created, but sometimes lacking a cutting edge in front of goal. The Bluebirds dominated possession for much of the first half, but then went behind early in the second half following a handling error by keeper Simon Moore. However, the team did not get downhearted and stuck to the game plan. The reward was a stunning goal from substitute Craig Noone in the 86th minute. The goal was nothing more than we deserved. Craig none has already shown more in the 3 games he has been involved in this season than he did all last season. Its good to see.

Craig Noone celebrates his late goal against Fulham.

Cardiff 1 AFC Wimbledon 0

A number of changes to the team, notably a completely new midfield, in order to give some game time to players on the bench from Saturday. These matches are often difficult against lower league opposition, and League 2 Wimbledon caused some problems from time to time . But the game was settled by another classy Craig Noone goal from a free kick on the stroke of half time. On a night when many other Championship clubs struggled against lower league opponents, this was a decent performance from what is probably a half strength side.

Sammy Ameobi on the ball against AFC Wimbledon.

Queens Park Rangers 2 Cardiff 2

The trip to west London was seen as the first major test of the season, against a team relegated from the Premier League last season. This was a further improved performance by the team, but QPR scored against the run of play following bad marking by the Cardiff defence at a corner. Then early in the second half, QPR went 2-0 ahead from a very dubious goal where a clear handball was missed by the officials allowing the predator to score off his chest.

But thankfully, the Bluebirds stuck to their task, and a gaol from a corner by Sean Morrison got us back into the game. Then, as 90 minutes clicked on to the clock, the ball fell to left back Scott Malone who volleyed an excellent equaliser into the top left corner of the goal - the second outstanding late equaliser in the week. Defensive errors apart, this was a very encouraging start to the season. I'm not counting on the playoffs or promotion yet, but there were definite signs of hope.

Next fixture tomorrow Tuesday 18th August away at Blackburn Rovers, then another televised game at home to Wolves on Saturday. Lets hope at least one win comes from those 2 matches.

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

It's that time of year again - the new football season is almost upon us. That heady mix of excitement and hope engulfs football fans throughout the country, convinced that this season is going to be "Our Season".The proper football starts this weekend, even the Premier league this year, starting a week early to allow extra time for the European Championships (C'mon Wales!) in the summer of 2016.

All football fans should be excited this time of the season. After all, all teams are level at the moment - no promotion, playoff or relegation fears yet. So what can we expect from the Bluebirds at the Cardiff city Stadium this year?

The Protheroe boys outside the Cardiff City Stadium earlier this week.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE?

Well, there haven't been many changes to the playing staff. Many of us feared that some of our best players, notably Bruno Ecuele Manga, David Marshall and Kenwynne Jones would be leaving us. However, this hasn't materialised - yet. It seems like Scotland's number 1 goalkeeper David Marshall is likely to be on his way to West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League, although at the time of compiling this blog negotiations are continuing between the 2 clubs to agree a fee. I'll be sorry to see Marshall go, but he owes the club nothing and deserves to be playing at the higher level. Simon Moore is a very able deputy, and if the manager is able to re-invest the money received for Marshall into the team, then it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Bruno Ecuele Manga - staying.

At the moment, only 2 players have come into the club in the summer. Semi Ajeyi, a young centre half from Arsenal, will hopefully establish himself in the future. Also, on a season long loan, we have signed Sammy Ameobi from Newcastle United. Ameobi played in more than 20 Premier League games last year, and could be a good addition to the squad at Championship level. He certainly looked keen and fit at the open training session at the Cardiff City Stadium this week. He is also a lot taller than I realised!

The squad going through their paces at the Cardiff City Stadium this week.

SO WHAT CAN WE EXPECT THIS SEASON?

Well, this is where your heart and your head get into competition with each other. As usual, the Championship looks like it is as open as ever, where even the pre-season favourites have some flaws. There has been a lot of re-investement at Derby in the close season, especially after their implosion at the end of last season which saw them miss out on the playoffs. Although they have spent a lot of money, they also have a new manager, so although favourites for a top 6 place it is by no means a foregone conclusion. The teams coming down from the Premier League often do well, but Hull and Burnley have had to slash costs and have had their best players cherry picked by Premier League clubs. QPR remain in sever financial turmoil and may also have to regroup and rebuild. I think Hull may be the most likely of these 3 to finish in the top 6.

In recent years, it has been quite common for teams to come up from League 1 and immediately get a top 6 place - Bournemouth and Brentford last year. I expect Bristol City and Preston to do well this year too.

Peter Whittingham - can he be more influential again this season?

So - can the Bluebirds make it into the top 6 and the playoffs - or even automatic promotion? Well, to hedge my bets, possibly! As ever, the Championship will be a very even league, but there are no obvious standout teams this year that you would expect to dominate. Manager Russell Slade improved the team towards the end of last season, especially away from home, and now it is truly HIS team, there can be no excuses if there is no further improvement. It is more in hope than expectation, but I believe that we can at least get a playoff place.

PREDICTIONS.

Well, I was almost completely wrong with these last year, but here goes:-

Top 6 (in no particular order) Derby, Hull, Bristol City, Wolves, Middlesborough,Cardiff

Bottom 3 - MK Dons, Rotherham, Reading.

Of course, I could be spectacularly wrong! Either way, I'll be there on Saturday to cheer on the boys in their first home game against Fulham (12 noon kick off this week because of a rugby match in Cardiff!).

Is it too late for a review of last season?

It is now just over 7 weeks since our season ended, and in a little less than 7 weeks it starts all over again! Of course, since then we have had the end of season big games like the end of season playoffs, the FA Cup Final and and Champions League final, as well as the big European Championship qualifier here which saw Wales achieve a great win over number 2 ranked in the world Belgium. But now that is all out of the way, we finally have a couple of weeks relatively football free before it starts all over again!

Cardiff boy Gareth Bale (but never a Bluebird) celebrates his goal for Wales against Belgium with fellow Cardiff boy and former Bluebird Aron Ramsey.

I think its taken me until now to really work out what happened at the Cardiff City Stadium last season. I don't think I ever really bought into the idea that we were favourites to get promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, but I was fairly confident that we would at least be challenging. It soon became apparent that the huge squad that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had put together was a talented team of individuals, but not necessarily a team ( and some were not even talented individuals!). The departure of Ole in October seemed to give us plenty of season to recover and challenge, but then came the rather underwhelming appointment of Russell Slade, whose remit seemed to be to cut costs and still produce a challenging team. A substantial numbers of fans still want Slade out, as they don't think he is up to the job. I'm prepared to award him a 6 out of 10 for the rest of last season - at least the players seemed to know what they were doing after he arrived - but i'm fairly sure that if he doesn't get off to a good start next season then he too will be looking for alternative employment by Bonfire Night.

What possibly caused more disappointment for fans was our home form. Not only was it poor in terms of results, but it was poor in terms of performance too. The home league win against Reading sticks in my mind - I can't remember when a win has been so disappointing and terrible to watch! However, as the season progressed our away form became more and more acceptable. I'm not sure if this was coincidence or whether the players felt less pressure away from their own fans, but it was at least a sign of progress and a crumb of comfort from a disappointing season. There were notable away wins at eventual Champions Watford, as well as at top 6 team Brentford. The season ended with a good win at Nottingham Forest ( a bogey ground in recent years). This away form must be a positive going ahead?

   Eoin Doyle scores at Forest.

So - How did I do?

Trying to predict the outcome of the Championship is particularly difficult, and last season proved to be no exception. Of the 6 teams I tried to predict in to the top 6, only 2 made it! (Middlesborough and Norwich) Derby were there until the final day of the season (welcome to our world!), Cardiff and Blackburn flattered to deceive and Wigan were comfortably relegated!

To counteract that, of the 3 teams I thought might be relegated, Blackpool achieved it (comfortably), Huddersfield finished safely mid table and Brentford actually finished in the top 6 playoffs! I think this just about sums up the roller coaster ride that is Championship football!

And next season?

I'm not saying anything yet. At the time of composing this blog, there have been no significant players in or out of the club, although a number of the high earners are rumoured to be on their way. Off the pitch, the club seem to be much more organised than in recent seasons. The stadium has already had its new facelift, the new shirts (now thankfully back to blue!) are due to be delivered by Adidas on 3rd July, and the early adopter season tickets are due out very soon. One of the more positive things this week was the picture of Bruno Ecuele Manga appearing on the outside of the Cardiff City Stadium for the new season. He was easily our best player last season (easily Ole's best signing), and we all though he would be heading off to the Premier League this season. Surely, now that the club his picture on the stadium he's staying? 

Funny how the excitement starts to build as a new season approaches - roll on August 8th and a home game to start the new season against Fulham!

Aron Gunnarsonn and Bruno Ecuele Manga adorn the "Back in blue" Cardiff City Stadium.

Are we nearly there yet?

Like all true football fans, my heart rules my  head sometimes, and as I am a "glass half full" type of person I tend to see things in a positive light. 8 matches since my last post, featuring 3 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws - all good, solid mid-table stuff!

CARDIFF 0 WOLVES 1
ROTHERHAM 1 CARDIFF 3
CARDIFF 1 CHARLTON 2
BRENTFORD 1 CARDIFF 2
CARDIFF 1 BOURNEMOUTH 1
CARDIFF 2 BIRMINGHAM 0
READING 1 CARDIFF 1
CARDIFF 0 BOLTON 3

In general, things have been more stable, and the team is certainly harder to beat. Well, I thought that until the dreadful capitulation to Bolton last Saturday! To make things more interesting, the board have decided to lend our top striker Kenwynne Jones to Bournemouth, albeit for very good financial reasons, at the same time as 2 of our other strikers are injured !

Alex Revell celebrates his opportunist strike against Brentford

Another surprising feature is that we now seem to have developed some away form whilst having a string of defeats at home! And that just about sums up the season, where we look destined to finish mid-table.

Bruno Ecuele Manga scores the equaliser against promotion favourites Bournemouth

Results don't always tell the whole story. The home defeat against Charlton was definitely unfortunate and inexplicable, as well as thoroughly undeserved! But reports from the away game at Brentford suggest that we were the lucky ones! That is the nature of football, and you just have to hope that these coincidences even themselves out over the course of the season. Every team has an "off" day from time to time, and so let's hope that Saturday's dreadful defeat to Bolton was a one-off. The home draw with promotion favourites Bournemouth was particularly satisfying, especially as we had previously been comprehensively outplayed by them twice this season already.

And so there are 5 games left this season. We can't go up, and we can't go down. Now is the time for players to prove whether they are good enough and want to play for the club next season. This Saturday sees a trip to Leeds, who haven't beaten us for many years, dating back to our famous FA Cup victory against the then Premier League leaders. They have the same number of points as us, and are a club perpetually in turmoil, very much as we are.Perhaps this once they might win? (Let's hope not).

Final season review in about a month.

The More Things Change .......

As usual, things seem to have got in the way of my promised once monthly posts to this blog. Sometimes life gets in the way of football. My last post was on 1st December 2014, and I can't believe how upbeat everything seemed to be then! There was still hope of making it to the playoffs, Russell Slade hadn't made any new signings, and we had just had our first away win of the season - how times have changed!

RESULTS SINCE MY LAST POST:

CARDIFF 0 ROTHERAM 0

AFC BOURNEMOUTH 5 CARDIFF 3

CARDIFF 2 BRENTFORD 3

CHARLTON 1 CARDIFF 1

CARDIFF 2 WATFORD 4

CARDIFF 3 COLCHESTER 1 (FA Cup)

CARDIFF 1 FULHAM 0

NORWICH 3 CARDIFF 2

MIDDLESBOROUGH 2 CARDIFF 1

CARDIFF 1 READING 2 (FA Cup)

CARDIFF 0 DERBY 2

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 1 CARDIFF 1

CARDIFF 0 BRIGHTON 0
CARDIFF 1 BLACKBURN 1
HUDDERSFIELD 0 CARDIFF 0
WIGAN 0 CARDIFF 1

Only two league wins since my last post, and instead of looking up the table towards the playoff spots we find ourselves looking back over our shoulders at trying to avoid the relegation places! Russell Slade finds himself under real pressure, and we now have a number of new players in who have considerably reduced the wage bill, but I'm not convinced have improved the competencies of the team!

I could try to break down each individual match, but that would be far too depressing and repetitive! Suffice to say, we haven't played in an exciting and flamboyant way for quite a while. The Rotherham and Brighton games were particularly poor, although at least we managed to get a point from those games when we could easily have had none. We are performing like a mid-table side at best, and for much of the time we haven't even been that. We have also come up against some good footballing sides such as Bournemouth and Brentford, and also against Derby who are very efficient and effective. But its the way that we have been unable to perform against the poor sides that has been more worrying -  we seem to get dragged down to their level.

Its not even due to a lack of effort by the players - they seem to be trying hard - but they  seemed to be disorganised for much of the time and not sure about what they are trying to do. However, the last few matches have at least begun to show a glimmer of hope. 5 matches unbeaten, albeit 4 of them drawn, and a win against one of the teams apparently destined for relegation has taken the pressure off. 3 clean sheets, and only one goal scored against us in open play is also encouraging, as we seem to have made ourselves hard to beat at the very least. I am now fairly confident we can avoid relegation, but the upcoming match against the in-form and free scoring Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday will be a big test.

THE BLUE QUESTION

As all of my regular readers are aware, I do my best on this blog to avoid any discussion of the infamous Cardiff city rebrand which has made so many headlines over the last couple of seasons.

The Fulham game on 10 January marked a return to the team playing in their traditional blue. This seems to have been treated by our owner Vincent Tan as a peace offering to try to get the regular supporters back on side. It was certainly welcome by all of the fans, and seen to produce a much more enthusiastic performance from the team. Although it was only a 1-0 win against Fulham, the result was much more emphatic that the best scoreline suggests. The return to the blue certainly seems to have unified the fan base in support of the team, although some of the performances have left a lot to be desired!

I am glad that we have now returned to play in our traditional blue - but that is all I want to say about the subject. 

A BIG FINISH?

Now that the threat of relegation or the possibility of promotion has gone, lets hope we can move on a relax and play some decent football for the rest of the season. After the turmoil of this year, I'll settle for a finish in the top half of the table, with a chance to further rebuild and kick on next season. Like all football fans, I am the eternal optimist!

Aron Gunnarsonn scores the winner at Wigan.