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
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.
