Posts Tagged ‘Cardiff’

1FITG mid-season review: Cardiff

Posted: February 15, 2013 by onefootinthegame in Uncategorized
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After a pre-season of controversy on the shock move from blue to red, Cardiff City have been setting the Championship alight with their results this season. @giraffefarmer gives us his thoughts on what’s happened and whether after a long spell out of the top league they’ll hold on for promotion.

So what are your thoughts on Cardiff’s season so far?

It’s been good. Cardiff are 8 points clear at the top with a game in hand (against 3rd place Leicester, win that and it’s 11 points clear, 14 points above 3rd place), looking fairly consistent and it all seems to be coming together. Kim Bo-Kyung has brought some class to the midfield, while Aron Gunnarson has looked lively whenever I’ve seen him play. Obviously Craig Bellamy brings quality and experience to the side and he does seem determined to make sure the side succeeds; even if that means having a right go at players that fail to deliver a good ball to him. The signing of Fraizer Campbell is a bit of a gamble, if it comes off then Cardiff will have got a quality striker for not much. Mind you, given the resources available writing off £600k would hardly be a disaster.

Optimistic about the cups this year? Cardiff always do pretty well in them…

Yes, well, about that. Early exits in both cups means that there is little to distract Cardiff from the league this year. It’s horrible to say this, especially as the cup runs have given me some of my best football memories (that Ben Turner equaliser in the League Cup Final!), but the league has to be the priority this year. Cardiff have been to both the FA Cup and League Cup Finals in recent years so effectively taking a break this year is not too bad.

It’s Malky Mackay’s second season in charge, has he now got the side playing as he wants?

I think so, yes. Malky seems to be getting a good balance and incorporating players well. The side may still be lacking a little bit of flexibility and sometimes needs to be slightly more clinical in putting teams away, but these are minor things when compared to the general solidity of the team. The fans are very much on board with the Malky project, he impressed last year by getting Cardiff to the playoffs and the team’s consistent form this year has cemented that initial good feeling.

So, the colour change thing. How’s that working out?

Hideous

It does seem to have split the fanbase. A certain portion of fans have essentially said that Cardiff City no longer exists for them and have stopped supporting the club. Another portion seem to be in the ‘my club, right or wrong’ camp and will support the owners no matter what they suggest. The largest group is I think more ambivalent. They’d much rather we were playing in blue but are realistic that football is a money game and if playing in red means that Cardiff get promoted to the Premier League then they’ll suck it up. However, Cardiff fans can be fickle in their support for boards and managers and if things start to go badly the Malaysian owners could quickly find themselves receiving a lot of heat, especially if the currently ludicrously compliant South Wales press start to turn on them.

From a personal standpoint, it feels weird and wrong and like it’s not really my club in the same way anymore. While I’ll be happy if Cardiff get promoted and I’ll look forward to going to some great away matches in London (if I can get tickets), I won’t be dancing in the street or shouting from the rooftops as I would have done if we’d gone up a couple of seasons ago.

Also, that club badge is objectively terrible.

Predicted finish in the Championship this season?

1st, that gap at the top is substantial. If you look at the table the teams from 2nd to 6th are all pretty close to each other points-wise so there will be a lot of competition between them to grab 2nd place. This season is likely to follow the typical Championship template, where one team heads away at the top while the rest give up on chasing them down and concentrate instead on scrapping it out for the final spot. Cardiff have become notorious for blowing promotion chances over the last few years, but this side has a lot more resilience and grit about it, has a bigger lead and instead of being a victim of Championship points-trading will likely be the team that benefits. Also, there’s no distraction from the cups.

Cardiff City V Liverpool Carling Cup final Preview/rant…

Posted: February 24, 2012 by onefootinthegame in Cardiff City, Carling Cup, Liverpool
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Peter Whittingham of Cardiff City F.C. 05/12/0...

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There’ll be more an edge to the League Cup final on Sunday than you’d initially think for two teams that have little link or rivalry. A lot of this may come as a surprise to Liverpool supporters.

One reason is that there are a lot of Liverpool fans that live in South Wales. And I mean a LOT. The jokes were that the two best supported teams in South Wales had got to the final and they weren’t far off the mark.

The high level of support owes more to Liverpool’s past glories than being any reflection on their current abilities, and the unbelievable crapness of Cardiff during the 80s and 90s contributed a lot to the attractiveness of supporting Liverpool. Many City fans will have grown up with the majority of their mates supporting Liverpool and giving them stick for going to the City.

Now the gap between the teams has narrowed and it’s heartening to see as many City shirts being worn by kids in South Wales as Liverpool or Manchester United ones. But for the older generation the chance to put one over on Liverpool is a huge motivation, even if it is simply so they can walk into work on Monday and brag to the Liverpool supporters.

Another thing that’ll be confusing for Liverpool fans is that the majority of the country will be behind Cardiff (a novelty for Cardiff fans too) and not simply in an ‘oh-the-British-love-an-underdog’ fashion.

Liverpool have always been the media darlings of football. Ex-players have gone to work in high-profile TV and radio jobs (just look at the regular MOTD sofa) and Liverpool have always had a smooth ride. Everyone cheered them on in Istanbul, the same can’t be said for Manchester United in Barcelona. Liverpool built up a reputation and a stack of goodwill from the football community in general, but their reputation is in tatters after the Suarez incident and the way the club handled it. Every football team has a ‘no-one likes us’ attitude among it’s support but at Liverpool it’s been slightly delusional and coupled with a bit of a victim complex. However now the ‘no-one likes us’ view may be justified. It’ll be interesting to see how Liverpool players and fans react to that on the day. Perhaps a spell as a genuine underdog would help soften attitudes towards to Liverpool.

It’ll also be an interesting game for Craig Bellamy, who was at Cardiff last season and is a Cardiff boy through and through (just listen to him talk, pure Cardiff from the accent to the mannerisms to the attitude). Like many South Walians he grew up a Liverpool fan, but if he does manage to score (and many Cardiff fans are resigned to the fact that it would be bloody typical if he did) then the chances that he’ll celebrate it are slim.

On the pitch, Liverpool shouldn’t underestimate Cardiff, who are a decent side pushing for promotion in a strong division. Though their form hasn’t been great lately they have genuine ambitions to be in the Premier League in the near future will be looking at the League Cup as a way to show that they’re serious about that. Of course on paper Liverpool are stronger than Cardiff, but Cardiff have a solid defence and an industrious midfield, sprinkled with the inspiration of Peter Whittingham, whose link up play for the ever alert Kenny Miller will cause problems for Liverpool if they’re caught napping. Most people will be expecting a Liverpool win and anything less would be a disaster for Kenny Dalglish.

Cardiff won’t be looking to merely ‘put up a decent fight’ and for their fans to have a jolly day out. They will be going there to win. And Liverpool fans would be minded to recall that Cardiff have played at the new Wembley more times than Liverpool have.

Related articles

Top football celebrations ever

Posted: October 28, 2011 by onefootinthegame in Awards, Champions Leuage, Championship, Championship playoffs, England, FA Cup, International football, La Liga, League One
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After Super Mario’s ‘Why always me?’ T-shirt last week we then saw those crazy Scandinavia chaps trying to teach some pub team the fishing celebration and it got us thinking about celebrations. So many to choose from, impossible to order them. But here are some of our favourites:

Marco Tardelli, 1982 the passion of being the best in the world

The passion, the tears, the beating of the arms like king kong, the relief of months of stress.

Italy had taken a huge beating from the media pre tournament and had gone into media blackout. Rossi was back and misfiring in the early group stages where Italy drew their 3 games (sound familiar?). After beating Argentina and arguably the best Brazil side ever, Italy beat West Germany in the final. Tardelli eyes bulging lets off months of stress in what, in my opinion is the great celebration ever. Still makes the hairs stand up on end.

Honourable mention for Grosso Semi final 2006 too. Oh and the phenomenal pass from Pirlo.

Robbie Fowler lines it up…

Robbie Fowler in his pomp. Cheeky, bending over infront of Le Saux and banging them in for fun.

This celebration would probably lead to 4 weeks suspension and a sending off nowadays. Back then it was just great fun (this blog doesn’t promote drugs in any way).

Best bit about this celebration was that manager Gerard Houllier, suggested it might be a Cameroonian grass-eating celebration, picked up off team-mate Rigobert Song. Yeah…right.

1994 World Cup…Stand up (or knee down) Mr Finidi George.

The 1994 World Cup was full of great celebrations. Maradona (see below) and Bebeto’s now legendary baby swinging celebration (the baby that celebration played for the Brazil U17’s last month).

But our favourite was Finidi George, scores a goal for his country and then goes to the corner flag to urinate like a dog. Unbelievable stuff.

Henry’s arrogance

I didn’t like the vast majority of Henry’s celebrations, actually I hated them all. But something about this celebration was great.

About 35 yards out the referee is telling Henry to put the ball further back, after swinging in a fantastic goal he stands still, Ballotelli like and just asks (shouts) at the ref – is that enough? Is that enough.

Diego smacks it up

As mentioned above 1994 had so many great celebrations, this was probably one of the defining moments in Maradona’s footballing career.

After shedding weight and getting back into the team, Maradona picked up where he left off in 1990. Little did we know he was high on a cocktail of drugs.

The celebration was a hint though…

Sticking a flag in hell

Before he was a mild manners pundit Souness was not only a great player but also a less good manager. This celebration wasn’t after a goal he scored but after the Turkish Cup Final against the bitterest of bitter rivals Fenerbache.

Most people would want to get in, get the result and get out. Not Graeme. Souness decides that putting the Galatasary flag in the middle of Fenerbache’s pitch was the best way to play down the tension…Fantastic to watch though.

Gazza

So many Gazza celebrations, so little time that it could be a blog on their own (tweet us if you want to write it).

Here are our favourites:

Euro 1996

FA cup Semi Final

Lazio madness

But the most contraverisal…against Celtic because someone told him…Gazza celebrates with a loyalist gesture. Oh Gazza.

We’ve missed loads so get over it, but link your favourites below.

All change for the Cardiff City

Posted: August 5, 2011 by onefootinthegame in Cardiff, Cardiff City, Championship, Championship playoffs, England
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Club badge used for the 2007–08 season

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Following last season’s stunningly inept end to the season which culminated in a dismal capitulation in the playoffs, it was clear there was going to be some soul searching at Cardiff City during the post-season break. Intense anger amongst a vocal group of fans and general disappointment amongst the majority, coupled with an obvious malaise amongst players and staff meant that Dave Jones’ time at the club was over. Jones brought stability over his tenure and took Cardiff to an FA cup final and a playoff final, achievements that should not be underestimated or forgotten. However, the side had become stale, inflexible and full of talented individuals that could not act as a team, so Jones had to go.

In searching for the right man to take the job the board rightly took their time. Names such as Chris Hughton and Roberto di Matteo were in the frame, and for a slightly terrifying 12 hours it seemed that Alan Shearer could be offered the job, but the board eventually settled upon the Watford manager Malky Mackay. Malky seems just the manager the club needs: young, hungry for success, decent track record so far, willing to play flexible styles of football and push youth development.

Unsurprisingly the line-up on the pitch this season has changed a lot as well. The high number of loan players meant there was always going to be a certain amount of churn, but with people at the end of contracts and the need for a bit of a clearout players such as Jay Bothroyd, Chris Burke, Craig Bellamy, Jason Koumas and Michael Chopra left over the season break. However the club has held onto the nucleus of a squad from which to build. The imports are either experienced pros who seem without too much ego or hungry young players eager for a chance to improve.

Surprisingly, given performances at the back end of last season, little has changed in defence over the summer yet it all looks stable and reliable. City have two quality goalkeepers in Marshall and Heaton, keepers who would command a starting berth in most Championship sides. Centre back options of Keinan, Hudson and Gerrard are no-nonsense physical types while utility men McNaughton (last year’s fans’ player of the season and website The Seventy Two’s readers’ player of the) and Blake offer pacier options. Full-backs include the aforementioned McNaughton and Blake, as well as Paul Quinn and new boy Andrew Taylor. There have been unconfirmed rumours that Lee Naylor is still hanging about somewhere and doing a passable impersonation of a professional footballer.

City seem to have plenty of options in midfield this year. The incredibly talented Peter Whittingham has stayed at the club and will doubtless be a fulcrum for the side, while stalwart Steve McPhail is still able to control the centre of the park. New arrivals such as Don Cowie offer dynamism in the middle, while Icelandic international Aron Gunnarsson looks to be a tough tackling no nonsense defensive midfielder who will be a fans favourite. Burly Scotsman Craig Conway is a direct upgrade on the departed Chris Burke, offering width for both flanks. Young players such as Aaron Wildig and Ibby Farrar could play a role as the season progresses, though their true quality is yet to be seen. Most intriguing is the signing of Slovakian Under 21 skipper Filip Kiss, apparently a tidy, technically gifted player and signed on a season-long loan from Slovan Bratislava. He could be one to watch.

Considering that for a week in the summer the only striker at the club was Jon Parkin, Cardiff’s attacking options have been strengthened a lot. The highlight of this is the return of the Zambian Prince, Robert Earnshaw. To say that Earnie is a legend at Cardiff is something of an understatement, his celebrations, his exuberance, his goals, the fact that he’s a Welsh international and a local lad means he’ll be cheered on every time he gets the ball. But it’s not simply nostalgia that makes him a great addition, he’s a proven scorer in the Championship and someone with a clinical finishing record when given a chance. The signing of Kenny Miller gives extra quality to the forward line, another proven goalscorer with a great record in the SPL, he’ll be expected to contribute 15 to 20 goals. Signings such as Rudy Gestede and Joe Mason look like something of a gamble, clearly talented (very much so in the case of Mason) but unproven. The attack looks like an area that still needs strengthening and a combo of Earnshaw and Miller does not match last year’s Bothroyd and Chopra. However if rumours of Craig Bellamy’s return to the club prove to be true then that problem is completely sorted.

All this adds up to a solid Championship side with some potential high level talent thrown in. Fans seem to have lowered their expectations for the season, which is only a good thing after last year where the feeling was that Cardiff should be winning every game. Realism has set in, fans know that a tilt at promotion is out of the question, the side has greatly changed in terms of personnel and playing style and it’ll take a while to gel together. A slow start to the season would not be unexpected and as long as they aren’t struggling too much come November then Malky should be given time and patience by the board, fans and media.

The hope will be that come the New Year the side will have settled itself and can then launch a push up the table. Malky has put together a decent Championship side, and a realistic aim should be a top 8 finish, while a top 10 would not be a flop of a season. However, an easy-ish run in at the end of the season coupled with a desire to avoid the kind of late slump that has characterised Cardiff over the past four years means I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bluebirds just edge into the playoffs come the final day. And then, who knows…

All hope abandon, ye who enter in?

Posted: May 12, 2011 by onefootinthegame in Cardiff, Cardiff City, Championship, Championship playoffs, League One, Players
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In the first part of his masterpiece, the Divine Comedy, Dante is accompanied by the Roman poet Virgil as he travels through the circles of hell where punishments fit the crimes of those cast below into Satan’s lair. I have no idea what fans of clubs who consistently have to compete in the playoffs have done in previous lives, but it must have been pretty bad to justify the psychological torture that they are forced to endure at this point of the season.

The playoff system is at once exciting, hopeful and cruel. For some it’s an exciting novelty, for others it’s the inevitable end to a season that promised much but failed to live up to expectations.

Though exciting for all concerned, the playoffs offer differing types of excitement. For neutral observers it’s the thrill of seeing teams put everything on the line with massive prizes up for grabs, not least in the Championship playoffs where a place in the promised land of the Premiership beckons. For fans of the clubs involved its like a mini cup run for teams that often don’t get to play in the latter stages of the cups, and a chance to potentially have a day in the sun at Wembley.

For the hopeful the playoffs can be a joy. Teams that have been on the outskirts of the playoffs for most of the season and have managed to sneak in with a late charge can embrace the role of underdogs with nothing to lose and everything to gain. This can be a great boost, contributing to a ‘what the hell, lets have a go’ attitude that higher placed sides may not be able to muster.

For those fans that sit in optimism corner, with positive outlooks and hope in their hearts, it can offer an extra chance to redeem a season that hasn’t gone quite as well as it could have, but could end up with the outcome that was sought from the start.

But the playoffs can be cruel. For teams that have been chasing automatic promotion and missed out by a whisker it can be an ignominy to have to face teams that may have been 10 or more points behind them all season. The pressure of being favourites while having to recover from the psychological blow of missing out on the automatic spot can often be hard to bear. For those perennial playoff contenders the hope that’s raised only to be dashed once again can be exceedingly cruel, as yet again a season that promised so much ends in disappointment

At this time of the season, everything is heightened. Injustices are more unjust, bad refereeing decisions sting further, goals are sweeter, the game is studied and analysed and mulled over in more depth. It can be all-consuming. But the fact is that three of the four teams involved in each division will be disappointed. And it’s the mill of hope, despair and crushing, crushing failure that get to you. Though failure in the playoffs cannot match Judas’ punishment in the centre of hell, where he is perpetually chewed and skinned in Satan’s bloodred maw, in the immediate aftermath it can often feel that way. I’ll just be happy if I manage to get through this whole thing without too many tears or too much vomit.

An Introduction to Jay Bothroyd

Posted: November 15, 2010 by onefootinthegame in Championship, England
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09/02/10 Cardiff V Peterborough, Championship,...

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England’s friendly match against France on Wednesday has taken an interesting turn with the surprise call up of a striker from the Championship.

For someone who’s not English this match would normally be one to avoid, but it may well be worth the effort to see if Jay Bothroyd gets his first cap and becomes the first ever Cardiff City player to play for England. As many people don’t necessarily watch or know the Championship that well, let me give you a bit of an introduction to the player from someone who’s watched Jay for the last 2 and a half seasons.

While for many it’s a bit of a surprise that he’s been called up, England could be about to unearth a hidden gem of a player. Jay offers pace, power, aerial ability and no small amount of skill, in short he’s got the makings of a complete striker. Think Zlatan Ibrahimovic but not at that stellar level.  In fact the comparisons with Zlatan are quite apt. Like Zlatan, Jay’s been accused of being a touch lazy, although this tends to come from those sorts of fans or pundits who have that curiously British attitude that you’re not doing all you can for the team unless you’re tearing around like a headless chicken giving 145% for the entire 90 minutes. Truth is that Jay’s game isn’t based on hurtling around the pitch, it’s based on the right place at the right time and timely turns of pace. Jay also has a tendency to go down easily under challenges, but to be fair to Jay he comes out on the positive for the amount of free kicks in dangerous positions or even penalties that he gets by ‘making the most’ of the challenges he’s put under. And he does get quite a bit of treatment from opposing defenders who know how dangerous he can be with the ball at his feet.

Jay is great at holding the ball up and bringing the other attackers into the play. His close control and technique is excellent, meaning he can create time on the ball. And he uses this time wisely. Not only can he bring in the other strikers, he also has the vision and distribution to get the ball to wide players so he can be on the end of the resulting cross (he’s got a good head on him). In addition, there’s always the nagging feeling for defenders that he could quite simply turn them with a deft touch and piece of skill and be through on goal.

Some teams have tried top play a high line against Jay (a dangerous proposition anyway against Cardiff) in an effort to put pressure on and reduce his time on the ball close to goal. However, if France try to do this on Wednesday they need to get it spot on, as Jay has a surprising amount of pace for such a big guy. If the offside trap is a fraction off he will get on the end of through balls and punish the opposition due to his composure in front of goal. Oh yeah, don’t give him time on the ball from a way out, he’s got a hell of a boot on him and he’s not afraid to have a dip.

Like I said, he’s got the makings of a total striker.

All this comes after a wayward career. He started off as a promising youngster at Arsenal before his poor attitude saw him move around a string of clubs, including a slightly surprising move to Perugia for a short stint there. His talent has never been in doubt at all the clubs he’s played at, managers have given him a chance because they see his potential. What has changed is that at Cardiff he seems to have settled and truly applied himself. There were some doubts about him when he signed, however fans could see his  give him a chance as his talent was obvious and everyone figured that this was his last chance to fulfil that talent and not go down as one of the ‘could have beens’ that litter football.

And he’s rarely let the Cardiff fans down. His first season was a touch stop start, but last season saw him mature and grow in stature. He supplied assists all through the season and was one of the key reasons for the high goal tallies of Chopra and Whittingham as well as chipping in with a healthy 13 goals himself. This season he has been simply awesome. Jay has 15 goals in 16 games and has only failed to find the net in just four of his appearances for Cardiff. He looks in complete control of opposition defences and quite simply Cardiff City don’t look the same when he’s absent from the team.  Just witness City’s defeat in the playoff final where he went off injured in the first half (a sore point for some City fans) and the way that Cardiff looked aimless in the recent South Wales derby for his huge influence on the way that Cardiff play.

Jay finally seems to be fulfilling his potential, and given his stellar form and a host of injuries among English strikers then a call up to the national squad is no less than he deserves. So, I’m happy that he’s going to get a chance at raising his profile and gaining some personal success that is thoroughly deserved. Though a small part of me wants him not to get on the pitch just so that more people don’t know about him and Cardiff can hold onto him until the end of the season.

How do you get out of the Hell that is the Championship?

Posted: September 16, 2010 by onefootinthegame in Championship
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Over the last few years the Championship has picked up a (highly deserved) reputation as being a tough and very competitive division. There are now a host of teams that can boast fairly recent Premiership experience (Sheffield United, Portsmouth, Leeds, Burnley, Ipswich, Reading, Hull, Middlesboro) as well as those that can think of themselves as ‘established’ Championship sides looking to kick on to the next level (Cardiff, Bristol City, Nottingham Forest, QPR). All this means that it can be very difficult to pick out who the winners and losers will be of a weekend as there are usually a couple of surprises and teams can be counted on to take points off each other. It also means that the difference between mid table and the playoffs can be a well-timed semi-decent run of matches at the back of the end of the season (see Blackpool last year).

Last night provided an example of how this competitiveness can result in some ludicrous stuff. Somehow Cardiff lost to Leicester but still managed to hold onto 2nd spot in the league due to other teams below them trading blows. The league is 6 games old and frankly any team that loses a match in the first 10 games of the season would expect to drop a couple of places.

Another ludicrous example was Cardiff’s collapse in form just after Christmas last year which carried on into the February of 2010, where occasional scrappy wins punctuated draws and defeats. Despite this, Cardiff managed to maintain their place in the playoffs during this period until their form recovered as others below and around them traded punches.

However these are exceptions rather than the rule and a mini-slump in form can often see a team dropping like a stone or rising like a whale that’s running out of breath. So how is it possible to escape the melee that is the mid to upper end of the Championship table? The simplest approach is to rise above the kicking and punching scrum by storming out into an early lead. This is easier said than done, but by escaping out of it all you can score an easy and early psychological blow. Opposition teams will feel there’s no point trying to haul you back in as you’re effectively out of reach, so they’ll concentrate on those a bit closer to them and making sure that they don’t get away. This forms a virtuous circle as you keep on picking up points while all those in the chasing pack keep taking points off each other in an effort to keep in touch. The perfect example came last year with Newcastle (admittedly a very good side at that level) who sailed away into an early lead and simply kept it going. Other examples include Reading in 2005/06 and Sunderland in 2004/05.

I suppose it’s quite simplistic; ‘win league by being top from the start’ isn’t exactly a revolutionary approach, but after watching this division for a number of years it seems to be the best approach to avoid the manic end of season jostling for position that inevitably happens. Could QPR be the team that will do that this year? It’s too early to tell but they are certainly the early runners with a string of impressive results during their first 6 games. If they’ve got a 7 point lead after 10/11 games then it’ll be interesting to see how teams approach games against them.

Of course, the other option is to just fluke your way up like Blackpool did.

Will the bluebirds fly again?

Posted: August 4, 2010 by onefootinthegame in Championship
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Cardiff players get the blues at Wembley in May

And so it all begins again, 78 days after the heartbreak of Wembley, Cardiff City pick themselves up for another shot at the promised land of the Premiership.

Leaving Wembley in May the general feeling was that the City team that day would not be seen again. Surely the club would not be able to hold on to the likes of Bothroyd, Chopra, Whittingham and even more worryingly Dave Jones. There is a reason why Jones is the longest serving manager in the Championship and it is therefore a great relief that after briefly flirting with Fulham he looks set to stay at Cardiff.

Despite the best efforts of the new chairman to ease the worries of supporters, what followed was a summer of anxiety and uncertainty. The club has had to contend with numerous IOU’s being called in, revelations that neither the tax man nor the payers have been paid, all combined with a poor run of pre-season form.

With hours remaining before the season kicks off, the transfer embargo has yet to be lifted and to the delight of Bluebirds fans, Dave Jones has managed retain the services of almost all of last season’s squad. The obvious exception is Joe Ledley. Only time will tell whether his decision to take the ‘step up’ to play alongside the likes of Charlie Mulgrew and Gary Hooper in the Scottish Premier League was the right one.

Bitterness aside, whilst undoubtedly a talented player, Ledley has never been the fulcrum of Dave Jones’ side at Cardiff City. It is Stephen McPhail that dictates the play from midfield, with 99.9% of Cardiff’s attacking play going through Jay Bothroyd. Undoubtedly the talisman of team, Bothroyd seemed to thrive on the added responsibility when handed the captaincy last season and I can think of worse ideas than him taking the armband off the consistently inconsistent Mark Hudson. These two players would have been far harder to replace, something Jones has alluded to in his recent admission that Cardiff need to find a plan B for when Bothroyd is unavailable.

With transfer activity pretty thin on the ground for Cardiff this summer, the smartest piece of business by Dave Jones was commanding any sort of a fee for veteran left back Mark Kennedy, a player last seen sprinting circa 2004. The only players to come in so far are Manchester United youngster Danny Drinkwater (on loan) and former United youngster Tom Heaton. So after promising performances last year, there is likely to be a greater reliance on the latest batch off the production line, particularly exciting full back Adam Matthews and midfielder Aaron Wilding.
With very little in the way of new personnel, Cardiff’s hopes rest on the nearly men from last year. It would be naive to expect as much from last season’s 25 goal hero Peter Whittingham, given that he only scored 17 goals in total in his first three seasons at the club. Thankfully Michael Chopra, whilst patchy, will always score goals at Championship level and Ross McCormack is a useful alternative from the bench.

So with last season’s admittedly thin squad largely intact and in spite of the club’s seemingly endless financial woes, there are still plenty of reasons for optimism  in what promises to be the most open Championship season in years. It speaks volumes about this seasons Championship that the teams coming up from League One arguably stand a better chance of promotion than those coming down from the Premiership.

Opening day fixtures don’t come much more arduous than Sheffield United. Matches against the Blades are rarely pleasant and there is little chance of Cardiff easing their way in to the new season. Kevin Blackwell hasn’t been particularly busy in the transfer market over the summer but he has added a bit of guile to his otherwise industrious side in the shape of Swansea’s borderline midget, Leon Britton.

Great importance is often attached to avoiding defeat on the opening day, but a win for Cardiff in front of the home fans would really lift the gloom that’s lingered since May.