Cardiff City, Bournemouth, the Ebola Plague and the Shirt Colour

I couldn’t bring myself to blog after the Bournemouth result. It was like the world imploding.

Don’t get me wrong. Bournemouth are what City should be. Top of the championship, scoring goals for fun and dominating matches. It was always going to be tough for the plodders of Cardiff to get a result there. It’s just that I sort of hoped, well dreamed, we could get something. The play off places were very close, but now they feel like they are drifting away.

It’s getting onto Christmas and we remain a dull middle of the table side. Grounding out results was something we grew used to under Malky but it doesn’t feel right now. Maybe simply because it is not bringing us the same success.

I have defended Slade so far, indeed I was pleased to see the City defence settle down after being so dreadful under Ole. Up until Bournemouth we were pretty frugal in conceding goals. In the centre Manga and Morrison are the real thing and we have confidence in Connolly coming in and not letting us down. Ben Turner does what it says on the tin. Either side of them Brayford and Fabio bring a great deal to the table. Fabio is wayward and somehow we have to learn to adapt to tha becuase he causes defences problems. Though why he leaves space behind him whereas the roaming Brayford doesn’t is beyond me.

I was initially happy to see Slade’s teams grind out the wins. They weren’t pretty but 3 points a home game shunted us up the table.

Now I am troubled. If a shape isn’t working then it has to be changed. Rotherham knew all about Slade’s 4-4-2 and coped with the mindless long ball the way an elephant copes with a currant bun being thrown near its gob. So Slade had to change things. He didn’t until there were only 5 minutes left. Maybe he cannot change things.

He blames the players. Well ok. Alex Ferguson never took responsibility for any of his team’s set backs so maybe it is the sign of a great ego. All successful managers need huge egos – else they will read blogs like this and weep.

His 4-4-2 requires 2 good classic wingers so he is unlucky to lose Pilkington, one of Solskjaer’s star buys. But Kimbo just ain’t a winger! No he isn’t. He is a true midfield player, plenty of skill, loads of class but wasted on the wing. Kimbo is an obvious like for like replacement for Whitts if he ever tires (does Whittingham ever tire?) or if he gets injured. Kimbo would come on and play either in front of the back four or driving the play on. But Kimbo is not winger, nor a goalkeeper nor an out and out centre forward. And please, no more talk of selling him. At some stage in the season we will need him.

To make the mistake of playing him on the wing once is forgiveable – well by me if not the rest of City supporters anyway - but to do it twice is ludicrous!

Kadeem Harris looked brilliant in the short time he was given preseason by Solskjaer. It looks as though he has got what it takes in his feet, his head and his heart. So he surely should have replaced Pilkington in the Rotherham match and not Kimbo.

Maybe then we could see what Kenwynne Jones is made of as centre forward. Noone is like a heart resuscitation unit for Cardiff right now. No matter how ground down we are, he can pick up the ball and lift the spirits with possibilities. So with Noone on one wing and Harris on the other maybe the strikers could have done what strikers do under a 4-4-2: score goals. Keep the opposition in their own half.

I take nothing away from the drive of the Cardiff players in the second half. This may have been the result of a great half time speech from Russell Slade who was apparently famous for them at Orient. 

It is the tactics that trouble me.

The misery is spreading around the supporters like the Ebola plague and without the World Health Organisation to rescue us the plague is being matched with despair.

The colour of the shirt debate has always been a hook for people to hang their resentment on. Yes, some people feel strongly about it but had Malky bought a striker who scored goals for 10 million at the start of the premiership season we would still be in the top flight and the shirt colour would be a side issue. The Cornelius purchase was a tragedy for us all.

But as the gloom continues the shirt colour is becoming ludicrously all important. Even I was angry about the white shirts against Bournemouth. I honestly buy the reason, (that blue was seen as too close to the black of Bournemouth), but it has got to the point where little things like that are blowing us all up.

You even get the paranoia taking over whereby normally level headed supporters think the evil Vincent Tan, on his evil island, stroking his evil white cat is behind us wearing white. That he instigated the white shirts simply to upset fans. How has it reached this?

BUT …

There is only one way forward now. And that is for Vincent Tan to reach out with his hand to the fans. We are grateful for him saving the club, his investment in players and ensuring the new stadium can proudly host our matches. We ask him to give us back the shirt colour and let us all get back together again and support the club. In return the fans must reach out a hand to Vincent Tan. Welcome him back. He has put his money where his mouth is and can now take the only decision possible to unite the club.

personally I could live with blue shirt and red everything else, though I only speak for one of the tens of thousands of City fans.

Maybe by January we will be in the playoff spots and within range of the top two slots. Maybe Russell will have sorted his style of play. Maybe we will emerge as a force you would expect given the quality of the squad. But it will only be of value if the team is in blue.