Cardiff City 3 Blackpool 2 - Is It Over Yet?

Above: The end of season lap of DISHONOUR which Russell Slade chose to puss out of. 
Below: My sign (confiscated by a club steward) 

I swear down, I’ve never said this before in my entire 33 year old life but I’m KEEN for this football season to end. After the most soul-destroying lifeless campaign I can remember, most City fans just want to think about something else now. I would personally just like to say a big ‘F**k You’ to the club for making fans feel this way.  

Every City fan has a dream. A dream where we turn on Sky Sports News or refresh a Twitter timeline and see the news that the Cardiff City board (Vincent Tan’s admin drones) have sacked Russell Slade (#SladeOut). Whilst that dream gives us hope, most of us will concede that the club’s decision makers are so clueless that Slade may well still be here next season.

This weekend has seen coded messages from the club that they will be spending money in the summer which is both confusing and worrying given that fans have had ‘cost cutting’ and ‘financial fair play rules’ rammed down our throats since the turn of the year.

Why spend now and why give that bag of gold to a Manager who’s out of his depth and never had money before? The saving grace being that whatever happens next the word ‘transition’ won’t be valid and with other excuses (lack of pre- season, players bedding in etc) now out-dated, it’s now or never for Russell Slade. It may take till Christmas for the club to realise a Manager upgrade is required but they will eventually, it’s just a shame fans are being asked to sit through it. 

Saturday’s game resulted in a 3-2 win but the same problems were there starring us all in the mush: slow and predictable tactics and a general lack of most things. We were treated to some comedy though when Directors box guests rocked up in full Vincent Tan mode (see above). What made this funnier (and perhaps disturbing) though was that these visitors were not joking. 

The club are now focusing on getting a result up at Nottingham Forest this Saturday so they can brag about finishing in the top ten (No doubt if they succeed we will hear alot about that over the summer). The thing is though, after a grim year, a top ten finish doesn’t mean shit to fans.

To wrap up the season here, stay tuned for next weeks’ end of season report and (very constructive) to-do list for the man we have learnt to loathe. WARNING: This will contain sarcasm.

At this time, congratulations should be aimed at Watford FC whose promotion to the Premier League is a middle finger to everyone who preaches stability and continuity. If something's wrong change it and move forward - Watford have had four Manager's this season. 

Bluebirds Kids - Use Them or Lose Them

One of many issues clouding Cardiff City fans brains at the moment is the lack of faith in the clubs Academy boys. What’s the point in having an Academy to groom youngsters into graduates if the pathway to the first team is blocked? It doesn't benefit the club as its paying for something it’s not using and it certainly doesn't benefit the youngsters who invest so much into a life in football. 

Particularly given the club’s latest stance being one of austerity, you would think the Manager would be looking it the direction of the Academy as not only a cost cutting measure but a ray of hope for the future. 

If the talent wasn’t there then questions would need to be asked of the coaches, their methods and the scouting but it looks like the talent may well already be there staring at Russell Slade’s round smiley face.

With the likes of the imaginative Tommy O’Sullivan becoming a big part of a promising Wales under 21 side yet being farmed out on loan to Port Vale without getting near a City squad, it does make you wonder.

Full back Jazzi Barnum-Bobb got a chance in the league cup under Solskjaer earlier in the season and impressed but hasn’t got near the fridges since.

Also on the books is Adedeji Oshilaja, a centre back with a big reputation who’s impressed in League Two for AFC Wimbledon on loan, a level that manager Neal Ardley has claimed he’s already too good for.

Then there’s Rhys Healey, a lethal striker who scored for the ‘Development’ team for fun and made his senior debut against Chelsea last season but was sent out to Colchester on loan.

Let’s not forget little Declan John who racked up a number of appearances in the Premier League last season and despite being a ‘work in progress’ is already a full Wales international. Instead of continuing to groom Declan, he’s out on loan at Barnsley and a replacement (Scott Malone) has been brought in for £150,00. 

With the club counting the pennies, does this make sense? No. 

And what message is this sending Declan John? Not a positive one. 

With no shortage of quality and plenty of contenders potentially capable of stepping up, there appears to be either a lack of confidence or a lack of idea of a pathway for developing kids any further. Thus rendering the whole system completely pointless.

With nothing left to play for and having loaned out senior players for ‘business reasons’, why has this not resulted in the graduation of the academy’s finest getting a chance?

The Bluebirds need to utilise the Academy for all it's worth and give it a purpose going forward and If not then just use that cash to buy new players who can be used. 

#SladeOut

Ipswich 3 Cardiff City 1 - One Step Forward, Twelve Steps Back

A few weird Bruno Manga errors aside, City played some decent stuff last night, with a quicker tempo and the ball on the floor (O.M.G).

Fabio and Aron Gunnarsson were both guilty of missing criminal game changing chances though which ultimately led to the first defeat on the road since February.

Ipswich, a beefy fit team gate-crashing the top six, weren’t pretty but they were tough and hunted for blood in packs.

While there are elements of hope to take forward though, there is the nagging feeling that there’s so much work to do to get to the level of Ipswich where a play-off push could be possible.

With nothing to play for, the Bluebirds now face two 'piss-easy' home fixtures against the already doomed Millwall and Blackpool at the hell whole of the CCS in front of about ten fans. 

Leeds United 1 Cardiff City 2 – Does Anyone Care?

Credit where it’s due (begrudgingly), even to Russell (#SladeOut) Slade, this was a smooth result in prickly circumstances, at a difficult stadium with no away support. That result even stretches the run on the road to eight games unbeaten – DDDWWWDW

(We’ll turn a blind eye to the home form for the purpose of the next few paragraphs). 

After watching the game though, how the Bluebirds didn't run away with it I’ll never know - with Eoin Doyle and Kadeem Harris each pissing away two golden one-on-one chances. City deserved the win though and can hopefully take this weird road confidence to another potential battering at Ipswich tomorrow night.   

The cold hard facts are though that with each passing game supporters are caring less and less about this season while they patiently await an announcement from the club on future plans for next season and beyond.

Is the asset stripping going to continue in the summer? Or are we going to throw money at it again? Are going to release our whole squad or sign Lionel Messi? 

Will the current puppet be steering the ship? (Please don't do this to us > #SladeOut)

Is BBC Radio Wales’ neanderthal Kevin Ratcliffe right insaying we’re utterly f**ked next season?

Where did all the Premier League money go please? 

The fans have no idea and trying to analyse it all is getting boring.

Lord Vincent Tan & his crew of minions at the club did attempt to rebuild bridges with fans in January and milk the accolades but has there been any communication since the return to blue? Hells no. 

Fans are still disillusioned with what’s happening on the pitch and the club are drifting in their promise to engage with supporters and with attendances sinking like a stone… they need to. 

Below - If you're an idiot with a rubbish hat raise your hand. 

Cardiff City Serve Up Easter Darkness

Well done that man (above), who took the liberty of hand crafting this sign for the Bolton game on Monday. Never have I seen a cardboard sign applauded with such gusto! 

The said sign may have been momentarily confiscated, and it may have caused several members of CCFC security staff to have a hissy fit but the message is there and it’s gathering pace. Finally uninspired fans are waking up. 

Even the patient non-confrontational element of the Cardiff support have had enough of Russell Slade now & share in the feeling that to move forward as a club he needs to be removed. 

He needs to pack up his things, get in the car and take his 1980s tactics with him out of Wales. Fans don’t care how well-mannered he is, he’s just not good enough for this club, this league and this situation we find ourselves in. 

The club's board of Vincent Tan's office admin team were there Saturday to witness events and hopefully would have had their heads turned. 

Monday's 0-3 defeat to a hores**t Bolton team was the latest in a cringeworthy chapter of another embarrassing season. 

Things have got pretty dark.

Saturday’s trip to Reading (above) may have been fun but this was nothing to do with the quality of football served up from Cardiff and a late Conor McAleny goal papered over the disturbing cracks of what was a grim performance. 

The fun was more to do with drinking five strong flat white coffees pre-kick off and a sing song in a frustrated away end. No pride or entertainment was offered on the pitch. 

With the Bluebirds barley reaching the Reading box or keeping ball for more than three passes it was down to the travelling support to create some excitement and the fans didn’t disappoint. Slade and the team were not worthy of such support and we let Russell know at full time when he came over to clap the stand City fans gathered in behind the goal. 

He (below) clapped but I’d estimate at least 1,000 people made rude hand gestures in response.  

Much has been made of City’s current away form in the last six games and results have improved but the style of play and performance is humiliating. 

Approx 50% of excitement on the day in Reading centered on the return of Joe Mason (above), the youngster previously farmed out on loan by previous managers. Whilst it’s good to see Joe back, it’s going to take time for him to do what City fans want. Can he solve the current mess? No. Neither is he Lionel Messi. 

We drove home talking about things other than football... and then Monday happened...

After a promising first half (by Slade’s standards), the Bluebirds capitulated after the break rolling over for a tummy tickle from a bunch of Bolton veterans. Allowing the likes of Emile Heskey (yes, that Heskey – age 37) and Eidur Guðjohnsen (age 36) to run rings around our defence is a new low. 

With the lack of direction, calamity is always lurking for Slade’s men at the moment no matter how steady things appear and the back four are looser than some of the girls I went to school with. 

What is going through the minds of the current Manager, the players, board and owner is a complete and utter mystery. Attitude comes from leadership though and at the moment the attitude on the pitch and in the stands is f**ked because there isn't any leadership anywhere.

With season ticket renewal figures the lowest ever, things could even get worse next season. The club need to man up and do something positive, starting with a new Management crew and announcing to the fans a master plan of some kind.  

Over to you lads. Do some thing. Any thing. 

CV DJs Radio Episode 1

#CVDJs may have been laying low / hibernating for some considerable time now (2 years approx) but are still kind of fully operational and ‘in the zone’ in 2015.

Available to stream online, the latest manoeuvre from the maverick disc jockeys is this feature length radio programme broadcast ‘live’ from Nick’s dining room in the foothills of the Garth Mountain.

Listen / DL on the CVDJs Sound Cloud page here.

#CVDJs #CultureVultureZine #TogetherStronger