See this? This is the kind of
behavior I was putting up with at the Sheffield Wednesday game this Saturday. After a late night
before at the work party, the ol’ man was feeling tired and he didn’t mind
letting people know about it. Fellow fans passing by chuckled to themselves
observing him nod off during pre-game chat. As most parents with young children
will testify though, patience for ‘tired’ moans is limited after your latest
night in seven years of broken sleep. Thankfully, the game started and the
Pops’ legs mustered the energy to get himself to his seat.
The Sheffield Wednesday game was
many things but most refreshingly it was certainly entertaining with crazy shifts
in dominance, lots of chances and even a few knuckle ups. After a first half of
enduring pressure and playing on the counter, City were playing effectively in
the style of an away team as Wednesday pushed them back. The 2-0 score at the
break didn't flatter the Bluebirds but after squandering what seemed like
several thousand clear chances, the game wasn’t killed off and the Owls wormed
their way back in.
A few individual defensive errors later and shamefully the
score was tied at 2-2. Fans can blame Russell Slade all they want but when
players cant be arsed to track a runner and he walks into the box and scores, that’s the
player’s fault (This time it was Aaron Gunnarsson).
For the second home game in a row
then a 2-0 lead and two points were let slip away, highlighting the team’s lack
of ruthlessness and the need for more street-wise play to shut down games. Performing in patches as appose to seeing
through a job has become a common theme... And speaking of that theme, on to Tuesday.
Thankfully, prior to the Brentford game, the Pop
arrived at the ground with his standard 12 hour sleep in the bag, ready for the
game, with half time Toffee Crisps in his coat pocket. Like City, he needed to
up his game too & he knew it.
The players came out of the tunnel
to the Star Wars theme but with a few minutes to go, the fans wouldn't have
minded being in a galaxy far, far away. Wild boos rang down from all corners of
the stadium as Cardiff had, somehow, contrived to give away a two-goal lead for
a third successive home game. Through excessive face palms my my forehead was hurting and the natives around us were losing their minds.
Then, just as restlessness turned
to rage and fans prepped to leave, little Fabio skips to the by-line and pulls one
back for Kenwynne Jones to scuff one in off his shin for an injury time winner. Quite what the
atmosphere would have been like for Russell Slade had Jones not scored when he
did would have been interesting.
That winner though only masks the problems on
the pitch for City at the moment, and although he likes to pass the buck, the
Manager himself is certainly not blameless with some odd substation decisions
and lack of game management costing the Bluebirds.
It's not often you win 3-2 in injury time but leave the stadium disheartened.
