Stress Is A 2-0 Lead

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.