OS, for the time being I believe that it It's about avoiding relegation - at least for a few seasons. I think that, those of us with a history of seeing us struggle, are being blinded by the fact that we have a beneficiary with money. For decades we had owners who, at times, could just about afford to pay wages. However the cost of running a club back then was so much less than it is today. Let's be honest VT's interest in or club purely gives us confidence that we can compete on a level that we, as fans, expect - and that's in the Championship. We're not a PL team and if we are then, under the current ownership, can expect to be a yo-yo team at best. We've had our good since DJ days but, I believe, we can expect us to find out true status of being mid table avoiding being dragged into relegation fights one year and dreaming of play offs the next.
Hi LLF. Avoiding relegation is paramount to me, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't look upwards rather than over our shoulders. Stabilising for the immediate future is obviously the first step on the road forward but that needs to be just part of the strategy. Last few seasons we've had supporters advocating it would be better to go down and rebuild from there - that policy would be an absolute disaster for the club and Tan. At best we'd end up a League One/Championship yoyo club like Barnsley and Rotherham - at worst the club would sink out of sight. At one time I subcontracted to a construction company whose owners came out with the mantra "striving for excellence". We all laughed at the time but it worked - 20 years later they sold it to a major housebuilder for £640M. That's the ultimate scenario that Tan really wants and it doesn't start with dropping a division. So yes, we should definitely concentrate on getting things right first but never lose sight of ambition.
Words are great, but its the actions behind it that are the important things. I doubt the company you refer to just had a slogan. Its the issue with the current government, and certainly in the days of Boris. Plenty of slogans, no substance. What, why, how, who, when and where? 6 questions that need answering. The biggest is probably the how. If you cant answer those 6 questions, you don't have a plan, just a hope.
No, you're right it wasn't just the slogan, it was the people involved from landbank management, digging holes in the ground, above ground subcontractors, QS's, SM's, CM's through to the sales staff. Although football appears to be full of superficial characters, there's no reason why a football club can't follow that path with the right people and attitude. Money obviously helps and Tan has always been around to provide it - it's the decisions that appear to have been wrong, not the desire.
Good points but is it asking too much to be entertained? Watching the City in recent seasons has not been easy. We do it because it’s in our blood but last Saturday made me think really can I be bothered any more. Of course I will but jeez it’s tough to endure.
And no doubt there will have been leaders in the company making sure the land bank managers, hole diggers and all the other employees knew what 'striving for excellence' meant, and what it looked like so they could modify their behaviour accordingly. And there will have been measures in place to see that it was being achieved. Key performance indicators and the like. League position would be an easy one for us, but what are the things below that which suggest we are heading in the right direction? Number of accademy players making it to the first team might be one. Profitability on signings might be another. We're not doing great on either of those, so what needs to change?
All top teams have rich owners. Tan could have bought a struggling premier club but he chose Cardiff because he had more faith than most of you on here. Tan gave us 2 years in the premiership, he could have sold the club back then, the fact he stayed even when the fans turned against him shows he is made of sterner stuff than the fans. We had the players here already to win promotion as we showed in the first five games, Leeds, Leicester and Ipswich did not show more quality than us. The problem in those games was Goustas who admitted he took time to settle. at that time I had no problem with Wintle and was happy to get Meitie on a free but when a manager drags off Tanner who scored one and made an assist in the other goal in the Ipswich game and said it was because he was not happy with his performance that was enough for me to want him sacked for what he did. Since then he has managed 2 wins in 8 games and my only hope is Tan will make the decision. Cardiff have 2 promotions to the prem, an FA cup final and League cup final plus many play offs, that is strong pedigree. Acting like we are no more than mid table fodder is beyond me, not to have any aspiration is sad. I expect promotion and so does the owner no matter how down in the dumps the fans are.
Jck, We'll always have aspirations and, to be fair, we always did. Well there's a fine line between aspirations and dreams and line is drawn by the owner and leaders in the club. Great reply Sparkey and I agree with you. For dreams you can lick your finger, stick it in the air and hope that the wind is blowing on the right direction. Aspirations mean someone taking hold and giving direction to all involved - being inspiring and fully entwined in the project. We don't have anyone at the club with that level of commitment. MD shows potential at times but I believe that he blows hot and cold and sometimes questions his own involvement & commitment as (I believe) VT and him don't sing from the same hymn book. Therefore, I fear, it's still 'finger in the air time' and hope that we get entertained along the way.
What did we learn today? Plenty that we already knew. City are unable to play out with pace, and don’t have the midfielders to take it further forward and as a result the wingers and so the front men have no space to run into and create very few if any chances. Alnwick made a couple of great saves and the defence just about hung on plus the ref could have easily have given a penalty. Robinson, Meite, Bowler & Grant before he was moved into the middle were hopeless. Meite is not a no 9. Robinson is so lazy and wasted possession. Bowler is an enigma? Siopis is way off the pace. I know some here will disagree but Ralls did little today and was his usual anonymous self, Wintle of the 2 is superior. Assuming no injuries then perhaps we’ll see the team that finished today start v Argyle, Etete over Meite & Ugbo every time. Colwill? So in conclusion we were totally outplayed by a poor relegation threatened team but got very lucky. If we’d lost 2,3-0 nobody could have complained. So what also have we learnt today? The squad needs 4-5 better quality players.
The table is looking really tight around us. 5 teams 3 points or less above us, 5 teams 3 points or less below us. At the start of this run of games people on here were saying 13 to 17 points from 7 games, when the games come thick and fast. So far it's 6 from 4. With Leicester to play in the next 3, we'll be lucky to get to 10 points from the 7 games. Very much lower mid table form. Our performances so far have been really patchy. Fortunately, it's been the same for teams around us. The issue we've currently got is lack of chances. A month back our issue was converting chances. A poor ratio of goals from attempts. Now we don't seem to be creating chances. Come on Erol, pull your socks up.
A jammy City win on a weekend that saw Hull, Preston, Blackburn, West Brom and Sunderland all lose. Boxing day sees us with a home fixture against Tony Capaldi's old club, whilst Hull play Sunderland and West Brom host Norwich. All we need then is for our best mates across the bridge to stop Watford winning, and................ What a chance to make up some more ground - we could be playing Leicester in the last game of the year to go top 6.
Two promotions to the premiership show we can make it. The game yesterday was classic championship football, you are asking to be entertained when even the top clubs in the premier do not entertain half the time, Man Utd lost 2-0 yesterday how do you think their fans feel today compared to ours. Two promotions an FA cup final and a League cup final half a dozen play offs! What do you want for sixpence?
Sixpence is what i used to pay in the 50s to get in what they used to call the bob bank,but i was a junior in 1953 so it cost a tanner.Just enough money over for a packet of chips by Treforest station then a walk home to Hawthorn ,great days and great memories .Happy christmas to all and keep safe.
