According to Steve Tucker.. Decent read: Our man has analysed why there is cause for optimism ahead of the do or die clash on Wearside this weekend Cardiff City boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has described it as the equivalent of a "proper cup final" and there really is no hiding from the importance of Sunday's high noon showdown at the Stadium of Light. In all likelihood, the loser will be consigned to the Championship. But while Sunderland are on the up following unexpected results against Manchester City and Chelsea and Fabio Borini has warned it will be a hard place for the Bluebirds to go, we have found plenty to be bullish about. Our man Steve Tucker has looked at seven reasons why the Bluebirds can shine when they face their moment of truth... Reasons for Cardiff City fans to be cheerful ahead of do or die Stadium of Light clash View gallery 1) BLACK CATS RENAISSANCE GREATLY EXAGGERATED Much has been made of Sunderlandâs two most recent results, a 2-2 draw at Manchester City that should in all truth have been a 2-1 win, and a remarkable victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last time out. Sure, that is all well and good, but two games alone cannot gloss over how awful the Weirsiders have been this season prior to that. Until those two recent matches Gus Poyetâs men had gone eight Premier League games on the bounce without a win, and had lost seven of those. Donât forget too that the Manchester City and Chelsea results were actually achieved away from home. Did that make them more worthy of acclaim? Not really. For all the passion of the Sunderland fans, the Black Cats prefer it away from home. Only West Brom have won as few games in front of their own supporters this season, with three measly home wins. And nobody has scored fewer goals at home in the whole division than Sunderland who have netted a paltry 14 times at the Stadium of Light in 16 league outings. 2) CARDIFF PREFER IT ON THE ROAD ANYWAY As fervent as Cardiff fans can be at home, as much as they have in the past proved to be the proverbial 12th man for their side, they can also be impatient and fretful from an early stage. Given their sideâs current position, they would need the coolness of James Dean and Steve McQueen combined not to be flustered and concerned. But that anxiety transmits itself from the terraces. It is not too fanciful to suggest that nerves and criticism from the home crowd, albeit warranted, have contributed to the debacles against the likes of Hull and Crystal Palace (4-0 and 3-0 reverses respectively). Away from home you tend to get a different type of Cardiff supporter, the kind more hardened to crushing disappointment, more familiar with the frustrating tripe the Bluebirds have been known to indulge in down the years. Cardiff proved at Southampton they can do it on the road, that they can free themselves from the shackles of expectation. Does playing in blue help too? 3) BY THEIR STANDARDS, THE BLUEBIRDS ARE ON A ROLL Whisper it quietly, but the Bluebirds are unbeaten in two successive games. Sure, it may not seem much in the grand scheme of things, but by Cardiffâs standards this season itâs the form dreams are made of. Not since the heady days of the start of the season have Cardiff managed such impressive statistics. Indeed, not since the very start have Cardiff remained so resilient. A massive win over Manchester City and draws with Everton and Hull constituted their best run (so far) of the campaign, and following that a draw with Norwich and a win over Swansea City has mirrored the current run. So a win at Southampton and a draw with Stroke in their two most recent outings are not to be sniffed at. It begs the question: are the Bluebirds finally building some momentum under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer? 4) HISTORY IS ON CARDIFFâS SIDE...SORT OF Well, at least the last time the Bluebirds played at the Stadium of Light they earned a fantastic victory. Cardiff triumphed 2-1 in a Championship clash thanks to a brace from Michael Chopra. The Black Cats were managed then by Roy Keane who sat watching proceedings with all the levity of one of those stone heads on Easter Island. Anyone who was there will remember what a weird night it was on Weirside. It was Halloween 2006 for a start, and in the second-half â and this is 100% genuine â a Magpie landed on one of the crossbars. It was of course the symbol of Sunderlandâs most bitter rivals Newcastle and Chopra himself was from Newcastle and had started out his hometown club. Indeed his only Premier League goal for the Magpies had been â yes, youâve guessed it â against Sunderland. All that didnât stop Chopra jumping ship and joining Sunderland the following summer after the Black Cats had been promoted. 5) PAY BACK TIME There have been plenty of sickening moments for Cardiff this season. Evertonâs late-winner at Goodison Park, two Arsenal goals in the last two minutes of normal time at the Emirates, Spursâ injury-time winner via Paulinho back in September, readily spring to mind. But the 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland on December 28 was the most painful and potentially the most costly. The Bluebirds battered their visitors for most of the match, despite having seen boss Malky Mackay fired just days before and his assistant David Kerslake put in charge for this encounter. The Bluebirds should have been out of sight, but Steven Fletcher got one back for the visitors with seven minutes left and then, with virtually the last kick of the game, deep into added time, Jack Colback broke Cardiff hearts. Many Bluebirds supporters have since awoken in the middle of the night screaming: âKevin Theophile put it in row Z for goodness sake!â You therefore wonder if Cardiff may be due a bit of payback. What price an injury-time winner going in off a Sunderland defenderâs backside? 6) YOU SHALL NOT PASS Itâs official now, Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall is the best shot-stopper in the world. Well, in the Premier League anyway. Maybe. The Scottish international was named this week in the Sky TV Team of the Year picked by respected pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, and there were few dissenting voices, if any. Marshall has pulled off a string of magnificent saves and you actually wrack your brain to remember a mistake he might have made. It goes without saying that the Bluebirds need Marshall high on confidence for the trip to the Stadium of Light, which of course he is. One man cannot make a team, of course, but the Black Cats will know they will need to do something special to beat the Bluebirds goalkeeper, and the strength Marshall brings will hopefully permeate throughout the whole of the Cardiff team. 7) BELLAMY COULD BE BACK For a game basically billed as a cup final for the Bluebirds, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is going to need his big game players and they do not come much bigger than Craig Bellamy. The frontman has for a long time been a talisman and how his hometown club could do with a bit of his magic on Sunday. It was Bellamy who helped inspire Cardiff into the top-flight in the first place last season. It would be fitting now if the 34-year-old could play a big part in ensuring Cardiff defy the odds and stay in the Premier League. Bellamy recently admitted keeping the Bluebirds up would be a bigger achievement than getting them promoted in the first place. The defining moment in doing that will take place on Wearside this weekend.
I stopped reading this when I realised he is saying Sunderland are rubbish after nearly winning at the Etihad and followed that by winning at Chelsea. Then we are good because we won at Southampton and scraped a home draw with Stoke. We all know we can beat Sunderland but will we?
the league table doesn't lie and at this stage, being one point apart we have been at the same standard that sunderland have been at. sunderland are a dangerous team as they have players like johnson who can take most teams in this division apart, on their day they could beat us 3-0, but they have been woefully poor this season despite all their expensive players. they come into this game on the back of two excellent results against 2 of the top 3 and have home advantage. i think this will be a tough game. whoever wins then goes 3 unbeaten and has a bit of momentum and could stay up - what a big game this is….
Sorry lads but you won't be getting anything from this fixture, with two Jacks in the Sunderland side!......... Borini and Ki to both score............
Can see the logic in the main post but I think the SoL will be rocking and it'll be really tough to get a result there. Mackems win for me. I don't agree that a draw would benefit both teams. It'll benefit neither imo.
What is this with 5 things we learnt from this, 7 things we now know about that, 10 things that need to happen etc....... It is just an excuse for journos to fill space. ps. if there is any justice in this world, City will get a winner in the 97th minute after the assistant ref puts up 6 minutes
A draw would be fine & dandy...........as long as we beat Newcastle & Chelsea. Ain't it strange....this is about the tenth 'must win or we go down' game in a row....and to be honest whatever happens Sunday we'll be saying the same next week.
There should be quite an atmosphere on Sunday...who is going to win? Well I hope it is us. But teams are at the bottom of the league for a reason...let in too many goals and do not score enough. It is all about nerves and dare I say the rub of the green..or an idiot of a ref. Who is going to be able to claim the Great Escape tune as their own?
Hey mate, I'm no position to take the piss... Was just pointing out (like some of your fellow supporters) this **** journos article
No piss taking on this thread pal - both sets of supporters have had enough taken out of them by others all season. Really hope we win this one, but that we both make the cut come season end. Fulham, Norwich and perhaps a real "surprise" club for the drop would do me just fine.
Sorry butt I didn't think you were taking the piss I just find it amusing that it's worse home vs worse away. The fact Tucker is trying to convince himself that 4 points from Man City and Chelsea "isn't that great" deny's belief
