Such is the sliding doors nature of football that if Cardiff had held on to beat Leeds and Wigan, Mark Hudson may well have been overseeing a trip to Accrington Stanley last weekend, with a good chance of making the last 16 in the FA Cup. Instead, he is long gone. Very much yesterday’s news.
It feels like everything is on a knife edge at the moment, at all times, in every aspect of Cardiff City, and its both exhausting and demoralising. You tend to reap what you sow and this has been a long time coming. Year on year cost cutting has left the club with a budget that reflects their standing and a recruitment trigger temper has left the squad with a permanent identity crisis.
The performance at Luton had no relation to the remarkable showing against Norwich on the opening day of the season, where Cardiff carved up one of the divisions strongest teams. They are once again direct, unsure and largely ineffective, at the worst possible time.
The irony is that a club that has adopted a short-term outlook for the longest time now has no choice in the matter. They’re forced to take each game as it comes and not look any further because if they do, what they’ll see will terrify them.
Sabri Lamouchi, who only has a contract until the end of the season, now knows exactly what he’s up against, if he didn’t before. He’s saying all the right things, making no promises and emphasising that this will take hard work. He’s also attempting to block out all the noise, so any talk of the signings the club might still make, missed out on or anything relating to beyond this season is effectively out of bounds.
Lamouchi is also keen to stress that he can’t do it alone. He needs us and this leads to an uncomfortable truth. Are we actually supporting Cardiff at the moment?
I’m inviting a world of pain by daring to ask that question, but are we helping, or hindering Cardiff’s plight? Yes, we’re paying and showing up, but does our responsibility end there? If you pay to watch a stand-up comedy show, you wouldn’t then question the need to be in a mood to laugh. It goes with the territory and is part of the transaction, otherwise it will be a long and painful night.
Speaking of long, painful nights, imagine playing at Cardiff City Stadium at the moment. Your league position already weighing you down, then you make a stray pass and the crowd turns on you. It makes for an oppressive atmosphere and must scare the life out of the players, who visibly shrink.
I understand and share the frustration, which is about far more than the eleven underperforming players on the pitch, but they bear the whole brunt of it and I don’t think that’s fair. Most of them have only been at the club for a few months and must be wondering what they signed up for. I know it goes with the territory and they will expect it, but this is more than that. Far more.
I have the utmost respect for the Cardiff fans that turn up every week. That slog up and down the country every other week and spend a fortune in doing so. They do not get the respect and credit that they deserve. During a cost of living crisis, when there are plenty of other things vying for your hard earned money, you pay to watch what is usually terrible football. That’s enough to send anyone over the edge, but we are where we are.
So, what happens now? This toxic relationship only ends one way and that is in League One. Fortunately, its not yet too late, despite what some people will tell you on social media. Over and over again. Lamouchi, and especially Sol Bamba, deserve our support and a fair crack of the whip. I know time is running out, but they need as much patience, and encouragement, as possible.
It feels like a bit of a stand-off between fans and players, where support now needs to be earned before it’s offered, but that now needs to end. Supporters are fed up, but the players will be too. They’re playing for their fourth different manager in five months, and most of them haven’t been here for much longer than that. No one expects or deserves that and it’s time to lighten the load.
Support is in the job description and it’s time to make the stadium oppressive for visiting sides, as opposed to our own. Rather than wait for something good to cheer about, will it into existence with unwavering backing. I still recall a Premier League game where Cardiff were beating Sunderland 2-0 and their supporters dragged them back into the game, which ended a draw. More recently, I’m pretty sure that the Leeds fans sucked their late equaliser into the back of our net.
Lamouchi is determined to focus on the job at hand, one game at a time, and block everything else out. It can all wait for another day and it’s time for us for us to adopt the same approach. Cardiff’s survival, in this division, and maybe in a broader sense, depends on it. Cardiff are very much in the shit and we’ll only get out if we all stick together.