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.......Thing is. The ground is what it is and NP is going to be reconstructed. So ye, there is no point worrying.
Positives about the CCS..... Wales fans seem to love it. and it's also expandable so when we are a mega club, the modification might give it a bit more personality.
Regarding the people who run the club. We would need a local person with a connection to the club to buy Tan out and then try to foster a real sense of community ..... maybe some standing areas. No stupid marketing or hashtags. Good beer and food for a decent price. A commitment to academy players and young managers with an idea of modern football.
I think if all of the above happened then you would begin to feel "the magic" again.
we've lost half of our income this season, and still have some hefty wages to pay. we had an ageing squad who weren't performing and no funds to refresh it.
the only sensible way forward was to bring kids through and reset In a couple of seasons.
the club is actually making what seem like sensible decisions at the moment, it just requires a bit of patience from the fans. we won't be challenging at the top ,and the kids won't be as consistent as a seasoned pro, but as long as we are on the right track then it's ok.
the time to start whinging was when these problems were being built up. the 4 year contract for bacuna, offering Bamba another year when he was out with injury and 34. not playing a single player under the age of 21 for multiple seasons etc etc
I was thinking more in terms of fans turning on the club and team, but I'm sure people will start voting with their feet as you put it - I daresay there's a few who have already.
I don't know how old she is, but Blueblade's question asked when watching the Under 23s of "why doesn't the first team play like this?" gets right to the heart of the matter. For a few seasons now, there has been a healthy number of under ten year olds at home games, but I wonder how many of those from, say, five years ago, are still going now? Once the novelty wears off and they get old enough to begin to understand more about the game, I can't help thinking that an awful lot of them look at our team, with many of them struggling to give and receive simple passes and think this isn't for me.
As I mentioned earlier, unless you're a Wimbledon winning major trophies and frequently tweaking the noses of the big teams, a team playing in the way we do will struggle, first, to attract new fans and then to keep them.
I just think Tan has given up on the club. This isn't about building a long term future for the club, it's about cost cutting. Somewhat understandable given that the club is embroiled in costly court cases, but the board isn't being transparent at all. The only reason McCarthy is in charge is because the club wants to make sure it remains in the Championship while the cost cutting ensues.
I don't know why anyone would be content with the way we set up and performed against Bournemouth. They're a club who came down the season after us, the only difference is they invested their parachute payments when they came down, while we pocketed ours. The summer after we came down we made a profit from the transfer window. The real difference between the sides is the long-term, forward thinking both in the boardroom and the dugout. We've had bad window after bad window.
This summer, we sold or released 6 first team players, and loaned out 3, while also signing and immediately loaning out Wintle to a Championship rival. In their place, we brought in 3 first teamers. Any player who McCarthy didn't see playing or coming off the bench every game has been let go of.
Now I'm not saying that Cardiff are in crisis, or we have it as bad as the likes of Derby etc. We're clearly not even close to that. The club is stable and that's very important. But as fans who invest hundreds, or thousands of pounds in my case each season supporting the side, we deserve more honesty from the club as to why the squad has been decimated, and no money has been invested.
Is this a temporary measure? What is the long term plan for the club? Are these young players really all ready, or are they just being used to fill gaps while costs are being cut?
we are not the same as Bournemouth. they have a far better squad than us. they invested their premier League money much better and they STILL have parachute payments because they didn't go straight back down.
if they mess promotion up again in his season then they will have to face some difficult decisions as we have been.
they have better more sellable players though so they may have more options than we do..
I think you've got it with the points you raise. Imagine someone like Leggy or Kav as manager. I think it's great seeing the youngsters coming through from the academy and that really brings a sense of meaning and belonging. He might be a bit bonkers but Bellamy also brought some passion. Right now it still feels like we are Tan's plaything which he's got bored with. OK NP is long gone and is history but it would be nice to aspire to bringing some 'sense of community' to things as you suggest.
turning up on the day with your mates and standing/sitting together is a thing of the past, and has made the game less appealing. i also think growing up takes the shine off the club. when you're young, they are your heroes, as you grow older, the starlet in you disappears.
If I was coming fresh to football now I would not give it the time of the day, its a sordid little world , with so much greed and hypocrisy.
What would you have thought if you were coming fresh to football in the 80's/90's and every time you went to games there were huge gangs kicking the shit out of each other and bricking each other inside and outside the ground? Would you have given it the time of day then?
Football's never been perfect
You are right ,and to answer your question directly and honestly yes I did give it the time of day ,a lot of life was like that sadly and one could get caught up in it and as you become more mature you look back and reflect , some folk have turned that violent ear into some form of nostalgia and romantic era with book events , films ,clothing .
My Sunday afternoon sports viewing was the England v New Zealand women’s cricket match because I plan not to watch much of the six ESL clubs this season, but, in truth, I wouldn’t have done that a few years ago - I’m definitely not as much of a football fan as I used to be.
The stadium is fantastic.
All set up for Premier League football.
The NP rose tinted specs need to come off.
Why the two extremes?
I don't think that many people who bemoan some elements of the modern football experience want a return to the darkest days of the 1980s.
Most however would like to see a matchday experience more akin to that in Germany or many other countries.
Things feel different for me post-covid personally. It shakes up your thinking a bit and it all just feels grubbier and I feel more exploited. Has been like that for some time, but it feels worse now, personally speaking.
Indeed I think its moved away form the grassroots and communities of life , to one of a corporate greed feck fest .
Mind you look at men's cricket , music concerts its now out of the reach of folks at the lower end of the pay scale , how sad Is that ,one could argue the very folk and their grandparent /parents put these sports persons and musicians where they are now through decades of support , venue attendances ,purchasing their tickets / merchandise .
Feck em .
I have fallen out of love with this situation....as a fan since 1958-59 this is dire stuff...and I speak as someone who used to go to Halifax, Chesterfield, Bradford, Rotherham and the like.
I live in France, and in previous (pre covid) seasons I subscribed to a season ticket to watch online. I begrudge that now...and used to pay per match...but after the Bristol City game...no more. I paid....did not get a stream...after 20 minutes I emailed support (again) and said cannot get a stream so please refund...now I watch on free streams.
As many contributors have said, one can accept losing if we TRY to play football....there really has to be a sea change in ambition and style to move ahead. MM is not the answer despite his previous promotions. Eddie Howe would be my choice. We have a good crop of youngsters coming through but they need to continue the FOOTBALL they are used to in Academy/U23.
I read that VT watches every match regardless of time differences...surely he cannot be happy with what is being presented....To the board I would say 'bite the bullet' and change direction to get us back on track.
I think this feeling of disenchantment has come to light because of the combination of the gradual corporatisation of football, effects of the pandemic and the terrible football being played.
Someone made a great comment about looking at the match day experience from other countries, as it seems a bit like ours is a bit cookie cutter. We’ve lost our uniqueness in the move from Ninian Park, but that doesn’t mean that we should wish for its return.
The club definitely could improve its engagement with the area and players need to take off those stupid bud things from their ears, whilst acknowledging their fans.
I don’t necessarily think that Vincent Tan is not interested in the club, as his other businesses are also in a spot of bother due to the pandemic, so he’s probably a little preoccupied.
BITD, as in the 80s when I first went down the City,it was never about winning, it was tribal and about supporting the City of Cardiff as much as supporting Cardiff City, leaving NP, it’s never been the same for me personally. That said, having been a Championship club for around 15 years, there is huge (and often unrealistic) expectation that we should be competing in the top division.
Whilst we may be a club in many ways similar to Leicester, we are currently doing better than other clubs of similar size/support such as Portsmouth & Sunderland so it depends on whether you are glass 1/2 empty or glass 1/2 full.
I genuinely believe that Cardiff supporters prefer to be gallant underdogs such as when we beat Leeds & Man Ciry in the cup than competing in a league when we get regularly turned over by the likes of Peterborough…..
If you wait long enough, the magic always comes back.