Fulham vs. Cardiff City: Just Beat It, Beat It, Beat It, Beat It

While doing some research on Fulham Football Club, Cardiff's opponent this past week, I came across the following New York Times headline:  "A Statue is Removed, and Fans are Thrilled".  

In the article I learned that Fulham has had an 8-foot tall, statue of Michael Jackson outside it's stadium since 2011.  And not some classy bronze piece mind you.  One of those creepy, waxen, lifelike replica statues.

Wait, what?!

Apparently the former owner of Fulham, Mohammed Al Fayed, was a friend of Jackson and he commissioned the statue as a tribute to the late singer.

Because I'm a billionaire, that's why  (Image Credit:  Getty Images)

According to the Times, "when asked in 2011 about whether a statue of Jackson made sense at the fabled stadium, [Al Fayed] said, 'If some stupid fans don’t understand or appreciate such a gift, they can go to hell.' For good measure, he invited these unbelievers to root for Chelsea."

I'm getting a mild impression that Premier League owners truly do not give a crap about the opinions of their fanbase.  Then again, I'm not a billionaire like Al Fayed.  Who is to say that I wouldn't erect a statue of Optimus Prime outside whatever sports franchise I purchased?  

This past Wednesday, new Fulham owner Shad Khan, wisely conceded to supporter wishes and had the statue taken down.  

This will look fabulous in the guest bedroom (Image Credit:  Andrew Testa/New York Times)

Why Khan even bothered to pay professionals to dethrone the king is a mystery to me.  I think it would have been a far better PR move to let a mob of Londoners knock down the atrocity; sledgehammers in one hand and pints of Boddingtons in the other.

This all took place three days before the Bluebirds showed up for the weekend.  So without MJ to look over them, how funky strong was Fulham's fight?

Not strong enough...

Fulham 1 - Cardiff City 2

• Caulker (CAR) 12'
• Ruiz (FUL) 45'
• Mutch (CAR) 92'

This was Peter Odemwingie's debut in the starting eleven.  He took the place of Craig Bellamy, who apparently is in the last days of his career.  I thought Odemwingie looked pretty good and there's no question he's more of an offensive threat than Bellamy has proven in the season to date.  Perhaps Bellamy will come through in a clutch substitution moment later this season.

As always, the Cardiff defense was exceptional.  Most weeks it is goalkeeper David Marshall or defensive midfielder Gary Medel who keep the ship afloat.  But this week, Ben Turner and Steven Caulker not only played excellent defense, they also took the fight to Fulham.

Turner and Caulker both had headers this weekend.  Turner's was ruled a no goal due to an unrelated Cardiff penalty.  But Caulker's header counted and it was awesome.

(Image Credit:  AFP/Getty Images)

Offense seemed to be the theme this week for the Bluebirds.  It was abundantly clear that they understand that to avoid relegation they will have to increase the firepower.  And firepower is exactly what they unleashed on hapless Fulham.

In their previous 5 games combined, Cardiff City made 41 attempts on goal.  This weekend they made 22 attempts.  There's no correlation of course between attempts and goals.  But you'll get exactly 0 goals out of 0 attempts.  And as an American trying to get into following the Premier League, the laser show was much appreciated.

Which of course brings us to the man of the match, Jordon Mutch.  Jordon had played a total of 5 minutes in the previous 5 games.  At Fulham this past weekend, Jordon played for 35 minutes.  In that brief time, Jordon truly made Mutch ado about something.

Jordon Mutch:  Smooth Criminal (Image Credit:  Bogdan Maran/AP)

That ladies and gentlemen is the triumphant face and clenched fist of a game winner.  Jordon scored with barely a minute left in the game.  Because of his goal, the Bluebirds were able to walk away with a win instead of yet another odious draw.

Following this result, the Bluebirds find themselves in 11th place with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses.  The table below captures the full Premier League standings as of 10/01/13.  The table columns are:  Club Name, Matches Played (Pld), and Ranking Points (Pts).

It's worth noting that Premier League titans Manchester United are BELOW freshmen Cardiff City in the standings.  If that's still the case next week, I can guarantee you someone is getting fired.

Fantasy news update, the Cardiff'rent Strokes are (barely) back up in the top 50% of the worldwide league.  Here's the summary of my FPL status:  

• Rank (Last Week):  1,786,389
• Rank (This Week):  1,475,331
• Total Players:          2,963,756

Cardiff City's next match is home against Newcastle United on October 5th.

Thank you as always for reading Dragon and Bluebird!  You can find me on Twitter as well, @dragon_bluebird.