Like every other American that does not live in the state of Washington, I deeply regret having spent several hours of my life watching the Super Bowl this past weekend. I didn't care who won, the game was a blowout, and the commercials were underwhelming.
Thankfully I own a DVR, so I didn't miss Puppy Bowl X.
For those of you in the UK and elsewhere who may not watch American football, this was supposed to be an exciting, close game. The Seattle Seahawks were the best defensive team (i.e. fewest points allowed) in the NFL this season. The Denver Broncos were the best offensive team (i.e. most points fielded) in the NFL this season. Actually, the Broncos were the best offensive team of any NFL season.
So it was pretty shocking to see the game end in a 43-8 rout by the Seahawks. It would be something like if the Manchester City-Chelsea game this past Monday was played on the last day of the Premier League season, with the two teams tied at the top of the standings, and having the match end 1-6 instead of 0-1.
While I didn't enjoy the game, I did enjoy this Super Bowl-related internet gem...
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| "Football!" (Image Credit: @SirPatStew) |
Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen, in Seahawks and Broncos jerseys respectively, holding a soccer ball. The only way that picture could have been more awesome is if the bluish ghost of Sir Alex Guinness were hovering in the background in a 49ers jersey.
For those of you who didn't get a degree in engineering and spend 11 years in industry praying that someone would hire you to build the starship Enterprise, let me break it down for you:
- Patrick Stewart: Gurney Halleck (Dune), Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation), and Professor Charles Xavier (X-Men)
- Ian McKellen: Gandalf (Hobbit and Lord of the Rings) and Magneto (X-Men)
- Alex Guinness (Not pictured but unquestionably there in spirit): Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)
@SirPatStew and @IanMcKellen I had no idea that you were comic geniuses as well as science fiction legends. Well-played, Sirs.
Nerd gushing completed...man, what a segue.
Let's talk some Cardiff City!
Before we get to the matches from this past week, I wanted to thank the gentlemen-scholars of the Built on Sloper Rd podcast for having me as a guest.
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| The "Built on Sloper Rd" podcast and blog logo |
If you're not already listening to Built on Sloper Rd, drop what you're doing and go subscribe to their podcast! They are a bunch of really great guys and they upload two podcasts a week covering Cardiff City matches and club shenanigans. The episode I'm on aired on January 31st and you can find it on iTunes by searching for "BOSR Extra 10".
By the way, the guys are currently running an eBay auction to support Cardiff City captain Steven Caulker's charity, "Africa's Child". You can find the details here.
Ok, let's get serious and actually talk about the Bluebirds!
There were two matches this past week. The first was on January 28th away at Manchester United...
Manchester United 2 - Cardiff City 0
- Van Persie (MUN) 6'
- Young (MUN) 59'
This was Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's (OGS) first match as manager against his former club. He received a warm reception, as he was somewhat of a legendary goal scorer at Manchester United...
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| In case you needed another reason to dislike Manchester United, their mascot is a satanic Care Bear (Image Credit: mirror.co.uk) |
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| OGS does the Ayatollah, much to David Moyes' chagrin. Cheeky! (Image Credit: mirror.co.uk) |
Aside from the return of OGS, the other big storyline of the match was Manchester United's signing of Juan Mata from Chelsea. Mata is a disgustingly good player that was underutilized at Chelsea. It's unusual for a player of that caliber to be transferred mid-season between Premier League rivals. In a way, I think the transfer only went through because Chelsea's manager Jose Mourinho wanted to let David Moyes know that he thinks Manchester United is too crappy to be a title threat.
But it was Robin van Persie, not Juan Mata, back from an 11 match absence who scored first for Manchester United.
While it was conceivable for the Bluebirds to win this match, it wasn't expected and it wasn't a "must win". I was pleasantly surprised to see that Cardiff City didn't implode on themselves like they have in the past after going down 1-0.
The Bluebirds actually lead the match in possession, but little else. I did think there was still a chance for a draw up until Manchester United's Ashley Young scored his goal 59 minutes into the match.
It's not that Cardiff City didn't have any moments of good performance, it's just that overall, like the Super Bowl, it was a pretty dull affair.
Thanks for the pic, Jody!
The BBC Sport match report described the result as a "morale-boosting win" for Manchester United. It's a pretty sad state of affairs when last year's champions get a morale boost from beating the worst team in the league. Spoiler Alert...Manchester United would go on to lose their next match against relegation candidates Stoke City. So much for the morale boost you jerks.
Cardiff City were unlucky in the standings due to other relegation candidates stepping up in their matches. The Bluebirds were not just in last place at this point, they were in last place with a gap forming.
Which brings us to the close of the January transfer window. Just like my coverage of the summer transfer window, I didn't bother telling you much about who might be in or out becuase their is so much misinformation on the internet during this time period. But it's done now and let's look at what's happened to the roster this season.
Below is a list of everyone who has been transferred in since summer 2013 and out since winter 2014. I've left off anyone who left before this season began or went out on a brief loan spell during the season just to cut down on confusion...
Transferred-In (Summer 2013), Still Here:
- Steven Caulker
- Gary Medel
- Maximiliano Amondarain
- Kevin Theophile-Catherine
Transferred-In (Summer 2013), Transferred-Out (Winter 2014):
- Andreas Cornelius
- John Brayford (Loan)
- Simon Moore (Loan)
- Peter Odemwingie
Transferred-Out (Winter 2014):
- Rudy Gestede
- Craig Conway
- Filip Kiss (Loan)
- Nicky Maynard (Loan)
Transferred-In (Winter 2014):
- Magnus Wolff Eikrem
- Mats Moller Daehli
- Jo Inge Berget
- Kenwyne Jones
- Fabio
- Wilfried Zaha (Loan)
- Juan Cala
Three players are particularly worth noting from the above lists: Cornelius, Odemwingie, and Jones.
Andreas Cornelius is the poster child for Vincent Tan's absolute disgust with former Cardiff City Manager Malky Mackay. Due to a combination of injury and ill-preparedness, Cornelius scored zero goals in his eight appearances. He was brought in this past summer and was booted out less than six months later.
Peter Odemwingie and Kenwyne Jones are a really interesting transfer story. Like Cornelius, Odemwingie was brought in over the Summer for exactly one purpose...to score goals. He managed to score one Premier League goal in his fifteen appearances. Cardiff City swapped Odemwingie for Stoke City's Jones, which was somewhat of a mystery because Jones had zero goals in seven appearances for Stoke City. What was OGS thinking?!
Kenwyne Jones' first Premier League match as a Bluebird was in our second match of the week, at home on February 1st against Norwich City.
Was OGS crazy for swapping one non-scoring goal scorer for another? Let's find out...
Cardiff City 2 - Norwich City 1
- Snodgrass (NOR) 5'
- Bellamy (CAR) 49'
- Jones (CAR) 50'
I'll give you a moment to pick yourself up off the floor.
Yes, the Bluebirds actually won a match! Not just any match, a true "must win".
One minute into the game, Cardiff City rock star Jordon Mutch had a sweet bicycle kick goal attempt that was unfortunately stopped. This was the signal to me at least that the Bluebirds came to play.
While Cardiff City looked really good on the attack, their defense was a truly confused mess. Which leads us to the punch-in-the-gut...Norwich City's Robert Snodgrass' goal just 5 minutes into the match.
It's not supposed to go down like this. Norwich stinks. We've bought all these new players. Defense is supposed to be the one thing we're decent at right? Not really. Goalkeeper David Marshall is unquestionably a star, but the downside of OGS' attacking style is that you don't have as many dudes parked in your third of the field. This is a new style of play for the Bluebirds and they need time to get used to it.
And get used to it they did. Snodgrass' goal was Norwich City's last.
If there was one Cardiff City player on that field that wanted a win more than any other, it was Craig Bellamy. His goal at 49 minutes into the match was his first of this Premier League season.
Craig, and the entire stadium went berserk.
OGS has been a VERY vocal champion of Bellamy; encouraging him to get fit and continue playing, even though Bellamy himself has said he's running out of gas and is considering a new career in managing. Smart move OGS.
Which brings us to another smart, if mysterious move by OGS, the signing of Kenwyne Jones.
One minute after Bellamy's goal, although it only seemed like a blink, Kenwyne Jones put in his first goal of the season as well.
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| Kenwyne Jones scores the game winner in his Cardiff City debut (Image Credit: The Guardian) |
What followed can only be described as a celebration dance on par with any "fatality move" in Mortal Kombat...
I fully expected the stadium to shake itself to pieces after that cartwheel-somersault-ayatollah.
The next 40 minutes were the most hotly contested, scrappy scenes I've watched to date. Both clubs had legitimate attempts, but the lions share came from Norwich City.
I had several minor heart attacks during this time period, the worst of which occurred during two disallowed Norwich City goals.
Whatever David Marshall earns, it's not even close to enough.
At 93:51 one of the commentators said, in reference to Cardiff City "so close [they] could almost touch the three points".
And touch the three points the Bluebirds did. That's probably terrible grammar, but I don't care.
There was skill in this win, but also several large warehouses worth of luck.
I have never felt more confident about the season than at this moment. Maybe I will eat my words later, but I feel like this is a new start and the beginning of a hot streak. And if the skill and confidence disappear and only luck remains so be it as long as Cardiff City don't get relegated.
I really must share with you this Twitter exchange featuring Kenwyne Jones after the match...
As it stands, the Bluebirds are in 19th place with 5 wins, 6 draws, and 13 losses. The table below captures the full Premier League standings as of 02/04/14. The table columns are: Current Position (POS), Last Position (LP), Club Name (CLUB), Matches Played (P), Wins (W), Draws (D), Losses (L), Goals Fielded (GF), Goals Allowed (GA), Goal Differential (GD), and Rankings Points (PTS).
I've never been so happy to be the second worst at something.
Cardiff City have climbed up from 20th to 19th place, and my Fantasy team, the Cardiff'rent Strokes have seen similar improvement...
- Rank (Last Week): 1,337,819
- Rank (This Week): 1,305,836
- Total Players: 3,167,775
So much to talk about this week, apologies for the ridiculously long blog post. Let's wrap things up.
Cardiff City's next match is away at Swansea City on February 8th. That's right, the second South Wales Derby in Premier League history. Neither team has ever "done the double". But my new found optimism has convinced me that this might be the Bluebirds year of miracles.
A few Twitter shoutouts:
- Built on Sloper Rd: @BuiltOnSloperRd
- Built on Sloper Rd hosts: @djr_ccfc, @adam85James, @SteveDE83, @Bennifactor
- Jody Davies: @jodylaforge, @DodgemXofficial
Thank you as always for reading. You can follow me on Twitter @dragon_bluebird. And feel free to leave some comments on my posts via Blogger or Twitter. Would love to hear your thoughts on the season so far and I'm always open to suggestions for features or topics you'd like to see on this blog.
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