- How do you mean? We didn't do too bad in blue did we?..... F.A. Cup Final, Carling Cup Final and Play-off Finals.
- Yeah, but we didn't win, did we?
- So the only reason we've been doing well is cos of the red, right?
- Yeah, that and all the money them Malaysians have put in.......which they wouldn't of if we hadn't gone red.
- Where do you think that money comes from ?
- Malaysia?
- Uh.....loans , but! It's all borrowed and one day we'll have to pay it back with interest, just like Sam the Man. We still owe him millions, don't we? We might just have to name the bloody stadium after him to shut him up!
- Yeah, but when we get in the Premier.......
- No guarantee, but we'll have to spend even more on players just to avoid going straight back down.
- Just gettin' there......Imagine!
- I know, but all I'm sayin' is, don't get carried away......Anyway, how many of our true fans actually refuse to buy any red merchandise? Think about that! And those who boycotted the club completely...though I think that was over the top.
- Like Bellers said....it don't matter. We could play in pink, we'd still be Cardiff City.
- Yeah, but he's a Liverpool fan, isn't he?
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Standing at the summit of the Championship and I'm getting dizzy. Being top of the league is a rare luxury for Cardiff City.
Even when we've been promoted in the past, we've tended to do it the hard way, with Play-offs and memories of Andy Campbell's cracker v. QPR at the Millennium.
It's like staying above a brewery in Belgium ( which a friend once did!), breathing in the hoppy fumes and eagerly anticipating the next long draughts.
Football is now about squads rather than teams and ours is undoubtedly
stronger than for years, with internationals like Kim and Cowie on the bench. Also, we've got players totally committed to the club, rather than loanees and a manager who is tactically flexible and a very good motivator.
Of course, we're a bit fortunate that there are no teams , such as Norwich and Newcastle in recent years, who stand out as real challengers. Yet it's possible that teams with a lot of talent like Bolton and Blackburn could reinforce in the New Year and make the kind of mid-season leap Reading did last year.
The other week I met a fan I've known for a long time and someone who has supported the club longer than me.
'Have you been down at all?' he asked.
I explained my stance on the ridiculous re-branding. I followed a club, not a brand, I told him.
Even he was contemplating buying a half-season ticket, longing to be part of what could be a victorious and historic season.
I don't blame him. I wouldn't have missed what I've seen.
The Bluebirds are still my team, as they are for many others!
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O BLUEBIRD!
They've taken down the pub sign
and it's now like the handle
of a large fork, all ready
for digging the grave.
Maybe a bluebird once flew
from a Music Hall song
out of a soprano's mouth
long before the white cliffs;
straight down the long shaft
of Tudor Street ,under the railway bridge
disturbing the fussy pigeons,
to settle on stone terracing.
Inscribed on so many bricks,
collected in so many fanzines :
'O Bluebird of Happiness!'
just like a ballad's name.
On the stands we still chant,
keeping it alive despite
the redness of the brand,
each breath an air-current upward.