Observations and Questions about the Team

Greetings, all. I'm new to the forum and wanted to jump in, say hello, and ask a few questions about the team.

By way of background, I actually didn't grow up a big soccer fan (I know, with one line I'm already alienating myself from the board, but bear with me / take pity on me), however, I've always been into sports. With the World Cup upon us, soccer is becoming a frequent topic of conversation for folks, and having quite a few workmates who support various Premier League clubs, I decided I really wanted to find a team to support and follow. I also have a few acquaintences who support various clubs around Europe -- your odd Barca, Bayern or Inter Milan fan, but well, I decided I wanted to follow the best league.

So I set about to choose a team, and after listening to all my friends try to convince me to choose theirs by trash talking each others' clubs (the Arsenal fans in particular are a bit of a testy bunch, aren't they?), I decided that I wanted to make the choice personal to me in some way. Someone suggested I choose an area with family history, and support the closest team. Well, my dad's gran was born in Blackwood, so Cardiff City seemed a good option. When I discovered the rather extensive Norwegian connections on the team, that cemented it for me. I lived in Norway for a couple years, including the year Ole Gunnar scored the game winning goal for Man U in the Champions League. He was all anyone could talk about for WEEKS.

Ironically, a cursory reading of the board indicated that I was not exactly catching Cardiff at their finest hour, for reasons on and off the pitch. I found them near the bottom of the table, having just lost at home to Palace. Still, the Bluebirds fit my interests and sentimentalities for sport. I DETEST plastic/bandwagon fans, so I at least felt content knowing I wasn't just picking a Man U or a Chelsea who's already near the top.

In doing a bit of research, I found that the club is really quite up-and-coming. From Third Division to Premier League in only about a dozen years is no less than a meteoric rise, but at the same time, I'm an admirer of a good underdog story, which is definitely where the Bluebirds find themselves. I know that there's still a big hill to climb, but I love end-of-season races, and the points race to stay up will make for some exciting matches.

I found myself absolutely captivated by the match yesterday. I'll be the first to admit that I'm new to the x's and o's of the game, but it looked like the team really came together as a cohesive unit and they were rewarded with an IMPRESSIVE score by Cala, punctuated by an otherworldly performance by Marshall to keep the lead. Safe to say I'm hooked!

This is where most of my questions come in. I'm curious to hear the board's take on Cardiff's chances.

At the moment, Swansea and West Brom look to be out of reach, especially where both teams have one more game to harvest points (but who knows, stranger things have happened!), so it really looks to be a three-man race for #17 between Norwich, Fulham and Cardiff.

Norwich really got a rough draw for its final matches, and it looks possible that they don't earn another point.

Fulham's remaining matches appear to give them an easier road than Cardiff has, but the good news is, Bluebirds will likely maintain the better goal differential, so if Cardiff manages to make up a point on them they'll own the tie break, if I understand correctly.

So, a couple of questions about Cardiff's remaining matches:

How likely is it to see middle-of-the-pack clubs "mail it in" at the end of a season when they're not challenging for a Europa League spot but are also not in danger of relegation? I'd imagine that such matches at the end of the season would be used for younger player development and trying out various schemes to be put to use the following season. Could that give the team an advantage over a top-half squad like Stoke or Newcastle?

I'm not guessing that Cardiff would be afforded the same benefit from either Sunderland or Chelsea, who are in races of their own.

Speaking of which, if Cardiff is to make their move, I fear it'll have to be before the final match. The end of the season is shaping up to demand a strong finish from Chelsea.

After the home contest with Stoke, there are two consecutive weeks of travel to their furthest destinations of the year. Is road weariness likely to factor in there (realizing in asking that last week was Cardiff's first road win...just curious if clubs often notice any extra struggle with the longer travel)?

I'm excited to see how this all plays out. The Bluebirds definitely have momentum, and could leverage it into enough points to stay up.

Thanks, all, for indulging me in what's turned out to be a veritable novel. I look forward to contributing to the forum, and I appreciate all the information you've provided!

scouser , world cup. i stopped reading

If a few of our rostered soccer players can get a few more scores in any quarter we're in with a shout.

scouser , world cup. i stopped reading

Had to google that one.

Nope, decidedly NOT from around Liverpool (unless there's an alternate definition of the word that google didn't clue me in on).

Anyway, what's wrong with the World Cup? Is that taboo around the board?