Madness at Cardiff sure to continue despite Tan sympathy

Thursday 28th August 2014

Footy place

Vincent Tan is being viewed in a more sympathetic light than ever before, but don’t expect an end to the madness at Cardiff:


There is a well known postulation in the media industry, first used in the 1960s and commonly referred to as Todorov’s Theory, which breaks down every screenplay ever made into five simple parts.

Every film in existence, so Franco-Bulgarian historian Tzvetan Todorov suggested, must begin with a state of equilibrium, which in turn is disrupted, before a recognition of this disorder has occurred, which is subsequently resolved to eventually lead back to a sense of equilibrium.

Ironic then, that a club often mused as being part of a drawn-out soap opera themselves can perfectly fit within the boundaries of this theory.

The sacking of Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay in December, coming weeks after owner and proficient villain Vincent Tan had supposedly told the Scot in no uncertain terms to resign or be dismissed, sent shockwaves through much of the football industry.

In one corner we had a young manager, who in his short time in the dugout had made a name for himself, first at Watford on a shoestring budget, before moving to South Wales where he led Cardiff to promotion from the Championship after completely rebuilding the squad passed down to him from Dave Jones.

In the other corner, meanwhile, we had a madcap owner who has done nothing but harm the perception of foreign football owners from both the inside and outside.

To fit this into Todorov’s Theory, once news had spread regarding Tan’s ultimatum, followers of the then Premier League outfit rallied. On a cold December afternoon on Merseyside, Cardiff supporters packed into the away end of Anfield chanted a rendition of ‘Don’t sack Mackay’ 225 times after the full-time whistle of the 3-1 defeat against Liverpool.

This was recognition that disorder had occurred, and this was the fans’ way of letting Tan know exactly what they thought of his decision.

Unlike in motion pictures, however, things don’t always turn out the way you want. Mackay left, Tan became a hate-figure in the world of Football, and Cardiff dropped back down to the Championship.

In the months that followed, Tan gave his thoughts in a series of interviews which did little to help his villainous image. The Malaysian tycoon was portrayed – rightly so in the context of matters – as an evil man who single-handedly disrupted the fan base during his short time in charge of the club, tearing it apart and doing enough damage to ensure that certain followers of the Welsh club would never return.

In one interview with the South Wales Echo, Tan became particularly aggrieved when repeatedly questioned about the whole saga. The discussion was conducted shortly after both Mackay and director of football Iain Moody had issued apologies, dropping compensation claims in the process.

“They should ask why he apologises,” an irate Tan said. “They should find out from him. Legally, I’m not supposed to say. I wish I could say, but I can’t. Ask him why he apologises.”

It was only then, a full five months on from the whole affair first breaking, that Cardiff supporters began asking questions of their own. Why would Mackay, who seemed so determined that he was not in the wrong to such an extent that he would carry out damage proceedings, all of a sudden grovel in a short statement that did little but bring the whole case back into the spotlight?

Now we know exactly why. Distasteful messages of a racial, homophobic, sexist and xenophobic nature were sent between Mackay and Moody which leave little room for justification. It certainly cannot be deemed ‘banter’, as a badly worded statement from the Professional Footballers’ Association put it in the aftermath of the revelation.

But where do Cardiff go from here? How is equilibrium restored? It is not as simple as drawing a line under the whole saga and moving on – it has gone too far for that to happen. More and more damning and damaging texts will surely arise, and rumours of financial irregularities during the Scot’s time in charge of the Bluebirds will not go away.

This is sure to be something which rumbles on for weeks, months, even years should the punishment handed down to Mackay, should he be found guilty, be strong enough to see him banned from football for a lengthy time.

Many of those who aimed vitriolic abuse in the direction of Tan just a few months ago are calling on the owner to put the wheels in motion for a return back to blue. Now is the perfect time to do so, they say, on the basis that for the first time since rebranding the club a little over two years ago, Tan is now the figure of sympathy.

How wrong supporters were to question his decision to dismiss Mackay, the man who led Cardiff to the top tier for the first time in over half a century. How wrong they were to not live and let die, failing to let the whole saga slip into darkness.

But if there is one thing we have learnt about the Malaysian, it is that he is far too stubborn, too headstrong to even consider reverting back to the traditional blue kit. No chance. That would be the way to restore equilibrium, bringing together the fanbase once more following a couple of years of off-field turmoil.

It would be wrong to paint Cardiff as a club in which everything goes wrong; they have after all experienced the joys – albeit short lived – of a Premier League campaign and two cup finals in recent years. Yet something is just not right.

Tzvetan Todorov had little other than media studies in mind when he put together his still-relevant theory all those years ago. But events at the Cardiff City Stadium over the past 12 months – and even further back for older generations of supporters – show that football writes scripts to rival any mega-money Hollywood movie. And as long as Vincent Tan is at the helm, that will not change.

Candidate for most boring post of the year!

Correct though.

Decent read I thought, I agree that we won't go back to blue under tan... however I disagree with the view that the saga has gone too far to ignore.

We could, and Should draw a line under it, and all our energy and attention needs to go towards bringing some atmosphere back to CCS and supporting our team on the pitch. The best we can hope for at the moment is to see more come out from Tan's "compromise"

Olé's team and promotion should be all we pay attention too now

Thanks for the feedback - both good and bad. Can be a tediously boring subject at times, agreed!

Thanks for the feedback - both good and bad. Can be a tediously boring subject at times, agreed!

And here lies the problem as far as I am concerned.

Apathy is what Tan is playing at and as time goes on you can be assured there will be more of it.

... But events at the Cardiff City Stadium over the past 12 months – and even further back for older generations of supporters – show that football writes scripts to rival any mega-money Hollywood movie. And as long as Vincent Tan is at the helm, that will not change.

Hmmm. I've got issues with your screenplay theory.

Where was the initial equilibrium? I've been a CCFC fan for 14 years and there has yet to be balance behind the scenes in my time as a fan. You use the phrase soap opera in your OP and I'd say that is closer to the mark. Soap operas don't begin with an equilibrium and never achieve one. They are also dull.

Where are your characters? Who is the 'hero (protagonist)' of your screenplay? It can't be the fans as they are a collective who react to goings on the same way fans of any other club would. It can't be Malky because of the way things have panned out. It can't be Tan because as you point out in your post he's the antagonist (bad guy).

Sorry Gloves, your movie is going to be poo. Re-draft your treatment.

Correct though.

Not totally, but a good overall assessment, if not a lengthy one!

However, I think the only "Madcap" is the writer himself, as Tan is clearly no fool and (if Malky had walked when he apparently KNEW the game was really up) then he may well have avoided all this Malky Malarky!

Yeah the assessment is good for sure, just disagree that there is good drama in the VT - CCFC story.

Films are about life or death scenarios (literally or figuratively). The spine of the 'story' at play at CCFC is essentially about the colour change and I'm sure we can all admit in the grand scheme of things the re-brand really is not important at all.

This is why as a form of entertainment, if I had to choose between football and movies, I'd choose movies every time.