Sat Nov 08, 2014 9:32 am
I'm just knocking back a quick cuppa before setting out for yet another away day with the City. Me and the Mrs go to most away games as part of our support for the Bluebirds and I thought I'd spend a couple of minutes reflecting on what that actually means.
I'm not going to bang on about the cost (probably upwards of £100 today) or the time lost on a day off (leaving home 10am and getting back 7pm for the relatively close game at Brum), I'm not even going to shout about the roadworks on the shitty M5!
What I am reflecting on though is whether I'm really looking forward to it. Trouble is like most City fans I just can't avoid the pull of attending games. So what is there to look forward to today, the second away day in 5 days. What's really bugging me is I'm sure, despite some lousy performances away this season, I'm still likely to be watching the same 11/12 players that I've seen at every other away games under Russell Slade. It's just not filling me with any excitement.
When Slade first mentioned his chosen 20 I knew then he'd made a mistake. He'd shut out a number of other players who were in what had been called the 'best ever Championship Squad'. How after just one week could home have made that assessment, well for me it was only on the back of what he'd been fed by others already at the club. So for me it's more likely to be Young and Gabbidon's 20 players. That's made even worse by the fact that Slade seems to have reduced that to 13 players, which is about the extent of what he has used in both home and away fixtures as a starting line up.
The Daelhi and Morrison debate has been played out elsewhere on the Forum and probably done to death but for what it's worth I'd prefer Daelhi on the basis that he's a current high profile International, he'll still be with us in February and most importantly as much as I can see Morrison is a talented player he is beginning to look a bit like Saha did towards the end of his stay, not really showing that his heart is in it, although I do admit that his treatment may not be helping.
I doubt that the players or management really understand our away support. We are certainly amongst the most dedicated of City supporters and we do expect to be entertained and inspired just a bit when we travel such distances. Yes we're winning at home but then most teams are expected to do well on their home patch. We may not win every away game but we do expect a bit more from our team than we've been getting of late. Change the side and give someone else a chance. I know a few like the consistency in selection angle but that's gone way to far for me.
If I'd been that crap in my job I'd have been out by now so come on Mr Slade make some changes so we at least have something to cheers about today.