Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:42 pm
David Marshall has been the star performer, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the biggest disappointment and Rotherham home has been the number one bore... but let's hope for a united club in 2015.
Cardiff City 2014. The year the Bluebirds played in the Premier League, but something of an annus horribilis that sadly won’t exactly be remembered in time as amongst the finest 12 months in the club’s proud history.
It started with such promise. A new manager in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a battling performance away to leaders Arsenal, only for the Bluebirds to fall to goals in the final three minutes by Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott.
Something to build on there? Unfortunately not.
We were to witness relegation, Solskjaer being sacked, the Malky Mackay text furore... and everything played out against a backdrop of growing discontent from many fans about the kit colour.
But there were still the occasional highs to go with the many lows. Here’s my take on the best, and worst, of what we saw on the field of play during 2014.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Mats Daehli, when handed his opportunities, has shone, Steven Caulker often stood up to be counted as skipper.
But for me goalkeeper David Marshall has been the stand-out performer throughout the year. Were it not for his shot-stopping brilliance between the sticks, the Bluebirds would have been thrashed even more comprehensively in some of their Premier League games and would not have won some of the ones they have in the Championship.
That’s what goalkeepers are there for, I suppose. But Sky pundit Jamie Carragher pointed out some of Marshall’s exploits were “beyond the ordinary.”
He’s the best goalkeeper outside the Premier League by the proverbial mile.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:
It’s easy to say Wilfried Zaha, for failing to back up his huge reputation on the field of play, or Malky Mackay, because of subsequent events off it.
But I’m going to go for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who sadly proved to be a catastrophe of a Bluebirds manager.
Solskjaer came here amid talk of being amongst the most wanted young managers in the European game. He pledged exciting football and goals to wow the fans.
Well we certainly saw loads of goals, but most of them were for the opposition. Six to Liverpool, four apiece to Sunderland, Man City, Hull and Norwich.
Solskjaer tinkered so much with his starting X1 and tactics the Bluebirds looked like a side shrouded with chaos and confusion. No wonder they were relegated... and Ole lost his job.
BEST WIN:
There haven’t been too many to choose from, but any victory away from home in the Premier League is to be cherished. Thus the 1-0 triumph down on the south coast against Southampton, back on April 12, has to eclipse anything else achieved this year.
Suddenly, after Juan Cala’s strike, the Bluebirds had fresh hope of avoiding the drop back down to the Championship. Unfortunately it proved a false dawn as they failed to win any of the subsequent five games and finished bottom.
BEST PERFORMANCE:
Cardiff were gallant at Southampton, but rode their luck somewhat and Cala’s winner was a bit of a smash and grab raid.
They played with more aplomb and authority in defeating Fulham 3-1 at home and in earlier this season overcoming Wigan 1-0.
For me, though, perhaps the best 90 minute showing was at Everton when the Bluebirds were desperately unlucky to lose 2-1 to a Roberto Martinez side pushing at the time for a Uefa Champions League spot.
That day at Goodison the Bluebird went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the country.
At 1-1, Wilf Zaha was denied a stonewall penalty. The Bluebirds then lost deep into injury time to a Seamus Coleman mis-kick which bobbled away from a wrong-footed David Marshall.
They say you make your own luck in football, but sometimes fortune just doesn’t go your way.
WORST PERFORMANCE:
Take your pick. Heavy home beatings by Hull and Crystal Palace in crucial relegation six-pointers, a performance lacking fight while crashing 4-0 at Sunderland.
To many fans, the manner in which Solskjaer’s side surrendered 3-0 in the Welsh derby to Swansea at the Liberty Stadium was unforgivable.
Perhaps the real nadir though was Cardiff 0 Rotherham 0 the other week. The Bluebirds may not have lost that one, but the lack of creativity produced against an abject Rotherham side made that the lowest of the lows for some.
The fans booed at the end.
BIGGEST BORE:
As above. Some nil-nils are entertaining and make you wonder how on earth they finished scoreless. Others are... well, just like this one.
DID I LIKE THAT OR NOT:
I still can’t fathom whether Cardiff 3 Liverpool 6 was one of my favourite Premier League games at Cardiff City Stadium, or one of the worst.
Twice the Bluebirds took the lead, first through Jordon Mutch, then Fraizer Campbell. Each time Liverpool pegged it back and in the end we were treated to a goal masterclass from Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.
Suarez bagged a hat-trick, Sturridge one, while he also set-up his team-mate’s second goal with a sublime back-flick.
The final scoreline of 3-6 was a cruel one for the Bluebirds, but you had to marvel at the brilliance of Liverpool’s SAS strikeforce.
BEST INDIVIDUAL SHOWING:
I’m going to move away from the David Marshall obvious here and salute a Craig Noone wonder show as Cardiff lost 4-2 at Manchester City at the beginning of the year.
Noone scored a brilliant solo goal and throughout the 90 minutes ran, ran and ran again at a Man City backline containing Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis and Aleksander Kolarov.
Time and again his dynamic dribbling took him racing beyond the backline of the champions-to-be.
I came away thinking to myself ‘I didn’t realise Noone was that good’. That was the benchmark... if Noone hits those standards more frequently, the Bluebirds will win a lot of games at Championship level.
MY WISH FOR 2015:
A club that heals the divides and has everyone pulling in one direction. With some entertaining football thrown into the mix, too, leading to a great atmosphere once again at a rocking Cardiff City Stadium.