New dawn sunshine spoilt by foxes driving tractors

Now I'm breaking one of my own golden rules by writing this blog within an hour of seeing the Bluebirds lose their second consecutive game of the season and risking not being objective here but here goes nothing....

I wrote only a week ago how a new era had dawned at the Cardiff City Stadium when we'd beaten Hull City despite not having such "big name" players Bellamy, Bothroyd and Chopra in the side due to injury. Since beginning this blogging lark i have quickly come to realise that i am wrong concerning many things in life on a frequent basis, almost daily in fact and my predictions concerning Cardiff City FC are no different. In fact i think i may have used the phrase "How wrong could i be?" in every blog since i started this some six weeks (or so) ago.

Now whilst being a fully paid-up member of the sensible gang when it comes to my club and not being one of the ones who predicted a top two finish the instant Craig Bellamy signed, the eagle eyed amongst you reading this will have noticed that last week i was quite confident we'd see the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea at the Cardiff City Stadium next season and after today's defeat to Ipswich....i still am.

Please don't mistake me here for unrealistic optimism, my feelings are based upon the fact that like any football club in the world you tend to win more games with your strongest team on the pitch and most clubs from the middle of the Premier League down would miss the likes of Seyi Olifinjana and Craig Bellamy too. Therefore i am quietly confident that when we do finally have a full-strength squad on the field we will once again regain our consistency and stabilise a ship that's barely rocking let alone sinking.

Now i realise that in some ways this may be in stark contrast to my message last week where i was confident a new era had started where Cardiff could win games despite missing big name players but isn't hypocrisy the prerogative of every football fan in the world?

Now is not the time for pointing fingers and moaning and groaning about losing two games to two teams that beat us last season and are very good sides with very good managers. Now is the time for stark truths to be discussed such as is Gavin Rae good enough any more for Cardiff City and should Heaton be starting in goal but let's temper this with remembering just how far we have come as a club, we're still third at the moment and it's only September.

Take a deep breath, let it out slowly and remember that a win is only 90 minutes away. Let's learn and move on from this Bluebirds and let's enjoy the fact that we're third and we still have the likes of Chopra, Bellamy, Olofinjana and Drinkwater to return.

BB20

The Bluebirds finally lay ghosts to rest as Tigers are tamed....

Just like the summer changing to cooler autumn there appears to be a fresh change in the air at the City of Cardiff Stadium. Once again Cardiff City Football Club have started brightly, more brightly in fact than even the last four seasons and find themselves joint top with QPR of one of the most competitive leagues in the world the NPower Championship.

This may not suprise the everyday armchair critic who would argue that given the signings the club has made over the summer, Cardiff City should well be pushing the leaders at the top. Whilst there is certainly an element of truth about this, i believe that Cardiff fans everywhere have more reasons than ever to be cheerful especially given yesterdays result against newly relegated Hull City.

In times gone by Cardiff City would have struggled immensely when facing the loss of such star names as Craig Bellamy, Jay Bothroyd and Michael Chopra possibly the three most feared strikers in the Championship. This year however something seems to be different and i'm not just talking about depth of squad. Dave Jones himself yesterday stated that there is an "immense feel-good factor" surrounding the club at this moment in time and i for one am inclined to agree with him.

Take it from me, the level of expectation in the stands is at its usual exaggerated high yet this is now being backed up by a genuine positive attitude that at last seems to be purging this club of its past ghosts of failure. For the first time in my lifetime probably Cardiff City fans can genuinely believe that the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool will be visiting the City stadium next season and this coming from a fully-paid up member of the 'let's be realistic' crew.

At last the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be growing larger, the game yesterday highlighted that even when missing big name players Cardiff finally now have not just the depth but the belief to push on and grind out tough results.

Yes indeed the fresh air is blowing through the City of Cardiff Stadium and take it from me, it doesnt half feel good.

Bluebird