Malky Mackay has worked wonders in South Wales

by Kieran Davies

Constantly labelled as the ‘nearly-men’ of the Championship, Cardiff City have a big season in front of them, bigger than any seen for many if not the history of the club. The men who were perceived as the club’s saviours have made such radical changes at the club this summer, even the most ardent of Cardiff fan has had their patience pushed to the limit. The thought of a Saturday afternoon walking down Sloper Road hearing that roar from Ninian Park from the passionate fans bellowing out………’and please don’t take my Bluebirds away!’ That was the lyric of one of the most popular Cardiff chants which intimidated visitors to the Welsh capital. However the club got into financial turmoil in a very seedy episode which saw their ex-chairman, somehow linked to the debtor, owed a king’s ransom. The Malaysian consortium took over the club with the image of a knight riding into battle to save everyone. But then came 2012, the year many including the Mayan’s prophesise world endings in December, however for many Cardiff fans it ended months earlier.

To rid the club of the illustrious bluebird image and its renowned blue home kit took some nerve from the foreign owners. Obviously this wasn’t done without explanation, but I don’t think there are many people in Wales who care for Asian cultures or superstition when it comes to their beloved team. The smokescreen of £100m investment was talked about a lot, in fact the words ‘£100m investment into the club’ were said that many times in the media I wondered whether they were trying to convince themselves. Let’s not get into the supposed breakdown of this figure as we would be into the January transfer window before you would finish reading this. The bottom line is what they have done to this club is unprecedented in the world of football and in my eyes no different to the owners of Liverpool selling the Paisley and Shankley Gates to Cash Generator.

Malky Mackay has done his best to appease the fans and has spent well this summer adding some real talent to the ranks and more importantly, talent that could perform at a Premiership level. Looking at the Championship as a whole, Cardiff have far more players capable of turning a game on its head on their own, than any other side. This could be, even with the kit the wrong colour and badge now looking like the emblem of a fire station, their best chance to gain automatic promotion. I’m sure there will be a few more signings before the end of the transfer window, but even before a ball is kicked they seem best prepared in that league for the challenge ahead. So what could possibly go wrong?