The Bluebirds had just clobbered Peterborough 3-0 for their first win over the Posh at Ninian Park since 1975. The title to the South Wales match report read "City Stay Top," the account describing the win as "emphatic." The Wales on Sunday report, entitled "City Coast It," observed that "at times it was so easy the game resembled a training session for City." Ah, such were the joys. We thought they'd never end.
Then came Saturday, November 9. City fell at Barnsley 3-2, dropped to third, and lost Danny Gabbidon to injury all in one day. Wigan won 2-0 at Blackpool that day and haven't looked back since (except for that one Friday night, November 29, when City blasted QPR 4-0 at Loftus Road and reclaimed the top spot for roughly 19 hours).
Let's bookend the two Barnsley matches, then, and see how City have fared (comparatively speaking) since losing Gabbidon and the top spot in the division. Check this Division Two top-half table for games played between November 9 and today:
1 Wigan 11-2-1 35 pts
2 Crewe 10-3-1 33 pts
3 Plymouth 7-4-2 25 pts
4 Swindon 6-6-2 24 pts
5 Tranmere 6-4-4 22 pts
6 Luton 6-4-2 22 pts
7 Cardiff 6-3-4 21 pts
8 QPR 6-3-5 21 pts
9 B City 4-7-3 19 pts
10 Oldham 4-7-3 19 pts
11 Mansfield 5-3-6 18 pts
12 Blackpool 4-6-3 18 pts
Three developments, none good. City limp along without Gabbidon while Wigan get even better and Crewe take off. Wigan: 10-5-2 before November 9, 11-2-1 since. Crewe: 8-4-5 before, 10-3-1 since.
Amazingly, City have actually fared a bit better than Oldham, Bristol City, and QPR since Gabbidon's injury.
Roughly a third of the season remains. Sixteen games to go, only seven of them at home. City's best hope is to do something in their next seven. Five of the seven are away (including Port Vale, Stockport, and Brentford in a row) but only two (Plymouth at home and Tranmere away) are against top-half of the table opposition. On the other hand, four of the last nine are against clubs currently holding down promotion and playoff places. If ever there were a time to put a run together that time must surely be now.
Let us pray that this Barnsley-to-Barnsley phase of the campaign brings down the curtain on a most disappointing second act and that the third and final act reminds us very much of the first.