Of course, Kav’s transfer has worked out well for him in the end with Wigan’s promotion, but there is no doubt that he made the move reluctantly - anybody who has seen some of the interviews the player gave to Cardiff City World will realise that you sometimes got a more “honest” interview with Kav than you did with most other footballers and you certainly did with this story in the Echo (http://tinyurl.co.uk/gyzm) which gave his reaction to his transfer on the day it was completed. Such stories guaranteed that Kav’s return to Ninian Park was always going to be less fraught than the occasions when he went back to Stoke in City colours - in the event, he was booed during the game, but received a great reception from City fans before and after the game.
As for the game, it was another case of “if only” because for much of the first half, City made Wigan look very ordinary. Thorne, Jerome and McAnuff all wasted decent chances and there was another effort cleared off the line while Wigan offered nothing in reply, but, as so often during the season, City were unable to capitalise when they were on top and ended up being given something of a lesson by Wigan after the break as they showed why they were so high up in the table.
Six minutes after the break the visitors showed the ruthless streak needed by promotion teams when they scored with their first real attack as Jason Roberts flicked home a header from a quality cross by left back McMillan. After that Wigan spent most of the time protecting their lead quite easily and City’s only real threats came from Neal Ardley as he headed narrowly over and saw a cross turned over by Filan - Cameron Jerome did have the ball in the net, but the “goal” was disallowed for offside and the game was heading for a tame finish when Barker and Langley got themselves in a mess which allowed Kav to unselfishly set up another former City player in sub Alan Mahon for a goal which gave Wigan a win by the slightly flattering score of 2-0.
At this time Lennie Lawrence was saying anything we got in games against the likes of Wigan and Preston was a bonus and that the real important games were the ones against teams around us that we dare not loss. Whilst I could see where he was coming from, the fact was that we only had five matches left and any defeat left us closer to the nightmare scenario of having to get something from our last game to stay up - this was something that needed to be avoided at all costs if we could, because, as was proved on the final day, anything can happen in such circumstances.
There was one development in the off field situation during the week before City travelled to Preston. Leighton Andrews the Assembly Member for the Rhondda is also a City season ticket holder and at the height of our financial problems in March he wrote to the club outlining his concerns for the future. Mr Andrews released details of a reply from the City (http://tinyurl.co.uk/3vqv) on his website - City have, justifiably in my view, been criticised for being secretive at times during the season, so it’s fair to say that, to this non expert at least, this was a helpful and detailed reply from the club which gave important information in three areas.
Firstly, there was information about the loan notes which have been the topic of such debate recently. The loan notes were issued in September 2004 as part of a transaction which transferred the sum the club owed Citibank (believed to be £24 million) to the holder of the loan notes. Repayment is due to the holder of the loan notes on (as far as I can tell) 1 January 2012 (hence Sam Hammam’s claim that most of the club’s debt is a long term one). The information given in the letter takes things on a bit further than that though because it revealed that the notes were unsecured (which means that if we went into Administration, the holder of the notes would be unlikely to get their money back) and that they were held by “non UK resident investors” who were “independent parties”. Obviously the identity of who holds the loan notes has been the subject of an awful lot of recent speculation amongst City fans and in the media - a certain locally born businessman involved with a Premiership club has long been championed by some on here, whilst others mention Sam Hammam’s family, but, suffice it to say, whoever the notes were issued to showed an awful lot of faith in the club at a very difficult time and I dread to think what would be happening now if they hadn’t.
The second matter brought out in the letter was that the club had not been able to pay, for “some considerable time due to cash flow difficulties”, Sam Hammam’s company the management and consultancy fees that had outraged so many supporters when details of these payments were released in the recently published accounts. On the face of it, this was proof that Sam Hammam’s company had not been benefiting whilst the club were on the brink of administration, but, as has been pointed out by others, what does “some considerable time” mean? Under some circumstances, an hour could be “some considerable time”!
The final detail of note in the letter was that the club intended to hold a long overdue AGM during the summer (although at the time I write this, no date has been given for this meeting and, frankly, I’ll believe it only when the meeting is held!).
When Preston won at Ninian Park in a televised game back in November nobody could have imagined that they would go on a run of one defeat in nineteen games which would take them to the brink of play off qualification - they were very, very ordinary that night at Ninian Park, but their impressive manager Billy Davies had invested some of the money received for Ricardo Fuller very wisely and now they were the in form team in the league. The fact that Davies had been allowed to invest a portion of the money received from the sale of Preston’s star striker rankled with this City fan because I couldn’t help thinking that, especially in a division as even as this seasons Championship proved to be, it could have been us in Preston’s position if the three or four new signings Sam Hammam had promised in that meeting eight months earlier had ever materialised.
People may think that I am being over optimistic there, but when you consider that two of the teams who contested the play offs this season (Preston and Derby) finished below us last year, I don’t think I am. There was a lot right with the City team in the season just ended - we had some very good players for this level and defensively we were strong and yet, as it turned out, this game was one of only two real hidings we took (the other was at home to Watford) during the season!
Mind you even in this heavy defeat it took something special from David Nugent after 67 minutes to break the deadlock when he volleyed in spectacularly from the edge of the box but, truth be told, a poor City team were hanging on by then as Preston got more on top as the second half progressed. Once City had gone behind, there wasn’t ever going to be a way back for them because, apart from a possible penalty in the first minute when Jerome fell when challenged by home keeper Nash, they never threatened the Preston goal in the whole game. Willie Boland made his first appearance since the game at Watford when he came off the bench along with Alan Lee and Michael Boulding (this was Boulding’s last appearance for City - after four pretty anonymous substitute performances, City decided not to extend his loan deal) but it made no difference as Nugent was sent through a yawing gap in the defence after 79 minutes to make it 2-0.
City’s misery was complete five minutes when Creswell robbed Barker and scored easily. Although the goals had come pretty late on in the game, it was generally agreed that City could have no complaints about their 3-0 defeat. Beforehand, I would guess that most realistic supporters were expecting a defeat, but it was the manner of it which set alarm bells ringing as, for the first time in ages, there was an element of surrender in the teams showing.. City were now being kept out of the bottom three just because they had a superior goal difference to Brighton - Rotherham were now gone and Forest seemed certain to join them, but it was any one of seven for the other relegation place which only served to make City’s match (this was the game in hand they had over most of their rivals) at one of those teams (Leicester) all the more important.
Although it would take a very strange combination of results to see them relegated, Leicester were still in danger because of their tendency to draw too many games - six of their last nine games had finished all square and with City having a tendency to draw 1-1 at the grounds of teams struggling against the drop, another draw looked on the cards.
However, for most of the first half, City looked incapable of getting a point - they had threatened first when Peter Thorne forced keeper Ian Walker to turn his effort onto the crossbar, but apart from that it was one way traffic. The central midfield combination of Langley and Ledley had been over run at Preston, so the recall of the fit again Willie Boland for Ledley was hardly a surprise, but it didn’t seem to have any effect in the first forty five minutes as only a string of fine Neil Alexander saves kept them in touch. When Alexander was eventually beaten after 33 minutes there was an element of fortune about as Connelly’s shot was deflected, but t keeper was lucky a few minutes later when the same players effort came back off the post.
To a lot of City supporters, half time at Leicester represented the low point of the season - speaking for myself, I had always been optimistic that we would survive, but my faith was definitely wavering then as I felt a third successive defeat would make us favourites for the drop. However the second half saw the team rediscover the belief and spirit that had characterised most of their play since the turn of the tear and, in the end, they managed to winkle out their usual 1-1 draw at relegation rivals’ grounds.
The equaliser arrived around the hour mark when Neal Ardley curled in a lovely shot from the edge of the box past a bemused Walker who remained rooted to the spot for his first goal for the club. After that, although City rode their luck when a Dion Dublin header hit the bar and bounced over, they gave as good as they got during the second period and James Collins almost won it for them late on when his shot beat Walker but was just off target.
By then Leicester had been reduced to ten men having had Dabizas sent off for picking up a second yellow card and there were those who thought we should have gone for what would have been a priceless victory more in the closing stages. However, given the circumstances, I think it was understandable that we were happy to hang on to what we had and, in the event, the point gained marked something of a watershed in the season for the team as things definitely started taking a definite turn for the better after that.
The home match with Reading turned out to be the pivotal game of the season as far as I am concerned, Reading arrived at Ninian Park occupying the last of the play off positions and seemed to pose a formidable hurdle to City’s hopes of climbing the table. However, in the event, it turned out to be one of the easier wins of the season for a City side that approached the game in exactly the right manner. Unlike so many other home matches during Lennie Lawrence’s time in charge, City seemed up for this game from the start and got their reward in twelve minutes when the visitor’s offside trap went all wrong and Peter Thorne was given time and space to chest down Neal Ardley’s free kick and smash the ball home from about fifteen yards for his first goal that non penalty goal since the win over Forest on 3 January.
There could have been other goals as well with Thorne coming closest to adding to our lead when his effort was headed off the line by Shorey after half an hour, but it only proved to be a temporary reprieve for Reading as Keown headed the resultant corner from Ardley straight to Jerome who poked the ball in from the corner of the six yard box.
All season long City had been good at holding on to leads in home games (their problem was getting in the lead in the first place!) and this game proved to be no exception. City dominated the remaining hour of the match, but were, understandably, not too concerned about adding to their lead - the second half saw Thorne hit the outside of the post and Gabbidon fire just wide from a free kick, but it was a more low key affair than the first period. Reading did wake up a bit towards the end with substitute Les Ferdinand heading on to the top of the bar and Alexander making a marvellous save from the previously anonymous Kitson, but they finished a well beaten team - people were quick to criticise Reading’s performance after this game, but I preferred to praise City’s, once again, they had showed the unity that had characterised their play since the turn of the year and, truth be told, there had been very few matches in which they had looked a relegation team since then.
Other results made what was already a good day into a great one. Crewe lost 2-0 at home to Stoke and, although Brighton snatched a last gasp equaliser to gain a 2-2 home draw with West Ham both teams were now three points behind us with a far inferior goal difference with two games to play which meant that neither side could afford to lose another game and as they both had to face third placed Ipswich yet, it was hard to see both teams remaining unbeaten. City’s win had lifted them up to 17th and they had reached the 50 point mark which traditionally ensures safety from relegation but, at the time, it appeared they weren‘t quite safe, although if they avoided defeat at Gillingham (themselves just a point clear of the bottom three) in their next match then that should be enough to ensure Championship football for 2005/06 (as it turned out, they had already done enough to survive).
The Player of the Year awards were presented that evening and the Reading win must have helped the atmosphere immensely - Sam Hammam was given a bit of a rough ride during his speech, but, given the sort of season it had been, things could have been much worse if we had lost in the afternoon! James Collins, Danny Gabbidon, Cameron Jerome and Joe Ledley were amongst those to pick up honours on the night, but the main award went to Chris Barker who, in my opinion, had been week in week out our most consistent player once he had returned from his loan spell at Stoke.
City now had a week to wait for the Gillingham match, but before that there was, some actual good news on the ground with this story appearing in the Echo (http://tinyurl.co.uk/jfon). However, if the normally reliable since62 is to be believed, even this so called good news story isn’t quite what it seems - according to since62 “Costco have agreed in principle to the lease but haven`t committed to a contract”. So seven months after David Temme announced that Costco “will be a fantastic anchor tenant because of the other companies that are also being attracted to the retail park”, it would appear that nothing definite has been agreed yet! As for “all of the other companies that are also being attracted to the retail park”, it would seem that, if any actually exist, it will require a change to the original planning permission granted for them to go ahead. It would appear therefore that, far from being “the most important day in the club’s history”, January 19 2005 was nothing more than just another false start - when Sam Hammam announced “let’s get started” after the various planning permissions were granted at that meeting, I’m sure he didn’t think he would, have to go through the same processes again in the summer! However, at the moment, even that would appear to be putting a positive interpretation on things because, with no new planning permission applications filed yet, and the Council due to go into recess in July, if you factor in the 90 day consultation period required after any new planning permission is granted, it is looking likely that yet another year will pass without work starting on the new stadium!
Anyway, that’s enough gloomy speculation, back to the football and some good news! Darren Williams returned to the starting line up for the first time since before Christmas when he replaced the injured Tony Vidmar at Gillingham. A combination of a very hot afternoon and a bobbly pitch made for a poor game, but any tension the team felt would surely have disappeared after about ten minutes if they had known that Crewe were already 2-0 down at Ipswich (they would eventually lose 5-1). As it was, we did come closest to scoring in the first half when home defender McEveley headed against his own crossbar, but in truth there was very little created by either team. After the break, the fact that Gillingham needed a win to ensure their safety became apparent as they pushed forward more and after 72 minutes substitute Jarvis scored with a shot which I thought Neil Alexander should have done better with. To City’s credit, they really went for it after falling behind as Lennie Lawrence amazingly switched to three at the back by bringing on Bullock for Williams!
With Alan Lee and Paul Parry (making his return after his injury picked up against Forest back in January) on for McAnuff and Jerome, City began to take charge - Parry missed a great chance to equalise, but made amends shortly after with a fine header from Ardley’s cross to give us yet another 1-1 draw at a relegation rivals ground.
City were now safe and it was time to acknowledge the big part Neal Ardley had played in achieving that, besides his priceless goal at Leicester, Ardley had played some part in four out of the six goals scored by other players since he had arrived. Whilst he wasn’t a flying winger in the McAnuff mould, the quality of his crossing from open and dead ball play more than made up for that - add in a good work ethic and the fact that he would seem to be a good influence in the dressing room (he was very impressive in his appearance on GTFM’s phone in programme) and you could see why most City fans would have been delighted to learn that he recently signed a contract to keep him at the club for the next two years.
Instead of being the nail biter it promised to be, the teams last game, at home to QPR, became irrelevant - there was some talk of the visitors being out to avenge their play off final defeat from two years ago, but it turned out to be a pretty quiet affair. Having said that, we did manage to score what I think was our goal of the season during a first half which we dominated - the hugely promising Cameron Jerome completely fooled Santos on the halfway line with an outrageous dummy, then skinned Shittu as he ran down the right hand touch line before a delivering a cross which was deflected away from Peter Thorne it’s intended target to Jobi McAnuff who scored the winner in what turned out to be his last game with us with a first time shot from the edge of the box.
Rangers had the better of the second half and when you consider that Gallen missed a sitter and they hit the post twice, then it’s fair to say that they probably deserved a point, but it wasn’t to be as the game and the season ended quietly with the only other features worth mentioning being Tony Vidmar’s last appearance for us having accepted on offer to rejoin NAC Breda in the summer and a post match press conference by the mad but always entertaining QPR manager Ian Holloway which drew a round of applause from the assembled hacks!
Other results saw Gillingham accompany Rotherham and Forest into the first division - Crewe came from behind to beat Coventry and Brighton drew with Ipswich which meant that Gillingham’s draw at Forest wasn’t enough to keep them up.
City finished the season in 16th place with the following record;-
Home P 23 W 10 D 4 L 9 F 24 A 19 Pts 34
Away P 23 W 3 D 11 L9 F 24 A 32 Pts 20
Overall P 46 W 13 D 15 L 18 F 48 A 51 Pts 54
Looking at those figures, it’s obvious that we never found another way of scoring the goals that Earnie would have got us if he had stayed. Our home record wasn‘t good enough, but then it never was under Lennie Lawrence and that didn’t stop us succeeding in previous seasons. Away from home another characteristic of Lennie Lawrence’s time with us was maintained as we were difficult to beat, but the difference this time (and I believe one on the main factors as to why we struggled) was that we won just the three games, a figure way down on previous Lawrence seasons.
I should just finish by mentioning the recent changes. To my surprise, the club did what it would seem a majority of supporters wanted by getting rid of Lennie Lawrence - for myself, I thought our manager had a poor season and reckoned the time was ripe for a change, but I firmly expected to see Lennie still in charge next season. The appointment of Dave Jones looks an encouraging one as he doesn’t seem to come into the category of being a typical Sam Hammam appointment - I would say that Wolves last season was the only time that I can remember a Dave Jones managed team under performing and his record is a good one, time will tell if he can maintain that record with us.
Peter Ridsdale has arrived on a full time basis and has been put in charge of the day to day running of the club. What happened at Leeds will follow Ridsdale around for the rest of his life, but surely he should have learned valuable lessons from his experiences there? Again, time will tell.
David Temme is now solely employed on the new stadium and Sam Hammam is talking about getting more involved on the football side - at last weeks press conference Sam Hammam maintained we would not be selling our good young players unless we really have to and within a day or two, Jobi McAnuff was off to Palace! The club still has enormous problems and the new ground scheme so vital to it’s future seems to have stalled, but all we can do is hope that the new regime (which still includes those responsible for our financial problems) can deliver - supporters seem to have done their bit with better than expected season ticket sales up to now, can Hammam, Temme, Ridsdale and Jones do theirs?