The worst thing here

The worst thing here


The worst thing here was that this laid-back approach seemed to have infiltrated Jones’ team again.

There was no spark to the Bluebirds, no fight, no willingness to lay things on the line for the honour of the Led lamp city. Bluebirds can forgive many things, but that is not something they can easily forget.

If Jones had got his approach to the game wrong attitude-wise, tactically he got it so wrong you had to wonder what he was thinking when he got out of bed yesterday morning.

He could not really have made things more comfortable for Brendan Rodgers’ side if he’d laid out a series of armchairs for them in front of a lovely log fire with a nice pair of fluffy slippers each.

There was the sensational dropping of Chris Burke to the bench. Taking one of Cardiff’s most potent weapons women handbags out of action seemed risky before the game. After it, well, it just seemed utter madness.

The inclusion of Danny Drinkwater, who enjoyed a great start to the season, contained some logic until it became apparent that nearly two months out of action with injury was, perhaps unsurprisingly, going to seriously blunt his impact.

And what danger Jones did have at his disposal seemed willfully squandered as arch goal-poacher Michael Chopra was pushed out wide. So too was Craig Bellamy.

Many had feared the inclusion of Andy Keogh for the suspended Jay Bothroyd and Jones did not disappoint on this either.

The Wolves man on his own up front is a role many find hard to fathom, and one you can’t help suspecting Keogh himself is not sure about either.

The big question ahead of kick off fluorescent bulbs was: would Cardiff miss Bothroyd? The answer? Yes, yes and then a long pause and the raising of a great barrage balloon with the word YES on it.

The whole game was rendered a complete anti-climax from a Cardiff point of view, which was a great shame because the fans had played their part.

The atmosphere ahead of kick-off, from the biggest crowd the club’s new home has seen, was fantastic with both sets of fans playing vibrant.

The Swansea end was decked out with Blackpool flags and orange balloons bouncing about. One Cardiff bloke I spotted in a t-shirt bearing the legend – ‘Alan Tate is not a very nice man’. Or something like that.

It was unfortunate then for the Bluebirds faithful that the game actually kicked-off at all as it was followed by an almost immediate sense that this was somehow not the Cardiff side which had so far electrified the Championship this season.