Post by QPR Report on Mar 5, 2010 8:27:45 GMT
Cardiff City fans march to show anger at board
Mar 5 2010 by Steve Tucker, Western Mail
CARDIFF CITY look to get their stuttering Championship form back on track as they entertain Middlesbrough tomorrow against a backdrop of huge unrest amongst supporters.
Ahead of kick-off around 2,000 fans are expected to march to the Cardiff City Stadium to voice their dissatisfaction at the current Bluebirds board.
Chairman Peter Ridsdale is particularly under fire after 10,000 season tickets were sold last year on the back of pledges that the money raised would be used to strengthen manager Dave Jones’ squad during the January transfer window.
Ridsdale had to apologise for the incident with the club buckling under cash-flow problems and the Bluebirds due back in the High Court on March 10 over an unpaid tax bill and hoping to fend off another winding-up order.
For many Cardiff supporters Ridsdale and his fellow board members are compromised and disgruntled fans have even resorted to taking out an advert in the Western Mail’s sister paper, the South Wales Echo, to call for action.
Tomorrow’s demonstration will see irate fans throwing away fake £10 notes bearing Ridsdale’s face as a symbolic gesture.
The march’s organiser, Bluebirds fan Annis Abraham, said supporters were determined to voice their discontent at the current regime.
“This will be a march to show our passion for the club. We will be here way beyond the tenure of the present chairman Peter Ridsdale,” said Abraham.
“People went to a recent shareholders meeting and asked simple questions to which Ridsdale would only reply ‘too sensitive to answer’.
“However, the golden ticket scheme was the last straw for the supporters.
“We have been in contact with South Wales Police about the march and they have been superb.
“We will walk up to the main reception to make our point. After 10 minutes, I will then ask the supporters to enter the ground and support our team on the pitch.
“We want our club to do well, of course we do. But don’t pull the wool over our eyes is what we are saying.
“We have a right to voice our concerns about how the club is being run.”
Ridsdale said he could see no point in the march and maintains the questions the fans are asking have each been answered in detail already.
He also said he didn’t see the point of the fake £10 notes with his face super-imposed upon them.
The Bluebirds chief went on to say that the demonstration would not help his efforts to bring in new investment to the club.
On the pitch for Jones and his men things are suddenly looking almost as anxious.
Coming off the back of abject defeats against Barnsley and Preston, they are still in sixth place, but could drop out of the play-off picture tomorrow for the first time since November.
Indeed, Gordon Strachan’s Boro are one of the sides who could leapfrog them if they can earn three points.
Jones needs to rally his troops ahead of an eight-game fixture list in March which could make or break Cardiff’s season.
After Boro, Cardiff head out on three away fixtures at Ipswich, Leicester and Coventry.
Despite the small size of his squad, Jones will likely make changes to the side which crashed to a humiliating 3-0 defeat at Deepdale last weekend.
Adam Matthews should start at full-back instead of the out-of-sorts Paul Quinn, while Kevin McNaughton could partner Anthony Gerrard at the centre of the defence with Gabor Gyepes carrying a back injury.
Darcy Blake must be close to a recall as Jones desperately looks to add some steel to a problematic midfield situation.
Middlesbrough arrive in Cardiff off the back of a morale-boosting 2-0 win over QPR last time out and have started to make steady progress up the table under Strachan.
One factor in that has been the arrival on Teesside of former Cardiff wideman Willo Flood.
Flood joined on a free transfer from Celtic last month and has not missed a minute of action during Boro’s last 10 outings.
The 24-year-old made 25 appearances for the Bluebirds and, having experienced the club’s passionate support, is expecting the same tomorrow.
And he already has experience of Cardiff’s new home having been there with Celtic for a pre-season friendly.
“I was at Cardiff for just a year. One thing that Cardiff have got is great fans,” said Flood.
“They’re really noisy and they get behind their team. It creates a great atmosphere.
“We have to handle it, but if we go there and play well then maybe they will not be so noisy.
“I was impressed with the new stadium. It’s a lovely stadium with a decent pitch.
“I hope the pitch is still in the same condition, because some of the pitches we’ve played on lately have not been so good.”
Whatever the playing conditions, Flood expects a tough game in an encounter Boro are regarding as a potential six-pointer when it comes to their play-off hopes.
“Dave Jones always has his sides playing decent football. So we know it is going to be a good game,” said Flood.
“He likes his teams to go forward and that’s why our defence has got to be solid.
“We need to grind out results all the way from now until the end of the season.
“We have been playing well at home ever since I came to Middlesbrough.
“We’ve been improving away from home too and we have to continue to do that.
“We have to defend very well and try to keep a clean sheet.
“Preferably we want to win at Cardiff. I think that even if even draw we will still have a chance of the play-offs.
“But we don’t want to lose it if we can avoid it.”
www.walesonline.co.uk/footballnation/football-news/2010/03/05/cardiff-city-fans-march-to-show-anger-at-board-91466-25965678/
Mar 5 2010 by Steve Tucker, Western Mail
CARDIFF CITY look to get their stuttering Championship form back on track as they entertain Middlesbrough tomorrow against a backdrop of huge unrest amongst supporters.
Ahead of kick-off around 2,000 fans are expected to march to the Cardiff City Stadium to voice their dissatisfaction at the current Bluebirds board.
Chairman Peter Ridsdale is particularly under fire after 10,000 season tickets were sold last year on the back of pledges that the money raised would be used to strengthen manager Dave Jones’ squad during the January transfer window.
Ridsdale had to apologise for the incident with the club buckling under cash-flow problems and the Bluebirds due back in the High Court on March 10 over an unpaid tax bill and hoping to fend off another winding-up order.
For many Cardiff supporters Ridsdale and his fellow board members are compromised and disgruntled fans have even resorted to taking out an advert in the Western Mail’s sister paper, the South Wales Echo, to call for action.
Tomorrow’s demonstration will see irate fans throwing away fake £10 notes bearing Ridsdale’s face as a symbolic gesture.
The march’s organiser, Bluebirds fan Annis Abraham, said supporters were determined to voice their discontent at the current regime.
“This will be a march to show our passion for the club. We will be here way beyond the tenure of the present chairman Peter Ridsdale,” said Abraham.
“People went to a recent shareholders meeting and asked simple questions to which Ridsdale would only reply ‘too sensitive to answer’.
“However, the golden ticket scheme was the last straw for the supporters.
“We have been in contact with South Wales Police about the march and they have been superb.
“We will walk up to the main reception to make our point. After 10 minutes, I will then ask the supporters to enter the ground and support our team on the pitch.
“We want our club to do well, of course we do. But don’t pull the wool over our eyes is what we are saying.
“We have a right to voice our concerns about how the club is being run.”
Ridsdale said he could see no point in the march and maintains the questions the fans are asking have each been answered in detail already.
He also said he didn’t see the point of the fake £10 notes with his face super-imposed upon them.
The Bluebirds chief went on to say that the demonstration would not help his efforts to bring in new investment to the club.
On the pitch for Jones and his men things are suddenly looking almost as anxious.
Coming off the back of abject defeats against Barnsley and Preston, they are still in sixth place, but could drop out of the play-off picture tomorrow for the first time since November.
Indeed, Gordon Strachan’s Boro are one of the sides who could leapfrog them if they can earn three points.
Jones needs to rally his troops ahead of an eight-game fixture list in March which could make or break Cardiff’s season.
After Boro, Cardiff head out on three away fixtures at Ipswich, Leicester and Coventry.
Despite the small size of his squad, Jones will likely make changes to the side which crashed to a humiliating 3-0 defeat at Deepdale last weekend.
Adam Matthews should start at full-back instead of the out-of-sorts Paul Quinn, while Kevin McNaughton could partner Anthony Gerrard at the centre of the defence with Gabor Gyepes carrying a back injury.
Darcy Blake must be close to a recall as Jones desperately looks to add some steel to a problematic midfield situation.
Middlesbrough arrive in Cardiff off the back of a morale-boosting 2-0 win over QPR last time out and have started to make steady progress up the table under Strachan.
One factor in that has been the arrival on Teesside of former Cardiff wideman Willo Flood.
Flood joined on a free transfer from Celtic last month and has not missed a minute of action during Boro’s last 10 outings.
The 24-year-old made 25 appearances for the Bluebirds and, having experienced the club’s passionate support, is expecting the same tomorrow.
And he already has experience of Cardiff’s new home having been there with Celtic for a pre-season friendly.
“I was at Cardiff for just a year. One thing that Cardiff have got is great fans,” said Flood.
“They’re really noisy and they get behind their team. It creates a great atmosphere.
“We have to handle it, but if we go there and play well then maybe they will not be so noisy.
“I was impressed with the new stadium. It’s a lovely stadium with a decent pitch.
“I hope the pitch is still in the same condition, because some of the pitches we’ve played on lately have not been so good.”
Whatever the playing conditions, Flood expects a tough game in an encounter Boro are regarding as a potential six-pointer when it comes to their play-off hopes.
“Dave Jones always has his sides playing decent football. So we know it is going to be a good game,” said Flood.
“He likes his teams to go forward and that’s why our defence has got to be solid.
“We need to grind out results all the way from now until the end of the season.
“We have been playing well at home ever since I came to Middlesbrough.
“We’ve been improving away from home too and we have to continue to do that.
“We have to defend very well and try to keep a clean sheet.
“Preferably we want to win at Cardiff. I think that even if even draw we will still have a chance of the play-offs.
“But we don’t want to lose it if we can avoid it.”
www.walesonline.co.uk/footballnation/football-news/2010/03/05/cardiff-city-fans-march-to-show-anger-at-board-91466-25965678/