Cardiff City /Cardiff Dragons/ RedBlueDragonBirds 2013-2014, Bluebirds Unite and related chat

[editor]

At least the yellow shorts are the same colour as the shirt.

Small mercies etc.

 

[editor]

Another excellent piece of writing here:

In Wales the ‘rebrand’ started in the mid C19th. This was when the English state decided the Welsh language was a problem. It was making the Welsh stupid, dangerous and unruly. They needed to be taught how to act in a civilised manner.

So something which had been a source of national pride; which was integral to Welsh society, culture and history, which was helping to bind a fragmented country together, was now regarded by a London elite as a problem.

They portrayed Welsh as being old and outdated, something which was holding the country back. They decided that it needed a radical change.

The fix was to remove Welsh from education and to replace it with English language state schooling. By shedding its language, Wales was sold the idea that it was bettering itself.

It would have the chance to sit at the top table with the English; sharing a slice of the power and prestige of the British Empire.

Drinking the Kool-Aid?

It’s the same kind of carrot which was dangled in front of Cardiff supporters by Vincent Tan. When the Malaysian businessman arrived at Cardiff, it would have seemed deranged to think of the club’s colour as a problem.

Cardiff’s ‘blueness’ was a source of pride, something which provided supporters with a shared connection to the club’s history and heritage – to the good times and the bad. Something which had become woven into the club’s fabric as the Bluebirds.

But the rebrand managed to present Cardiff’s ‘blueness’ as a problem. Now it represented an old-fashioned and outdated version of the club; something which was holding Cardiff City back.

The brand needed to be modernised, to open up new markets, and that required radical change – from blue to red.

And the prize on offer was the Premiership, with all of the wealth and prestige associated. It was Cardiff’s chance to better itself. No more tubby players. No more small crowds. No more misbehaving fans.

In both cases, this lure of something better proved to be brutally effective – depressing but understandable. Many were prepared to trade in a massive chunk of identity for a punt on something better.

Some embraced the changes, some rejected it – but the majority just trudged along; feeling powerless to stop it happening. Welsh-speaking parents allowed their kids to be taught only English. Cardiff supporters dutifully held aloft their red scarves.

What’s so nasty is not so much the individual decisions people have made, but the fact they’ve been forced to make such horrible and divisive decisions. People have been presented with a fictional trade-off between success and identity.

Which one do you want? You can’t have both. Success or identity? Premiership or a blue kit? Prosperity or a Welsh language?

It creates a deranged black-and-white world in which it becomes impossible for Cardiff City to be successful and proudly retain their identity. Where it was impossible for Wales to develop into a confident and prosperous nation while maintaining use of the Welsh language.

More: http://www.welshnot.com/blog/cardiff-city-everything-must-go/

 

[editor]

And this is probably the saddest part of all this:

When Vincent Tan leaves Cardiff, he will leave behind a festering mess; a dispute which will eat away at Cardiff City’s soul for years to come

 

[Clint Iguana]

 

[editor]

Telling comment from Bluebirds Unite:

So yesterday Cardiff City warmed up in black tops, came out in white and then played in red.

Their shorts were white, the club originally chose red, whilst the supporters voted black.

Oh yes and the majority of supporters would prefer if they wore Blue.

 

[Gromit]

Mark Hudson today ............

to be honest I will not be at all surprised if blue completely vanishes this season. Saddened but unsurprised. The bigger a deal we made of the colour blue the further we pushed Tan away from the colour and the desire to compromise to some extent

You could see him wanting more and more to dig his heels in the more people got on his back about it. He's one of them types unfortunately so we haven't helped ourselves to some extent.

 

[editor]

to be honest I will not be at all surprised if blue completely vanishes this season. Saddened but unsurprised. The bigger a deal we made of the colour blue the further we pushed Tan away from the colour and the desire to compromise to some extent

You could see him wanting more and more to dig his heels in the more people got on his back about it. He's one of them types unfortunately so we haven't helped ourselves to some extent.

Right. So it's the fans' fault for daring to be upset at him destroying the club's heritage with his whimsical rebrand.

Glad you cleared that one up for us.

 

[Gromit]

How did I know you'd spin it that way?

Don't put words in my mouth. That's not what I said.

What I said was that VT is a stubborn old bastard so the fans have made him dig in harder / go even further and further away from blue than he already was. The fan reaction was inevitable though. Anyone who has been at Cardiff for longer than a mere year could have predicted it.

 

[ddraig]

how else do you interpret? "so we haven't helped ourselves to some extent"

 

[editor]

How did I know you'd spin it that way?

I haven't spun anything. That's what you're saying. You're blaming the fans.

 

[Gromit]

No I'm not I'm pointing out the fan / chairman dynamic.

There are two sides to a poor relationship despite how much you'd like to wholly blame the chairman.
I suppose Dave Jones was wholly to blame when he was getting death threats at city.

 

[editor]

No I'm not I'm pointing out the fan / chairman dynamic.

But you're suggesting that it's best that no one challenges this 'dynamic' because, after all, "we haven't helped ourselves to some extent."

Fuck Tan. And fuck the glory hunting fans too spineless to even speak out.

 

[Clint Iguana]

the first of the red seats

 

[Clint Iguana]

 

[editor]

the first of the red seats

It just looks fucking ridiculous.

 

[Clint Iguana]

 

[tommers]

See you've broken your transfer record 3 times in a few weeks.

£11 million they were saying for that fella from Seville.

Crikey. Financial fair who?!

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Cardiff Dragons vs Hull Tigers. Coming to a "Premier League In Partnership With Barclays" near you, soon.

 

[Gromit]

There is no such team as the Cardiff dragons. Despite pundits and ain't reds trying to say there is.

We're still officially the bluebirds.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Hull City Tigers are real though. Shows that it can happen at the whim of a billionaire with his plaything, and who honestly thinks that Tan hasn't given it some thought?

Sorry Cardiff. I hope you stay up, Steven Caulker is awesome, and you get to play at least a few in blue.

 

[Gromit]

Hopefully the fact the Welsh team are The Dragons and there already is a Cardiff Dragons will prevent it happening to us.

No guarantees of that though.

 

[Clint Iguana]

There is no such team as the Cardiff dragons. Despite pundits and ain't reds trying to say there is.

We're still officially the bluebirds.

Are we? I always thought we were officially Cardiff City FC and the bluebirds was an unofficial nickname.

 

[Clint Iguana]

 

[JTG]

Well this is odd. I'm feeling sorry for Cardiff fans

 

[editor]

There is no such team as the Cardiff dragons. Despite pundits and ain't reds trying to say there is.

We're still officially the bluebirds.

The nickname derives from the colour of the home kit (and possibly also the 1909 children's play 'Blue Bird' Blue forever), but seeing as we no longer play in blue at home, it makes no sense whatsoever to call a team playing in Vincent Tan red 'the Bluebirds.'

 

[Gromit]

There's a bluebird on the badge. The fans still shout bluebirds. Wiki even says bluebirds is our nickname.

 

[Gromit]

Are the gunners gunner colour?

Do the cobblers play in cobbler brown.

Do the seagulls play in solid white?

 

[editor]

Are the gunners gunner colour?

Do the cobblers play in cobbler brown.

Do the seagulls play in solid white?

Oh dear. You don't seem to understand how nicknames come about.

Ours came from the colour of our strip, whereas the cobblers nickname came from Northampton's strong connection with the shoe trade, while Arsenal's nickname... no, wait, you can't really be this stupid, can you?

 

[editor]

There's a bluebird on the badge. The fans still shout bluebirds. Wiki even says bluebirds is our nickname.

Is the Bluebird our official logo?
No, it's a now a tiny footnote to a shitty clipart red dragon, which is now the dominant crest.

 

[Clint Iguana]

looks like Tan admires Hull Tigers