CARDIFF CAVE IN
City’s status in top flight surrendered without any hint of f ight
THEY always needed assistance from others but in the end Cardiff were incapable of helping themselves as they surrendered their Barclays Premier League status with barely a whimper at St James’ Park yesterday.
Needing a win to retain any realistic chance of staying up, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side could not have handpicked opponents or a venue more suited to their needs.
Newcastle’s players were on a six-match losing run and their fans were on the warpath. In an atmosphere that was often poisonous, they chanted abuse at owner Mike Ashley and, when the 69th minute arrived, a pre-match call for seats to be vacated in protest at what is viewed as decades of stagnation on Tyneside was heeded in numbers.
It was scarcely a mass walkout but those who left in the minute that reflected Newcastle’s last trophy, the 1969 Fairs Cup, probably exceeded 2,000. They were applauded on their way by supporters who stayed not out of loyalty to the regime but to unfurl banners that read ‘Pardew Out, Ashley Out’.
Such was the level of hostility that manager Pardew never once appeared in the technical area, preferring instead to stay in his seat at the back of the dug-out and leave assistant John Carver to bark orders from the touchline.
It should have been made for Cardiff to help themselves, yet they failed dismally, going behind in the 18th minute and having their fate sealed by further goals in the 87th and 90th minutes.
Almost as disconcerting for the travelling Cardiff contingent who openly mocked their team’s laboured efforts, Solskjaer bizarrely claimed his doomed side had played well and given their all. ‘The realisation we are down is the hardest moment of my career and the same goes for many of the players,’ he said. ‘But if you look at that performance, I am so proud of the effort the boys put in. They ran their hearts out.
‘We created more chances than we have ever done and when you see one after another being kept out, you start thinking it is not going to be your day.
‘I thought we played fantastically well until a deflection gave them their second goal near the end. That was it for us but it was something we didn’t deserve.’
The hard facts painted a different picture. The goal that sent them on their way, for instance, had relegation stamped all over it. Moussa Sissoko would normally expect to have to work harder to create space for a cross when confronted by Declan John on the Newcastle right in the 18th minute.
After ushering the ball towards the corner flag at jogging pace, he simply drew back his right foot and clipped it past the flimsiest of challenges by his marker.
Worse still for Cardiff, the cross flew over goalkeeper David Marshall’s head and beyond Steven Caulker for the unmarked Shola Ameobi to head in at the far post.
Cardiff survived a Sissoko 20-yarder against the post four minutes later and launched their one meaningful spell of pressure in the 75th minute, when three chances in quick succession somehow went begging. Kenwyne Jones had a close-range effort brilliantly blocked by Tim Krul, Fabricio Coloccini scrambled Aron Gunnarsson’s follow-up off the line and Jordan Mutch headed narrowly wide from the resulting corner.
It was a brief rally. The focus soon switched to the other end, as Cheik Tiote’s deflected shot fell obligingly for Loic Remy and then Steven Taylor pounced after Remy headed down a Dan Gosling cross.
Pardew admitted he had kept a low profile on purpose. ‘There was a lot of anger from our fans,’ he said. ‘I can understand that after six defeats on the bounce, so I felt it would be best to stay in the background. I didn’t want to antagonise anyone.
‘At the end, I didn’t think that it would be a good idea to join the players on their lap of honour. I just clapped for a few moments, then commiserated with Ole in the tunnel.
‘I can understand why the fans are upset and frustrated, but I am determined to put things right for them.’