You're just a small team in England!

Cardiff City had a good chance of automatic promotion to the Premiership until pretty recently; two recent hammerings at the hands of Preston and Ipswich have put paid to that but they should still make the play-offs. David Giles of the South Wales Echo reckons their recent lacklustre performances is down to the fact that there "aren’t enough Welsh boys and Cardiff boys out there" bothered about leaving their home for 99 years, Ninian Park. Interesting logic which would have had stronger rationale if it weren't for the fact that it was those self-same non-Welsh and Cardiff boys who've delivered the Bluebirds to their best league position for years.

Anyway, we'll be charitable and put it down to Mr Giles' understandable end-of-season nerves, but meanwhile it’s also all happening for Cardiff off the pitch at the minute what with a new home on the way and this:

CARDIFF CITY have made a renewed bid to walk away from the Football Association of Wales – and this time Swansea City want to join them.
Wales on Sunday understands both the Bluebirds and the Swans have held secret talks with powerbrokers in the domestic game about the possibilities of quitting the FAW and joining the FA across the bridge.

And although the two clubs have not yet discussed the idea with each other, the news that they are both investigating crossing the border could boost the chances of the bid being taken seriously.

It is understood Cardiff officials spoke to FA chief Lord Triesman earlier this year about the problematic position of being a Welsh club in the English system. But it is also believed Swansea officials also raised the issue in a discussion with Football League chairman, Lord Mawhinney.

Partly I'm guessing it’s to do with internal Welsh football politics (Cardiff in particular being regarded by the FAW as a bit too big for their boots), but it's also an attempt to clear up the present anomalies such as which asssociation is responsible for the punishing of players, European competition entry etc. If Cardiff does go through with their threat and *move* to England, it will, however, be with a dash of irony- their support is the most nationalist of all the Welsh clubs (and incidently contains one of the biggest hooligan contingents outside the Premiership). But the position of both clubs’ managements in at least examining the implications does seem to me to make complete sense.