The Pantomime Villain

Recent events at Cardiff City have sparked the BBC to label club owner, Vincent Tan as the 'Pantomime Villain.'

In the middle of December, Cardiff coach was shocked to find an email from Tan telling him to resign or else face getting the sack. The riff between Tan and Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay started after Tan publicly criticised the manager for announcing his intentions on buying 3 new players in the transfer window as he felt it was 'unfairly raising the expectations of the supporters.'

During the match against Liverpool on Saturday, Cardiff City supporters voiced their disgust at owner Vincent Tan, with chants of "Mackay in Tan out" ringing around Anfield. The Liverpool fans acknowledged the efforts of the Cardiff supporters with a round of applause. The support from the fans wasn't enough to save their beloved Cardiff City from a 3-1 defeat.

Mackay guided his Cardiff team to their first ever season in the premier league and has appealed for peace between the owner and himself, saying that this dispute could lead to his Cardiff side being relegated at the end of the season. There is sense in the Cardiff manager's words in that it couldn't of happened at a worse time with the January transfer window approaching. Having only scored 13 goals, it seems apparent that the club will need to recruit another striker, in order to bolster their attacking threat. Only Crystal Palace have scored less goals (12), while Sunderland have scored 13 too.

The Boxing Day results didn't do Cardiff any favours by losing 3-0 at home to Southampton as well as Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Fulham all winning. This leaves Cardiff lying precariously in 17th position, a single point clear of the relegation zone. As it stands, Tan has withdrawn his 'resign or be sacked' order against Mackay and he will remain in charge for the foreseeable future, but he himself is expecting to be given the boot before the New Year.

Before the season commenced, I predicted a 14-16th placed finish, but this is looking increasingly unlikely, especially with the recent events. With Mackay standing firm and refusing to walk, it is down to Vincent Tan to make ultimate decision regarding the future of their manager.

Winter Round-Up 2013

Winter Round-Up

Here is a round-up of the Italian, German and Spanish Leagues to date.

La Liga

It is probably not too surprising that Barcelona are leading the way in Spain with 46 points, but I don't think too many people predicted Atletico to be in second place. Although having not found first gear this season, Barca have picked up on where they left off last season, albeit only ahead on goal difference. As for the Madrid sides, the tide could be turning. Real find themselves 5 points adrift of the top 2 and are positioned in 3rd place while Atleti are level on points with Barca. 

In El Clasico this year, Barcelona took the spoils with a 2-1 victory over Madrid at the Nou Camp. Neymar offered a scintillating performance in the first battle between him and the other debutant, Gareth Bale by scoring the opening goal. Alexis Sanchez doubled their lead after a deft chip over Lopez before Jese grabbed a late consolation goal to half the deficit.

In terms of my prediction, Real Madrid have the talent to win the title this year, but in order to it, they will need to gel together. Barcelona have defensive worries, after conceding 2 against Getafe at the weekend, but as always, their attacking threat bailed them out. They will look to improve in that department over January. As for the other side of Madrid, they possess a lethal striker in Diego Costa. Already with 23 goals this season, Costa will be hoping to bag a few more in order to challenge the big guns in the Champions League and try to pip Barcelona and Real to the title.

#	Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Barcelona	17	15	1	1	49	12	37	46
2	Atlético Madrid	17	15	1	1	46	11	35	46
3	Real Madrid	17	13	2	2	49	21	28	41
4	Athletic	17	10	3	4	26	21	5	33
5	Real Sociedad	17	8	5	4	33	23	10	29

Serie A

Last year's champions Juventus head into the Winter Break in pole position with leading the undefeated Roma by 5 points. Roma began the campaign in terrific fashion by winning their first 10 games and only conceding 1 goal in the process, but drawing too many games has cost them their top spot. 3rd place and lying a further 5 points behind is Napoli. Unlike Tottenham, Benitez and Napoli have spent wisely and are ready to pounce on any rare occasions when the top 2 drop points. As for the Milan teams, Inter find themselves poised in 5th position while the return of Kaka has done nothing to aid AC Milan's title prospects as they have had a torrid time and find themselves languishing in 13th - only 5 points of the relegation zone.

On Sunday, Inter beat AC in the Milan derby at a somewhat flat atmosphere in Northern Italy. Rodrigo Palacio neatly flicked the ball past Abbiati late on in order to send the Rossoneri home empty handed. The first week back treats us to a top of the table clash between Juventus and Roma, and a victory for Juve would give the an 8 point buffer zone. Juventus are the favourites to complete the job that they have started, but Roma could give them a bit of bother and make it tougher than they expected, however I do expect them to prevail.

#	Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Juventus	17	15	1	1	39	11	28	46
2	Roma	17	12	5	0	35	7	28	41
3	Napoli	17	11	3	3	36	20	16	36
4	Fiorentina	17	10	3	4	33	20	13	33
5	Inter Milan	17	8	7	2	37	21	16	31

Bundesliga

As expected, Bayern top the Bundesliga table by a mile, with Leverkusen in 2nd and Monchengladbach in 3rd. Bayern Munich and AS Roma are the only sides out of Europe's top leagues to be unbeaten up until now. Having only dropped 4 points from 16 games, and with a game in hand, Bayern are expected to dominate the league with having it wrapped up long before the conclusion of the season. Last year's Champions League and Bundesliga runner-up Borussia Dortmund, find themselves in 4 position, 12 points off the leader. 

Dortmund versus Bayern was played on 23 November with Munich running out 3-0 winners. The West German side held the Bavarians out until the 66th minute when Mario Gotze scored against his old team. Arjen Robben executed a majestic lob over Weidenfeller in the 85th minute before Thomas Muller completed the rout. In a league that appears to be wrapped up already, Dortmund, Leverkusen and Monchengladbach will be hoping to hold off the victory for Bayern as long as possible.

#	Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Bayern Munich	16	14	2	0	42	8	34	44
2	Bayer	17	12	1	4	32	16	16	37
3	Mönchengladbach	17	10	3	4	35	19	16	33
4	Dortmund	17	10	2	5	38	20	18	32
5	Wolfsburg	17	9	3	5	28	19	9	30

My prediction:

La Liga 

1. Real Madrid

2. Barcelona

3. Atletico Madrid

Serie A

1. Juventus

2. Roma

3. Napoli

Bundesliga

1. Bayern Munich

2. Borussia Monchengladbach

3. Borussia Dortmund