It’s derby day in South Wales on Saturday. It should feel gripping, but instead it’s all a little slack for Fraser Watson who reckons Cardiff City and Swansea City will indulge in a private battle of sound and fury that might not even be heard anywhere over the Severn Bridge.
Cardiff v Swansea, history on the line, the South Wales Police on edge, volatility in store on the streets, and a cauldron of noise to greet the players when they enter the frenzy at around 2.55pm on Saturday afternoon.
The Gomez free kick, Chopra’s late show, Pratley’s double, the Emnes winner, Bellamy’s brilliant strike, there are ample memories on either side since the two teams were again paired together in league football in 2008 to stir emotion and get juices flowing.
Or are there? Because for all the generic terms and buzz words that will be banded about in the next 48 hours, you know, ‘bragging rights’, ‘nerves’, ‘what it means’ and the likes, for both sets of fans a notion of realism currently dampens the usual hype and madness.
Because right now the rivalry, whilst undeniably steeped in history, is at the same time currently tainted by mediocrity.
A South Wales derby on a Saturday at 3 o clock
Never known this before ?
No side has done the derby over each other
Could #SCFC become the first ?
— Brett Davidson (@FMOutsideTheBox) March 29, 2022
Yes, there’s pride, and Championship points, on the line. Yes, Cardiff should be desperate to avoid the indignity of becoming the first side to endure a double defeat in the fixture over the course of a league season. Yes, Swansea won’t want to be surpassed in the table by a rival team they previously led by a sizeable margin.
And yes, come Saturday there will be usual pointing and shouting, with grown men bound to be hoarse by half time after belting out lines about swimming away, getting battered, eating in the slums, or being classed as a capital city.
But this latest clash between sides justifiably lying 16th and 17th respectfully represents anything but a defining moment in the current rebuild of either.
Cardiff, unbeaten in four and undoubtedly improving under Steve Morison, are a far more competent outfit than the one that crumbled 3-0 at the home of their rivals last October.
Swansea continue to look aesthetically pleasing and toothless in equal measures, delving between competence and calamity. Russell Martin’s philosophy is clear for all to see, but the adaptation from the players has thus far fallen short of seamless.
Still can’t quite believe that The South Wales derby isn’t on tv. Surely even with nothing on the line it’s better than Blackpool v Forest or Birmingham v WBA
— Bradley Stait. (@BradStait93) March 30, 2022
Swansea are 13 points adrift of the play-off places and even though they have two games in hand on sixth-placed Blackburn Rovers, they are not going to charge past the 10 clubs above them in the course of just the nine games they have remaining.
Cardiff are two points worse off and have played one game more than the Swans.
They have spent most of the campaign looking downwards, but they now have a comfortable 18-point chasm between themselves and the bottom three.
The irrelevance of both sides at the business end of the Championship campaign, nowhere near promotion but also safe from relegation due to Derby’s point deduction and the sheer ineptitude of Barnsley, Peterborough and Hull, hasn’t been lost on Sky Sports.
For the first time since Swansea were promoted into the same league of their rivals in 2007/08, a clash between the pair hasn’t been deemed worthy of live coverage. Not even a senseless shunt to a midday Sunday kick-off in a bid to limit the tempestuous nature of things. Instead, neutrals with a passing curiosity will make do with phone alerts or Soccer Saturday updates from Jeff Stelling and co.
https://twitter.com/SwansOfficial/status/1507756765764481024
Unlike the seismic occasion Welsh football enjoyed in the same stadium last Thursday evening, outside interest will be at a premium.
No one is saying it won’t matter of course. Should there be a winner, players and fans will celebrate, head tapping or breast stroke gestures will come out, and mockery and Twitter memes will temporarily come to the fore. For one club, three points will temporarily signify relief with it, a lot of fun.
And if there’s a loser? It will hurt of course. It will mean frustration and compound the reality that their side has considerable summer work to do. Saturday night won’t be pleasant.
But by rare means of consolation, by Sunday morning, few outside of either club will care.