Former England striker Chris Sutton must have been squirming when he saw that Cardiff City moved to 14th place in the Premier League.
Cardiff’s fourth win in five home fixtures lifted them to 14 points and there were big celebrations among fans and players after a 1-0 win against Southampton.
Football pundit Sutton predicted that the Bluebirds would be relegated and maybe set a lowest points tally, which was set by Derby County at 11.
Sutton’s words caused a fair bit of anger among City supporters and, although he later changed his mind and said Cardiff would stay up, there were still digs at the critic on social media.
More than 30,000 spectators watched the Bluebirds earn a third successive win at Cardiff City Stadium and lift themselves to 14th in the table – four points outside the relegation zone.
When the final whistle blew middle aged men in seats just in front of the press box were up and dancing, twirling to the music with their arms in the air.
City players on the pitch were absolutely thrilled and underlined that in the way they celebrated the victory.
There is no question Cardiff deserved to win, having outplayed their visitors in the first half and created enough chances to have won three matches.
Time and again they wasted those opportunities by taking the wrong decision, but the style of football, their tenacious team spirit and the way Cardiff played was great to watch.
“We should have made it more comfortable with the chances that we had,” said manager Neil Warnock. “I criticise referees a lot, but Jonathan Moss is probably the only official who would have played advantage like he did for the goal.
“Credit to him and I have to say a big thank you.
“It’s clear we are going to get most of our points at home. We’ve already surprised a lot of people, but we just need to keep our feet on the ground.”
Moss had a good game and his moment of quality came when Victor Camarasa was taken out by an awful challenge just as he played a pass through for Paterson. The referee stood over Camarasa, who was lying on the ground, ready to blow for the foul, but he watched how Cardiff’s attack developed.
Paterson’s power and pace took him away from Saints defenders and his low finish slid into the corner.
“I was very proud of the whole club ,” said Warnock. “They were horrendous conditions, but the noise level lifted us and spurred the players on.
“There is a long, hard winter to come. We don’t get carried away at a club like ours.
“But it’s a big advantage that the fans here are behind us 100 per cent. That takes so much pressure away from players.
“It’s like my dad used to say at Sheffield United. These are working people and as fans they just want players who will give their all. We do that, there are no prima donnas and that’s all I can ask.”
Goalscorer Paterson scored his fourth goal of the season and when asked if he minded being called a ‘makeshift striker’ the Scot replied: “I don’t mind as long as I’m scoring goals.”
Warnock praised Paterson, saying: “You only have to look at the statistics for the lad, he can do anything and play in any position.
“In the old days, we used to talk about players running through brick walls, but if I asked him to do that he probably would.
“I really don’t know what we would do without Callum right now because Kenneth Zohore and Danny Ward are still struggling to be fully fit.”
Warnock mentioned captain Sean Morrison – ‘he was fantastic, I didn’t see a mistake in him all day’ – and Harry Arter, saying: “That was his best game for us. Harry was a lot more disciplined. He runs around like a headless chicken at times, but in this game he was highly responsible.”
Cardiff City: Neil Etheridge, Bruno Manga, Sean Morrison (capt), Sol Bamba, Joe Bennett, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (Junior Hoilett 67), Aron Gunnarsson, Harry Arter (Joe Ralls 90), Josh Murphy (Kadeem Harris 90), Victor Camarasa, Callum Paterson. Subs not used: Lee Peltier, Alex Smithies (gk), Gary Madine, Bobby Decordova-Reid.
Southampton: McCarthy, Valery (Stephens 45), Bednarek, Vestergaard, Targett, Højbjerg, Romeu (Ward-Prowae 80), Redmond, Lemina, Armstrong, Austin (Gabbiadini 75). Subs not used: Yoshida, Hoedt, Elyounoussi, Gunn
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Attendance: 30,067.
