Blue was the colour

Last updated : 11 June 2012 By Tony Scholes
Cardiff's red bluebirds and the blue away kit

It had all appeared to be a week of little action at our level as Paul Lambert and Brendan Rodgers made their respective ways from Norwich and Swansea to Aston Villa and Liverpool.

It was a surprise I suppose to see Rodgers turn up at Anfield given that Roberto Martinez, according to his chairman Dave Whelan, had already been offered the job. Not the case said Liverpool who labelled the publicity seeking Whelan a clown. Now come on, the clowns are the ones still at Ewood not those who played for them over fifty years ago.

Before we look at the Cardiff situation, and having mentioned our friends from Ewood, we might as well have a look at what's been happening down at the Venky's chicken farm in the last week or so. Looking on from some 13 miles away it does seem as though Steve Kean's position has been secured that bit more with the elevation of the PR man Paul Agnew to the board of directors.

That's news that won't have gone down well with their supporters some of whom went off to see Richard Scudamore to discuss the 2010 Venky's takeover.

For a long time I'd given up hope of being able to poke fun again at them. I don't know just how long it will last but I'll enjoy it for as long as it does.

Venky's might have their players on chicken adverts but spare a thought for Cardiff's fans after their foreign owners told them to forget the blue, that there future is very much red. The Bluebirds have flown over for the last time or have they?.

From next season they will play in red and black but, according to chief exec Alan Whiteley, if supporters wants want to carry on calling them the Bluebirds then the nickname will stay. He added that the Malaysian owners thought the dragon was a stronger logo than the bluebird and were surprised by the groundswell of opinion around the bluebird.

Barry Kilby recently spoke about foreign owners having to stick a pin in a map and here's a real example of it, of owners having no understanding of a football club and no understanding of its supporters. So, from next season, the Bluebirds will play in red in a stadium of blue seats. And just to add insult to injury, their new away kit is what the fans could have expected as a home kit.

I wonder what our supporters thought just over a century ago when we opted for claret and blue. Then it was down to suspicion, not commercial reasons. I don't know how they reacted but I do know how the current Burnley fans would react should the club decide to call time on our favoured colours.

Leeds changed their's some half a century ago from the blue and yellow to all white, all done by Don Revie to copy Real Madrid. What Leeds fans are hoping for now is a change of chairman rather than colours.

He's recently been successfully sued by former director Melvyn Levi. Bates felt it appropriate to make comments about Levi in the match day programme so he took him to court. Leeds Crown Court found against Bates and ordered him to pay Levi £10,000 for harassment.

Ken Bates must pay £10,000

A claim by Mrs Levi, however, failed but Bates is now under an injunction banning him from discussing Mr Levi's personal life in public for two years. He can continue to comment on the ongoing commercial dispute between the pair.

Newly promoted Charlton are to permit the throwing of darts next season although this is not an open invitation for supporters to take a set inside the ground.

My dad was once hit with a dart thrown by a Newcastle fan but it won't be the fans throwing the darts here but some of the top darters around as they host a tournament involving eight players including Raymond van Barneveld, Andy Fordham and James Wade.

I thought football was getting too expensive but the Addicks are charging between £28 and £60 for tickets for what will be known as the Charlton Masters.

Obviously the big transfer news of the week came yesterday as we sold Jay Rodriguez to Southampton but incoming it has been another quiet week for Championship clubs. Aaron Martin, a central defender at Southampton, has joined Crystal Palace on a season long loan whilst up in Yorkshire there have been two permanent signings.

Barnsley picked up Kelvin Etuhu, another to depart the wreckage at Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday made their third signing since promotion by snapping up West Brom's Joe Mattock, another who spent time at Fratton Park.

The only other signing came at Peterborough who signed Dundee United's Danny Swanson. They've promised big signings and he joins Nathanial Knight-Percival who has moved from Wrexham.

We've also got a new manager in the league, well and old one recycled I suppose, with Steve Bruce having arrived at Hull despite saying he had no interest in the job. We now await news of an appointment at Birmingham. Lee Clark is apparently the favourite now although there could be a twist dependent on the takeover at Forest that could lead to Neil Warnock pitching up on the Trent.

That's about it, but there's been sad news with the deaths of Chris Thompson, a striker with both Blackburn and Bolton, and then yesterday former Blackpool goalkeeper Gordon West who went on to have great success with Everton and England.

There should be plenty of news next week. By then we'll have had the first round draw in the Capital One Cup (COCUP) and the 2012/13 league fixtures will have been released. Will it be home or away first for the Blackburn games? When will football's biblical character make that walk again across the Turf Moor pitch?