NEVER would have I ever imagined that I’d be rooting for a minnow in the English Premier League.
To be honest, I was following Cardiff’s progess more than any other club in the league.
The reason for that is no other than Azkal Neil Etheridge, Cardiff City’s first-choice goalkeeper.
It’s the end of the line for the Welsh club at the top flight as they have been relegated to the Championship, but if it were not for Neil, things could have been worse.
The club’s fate was sealed as early as the third to the last match of the season when they lost ingloriously to relegated Fulham 1-0. This was followed by a 2-3 loss at home to Crystal Palace.
Their final match at the Prem is on Sunday against Manchester United.
But let’s stay with Cardiff for now, and its number one player Etheridge.
Etheridge’s first season at the top flight has been more than stellar that his club awarded him the 2019 Cardiff City FC Player of the Year.
In fact, Etheridge logged the second highest number of saves among Premier League goalkeepers last season at 127 shots blocked. And he tops the list for penalty saves along with another goalkeeper with three.
So what’s next for Etheridge? Well, he’ll probably stick it out with Cardiff as he is under contract until 2021 after signing a three-year extension with the club last year.
One might say that Cardiff had been unfortunate as it was in the middle of a crucial player acquisition that would have boosted the team’s chances of staying in the top flight.
But the Welsh club’s newly acquired Argentine striker Emiliano Sala perished in a crash en route to Cardiff from Nantes, France, where his former club was based.
With Etheridge providing stability in the back, Sala up front would have provided Cardiff with much needed ammunition.
But it wasn’t to be.
Following this great loss of life and a subsequent debacle in the league, Cardiff will now have to shake things up and regroup.
And leading the pack is its best player, Neil Etheridge the Azkal.