http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-as-Vincent-Tan-caves-in-to-fan-protests.html
Cardiff to wear blue again after Vincent Tan takes advice from his mum
Malaysian owner forced change to red two years ago but fans revolted
Cardiff fans have won a victory over owner Vincent tan, who has agreed to change the club's shirts back to blue
By James Corrigan
1:26PM GMT 09 Jan 2015
Vincent Tan has revealed that it was his mother who persuaded him to accede to the demands of the Cardiff City fans and change the club colours back to blue.
On a day which was highly dramatic even by the Welsh club’s recent controversial standards, the Malaysian owner enacted one of football’s most unexpected stand-downs. For almost three years, Tan had dismissed the fury of the Bluebirds supporters disgusted at the red rebrand after 114 years of their team playing in blue.
But then, following growing unrest and the advice of his 87-year-old mother, Tan decided to back down. He called supporter representatives - as well as local MPs and business leaders - for a meeting with the board on Thursday and, although he did not attend, he agreed with the recommendations of chairman Mehmet Dalman and chief executive Ken Choo not only to rebrand the rebrand but also to redesign the club crest to feature the bluebird symbol more prominently.
The Football League agreed to Cardiff’s request to play in blue against Fulham in Saturday’s home Champonship match and for the rest of the season, with the away strip reverting to red. Expect Mrs Tan’s name to be sang at a game which promises to be full of positive emotion; a rarity at the Cardiff City Stadium in a tumultuous last year which also featured the fall-out from the sacking of Malky Mackay.
In a statement, Tan said: “The Christmas and New Year period has given me time to reflect on the events of the last year. Spending time with my family had a profound effect upon me. My mother, Madam Low Siew Beng, a devout Buddhist, who attended Cardiff City Football Club to watch them play, spoke to me on the importance of togetherness, unity and happiness.
"Cardiff City Football Club is important to me and I wish to see it united and happy. With the guidance and influence of my mother, I asked my chairman, Mehmet Dalman and Chief Executive Officer, Ken Choo for their advice and to consult with a good cross-section of the fan base.
"This meeting took place last night, when some 70 representatives of our supporters were present. I am informed that this was a very productive and frank exchange of views, but all with the same objective to strengthen our club.
"These views were also added to by a large number of emails that were sent to the club over the last 24 hours from our wider supporter base. To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, ‘Let us never compromise out of fear. But let us never fear to compromise’.”
The supporter representatives also asked the board members at the meeting about Tan’s pledge to turn into equity the huge debt owed to him by the club - believed to be near to £180m - but in the statement the billionaire revealed “the debt to equity resolution is not straightforward”.
However, that was not about to dampen the joy of the supporters who have endured months, if not years, of being something of a laughing stock in the football community because of their eccentric owner. Mackay led the Welsh club to their first season in the Premier League, but that was to prove a bitter experience as the manager was fired and later revealed to have sent racist and sexist texts to a member of his staff.
With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer failing miserably to avoid relegation, the discontent intensified and large sections of the fanbase let Tan know their displeasure with contest chanting and then boycotting the FA Cup victory over Colchester eight days ago. The average attendance has topped 20,000 but barely 4,000 showed up for the third round encounter.
Russell Slade, the Cardiff manager, cloud barely contain his glee. Since arriving in South Wales in September after the departure of Solskjaer, Slade has been caught in the middle of the row. Season ticket renewals have reportedly been hit and Slade claimed that the negative atmosphere has had an effect on the team which now labours in 12th place in the Championship, without a league win in seven games.
“It was an excellent meeting people said what they thought in an intelligent and eloquent way. It was in a passionate way too,” said Slade.
“It was a giant step forward for the club.“If we can play against Fulham in blue I suspect it will be the best atmosphere at a game since I’ve been here and probably some of the players have felt for a long time.
“For me it is the right decision because if you are going to successful in any company or football club you need everyone pulling together as a unit. Only that way can you sustain success. You need unity that’s always been my take. We are looking for momentum and there’s no doubt that could give us it. It could lift a little weight off our shoulders.”
