Bristol City fan Matt Withers: Dear oh dear, what a week. Even writing this column now, I still can't believe what happened at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night against our Severnside neighbours.

A lot has been said and written about that night, there has been a lot of overreaction and things were said when emotions and the pain were still very raw. Thankfully, these types of defeat are few and far between, however, lessons have to be learned.

There is little doubt that Cardiff were very good and that City were very poor. As has been said, we actually started quite brightly and after the first quarter of an hour there was no sign of what was to come. From that point on, defensively we were an absolute joke. Dean Gerken, Bradley Orr, Liam Fontaine, Jamie McAllister and Louis Carey all had nightmares. It was a lack of understanding between Fontaine and Gerken that opened the floodgates.

Gerken just doesn't command his six-yard box, and has to improve his communication skills. In too many games, the defenders and goalkeeper get mixed up. Gerken's shot-stopping skills have often masked this communication issue.

Unfortunately, the situation with Adriano Basso doesn't help and while Basso is at the club, fans will question why he doesn't play if he is the best keeper available. I would rather question the decision to let Stephen Henderson go out on loan. If he has promise then lets give him a go. Surely an up-and-coming youngster is a better option than a third-choice Crewe keeper?

Cardiff gave us a master-class all over the pitch. There wasn't a single Bristol City player who won their own personal battle. Michael Chopra gave another tremendous performance, both in the art of finishing and the way he kept onside before breaking on goal. It was the performance of Jay Bothroyd for Cardiff that impressed me most. Bothroyd was a handful all night and the City defence just couldn't handle him.

Any City fan who witnessed the capitulation at Ashton Gate will have been distraught. However, that is no excuse for what followed in terms of the programmes being thrown on the pitch and even worse thrown at the players and management.

Yes, the fight and passion was not there, but some fans' reaction was not acceptable. Many fans called for the head of Gary Johnson but City chairman Steve Lansdown has insisted that there would be no knee-jerk reaction. The chairman will have felt the defeat as much as any fan, and I am sure that he has left Gary in no doubt of his feelings, while still backing him to get it right.

The chairman is right, what is the point in sacking Gary and paying out a huge compensation payment? and who do you replace him with? You only have to look at a club like QPR to see what changing managers regularly leads to.

We are a Championship club and have to be realistic in our expectations. The one thing that I would say is that the football we have been served up has been poor and this has seen attendances decline, which is not something that Steve Lansdown or the club can allow the carry on. I would keep Gary Johnson at the club until the end of the season and see how things are then.

The point against Middlesborough was a good one, but City have to push on and the players owe the Ashton Gate faithful, especially those who stayed to the end a performance of heart and passion against Coventry in a week.