There were posts when last season ended regarding his future. Some advocated for a change in manager and were also understanding if the board agreed to give him another crack at promotion.

I was part of that section of posters who advocated for Warnock to be replaced. The main reasons behind this was that the spine of the squad required investment and that was before the sale of Manga and Zohore. Why entrust transfer expenditure to a manager who is likely to only be there for a maximum of one season? And since then he's gone on record to suggest this will be his final roll of the dice.

That's what convinced me that it was time to either part ways or transition Neil into another senior role at the club. I appreciate everything he had done up to that point, you honestly cannot commend his achievements enough from taking Cardiff from 23rd to 2nd in 18 months. But following relegation and with the fact that central midfield required an overhaul, I felt it would be best to move on, rather than giving him the opportunity to sign players on 3-4 year contracts for some other manager to inherit months or one year down the line.

Now I'm not reacting to this defeat to Wigan and allowing that to sway my opinion. My statements above echo the statements I made in May and June. And they've since been amplified with the loss of Manga and Zohore as that has put further emphasis on the entire spine of the squad requiring new faces. This transfer window failed to deliver on that with just over 24 hours to go, it seems unlikely that there will be any further activity with regards to the key area that needed addressing come the end of the away win at Old Trafford, Cardiff need to strengthen in central midfield and have only recruited Vaulks so far.

I am hopeful that the remaining time in this window gives some positive news. But at this stage its been an underwhelming window, that has failed to raise optimism regarding mounting a serious promotion campaign this season. Wasn't that the whole reason why Warnock stayed on in the first place?