Here's a table of every Cardiff manager's record after their first 20 games in charge for us since 1946 (P W D L F A):

1 Billy McCandless 20 16 1 3 48 15
2 Lennie Lawrence 20 14 4 2 36 17
3 Alan Cork 20 13 4 3 52 22
4 George Swindin 20 11 2 7 48 35
5 Malky Mackay 20 10 6 4 40 27
6 Bill Jones 20 10 2 8 35 30
7 Mick McCarthy 20 9 7 4 30 19
8 Cyril Spiers 20 9 4 7 32 29
9 Russell Osman 20 9 2 9 26 28
10 Neil Harris 20 8 10 2 33 29
11 Frankie Burrows (1st) 20 8 7 5 28 26
12 Trevor Morris 20 8 6 6 38 39
13 Dave Jones 20 8 6 6 29 21
14 Steve Morison 20 8 4 8 30 29
15 Neil Warnock 20 8 4 8 27 27
16 Eddie May 20 7 7 6 28 28
17 Kenny Hibbert 20 7 5 8 25 26
18 Frank O'Farrell 20 7 5 8 23 25
19 Len Ashurst (2nd) 20 6 8 6 31 32
20 Russell Slade 20 7 4 9 28 32
21 Len Ashurst (1st) 20 7 4 9 28 30
22 Richie Morgan 20 6 4 10 21 35
23 Jimmy Scoular 20 5 8 7 27 30
24 Billy Ayre 20 5 7 8 21 29
25 Jimmy Andrews 20 5 5 10 22 32
26 Frankie Burrows (2nd) 20 4 7 9 27 28
27 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 20 5 3 12 20 43
28 Alan Durban 20 4 4 12 24 40
29 Phil Neal 20 4 4 12 17 34
30 Terry Yorath 20 3 5 12 14 30

Of those 30 managers, 10 saw their first game at the start of the season.

Of the 20 managers who started during the season, 17 saw the side in the bottom half of the table. Lennie Lawrence was the last manager to start his tenure with the club in the top half after Alan Cork's sacking with the club in 11th.

I think it's interesting that Steve Morison and Neil Warnock both have almost identical records after their first 20 games - both managers saw their clubs climb up the league.

For those still awake at this point, here's a table of how managers fared in terms of league position from the start of their reign to the 20th game (position at start, position after 20, difference)

1 Alan Cork 17 2 15
2 George Swindin 17 8 9
3 Mick McCarthy 16 8 8
4 Lennie Lawrence 11 4 7
5 Neil Harris 14 8 6
6 Neil Warnock 23 17 6
7 Len Ashurst (2nd) 24 19 5
8 Frank O'Farrell 20 16 4
9 Cyril Spiers 7 4 3
10 Russell Slade 16 14 2
11 Steve Morison 21 19 2
12 Richie Morgan 20 19 1
13 Len Ashurst (1st) 20 20 0
14 Frankie Burrows (2nd) 19 20 -1
15 Russell Osman 7 9 -2
16 Billy Ayre 19 21 -2
17 Alan Durban 20 22 -2
18 Terry Yorath 20 22 -2
19 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 17 20 -3
20 Phil Neal 19 22 -3

I haven't looked at points difference etc, but my gut reaction is that we were so far away when Morison took over that it's been one hell of a battle to climb out of the bottom 5.

Lastly, for all those who have spent many nights pondering which manager has the best record after 20 games from the start of a season, your prayers have been answered (position after 20 games). There aren't probably many on here who remember the 1946/47 promotion winning season (apart from TOBW). Cyril Spiers took charge of the club during the second world war, was replaced by McCandless who won promotion back to Division Two at the first attempt in a record breaking season, then was soon replaced by Spiers the following season. I wonder what that was about?

1 Billy McCandless 1
2 Malky Mackay 4
3 Bill Jones 10
3 Eddie May 10
5 Trevor Morris 11
5 Dave Jones 11
7 Jimmy Scoular 14
8 Frankie Burrows (1st) 16
9 Kenny Hibbert 19
10 Jimmy Andrews 20