Today's defeat was City's fourth in the last five league matches and let's be honest here - the team's performance in the first half of the one game they have managed to win recently was utterly awful.

Mick McCarthy's reign as Cardiff manager began brightly enough, but the team's record in the last 20 league games under him is as follows:

Won 6, drawn 7, lost 7.

The six teams City managed to beat during that run were Swansea, Wycombe, who are now in League One, a Birmingham side that was full of youngsters and reserves, newly-promoted Blackpool, draw specialists Millwall and struggling Nottingham Forest. Not the the toughest of opponents at this level

Meanwhile, Neil Warnock's Middlesbrough slumped to another defeat at Reading earlier today. Boro have won just one of their last seven Championship games - a 2-0 victory at Nottingham Forest.

While the Championship looks weak this season, it seems the prehistoric football served up by Messrs McCarthy and Warnock is cutting little mustard.