Cardiff City have yet to sign a single player in the transfer market but, and whisper this quietly, there is a real buzz of excitement and expectation about the Championship season to come.
Not among the bookmakers just yet. Those pesky people in the know have the Bluebirds down for a 19th place finish in 2023-24, with only Huddersfield, Rotherham, Plymouth, Birmingham and QPR ranked lower.
Yet Bluebirds fans, who have endured a couple of years of torrid football, terrible results and questionable managerial appointments are suddenly seeing glimpses of a rainbow shining somewhere out there in the distance.
Of course, it could yet go horribly wrong. On the other hand, it could suddenly start going very right again. Here are the reasons for the new-found optimism....
The hierarchy are back on board
Let's start with the very factor that underpins everything because it stems from the top.
Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman candidly admitted he had lost a little interest previously, but he has regained his enthusiasm.
When Dalman engages like this, Cardiff tend to do well. Fully backed by Vincent Tan, Dalman helped drive the success under Malky Mackay, was chiefly responsible for Neil Warnock's appointment. Mick McCarthy was mainly his call too, which certainly worked well to begin with, even if it ended awfully.
Dalman was very much the force behind the appointment of new Turkish boss Erol Bulut. He will want to make that work, which means more of a hands on approach from the chairman.
This can only be a good thing.
While Cardiff struggled over the last 12 months, there was growing talk of Tan needing to sell up, former owner Sam Hammam being keen on a return. If not Hammam, someone else had to come on board to offer fresh direction.
I argued privately, and I do so publicly today, that given the state of the football club, with debts owed, the Emiliano Sala liability hanging over them, court cases and the prohibitive cost of any takeover, there was only one REALISTIC way forward for the time being. That was for Tan to re-enthuse, re-engage and show fresh excitement for Cardiff City.
That wasn't necessarily easy for someone who's already been at the helm for more than a decade, who continues to lose millions in Cardiff City FC, whose business empire was badly hit by the pandemic and who has seen the team struggle against relegation amid the cutbacks.
But once you take the emotion out of the argument, and deal with Cardiff's situation logically, Tan re-engaging is the only viable solution for the moment. A sale in 2023 simply isn't realistic because no-one is likely to come up with the price being demanded. And it's far from clear Tan wants to sell anyway.
Having flirted with the idea of re-employing Steve Morison, which might have sent the Bluebirds hurtling further backwards, Tan agreed instead to the visionary appointment of Bulut as manager.
That has come at a price, as will the players Bulut wishes to sign.
But it's evidently a price Tan feels is worth paying.
On top of that, he is in effect raising a fresh £17.5million for the club with a new shares issue. While this is probably to cover losses and thus ensure Cardiff meet Financial Fair Play rules, it further demonstrates Tan's commitment as I'm told by finance experts it is money he might in effect be prepared to write off.
Other clubs have fallen foul of FFP. Tan is trying to ensure Cardiff don't. That has to be a good thing, surely?
The Bluebirds having a much better season makes the club more saleable anyway if Tan deems he wishes to get out at some point over the next couple of years?
Prospective new owners would be more likely to pay the kind of fee demanded should the Bluebirds be much higher placed in the table.
Mind, knowing Tan, if Cardiff happen to be anywhere near the top six in January he'll probably get extra excited again and free the purse strings for a transfer splurge. A third crack at the Premier League, and being owner of Wales' capital city club in the top flight, remains his goal.
Bulut on board
Make no mistake, Cardiff were close to appointing Steve Morison as Sabri Lamouchi's successor.
Instead they have gone in the other direction with one of the most visionary decisions in the club's history.
Erol Bulut may flop, he has no experience of the British game - yet the smart money is on him being a Bluebirds success.
This is a no-nonsense manager who is bringing fresh ideas, new discipline and know-how to the job.
Look, let's not beat about the bush, Bulut wants to be a Premier League manager. To a degree, Cardiff are a means to an end in that respect for him.
If he does well with the Bluebirds in the Championship, and a bigger club poaches him away, that should be seen as a plus, rather than a minus, for Cardiff.
Cardiff interviewed a lot of candidates in their managerial search. They each said the right thing - look to stabilise, try to bring through youngsters, play better football.
Bulut is the only one who said 'I want to come there and win the league for you'. That may be viewed by many as incredibly naive, but you have to admire the drive and ambition.
There is certainly an air of mystique about him which intrigues Cardiff fans.
Instead of same old, same old run-of-the-mill British bosses, there is a feeling the Bluebirds might just have unearthed a gem from the continent.
The new signings
Okay, there are none as we speak. But there will be, have no doubts about that.
Most will come from abroad. They'll be largely unknown to us at the moment, but as with the manager himself they'll also be figures of intrigue to get excited about.
A new centre-half is clearly required. I'm told Bulut has an international defender lined up who stands at 6ft 4in and is a real leader - something else that has been missing from the dressing room.
He will also wish to sort out Cardiff's goalscoring issues and players further forward, so a striker and creative wide men are also likely to be in his sights.
Then, of course, we have the well documented Aaron Ramsey situation. Let's see how that plays out and leave it at that for the time being.
It's like five new players anyway
As well as targeting newcomers, Cardiff have what will be like five new signings from within kicking off the new season.
For differing reasons, home-grown young guns Rubin Colwill and Isaak Davies weren't given a fair crack of the whip by successive managers last time out. Their talents are still very much the future of the club. With a full pre-season behind them, they'll hope to hit the ground running under Bulut.
Callum Robinson, a really good player at this level, will be fit again after the injury that wrecked the tail end of the season just gone. He was missed. It'll be great to have him back.
Jamilu Collins had just three and a half games before a knee injury ruled him out for the vast majority of 2022-23. During that brief spell Bluebirds fans were excited by what they saw. Morison dubbed him the best left-back in the league. His return will also bolster things.
The jury has to be out on Ebou Adams as he didn't kick a ball the whole season. Another who is building towards full fitness again, can he help resolve clear issues with the Bluebirds midfield?
Five players already in the building who look ready to roar again, up to half a dozen new signings. That's like a new team already, before we even factor in Ryan Alssop. Perry Ng, Mahlon Romeo, Mark McGuinness, Callum O'Dowda, Ryan Wintle, Joe Ralls, Romaine Sawyers, Kion Etete, Mark Harris among others.
The best three players from last season - Cedric Kipre, Jadon Philogene and Sory Kaba - have gone, but the above is not a bad little base to work from.
Season tickets soaring
They only went on sale a matter of a few weeks ago, but are already close to the 14,000 mark.
That's incredible really, when you consider the trying times fans have had to put up with over the past couple of years.
The current figure is actually well ahead of the comparable number from last season. Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman expects it to rise towards capacity once 'exciting' player announcements are made.
Cardiff City Stadium needs to be turned back into the sort of fortress it used to be under Mackay and Warnock. The home form has to start underpinning everything once again.
The fans are coming on board to do their bit, it seems.
It's an exciting start
Leeds and Leicester away in your first two matches seems a daunting beginning to the season.
But perhaps the best time to play sides relegated from the Premier League is up front, before their more talented players have got accustomed to the hurly burly of Championship football.
Whatever, it's an exciting couple of openers for the Bluebirds, with QPR at home sandwiched in between. Cardiff fans will certainly travel to Elland Road and the Kingpower Stadium in large numbers to roar on their team.
Bulut's men also meet newly promoted Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday in their fourth and fifth games, so there's something entirely fresh about the start to the campaign.
Then it's swansea-city-fc>Swansea City at home, surprisingly early for a change.
Cardiff will be hoping to win the derby this time. It's certainly an exciting start on paper as supporters begin to flock through the turnstiles.
Transfer embargo lifted
This has to be good news, although it comes with a rider.
Cardiff worked painstakingly behind the scenes to ensure their three window EFL ban on buying players was reduced and they can spend again in January.
The rider is that failing to pay the second and third instalments of the Emiliano Sala transfer fee to Nantes on time will lead to further bans.
However, we're told the Bluebirds 'are better placed to come up with that money' should the demand come from FIFA.
Pay today and try to recoup the fee, plus other damages, via the French courts seems the way to go. If so, that will satisfy the football authorities and Tan might yet get chunks of his money back via the legal route.
And finally...
Well, as Yazz once sang the only way is up.
Surely?
If not, Cardiff will be relegated. And somehow you can't see that happpening.
This summer, crucially, there is the feeling of a reconnect between hierarchy and fans, who remain the most important people at the football club. That reconnect can only be seen as a positive, albeit there is still work to do on that score.
What is needed is for god signings to be announced and Bulut and his players to start delivering results. That will ensure the new feelgood factor grows, rather than fizzles away.
Cardiff City Stadium is a very special place when things go right. The hope is that starts to be the case again after some years in the doldrums.
