Cardiff City fans were handed their first glimpse of the new era under Steve Morison, whose preparations for a first full season in charge in the capital were taken up a notch on Saturday as the Bluebirds faced Cambridge United in their first pre-season clash of the summer.
A total of 10 new arrivals have come through the door in this transfer window, and there's every chance that a couple more new faces will be brought on board before the curtain is raised on the new campaign. All but three of the new arrivals were handed a chance to strut their stuff in the scorching sunshine at the Cardiff International Sports Stadium, while there were several youngsters that were also afforded an opportunity to impress.
Here are some of the key talking points to emerge from Cardiff's 3-2 win over the U's.
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Adams presents early concern
The big talking point of the afternoon was the injury to new signing Ebou Adams, who was forced off just five minutes into his Cardiff debut with a shoulder issue.
The midfielder looked in some pain as he received lengthy treatment on the pitch, before later being seen in a sling with an ice pack. The extent of the injury isn't yet clear, with boss Steve Morison confirming the 26-year-old will be assessed over the coming days.
"He's hurt his shoulder and wasn't able to carry on," Morison told Cardiff City TV after the game. "We'll get him checked out the next couple of days and get a definitive outcome on bad it is. Fingers crossed it's not a major one."
It seems unlikely at this stage that Adams will be involved in Tuesday's clash with Newport County.
A new Colwill emerges while Tanner is sent message
Rubin Colwill seems poised for a big season, having already emerged as one of the most exciting young talents on Cardiff's books right now.
He wasn't involved on Saturday, but the family name still managed to take centre stage. The injury to Adams, while desperately unfortunate, afforded Rubin's younger brother, Joel, the chance to impress. Morison was clearly pleased with what he saw.
"Joel got his moment through unfortunate circumstances, but he took it and he was excellent," he replied when quizzed on Colwill's showing, before hinting that the 17-year-old could well have played himself into contention going forward.
"He'll be one now that we know can step up to do a job," he added.
With so much competition in midfield already, it's quite a ringing endorsement, but Colwill wasn't the only young star to catch the eye. Ollie Tanner arrived from Lewes as part of Cardiff's monster recruitment haul and is tipped for big things.
Cardiff fans will have certainly been encouraged by what they saw from the winger during the second half on Saturday, with Tanner a constant thorn in the side for the visitors, cutting in nicely from the right on several occasions.
However, his boss clearly believes there's more to come.
"Ollie Tanner was okay too, but no end product to it, so he needs to add that," he said. "We're pushing them [the youngsters] all the time and giving them belief to go and enjoy themselves. Long may that continue."
Watters puts his hand up
Barring a dramatic and rather uncharacteristic change of heart from Morison, it seems highly unlikely that James Collins will be a part of Cardiff's plans for the new season.
It's understood the club have already told the striker he is surplus to requirements ahead of the new season, with Derby County leading the race for his signature.
It was perhaps a little surprising then to see him start from the off, even if it was for just 45 minutes of a pre-season friendly. But he didn't really cut the figure of a player seemingly on the brink of an exit. There was certainly little sign of sulking.
If anything, it was all smiles when he popped up for a well-taken strike on 10 minutes, a moment that capped off a reasonably accomplished first-half outing, before he made way for Max Watters at half-time.
Watters has had something of a bumpy ride at Cardiff himself, with his struggles coming to a crescendo when he was substituted before half-time in the clash with Coventry City last season.
But with Collins likely to depart soon, Watters needs to start making something of his Cardiff career, and he looked eager to impress against Cambridge, firing an effort into the side-netting moments before slotting home from close range after a marvellous cross from Tom Sang, who himself appears to be facing an uncertain future.
The 23-year-old striker would have had another were it not for the legs of the goalkeeper and all in all it was an encouraging showing for a player that's likely to be facing something of a make-or-break season.
Rinomhota stakes early claim as Morison experiments
It's always tricky to tell too much about a new player on the back of a 45-minute pre-season outing, but Andy Rinomhota showed really promising signs of becoming a favourite, winning plenty of praise from fans.
The midfielder was at the heart of Cardiff's opener, linking up nicely with Collins up front, driving with intent through the heart of midfield on several occasions. He also showed plenty of willingness to get stuck into the tackle and win the ball back for his team, adding some edge to City's efforts off the ball.
"I thought he was excellent," Morison declared. "I think you could see his quality. I think we've added some good players. Everyone adds something to the group and that's the main thing."
Morison deployed the midfielder at the heart of a 4-3-3, seemingly departing from the wing-back system deployed so many times last season. However, it seems we might not be able to read too much into that decision just yet.
"Today was 4-3-3 and that was the best way for me to get two exact XI's on the pitch and as many round pegs in round holes as I could," he continued.
"We know we need to add a couple more bodies. We're working on doing that. But it's more a case of with the ball and without the ball. Without the ball we were excellent with the press. With the ball we were okay. So we need to get better.
"I thought everyone put a good shift in and everyone performed well."
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