It is rare you see a team's fan base utterly devastated when Cardiff City decide to recall a player mid-season.
But the reaction of Sheffield Wednesday supporters when they learned Mark McGuinness was to return to the Welsh capital last month was something else.
Some Bluebirds supporters were baffled when Steve Morison sanctioned his temporary exit in the summer, but it would be disingenuous to suggest McGuinness' time at Cardiff before that had been completely unblemished.
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He had finished last season below the lofty standard he had set himself when he burst into the side just over a year ago and endured a tough pre-season, too. So, all things considered, there were merits to both sides of the argument.
What is not up for debate, though, is that his loan stint at Hillsborough has seen him come back a far superior player than when he left. In his five games since his return, he has been nothing short of a colossus, despite winning just one game in that time.
According to stats website WhoScored, he has now been installed as Cardiff's second-best player of the season, with an average rating of 7.24, behind only Jamilu Collins, who has been crocked since the first month of the campaign.
If you ask Wednesday fans, though, there was no doubt he was going to come back and establish himself once again as a top Championship centre-half.
“Mark’s career has progressed rapidly at Sheffield Wednesday," said Owls boss Darren Moore upon learning McGuinness was to be recalled by Cardiff. “He’s been absolutely tremendous and has without doubt improved as a player.
“What he’s given us since he’s been here has been excellent. So we wish him every success.”
Not that Cardiff fans need too much convincing, of course, but, boy, hasn't he shown himself to be a top operator at this level since coming back?
He's already one of the first names on the team sheet now. The 22-year-old has proven himself to be solid defensively, formidable aerially and calm as you like with the ball at his feet. He appears to have matured while playing in that successful Wednesday side for the first half of the season.
There is something to be said for him playing in a team buoyed by positive results and morale, too. He came back into the Cardiff fold unjaded and unburdened by the casserole of disappointment and poor results which has plagued the Bluebirds' first half of the season.
There has already been talk inside the club of McGuinness' leadership qualities and the thought of him potentially being a future captain. For now, though, the club simply want him to concentrate on being a top-class defender to help consolidate their Championship status.
What happens after that is an irrelevance for now, as far as Cardiff are concerned. But if you as Wednesday fans, the vast majority of them are convinced his destiny is to be a Premier League defender - and sooner rather than later. Many were convinced it would be impossible for top-flight sides to ignore him as soon as this summer, given his age and increasingly high ceiling.
That parting Mick McCarthy quote, from his final press conference as Bluebirds manager, still rings loudly, too.
"Mark McGuinness is going to be a really top player, there’s no doubt about that," said McCarthy, who brought him in from Arsenal in the summer of 2021. "Whatever people are thinking about my reign and me, that is a damn good signing.
"He will be a really good player for the club and I hope he is one to drive the club forward. If not, I think he will be worth a hell of a lot of money in some time to come."
Cardiff fans will hope it's the former, of course, but with transfer fees on the rise for young, club-trained players in this country, it will be intriguing to see if Premier League sides do come sniffing around in the summer.- And what sort of cash we are looking at if they do.
For now, though, he will form the bedrock of Cardiff's Championship survival push. Alongside Cedric Kipre, Perry Ng, Mahlon Romeo and Callum O'Dowda, that defensive line is now set in stone, injuries permitting, and is a pretty formidable-looking lineup.
Cardiff's January transfer business was disappointing. There is no two ways about that. Being hamstrung by a full transfer embargo for the first half of the window, a partial embargo in the second half and a manager sacking is hardly ideal trading conditions, though, admittedly.
But the addition of Sory Kaba looks useful, while Connor Wickham looked encouraging in his cameo debut outing off the bench against Birmingham City, notching an assist. Add McGuinness' recall and subsequent performances to that and suddenly the outcome looks a little less bleak.
While McGuinness' displays and the result against Birmingham are both encouraging, though, Cardiff are nowhere near being out of the woods just yet. The centre-back will have to be at his imposing and commanding best against bogey side Reading at home on Friday night to ensure momentum continues to build.
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