It is no secret that Cardiff City's January transfer window was a disappointment to those inside the club and fans looking in from the outside.
Three managers in the dugout, a frustrating transfer ban and a last-minute scramble saw just one player, Sory Kaba, join the Bluebirds in a month when they needed to bolster considerably in order to boost their chances of Championship survival.
There were, of course, mitigating factors for that, but January's business is all done now. Cardiff can only add in the free agent market and that is always a gamble.
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The Bluebirds are mulling over the prospect of offering out-of-contract striker Connor Wickham a short-term deal. The 29-year-old striker left Forest Green Rovers in League One last month in search of a new challenge after scoring nine goals in 20 games in all competitions.
When WalesOnline broke the news on Tuesday, the reaction was generally one of: 'What have we got to lose?'
There were counter arguments, too, of course. 'No! We must prioritise a left-back,' some wrote. Well, the two are not intrinsically linked. It's not an either/or situation. Signing Wickham will not prevent Cardiff for looking for a left-back, too, so that argument doesn't hold much water.
Another more understandable school of thought is that it would prove to be a further obstacle for young talents Isaak Davies and Rubin Colwill. But the topic of youngsters is a hot one among supporters at the minute.
For what it's worth, two things can be true. Firstly, these players are exciting, talented and have bags of potential. They could blossom to become very good Championship footballers or net Cardiff decent money in years to come.
Secondly, have they progressed at the rate Cardiff fans have expected? No. They probably haven't. That is down to injuries, lack of opportunities, growth spurts and a number of other reasons.
You don't have to sit in one camp or another. But thinking they are the answer to solving this imminent relegation problem is arguably even more of a gamble than bringing in a 29-year-old free agent who has experience of scoring in this league. The Cardiff kids must be coaxed back into the fold gradually, not relied upon to get the club out of this mess.
The big issue with Wickham is injuries. Can he even cut it at this level now, given he has struggled to string an entire season together for the best part of eight years. It's the question mark hovering over the whole deal. He hasn't played in two months and even when he arrived at Cardiff City last month he had to spend time rehabilitating with the physios.
How frustrated were fans when Jonny Williams, a player plagued by injury hell, signed and then got injured almost immediately, before never really featuring for the club thereafter? The supporters' ire was the same for Isaac Vassell, another player with a poor injury record who managed just three games in three years for the Bluebirds. Lee Tomlin came in for similar treatment at times from fans.
Granted, this is different to the latter two, with any deal likely to be only until the end of the season. So perhaps the liability regarding lost wages is more of a moot point in that regard. So, worth the gamble, then?
Well, we have seen mid-season free agents come in and make an impact. Think back to Junior Hoilett and Sabri Lamouchi's current assistant manager Sol Bamba, their acquisitions proved to be a masterstroke by ex-boss Neil Warnock.
And, back to the original, overriding fan sentiment, what's to lose? Cardiff need a shake-up of some sort, with different options from the bench. The current strikers are just not cutting it, with the club being the bottom scorers in the Championship by a considerable margin of six goals.
Yes, the service hasn't been brilliant and some will bemoan the lack of creativity, but that's not an option on the table right now. How many Championship-quality playmakers are available as free agents at the moment?
The strikers used, be they Max Watters, Mark Harris, Isaak Davies or Kion Etete, just have not worked so far. Callum Robinson started brightly, but has also struggled in recent games, too. And how will Sory Kaba fare over the coming months? He is a bit of an unknown quantity.
This time 12 months ago, loan strikers Uche Ikpeazu and Jordan Hugill lifted the squad, added some nous and different qualities at the top end of the pitch and it went a long way to lifting Cardiff out of their relegation scrap.
There are no guarantees that would happen with Wickham, of course, and there is every chance he could flop if he signed.
But with the stakes so high, and the prospect of dropping into League One an ever-increasing reality, can the club really risk passing up on this opportunity? Sometimes, in moments when the status quo simply isn't working, the dice need to be rolled.
Whether Lamouchi, who has now had a fortnight to assess the squad, feels the same way is the ultimate question. Time is running out and, as the manager said himself, there are only 16 "cup finals" left to avoid disaster.
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