After such a poor week of results, it is only natural to assume that the lack of permanent manager or concrete plan might be hindering Cardiff City.
Supporters have bemoaned the lack of communication from the club's top brass over the manager situation, while pundits such as Danny Gabbidon have hit out at the perceived lack of direction permeating through the squad and into their performances in recent weeks.
Interim manager Mark Hudson himself admitted he had endured fewer tougher weeks in his 20-year football career than the one preceding Saturday's game with Rotherham United. Three defeats, two red cards and losing convincingly to your bitter rivals, Swansea City, is tough to take.
The string of defeats only served to heighten the calls for the club to make a decisive call on the man in the dugout, pleading with the board either to appoint Hudson permanently or appoint an external manager. Alas, there was radio silence once again in that regard.
On Saturday, Hudson took charge of his seventh game as interim boss. He now has a mixed record; three wins, three losses and a draw. But you felt this weekend's game against the Millers was a massive one in terms of potentially tipping that needle towards more vitriol and negativity from fans.
It would have been heartening, then, for Bluebirds supporters to see the sort of performance their team put in at Cardiff City Stadium. Yes, it wasn't one for the ages, but there was really only one team at the races and that was Cardiff City. They dominated from start to finish and made Rotherham, who have enjoyed a decent start to the campaign, look incredibly ordinary. Were it not for Cardiff's wastefulness in front of goal, they could have won far more comfortably.
It was a result which was badly needed and, in this packed fixture schedule, at least quietens the detractors until Wednesday's game against Watford.
That is the view from the outside, anyway, but what about inside the camp? How does this situation affect the players? Surely they would feel more comfortable if the situation were to be resolved on a longer-term basis with a road map laid out in front of them.
For captain Joe Ralls, who spoke after the game, he insisted, unequivocally, the players were together and right in line behind interim manager Hudson.
"We are a together group. We have done a lot of work on that. With quite a new group, we have done a lot of work on team building activities, we have a really together group. The boys are together as we always have been," the captain said.
"That's obviously going on in the background, but Huds has been superb. We had a really good week and then a not so good week, where things went against us as well, but we have responded to that in the best way possible.
"It doesn't matter at all to us (that he isn't the permanent manager). Huds has taken training, he is picking the team. He is the manager in our eyes and we follow his orders and go out there and try and play the best way possible until we know any more.
"We can obviously help him out by putting in performances like we did today and everyone is just focussed, Huds and all the boys, on trying to get results for the team and for the club."
To got those results, it would help to keep 11 players on the pitch. In the previous two matches, against QPR and Swansea, early red cards chopped Cardiff's chances off at the knees. But against the Millers, the 11 players of Cardiff battered their opposition, however goals, as has been a common theme this season, have been an issue.
It took a moment of sheer quality from Jaden Philogene, something we have seen all too little of from the Aston Villa loanee since his arrival in the summer. We were told by many Villa fans that Cardiff had a gifted young winger on their hands, but those moments had certainly been fleeting.
There is no doubt, though, that his introduction changed the game on Saturday. He was the most creative and dangerous player in a blue shirt. It was the sort of contest he revels in - Cardiff dominant and constantly picking up the ball in space and running towards the opposition goal.
Ralls was suitably impressed by his team-mate's effort.
“He's got a lot of quality," Ralls said of Philogene. "We’ve seen that loads in training and he's done it in games as well. He’s shown it again today and I'm buzzing for him, really.
"I said to him in the celebration that it was a great finish. With his quality, he could do that with both feet as well, so I’m really happy for him.
“I think we had enough chances to possibly make it a little bit more comfortable for ourselves, but, like we just said in the dressing room, no matter how we win, any win at this level is massive.
“It doesn't matter how you win, sometimes it's just that you win and we've got over the line, and that's the main thing you know. We’ll take the win today and the clean sheet, and hopefully, we can build that momentum into Wednesday now.”
Wednesday's game will be no easy task - they never are in this division, of course. Watford have a tremendous squad and are starting to pick up results now under new manager Slaven Bilic, winning three of their last four games.
There will be no firmer backing of Hudson from the players than to pull a result out of the bag against the Hornets on Wednesday night.
READ NEXT
-
Cardiff City player ratings as Aston Villa loanee changes the game against Rotherham
-
Cardiff City news as duo a doubt for Rotherham clash and Isaak Davies timeframe given
-
Mark Hudson holds talks with Cardiff City chiefs about his long-term future as manager
-
Cardiff City enter must-win territory with more than just points on the line
