As this wretched season draws to a close, Cardiff City fans will happily attempt to banish it from their memories as quickly as possible.
In doing so, they will look ahead to next season. With a new dawn always comes new optimism and the perennial hope that their club 'just might get it right this year'.
Well, if they are to make a better fist of it next season, a number of things have to happen. Firstly, they have to tie down a manager, with Sabri Lamouchi appearing to be the first choice at present. Secondly, they need to add more quality to their playing squad.
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After a huge summer overhaul last year, there were bound to be hits and misses. Unfortunately, there have perhaps been more misses than the club would have liked.
Neil Warnock was pretty blunt when WalesOnline asked him how Lamouchi and his assistant Sol Bamba could get it right next season.
"Sign some good players!" Warnock said. "We have got two out of contract that would do them well!"
The two out of contract which Warnock mentioned were Josh Koroma and Josh Ruffels, both of whom have followed similar trajectories this season in starting the campaign out of favour before becoming crucial figures in the Terriers' survival bid under Warnock at the back end of the season.
Both are out of contract and the noises coming out of Yorkshire seem to suggest they will both leave the club, likely bound for Championship teams this summer.
At 24, Koroma is a great age for any Championship club to pick up. He looked to be a really promising player a couple of years ago. Indeed, last year when he scored in the Terriers' 2-1 win over the Bluebirds at Cardiff City Stadium, he was sharp off the bench and made the difference.
Against the Bluebirds last Sunday, he was impressive again and looked to be the visitors' best attacking outlet for much of the afternoon. The talk in the press box from the travelling Huddersfield contingent was that he had made a huge difference to Huddersfield's charge out of the bottom three, adding real quality at the top end of the pitch.
It hasn't all been plain sailing for him, though. Carlos Corberan wasn't his biggest fan and sent him out on loan to Portsmouth at the start of the season. He netted five goals and registered three assists in his 24 games, but by all accounts it wasn't a particularly fruitful loan to the south coast club.
Having moved from Leyton Orient to Huddersfield in 2019, Koroma, who plays up front or on either wing, has scored 16 and assisted six in his 86 games for the Yorkshire club. Hardly numbers that make you stand up and take notice, but it's hard to deny there is something about him.
Given Cardiff are shopping in the free agent market as things stand, might Koroma be an addition that immediately improves the starting XI? Well, the one we have seen under Neil Warnock would be. Whether a Cardiff manager could tap into that is another question.
How about Ruffels, then? Well, WalesOnline understands that Cardiff did indeed take a look at the left-back when he left Oxford United in 2021. They also, more pertinently, took a look at him this season, with left-back a position that needed addressing in both windows and the player having barely featured for the Terriers last year.
Clearly Huddersfield felt he had more of a part to play this year and so it has proved, with the 29-year-old, who has played at left-back and at wing-back, having turned out 31 times this season, scoring three goals.
He has been on Cardiff's radar for a couple of years, it appears, with a move never really transpiring. The left-back spot might be one that comes under the spotlight again when the Bluebirds look to rebuild for next term, too.
Jamilu Collins will hopefully get a full pre-season under his belt and will be ready to go from the off next term. Callum O'Dowda provides some back-up there, but Sabri Lamouchi himself has said he would like him playing further up the pitch.
Joel Bagan, well, Lamouchi clearly likes him and wants him to get a contract, but as things stand there appears to be no movement on that just yet. So, will another left-back be on the agenda? Possibly, although it might not feature too high up on the priority list.
Again, it all boils down to Cardiff wanting to better their starting XI if they want to improve on their position in the Championship table next season. Clearly both come with ringing endorsements from Warnock, a man whose record in free-agent signings bore fruit at Cardiff, but would they come into the side and better the team immediately? That is the question.
And these are questions that will need answering over the course of the summer, with Lamouchi, should he stay, keen to make big changes in order to see big results next season.
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