Cardiff City are the great unknown quantity in the Championship 2022-23, almost impossible to call.
We know Norwich, West Brom, Watford and Sheffield United will be near the top end; Rotherham, Reading, Blackpool more likely down towards the bottom.
Steve Morison's Bluebirds? If truth be known, they could finish anywhere between fourth and 19th. Glass half full or half empty, depending on your own personal take.
As is normally the case with these sort of things, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle of that lot. Ninth or 10th perhaps?
But under-estimate at your peril this team Morison has been so efficiently putting together. With a bit of early season momentum, with the fans re-enthused and helping to turn Cardiff City Stadium into more of a fortress again, anything is possible.
Whatever happens, at this stage you have to say Morison has done a pretty remarkable job as Cardiff manager in a very short space of time and under the most challenging of circumstances.
One. He inherited a team hurtling downwards, muscle memory meaning antiquated route one football was the players' default setting, yet banished the relegation threat and in doing so implemented a far more pleasing on the eye tactical re-set.
Two . He never once moaned about needing to work within tighter budget constraints than that perhaps afforded to any Bluebirds manager this century. With Vincent Tan's empire so heavily hit by the pandemic, and Cardiff City FC desperately needing a new business model, Morison's message was exactly what was required - the gravy train is over, the high wages have ended. If players aren't prepared to accept that and buy into the Cardiff vision he wishes to build, then he doesn't want them here.
Tough talk, but he had the guts to say, and mean, it. I can think of many managers who'd have bemoaned the Board in such circumstances. Morison isn't one of them.
Three. He had to deal with the fallout from the jolting blow surrounding Gareth Bale. That Cardiff deal was a lot closer to happening than perhaps some realise, the Bluebirds felt it was on the brink. When it fell through, Morison was the one left to pick up the pieces.
Four. And amid everything above, he had to undertake probably the biggest squad shake-up in Bluebirds history, rip up a team that simply wasn't fit for purpose any more and bring in a plethora of free transfer signings, persuading them that Cardiff City was the place to be.
Many of us can remember the threadbare mess of a squad Malky Mackay inherited when he became Cardiff boss back in June 2011. But at least Malky had an element of Championship stardust to work with - David Marshall, Tom Heaton, Kevin McNaughton, Mark Hudson, Peter Whittingham and Stephen McPhail.
Malky quickly supplemented them with his own wheeling and dealing, signing Aaron Gunnarson, Ben Turner, Don Cowie, Craig Conway, Andrew Taylor, Kenny Miller, Joe Mason, Rudy Gestede and Robbie Earnshaw. The jury was out on a lot of those at the time, as it is with Morison's acquisitions a decade on, but these players got Cardiff into the play-offs, reached the League Cup final against Liverpool and the following year the Bluebirds won promotion to the Premier League.
No-one can remotely anticipate that happening again, but quietly and surely Morison has helped silence the doubters who feared Cardiff would be relegation fodder in 2022-23.
As I've already stated, the jury is out. We'll need to wait and see just how some of these newcomers fare amid the hurly-burly, week in, week out demands of the Championship - and particularly at a club like Cardiff where expectations tend to be high, given the enormous potential of Wales' capital city club if they can get it right.
James Collins may have been something of a big fish at Luton Town; he was always going to find a club like Cardiff City too much of a step. We've seen that with others down the years, it may prove to be the case for some of Morison's acquisitions too.
But let's just say things are looking infinitely more promising than they were. Morison's shrewd work in the transfer window, aided and abetted by chief executive Ken Choo and the rest of the Board, has significantly bolstered the Bluebirds' prospects.
Ryan Allsop, Jak Alnwich and Dillon Phillips may not be Marshall or Heaton, but they are capable goalkeepers. My guess is Allsop wins that nod and starts in pole position versus Norwich in the season opener.
The capture of Cedric Kipre at centre-back was vital. Cardiff were weak in that area. Shrewd observers reckon he can be a Bruno Manga like figure at the club, a no-nonsense defender, but one with pace and ball-playing ability too. How Cardiff have missed that kind of force since Manga and Sol Bamba departed.
Take your pick out of Curtis Nelson or Mark McGuinness next to him. Morison looks like starting with Perry Ng, who is better on the ball, but his hand might be forced on that if Cardiff concede headed goals. We'll see as time moves on.
Mahlon Romeo and Vontae Campbell will provide legs and energy at right-back, but remember Ng is still in the mix for that role, too. I'm hearing big things about Nigerian left-back Jamilu Collins, while young Joel Bagan will continue to develop.
There are four genuine wide-men threats to choose from; Seyi Ojo, Ollie Tanner, Callum O'Dowda and Isaak Davies.
Yes Cardiff need a couple of strikers, that's a statement of the obvious. That kind of player was always going to cost the most and thus the last to get over the line.
What Morison needs to do is unearth a largely unknown young Premier League striker on loan, one who can make the sort of impact Tammy Abraham did with Bristol City, or Rhian Brewster with Swansea. The manager remains hopeful of the last piece of the jigsaw, although he concedes, 'We've done what we can, it's in the hands of other people.'
The biggest overhaul though, and the area where most of us have been clamouring for change, is the midfield. What we're about to witness will likely be unrecognisable from the one-paced, one-dimensional, static approach of recent times.
Joe Ralls or Ryan Wintle can hold. Andy Rinomhota can be the proper 8 Cardiff have needed for years. Romaine Sawyers can be a mix of an 8 or No.10 just ahead.
With Tom Sang, Ebou Adams and Eli King also in the mix, this is a properly balanced engine room, one with tenacity, athleticism, energy, creativity and hopefully goal threat.
Let's not forget, of course, a certain Rubin Colwill - whose selection, be it at 10 or further forward, will strengthen the Cardiff team still further, while Mark Harris and Max Watters have roles to play.
This is galaxies away from the sort of football Cardiff fans were forced to watch last year, a team that contained five centre-halves, Marlon Pack, Leo Bacuna and Will Vaulks in the middle, and Collins up top. Morison knew change was required and he was true to his word in implementing that change.
Some Cardiff fans were understandably bemoaning the fact the club were letting the contracts of so many senior players wind down this summer. Others viewed it as a massive opportunity. I was very much in that camp; so too, more importantly, was the manager.
He knew a complete re-set was required. This summer, while Bale understandably dominated the headlines, Morison, quietly and efficiently, has gone about undertaking that revolution.
I was even impressed by something simple the other day when Morison was asked if he needed a big man up top. His reply was on the lines of too many people have got into that way of thinking at Cardiff. Provided the new striker is nimble and can get away from defenders, that is the only thing that mattered, stated the manager.
I'm not sure I entirely agree with that. There's always room for a good big 'un. Look at Morison himself as a player.
When watching the Wales team start to thrive under Gary Speed back in the day, Morison was the big striker who helped link play together for the more gifted men around him like Bale, Ramsey and Bellamy; just as Kieffer Moore has done for the national team more recently.
That said, the general principle of Morison's argument about everyone needing to move away from the route one mindset is completely laudable. He's correct.
Look, if truth be told there are many for whom the jury was out on Morison as Cardiff manager. Yes, I have been among them.
But I have to say that pretty much everything he has done in the job thus far has been for the betterment of Cardiff City. If only he'd managed to keep hold of Kieffer and let him loose in this XI - then again, the manager's hands were probably tied on that one.
The right replacement for Kieffer will yet hold the key to Cardiff's fate, but this totally new-look team already looks far more fit for purpose for modern-day Championship football.
You can't just throw a new side together and expect it to gel at once. Patience will be required from Cardiff fans. The continued development of the Academy aces is also pivotal to the club's future.
But whatever happens, Morison has offered hope again - in terms of personnel, the battle for places, style of play and general vision for Wales' capital city club. Cardiff's squad today is brimful of much younger players who are either at their peak, or whose peak is yet to come.
They have legs, energy, passing ability, desire and, if things click, can become saleable assets.
What's not to like about any of that? Surely, this represents a much better business model for Cardiff City FC?
As for their final position in the table this season, I still have absolutely no idea! But I suspect it will be nearer the top six than a struggle down at the bottom again - and it 100 per cent will be more enjoyable to watch.
That we can be sure of.
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