If you are a Cardiff City fan right now, the silence is becoming worryingly deafening.
More than a week-and-a-half after the club sacked Mark Hudson as manager, nothing has changed. We are told there has been an influx of applications for the manager's job, but how close are we to an appointment? And what is the criteria for a successful applicant?
The best-run clubs have solutions before they have problems. See Danny Gabbidon citing Brighton's exemplary strategy and structure here.
READ MORE: Cardiff City manager search Live
Let's rewind to a week ago. If Cardiff had hammered Leeds United 5-0 in the FA Cup third-round replay and they resultantly sacked Jesse Marsch, you can bet your bottom dollar they would have had five candidates lined up for interviews within the next few days. All of whom would have been like-minded with similar footballing ideals and philosophies, just like when they appointed Marsch after Marcelo Bielsa's departure.
After Cardiff let Hudson go, the names on the bookmakers' odds list, some of which had credence and others not so much, were a veritable feast of culture mish-mashes. From Sam Allardyce and Neil Warnock to ex-MK Dons boss Liam Manning and Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke.
There was about as much coherence over where the punters' money was going as there appears to be internally over the direction of the football club and that is the biggest worry of all.
A football brain on the board is a necessity now. It has been for some time but alarmingly so now. And Vincent Tan would do well to swallow his pride and admit that. It's the right thing to do and everyone on the outside looking in is screaming it at the top of their lungs.
For one reason or another, though, Tan appears loath to appoint such a figure again. Not since Iain Moody, who was essentially that figure during Malky Mackay's days, after wasting money on players like Andreas Cornelius, which is still a massive source of pain for Cardiff's owner. Save a short-lived stint for Russell Slade, of course.
Having been convinced by the likes of Warnock to spend so heavily on players, Tan likely feels burnt by the millions of wasted pounds and feels he should have ultimate control over how it is spent, rather than delegate such costly decisions to someone else.
And there are no two ways about it, implementing a director of football would require a concession of some power and responsibility, which would doubtless leave a sour taste in the owner's mouth, but as Apple founder Steve Jobs famously said: “It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
Tan would do well to heed such advice.
Because now we appear to be caught between two stools, with the club at the mercy of one man's whim and that whim, if Tan gets it wrong, could leave City staring at the financially ruinous prospect of dropping into English football's third tier with no guarantees of a return in the near future.
However admirable the owner's philosophy is of giving interim managers a run at the job, as he has done with Steve Morison, Mark Hudson and now, albeit briefly, Dean Whitehead, the pattern suggests quite clearly that plan is not working.
As such, many are banging the drum for a more experienced manager to come in. A Warnock, a Sean Dyche, a Dean Smith or even a Steve Bruce at this point. It's also worth noting that none of these names can be ruled out. However Allardyce, another man cut from a similar cloth, has appeared to rule himself out of the running, which you can read about here.
Some might think that is short-term thinking but it is far better than the alternative, because dropping to League One would spell utter disaster.
Cardiff is unique in its structure and that is why it lends itself to an disciplinarian or experienced head in the dugout. The ability to cope with the size of the club, the intense scrutiny and huge media profile that goes with that, and managing upwards is just as important as coaching the players on the grass at the Vale.
You need a character of stature in the dugout to cope with the special demands.
It is why the three most successful managers of recent times — Dave Jones, Mackay and Warnock — all shared similar traits in that regard. Mick McCarthy showed signs of being able to handle the pressure cooker, too, before it all want so terribly wrong in his final eight matches. Even he isn't sure what happened there, which you can read about here.
And forgive us for continuing to throw this down your throats, but that is yet another reason why a technical director or director of football, whatever the title would be, is exactly what Cardiff need. If the club is to evolve and give younger managers a chance, they need a buffer between themselves and the owner. They need a figure, a mediator, in between to extinguish troublesome fires before they burst into destructive and harmful flames.
Because it is and has been heartening to see the club at least try to evolve the style of play, give youth its head and adopt a more manageable and, importantly, sustainable wage bill. Other clubs, with the correct structures in place, have succeeded by implementing such an approach.
But back to the manager search and the lack of movement on it all. It appears we have reached an impasse. Do the Cardiff hierarchy place more faith in the untested youth, or to go route one with the devil you know? Tan has clearly been in favour of the vigour and excitement of youth, others on the inside may be more risk averse and feel there is a need for a wise old hand at the tiller.
There is, however, a cost factor to all of this. Cardiff have got away with paying relative pennies for the last two managers, having been burnt by having to pay off McCarthy and others before him. Whitehead, or A.N. Other of a similar ilk, would be the cost-effective option.
But with the club on its current trajectory, that's a false economy. Saving pennies now will soon come back to bite them when the revenue streams through ticket sales, sponsorship and TV money dry up noticeably next season if they are relegated.
We understand both Sabri Lamouchi, formerly of Nottingham Forest, and Valerien Ismael, formerly of Barnsley, West Brom and most recently Besiktas, are among those on the club's shortlist of options, and perhaps that represents a happy medium. They are managers with experience, both in the Championship and abroad, and are of the new school, too, so to speak.
Given they have both managed big clubs recently, though, will they want too much money? That must be considered.
The point is, of course, that should have been a consideration before Tan pulled the trigger on Hudson's time at the club. Or even before Morison was sacked. These knee-jerk reactions with no plan in place to drive the club forward have become harmful, in my eyes. Surely, Tan must recognise the pattern?
They've escaped it in the past through savvy mid-season transfer windows or McCarthy going on an 11-game unbeaten run. Will they be so lucky this time, or does that luck run out soon?
Tan must shoulder some of the blame for Cardiff spiralling into this situation. But, pertinently, as we look forward, he also has the power to get them out of it. With the right appointment and positive transfers to reinvigorate this club, it is far from a lost cause. But time is of the essence. Urgency is required.
Cardiff are are days away from next Tuesday's transfer deadline, having signed a grand total of zero players, with no manager in place, not enough goals in the squad and a group of players utterly shorn of confidence.
They are 21st in the division and it's not even in their hands anymore whether they drop into the relegation zone. Huddersfield, directly below them, are just three points behind with two games in hand. Blackpool, in 23rd, are three points adrift with a game in hand on Cardiff, too.
Who'd bet against McCarthy producing some kind of great escape act for them, just as he did initially with Cardiff upon replacing Neil Harris?
It's play-off chasing Luton Town next for City, with the Hatters having won four of their last five games under Rob Edwards, a manager who was out of work when Cardiff were looking for Morison's replacement back in the autumn.
It is genuinely worrying now. Fans who were laughing about the prospect of heading to Exeter City or Port Vale on away days next year are now angry about it becoming a reality sooner rather than later.
Other teams around Cardiff are strengthening or making moves. Blackpool have got McCarthy in the building and have made three excellent loan transfers from Premier League teams. Rotherham have signed Sean Morrison and are on the brink of adding Jordan Hugill, too, both additions will strengthen them.
Huddersfield Town have added two strikers and two wingers, among them Anthony Knockaert and Martyn Waghorn, both of whom are experienced at this level and will add to their attack. Wigan have even brought in three players to bolster the spine of their team, including Steven Caulker who was terrific against Cardiff in Hudson's last game.
The coming days MUST bring a quickening of pace in this manager search. If it doesn't and this month peters out with the club's situation remaining in its current guise, then the prospect of League One football in the summer looms large.
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