With just eight days until the 2025-26 League One season gets underway, Cardiff City remains a club shrouded in uncertainty.
The range of unknowns at present stem throughout the football club.
In that sense they perhaps go some way to demonstrating just how major a wake-up call relegation from the Championship is actually proving to be.
In the wake of finishing rock bottom of the second tier, they have seen a whole host of experienced players leave the Welsh capital.
That exodus includes Aaron Ramsey, Joe Ralls, Jamilu Collins, Dimitrios Goutas, Callum O'Dowda, Anwar El Ghazi and Yakou Meite.
Then, there was also the delay in appointing former Manchester City elite development squad boss Brian Barry-Murphy as the new head coach - which, in turn, has stalled the Bluebirds' progress in the transfer market.
To that end, Cardiff are yet to add a single senior player to their ranks since it was confirmed they would be playing in the third tier for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
So, naturally, ahead of their League One opener against Peterborough United at Cardiff City Stadium on August 2, there is a good deal of trepidation among the Bluebirds faithful.
All the while, Gareth Bale has continued to use the media to dangle the juiciest of carrots in front of the supporters’ noses, in the shape of a proposed takeover.
These are fans, who - despite the sheer volume of issues that are yet to be resolved at the club - retain full belief that their club will get themselves into a position to live up to their billing as being among the favourites to win the title or at least secure promotion in some shape or form.
Cardiff have remained tight-lipped ever since boyhood Bluebird Bale stated his desire to front a bid to take control from current owner Vincent Tan.
It might have helped Bale’s cause had the backers he is providing profile for actually made themselves known.
The mystery of their identity enables the current board to dismiss the interest as no more than hearsay and speculation.
That stance has been much to the frustration of the Cardiff City Supporters' Trust, who, in mid-July issued a statement noting their disappointment at the club's public silence on the matter.
But it feels the takeover talk will rumble on for some time yet, even if potential buyers - and there could be more than one group - remain in the shadows.
On the pitch, there were at least a few fleeting glimpses into what the immediate future may look like on the field this week.
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And it has been rather encouraging viewing at times, if you happen to be a fan left despondent by last season’s collapse.
The Bluebirds drew 2-2 in a behind-closed-doors pre-season fixture with Championship side Queens Park Rangers in west London on Wednesday.
An immensely promising first-half display saw Rubin Colwill curl in a stunning effort to round off a well-worked team move after last season's top scorer, Callum Robinson, had earlier found the net.
Having been shambolic defensively last term, similar frailties were witnessed against the Londoners who came from two behind to earn a draw, although there was plenty for Barry-Murphy to take from the fixture.
A quick skim through X delivered huge positivity among the Bluebirds supporters who had watched the game online, with 19-year-old centre-back Dylan Lawlor - who made two senior appearances in the latter half of last season - earning rave reviews.
“I was pleased with the whole game. The application of the players was very good, a lot of the way we want to play was evident, and we created a lot of good chances throughout the game," Barry-Murphy said afterwards.
It followed games against Southend and Johor Darul Ta'zim that also produced plenty of encouragement in terms of the shift in playing style.
Barry-Murphy gets one final chance to assess his players when they take on League Two side Notts County at Meadow Lane on Saturday before the real stuff begins against Posh a week later.
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He will then, undoubtedly, be asked for answers on all of the above in what will be his first pre-match press conference as Cardiff boss ahead of his first competitive game in charge.
As ever, it feels a tad unfair that the man tasked with getting his team to produce positive performances and results on the pitch is also the person placed in the firing line when it comes to dealing with such important unanswered questions.
But expect Barry-Murphy to take it all in his stride as he bids to navigate the Cardiff ship through the choppy waters of life in the middle tier of the EFL.
He has already offered enough sneak peaks of the positive changes that will be seen on the field over the course of his debut campaign to bring some much-needed hope back to the club.
That should continue, regardless of the noise that will inevitably rumble on elsewhere.
