Following Cardiff City, whether that be as a fan or in professional capacity, can be challenging at times.
Certainly always interesting, albeit at some points it can be downright painful.
Much has been written about the Bluebirds' poor record in the South Wales derby and although it is pointless to labour the point further, it still stings. A lot.
Swansea City, however, has gone. What happens next is what matters.
And Cardiff are aimlessly drifting right now, as our columnist pointed out this week. The worry is if they are not careful, they'll drift even closer to the edge, with the end result not even worth thinking about.
We were told the hierarchy decided to dispense with previous manager Steve Morison because they feared getting pulled further into a relegation scrap. Mark Hudson was tasked with steering the ship in the interim, but despite an initial bounce, Hudson has seen the last three games come and go with no goals scored and no points on the board, the club sitting 20th in the table, a point above the drop zone.
And it doesn't get any easier. Getting over the emotional scars of Sunday will take time but there is no let-up. Cardiff's run before the World Cup includes games against Watford, Sunderland and Sheffield United.
First, Rotherham are the visitors to Cardiff City Stadium this weekend and we are already in must-win territory, not just for Cardiff but for Hudson too.
"I am not too worried about my own position," he said after the defeat at the Swansea.com Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
"What I look at is how the team stuck together, how they fought with decisions that have gone against them on Wednesday [at Queens Park Rangers] and the previous Saturday [against Coventry City].
"They are showing willing and fight and a togetherness."
That fight will have to be on show against The Millers in the capital on Saturday afternoon against a side who are defying expectations to sit 11th in the Championship, just four points off the play-off places with a game in hand, having also lost their manager earlier in the season.
Cardiff's squad boasts talent - arguably more now than when they faced Swansea twice last term - but a collection of individuals still needs knitting together and plan moulded and carried out to get the best out of them.
As such there has been no settled XI so far due to form, injury and pure tinkering and one gets the impression we could see yet more changes on Saturday as a response to Sunday's result. Interestingly, the under-21s fielded an extremely strong XI for their midweek encounter with Colchester at Cardiff City Stadium which saw them record a 4-1 victory.
Jak Alnwick, Vontae Campbell, Joel Bagan, Gavin Whyte, Kion Etete, Max Watters, Jaden Philogene featured, with Etete, Whyte, Philogene and Ollie Tanner getting on the score sheet.
Hudson was watching on from the stands and it would be no surprise to see a few of those feature at the weekend. In Callum Robinson's enforced absence, either Etete or Watters will be pushing Mark Harris for a starting berth. Goals are an issue and have been since Kieffer Moore's departure.
Before the Championship pauses for the World Cup, Cardiff's fixture list reads: Rotherham (h), Watford (h), Sunderland (a), Hull City (h) and Sheffield United (h).
It's a tough run but caveated by the fact four of those five fixtures are in front of their own supporters. That should, in theory, make a difference. Points banked in that run will be even more important when you look at what's to come.
Post-break and before the new year it's Stoke City (a), Blackpool (h), QPR (h), Coventry City (a) and Blackburn Rovers (a) - fixtures against clubs competing at the top and bottom. No respite whatsoever.
Poor form, the nagging question that remains around the managerial situation and a tough run of games makes for a stomach-churning combination.
But it all starts against Rotherham on Saturday. It's must-win territory.
Over to you, Mr Hudson.
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