Cardiff City are still licking their wounds following a disappointing season in which they avoided relegation with just two games to spare.
They find themselves at another juncture now, though, with Sabri Lamouchi's short-term contract expiring this summer. While he met with owner Vincent Tan last week, no formal decision has been made just yet.
Cardiff will hope that they can bounce back far stronger next season in order to arrest the perennial slide down the Championship table. Whether Lamouchi is in the dugout or now.
But, of course, it is not only the manager who makes this huge wheel turn, there are dozens working behind the scenes as the club bids to get back to the top flight once again - which, admittedly, looks some way off on the evidence of the last two seasons.
Who are the important people at the club, though? And what do they do? Well, let's take a closer look.
Firstly, let's start at the very top...
The man at the top of the tree is obviously the owner, Vincent Tan. The Malaysian businessman acquired the club 13 years ago. Cardiff is the jewel in the crown of Tan's football empire, which includes Bosnian club FK Sarajevo and Belgian club KV Kortrijk. However, reports in Belgium suggest Tan could be looking to sell up at KVK, with delegates from Burnley, Bournemouth, Newcastle and the States all having been credited with interest in purchasing the Flemish side.
Cardiff are still hugely reliant on Tan and owe a huge amount of debt to him. Tan has tightened the purse strings noticeably in recent years, with wages and transfer budgets being slashed accordingly.
Despite the rocky road and controversies which led us to where we are today, he has overseen two promotions to the Premier League and has been at the helm for one of the most, if not the most, successful periods of Cardiff City's history.
Ultimately, Tan has the final say on all matters. The key decision he must make over the coming hours and days is over the manager and whether Lamouchi is the man to take the club forward next season.
The public-facing figures on the board of directors are chairman Mehmet Dalman and executive director and CEO Ken Choo. They are Tan's sounding boards over many matters, with both advising the owner on dealings on and off the pitch.
Steve Borley is a non-executive director at the club. Borley is managing director of Cardiff-based engineering company CMB Engineering and was a key player in the construction of Cardiff City House of Sport. He is also hands-on when it comes to the club's impressive new academy site at Llanrumney, which should be ready to house the club's youth system next year.
The other non-executive directors are Cardiff-born entrepreneur Datuk Marco Ronaldo Mario Caramella, whose primary task is to bridge the Bluebirds and his country of residence, Malaysia, and Derek Chee Seng Chin, a trained lawyer who is also executive director of Tan's company Sports Toto.
Football
Of course, at time of writing, this is all very much up in the air, but let's deal with what we know. As the season finished, on the pitch and the training ground, the operation was headed up by manager Sabri Lamouchi.
When Lamouchi was appointed in January, it was seen very much as an added bonus that he had already agreed to work with Sol Bamba on his next assignment. And, lo and behold, the Bluebirds fans' favourite, who won promotion with the club during his playing days here, is now Lamouchi's assistant.
There are two other first-team coaches in the form of Dean Whitehead, who was brought in by Mark Hudson when he took the reins from Steve Morison a few months ago, and Tom Ramasut, someone who is Cardiff through and though and has risen up through the academy system to stand on the touchline for the senior side.
While Cardiff are without a permanent goalkeeper coach since Graham Stack was relieved of his duties back in February, academy goalkeeping coach James Wood has stepped up to fill the role for the last few months.
Then, of course, there is the recruitment team. Kevin Beadell is the head of recruitment at Cardiff, an increasingly demanding and important job with the Bluebirds' huge change in recruitment strategy.
Cardiff managed to prise Beadell away from Arsenal's under-23s at the start of the 2021/22 season and he oversees recruitment for the under-18s, under-21s and the first team.
Beadell's team in the recruitment department includes Patrick Deboys, who was previously a first-team performance analyst before moving to the role of lead recruitment analyst. They advise the board and the manager on transfers.
As is the modern way, the Bluebirds are well stocked with eagle-eyed analysts who are tasked with fine tuning the team's preparation as well as offering insight from the stands during the game. Jack Radusin, Matt Jenkins and Josh Morris are the men behind the analysis.
No backroom staff is complete without the medical and fitness entourage. Matthew May heads up the medical services, while club doctor Len Nokes, stalwart at the club, a plays a key role when it comes to player welfare. Matt Giles is the first-team doctor.
Then there is the physio team. Jonny Northeast is the club's head of physical performance, having taken over from Patrick Wilson at the beginning of 2023. Northeast worked with Whitehead at their last club, Besiktas, in Turkey and has previously worked at Swansea City and West Brom. Alongside Northeast are senior first-team physios James Rowland and physiotherapist Chris Lewis.
Mike Beere is the club's strength and conditioning coach, with Hayden Lau the sports scientist and Kyle Fairgrieve the Bluebirds' sports therapist.
Lee Southernwood is the football support executive, while Stephanie Turner is the first-team administrator.
Chris Derrick is the club's kit-man and is assisted by David Bush.
Academy and Women
Gavin Chesterfield is the club's head of academy. It's Chesterfield's first season following Dave Hughes' move to Manchester United earlier in the season.
Chesterfield is best known as the former manager of Barry Town United, but he was also course director for the University of South Wales’ MSc advanced performance football coaching degree and an FAW coach educator training manager.
Former Bluebirds skipper Darren Purse is the under-21s' manager, assisted by Matt Bloxham. Ex-Cardiff and Wales defender Steve Jenkins is in charge of the under-18s.
Ben Clarke heads up the academy recruitment, working closely with Beadell over the sort of players that need to come into the youth system. Cardiff have leant more heavily on the academy graduates in recent years and recruiting the right youngsters is viewed as an important part of the gig.
On the coaching side of things, Dane Facey is the academy's overall head of coaching. Ben Adams is the lead youth development coach (ages 12-16) while Lawrence Hallett is the lead foundation coach (ages 9-11).
Iain Darbyshire is the manager of Cardiff's double-winning Women's team. They embarked on a sensational, unbeaten league season as they lifted the Adran Premier trophy this term.
Darbyshire is assisted by Scott Davies and goalkeeper coach Jamie Ham.
Behind the scenes
Away from matters on the pitch, there is a whole army of people who are vital in keeping the cogs running in the bowels of Cardiff City Stadium and at the club's Vale Resort training base.
They range from the club's secretary, Michelle McDonald, to the media team which is spearheaded by head of TV and video Jamie De Cruz and head of communications Mark Denham .
Head of HR Dawn Williamson, head of retail Clare Carter, head of ticketing Mona Sabbuba, head of CRM, marking and insight James Askey, head of operations Wayne Nash, head of commercial James Bibby, finance director Philip Jenkins, safeguarding manager Rob Cronick, head of fan engagement Amy James, are among those on the executive management team who play crucial roles within the club.
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