For the past few seasons Cardiff City have been many people's favourites to reach the promised land that is the Premier League, yet time and time again they have seemingly run out of steam towards the end of the campaign and failed to deal with the pressure of the play-offs…
This last season saw them having to settle for the lottery of the play-offs once again, due to their drop in form as the season reached its climax. Their losing in the semi-final to Reading, has proven to be the last straw for many people involved with the club.
Manager Dave Jones was sacked not long after the semi final upset, ending a six year stint at the club in which he took the side to an FA Cup final and a play-off final, and in all honesty he was probably given more time than he should have been allowed due to the successful cup run he oversaw back in 2008. With the players at his disposal the Liverpudlian should have guided the Bluebirds to England's top tier with relative ease, but that has not been the case and time has deservedly been called on his stay in South Wales.
For the past three seasons Cardiff have been labelled as favourites to gain promotion from the Championship, something that can be a curse in itself, and all three times they have fooled fans in to believing they can achieve the feat right up until the summer. The 2008-09 season saw them occupying an automatic promotion spot for almost the entire season, only for them to earn a solitary point from their final four games. This included a 6-0 drubbing from Preston, and a fall not only out of the top two but down to 7th in the table, meaning they even lost the consolation prize of a play-off place.
The following season saw them playing at the brand new Cardiff City Stadium, but not even that could keep their form consistent enough to finish in an automatic promotion spot. And the Welsh side were undone in a thrilling play-off final that saw Ian Holloway's Blackpool claim the final spot in the following season's premier league, winning 3-2.
With the aforementioned semi-final defeat to Reading last month, and the added blow of having to watch bitter local rivals Swansea become the first Welsh side to grace the Premier League, it seems that Dave Jones isn't the only one who will be leaving the capital in the coming weeks.
Record signing Michael Chopra has already jumped ship with a move to Championship rivals Ipswich Town for £1.5 million (a £2.5 million loss). England international Jay Bothroyd failed to agree a new contract with the club along with team mate Chris Burke who has signed for recently relegated Birmingham City. Many would find it hard to argue the fact that Bothroyd should probably be plying his trade in the Premiership, something he had hoped to have been doing with City by now.
A few others look set to be on their way, but someone who's future is still shrouded in mystery is that of Craig Bellamy. The shock signing of last summer's transfer window, and the man who many thought would be the final part of a Cardiff squad capable of promotion, is still a Manchester City player. It seems that they don't want the Welsh winger back and at the same time are not willing to pay his wages, something they did do last season what with Cardiff not being able to foot the bill, instead they want to sell him.
Cardiff City have had three consecutive bites of the cherry, something almost unheard of when you consider how competitive a league the Championship is, and managed to 'bottle it' on every occasion. With the exodus of top class players along with adapting to the new manager Malky Mackay, it seems questionable if we'll be seeing Cardiff at the top table of English football any time soon, although you never know, maybe losing the title of 'favourites' is exactly what they need.