Neil Warnock hopes for a silver lining to a cloud-covered season and evidence for his old-school belief that all that glitters is not gold.
The Cardiff City manager takes his team to Fulham tomorrow, the club just one place below them in the Premier League but who were relegated a month ago despite spending £100m last summer following promotion.
Cardiff parted with less than £40m and if they can win at Craven Cottage and go on to end with their heads above the bottom three, then the club will have disproved the modern adage that promoted clubs must generally follow a boom or bust economic strategy in order to survive.
Fulham made 12 signings in the transfer window last summer but Warnock does not believe signing a large number of players is particularly helpful to mounting a survival campaign.
Asked how he thought Cardiff might have done this season if they had spent the same as Fulham, Warnock said: “I don’t think you can say success can be bought. Sometimes when you have money you can’t spend it well.
“That does not bother me at all. The biggest disappointment for me was the tragedy with Emiliano (Sala). He was the one player I had been looking for to compliment the squad with goals.
“We were never in a situation like Fulham were. Their recruitment is based more on stats.
“The manager that got them promotion was a good manager, I’m not sure he would have wanted to sign that many players. But you would never turn that down.”
Warnock admits he is surprised Cardiff are still alive and fighting at this stage in the season and challenged his players to write their name into history by beating the drop.
He added: “I think you have got to be really (surprised) from the situation we have been in since day one. We knew it was going to be difficult but one-by-one we have overcome all the doom and gloom predictions.”
With three gamees to go, Warnock says securing Cardiff’s status in the Premier League would rank among his biggest achievements in football.
The Bluebirds are currently 18th on 31 points, three behind Brighton in 17th, who also have a superior goal difference and similarly have three games left to play.
A win could take Cardiff temporarily level on points with the Seagulls, who play Newcastle in the evening kick-off.
“The pundits did not give us any hope of staying up and quite rightly so when you look at our different circumstances compared to other clubs. We’ve never thrown the towel in, even with heavy defeats,” Warnock said.
“We appreciate what our fans have been like, they have been with us the whole way and if anything they have got louder and louder.
“They can forgive other things if you are trying hard. We’ve really put every ounce in. Whatever happens this season it would be one of my biggest achievements.
“I think the players are the same. You can point at our mistakes but all I have asked is they do their best week in, week out.”
Cardiff are in better form than the Seagulls, who have gone seven games without scoring, and Warnock believes the pressure has been lifted since the 2-1 home defeat to Chelsea last month.
Cardiff were winning that game 1-0 when Cesar Azpilicueta’s late equaliser was allowed to stand, despite the Spaniard clearly standing in an offside position.
“I know it sounds silly because you’d think there would be more pressure on us. But since the Chelsea game the shackles have been off us. We just think we’ll do what we can now and what will be will be.
“We played like that at Brighton, and I can’t ask any more of the players.
“I’ll be happy if the players just play like they have been over the last couple of weeks.”
Cardiff gave a good account of themselves in losing 2-0 to title-chasing Liverpool last weekend.
That defeat came on the back of a 2-0 victory at Brighton, which dragged Chris Hughton’s side firmly into the relegation picture.
Brighton entertain Newcastle on Saturday before finishing their campaign away to Arsenal and at home to champions Manchester City.
After Fulham, Cardiff conclude their season at home to Crystal Palace and away to Manchester United.
But Cardiff will be without Joe Ralls for the rest of the season after scans revealed that the midfielder tore his hamstring against Liverpool.
Harry Arter is also struggling to recover from a calf strain which has ruled the Republic of Ireland international out of the last two games.
Warnock joked that Arter has been banned from this week’s preparations due to his links to Fulham and their manager Scott Parker.
“Harry’s brother-in-law is Scott Parker,” Warnock said.
“So we’re banning him from watching us train this week, just in case he’s after going to Fulham next year!”