As a player Malky Mackay was never daunted and embraced a never-say-die attitude.
Difficult
Cardiff will almost certainly take the place of Reading, QPR or one other in the Premier League.
There has been plenty of talk this week about which players QPR will have to get rid of to reduce their wage bill if that scenario transpires.
While I have some sympathy for Harry Redknapp, who came into the job at an impossible time, I do think Rangers should thank their lucky stars that the dice are loaded between the Premier League and the Championship in such a way that the teams that go down can have a great chance of coming straight back up.
I say that because the further down the leagues you go, the dice are loaded against that happening. It applies to any club but just indulge me for a moment and look at Hartlepool as a classic case in point!
For most of the season we've struggled to balance the amount that we are allowed to spend on players' wages and transfer fees as a viable percentage of our turnover - an amount we can't exceed.
When you drop down a division, as we're about to do from League One to League Two, the percentage of your turnover that you are allowed to spend on players
decreases so clubs that are relegated have to reduce their wage bill immediately - and are not even on a level playing field with the sides in the division that they are going down into.
The long and the short of it is that Hartlepool will have to reduce player wages by a certain percentage before we're allowed to start signing players again.
The players that we most want to hang on to are the ones we are most likely to lose because their hand is being forced by the Financial Fair Play at that level, which means that they have to sell their few prized assets.
A lot of Hartlepool fans have asked me this week if we'll come straight back, which we did the last time we were relegated. But it's darn difficult if you know that you might have to do it without key players like Luke James, Jack Baldwin and Scott Flinders - players who clubs at a higher level will certainly be looking at.
It will be very difficult to hang onto them.
Jeff's Gem of the Week
Plymouth are not quite safe yet but they've given themselves a fantastic chance after winning five games in seven, including the midweek 2-1 victory away at Chesterfield. I thought John Sheridan was pretty harshly treated when he lost his job at Chesterfield but he's proving once again that he is a high-quality manager who perhaps deserves a chance higher up. Hopefully he'll get that chance one day because somehow he's transformed Plymouth's fortunes without funds or goal-scorers! Jason Banton's loan spell produced six goals but he has now returned to Crystal Palace and none of Plymouth's permanent staff have got more than five - yet somehow Plymouth have conjured up these victories. Home Park is a proper football ground and it would be nice to see the good times back.
