Dai Young admitted after his side's 14-9 victory over Castres that there's going to be a "changing of the guard" at Cardiff.
Blues boss planning to make changes at end of the season
Cardiff director of rugby Dai Young felt it "never really happened" for his side against Castres, despite clinching a 14-9 victory.
The slender win on home turf keeps alive the Blues' slim hopes of qualifying for the Amlin Challenge Cup - a competition they won last season.
However they allowed their French opponents to return home with a losing bonus point thanks to a late penalty from replacement Pierre Bernard.
Young admitted that Cardiff had never been able to kick on after claiming an 11-3 lead midway through the first half thanks to two Dan Parks penalties and a try from Leigh Halfpenny.
Small margins
"Over the last couple of seasons, a lot of the games we won in Europe were close, and now we're losing by small margins," he said. "It's not been a massive swing.
"Missed penalties, missed kicks to touch, the little things that were going right last year have been going wrong.
"We talk about nailing opportunities, and it never really happened tonight. When you get to a position like 11-3 up, and you've got to kick on, but we couldn't get the extra scores that would have allowed us to relax."
Despite their season being far from over, Young admitted he already has one eye on the future.
The Cardiff boss knows that many of his current first-team squad are nearing the end of their careers, and promised there would be changes come the end of the current campaign.
"We have an old squad, and we've got to look at addressing that," he said. "It's not going to be easy next season, with the World Cup, so it'll be a two-year operation.
"We won't be casting anyone aside, but we've got to start pushing youngsters through. There's going to be a changing of the guard."
Winger Halfpenny is certainly a key player for Cardiff's long-term future; the Wales international has now scored two tries in two starts since returning from an ankle ligament injury.
"Leigh looked a threat every time he had the ball," added Young. "He's a quality player, and he's full of enthusiasm after being out injured.
"It's good news for Wales coach Warren Gatland, because he's a match-winner."
