Whether you're in the Erol Bulut 'in' or 'out' camp, what cannot be argued is that Cardiff City are a better team this year than they have been for the last two seasons.
Given they came into this campaign off the back of some poor, restricted transfer windows, seeing them head into the final few games of the season in a comfortable, mid-table position represents progress.
Whether that progress is enough for Vincent Tan to pull the trigger on a new deal for his manager still, frustratingly for many, remains to be seen. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.
READ MORE: Bulut draws up summer transfer list, star tipped for Liverpool exit and coach joins Rangers
But just how to we calculate success this season? Surely, even in Tan's wildest dreams, he couldn't have expected this squad to get promoted out of the Championship this season. Given the strength of the league this year and the years of cut-price transfer deals and relegation battles which preceded it.
The general consensus is that a top-half or, at a push, top-10 finish would represent meaningful progress for the club and a positive step in the right direction. A foundation on which to build next season.
Cardiff currently sit in 11th place with four games to go and look likely to finish somewhere around that ball park, you would suspect. But when compared to the relative spending power of other teams, Bulut can be proud of the job they have done.
Cardiff have had to be creative in order to pump the squad with more talent. A good free pick-up in Dimitrios Goutas, displaying patience in waiting for Manolis Siopis ostensibly buy himself out of his own Trabzonspor contract, curating and tabling a complex deal to Aaron Ramsey, forking out large portions of players' wages on loan deals to compensate for transfer bans were all part of it.
So, looking solely at transfer fees which have been paid by rival clubs can arguably be a little reductive, but just entertain it for a second, because it's a useful barometer in terms of seeing just how well Cardiff have done compared to others around them.
Looking just at the make-up of Cardiff's squad on "purchase value" alone — in other words, how much money was spent on transfer fees to construct the playing squad — makes for pretty interesting reading. Only the three promoted clubs from League One last season — Sheffield Wednesday, QPR and Rotherham — spent more than Cardiff's £2.81m, according to Transfermarkt.
Contrast that with the leagues big boys — Leicester City £199.76m, Southampton £137.66m, Leeds United £120.94m, Norwich City £55.76m — and Cardiff pale in comparison.
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So, just how efficient have Cardiff been? That's where it gets interesting. Based on transfer fees alone, the Bluebirds are punching well above their weight with regards to points and victories per pounds spent.
At time of writing, Cardiff have 59 points. Only QPR and Plymouth have a better pounds spent-per-point ratio than Cardiff (£48,000). And the number which will interest Tan, the metric which sees Cardiff top of the table, is cost per win.
According to Transfermarkt, Cardiff's transfer cost for each of their 18 wins this season is the best in the division, coming in at £156,000. No team has paid less, on transfer fees, per victory.
Again, it must be stressed that it can be argued that this can be seen as reductive and does not tell the whole story. But one imagines it will get Cardiff fans' minds whirring with one question: Will more investment equal a better chance of promotion?
Cardiff are certainly punching above their weight at the moment, as the above metrics show, but invariably, the teams who spend the most, get promoted out of this division. With no transfer ban and more profit and sustainability headroom in the summer than we saw in January, we understand, could extra cash this summer make the difference? Cardiff are crying out for a new striker and more wing options, positions which cost big money. It might make all the difference.
Cost-per-victory table in full (via Transfermarkt)
| Club | Purchase value | Points | Costs per point | Goals | Costs per goal | Wins | Costs per victory | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Cardiff | €3.29m | 59 | €56k | 47 | €70k | 18 | €183k |
 | QPR | €2.20m | 47 | €47k | 40 | €55k | 12 | €183k |
 | Sheff Wed | €2.47m | 43 | €57k | 35 | €71k | 12 | €206k |
 | Plymouth | €2.48m | 45 | €55k | 57 | €43k | 11 | €225k |
 | Ipswich | €11.00m | 88 | €125k | 84 | €131k | 26 | €423k |
 | Rotherham | €1.70m | 23 | €74k | 32 | €53k | 4 | €425k |
 | Preston | €10.86m | 63 | €172k | 56 | €194k | 18 | €603k |
 | Huddersfield | €7.04m | 43 | €164k | 46 | €153k | 9 | €782k |
 | Bristol City | €13.26m | 57 | €233k | 49 | €271k | 16 | €829k |
 | Hull City | €15.49m | 62 | €250k | 59 | €262k | 17 | €911k |
 | Sunderland | €15.43m | 53 | €291k | 51 | €303k | 15 | €1.03m |
 | Millwall | €13.54m | 47 | €288k | 39 | €347k | 12 | €1.13m |
 | Blackburn | €13.73m | 46 | €298k | 56 | €245k | 12 | €1.14m |
 | Swansea | €20.58m | 50 | €412k | 52 | €396k | 13 | €1.58m |
 | Coventry | €33.35m | 63 | €529k | 66 | €505k | 17 | €1.96m |
 | West Brom | €39.77m | 72 | €552k | 66 | €603k | 20 | €1.99m |
 | Stoke City | €24.44m | 46 | €531k | 40 | €611k | 12 | €2.04m |
 | Birmingham | €24.45m | 42 | €582k | 45 | €543k | 11 | €2.22m |
 | Middlesbrough | €40.99m | 62 | €661k | 60 | €683k | 18 | €2.28m |
 | Watford | €31.12m | 52 | €598k | 57 | €546k | 12 | €2.59m |
 | Norwich | €65.35m | 68 | €961k | 75 | €871k | 20 | €3.27m |
 | Leeds | €141.75m | 87 | €1.63m | 76 | €1.87m | 26 | €5.45m |
 | Southampton | €161.35m | 78 | €2.07m | 78 | €2.07m | 23 | €7.02m |
 | Leicester | €234.14m | 88 | €2.66m | 79 | €2.96m | 28 | €8.36m |
