Cardiff City were hit by the news that manager Neil Warnock had left the club by mutual consent on Monday afternoon following their 1-0 defeat to Severnside rivals Bristol City on Sunday.

The result saw the Bluebirds' unbeaten home run in the Championship come to an end as they suffered their fifth defeat of the campaign, and Warnock's three-year spell at the club's helm subsequently came to an end the following day.

This means the Bluebirds are likely to have a new manager in place by the time they make the trip to face Charlton in two weeks' time, with club chairman Mehmet Dalman confirming his expectation that an appointment will be made within 72 hours.

The new man in charge will have a difficult task on his hands to turn around Cardiff's form, with the Welsh side currently sat 14th in the Championship, but there is nevertheless a definite array of quality at the club if it can be utilised correctly.

Here are two statistics that Cardiff need to work on from the season so far...

Goals conceded

Warnock normally prides his sides on their strong defensive records, and this was a key part of Cardiff's success when they were promoted in 2017/18 after conceding just 39 goals, but they have been nowhere near as strong at the back this term.

The Bluebirds have already conceded 23 goals after just 16 league matches in the campaign with regular centre-back duo Aden Flint and Sean Morrison often looking somewhat shaky, and this is not good enough for a side with promotion ambitions.

The new manager will need to place a priority on stabilising Cardiff's defence, and this could involve keeping a place for Curtis Nelson in central defence following his impressive performances of late, while Sol Bamba should also be able to regain his starting place in the near future.

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Passing accuracy

Warnock's Cardiff side was certainly not aligned with a possession-based approach, but the side's 61% passing accuracy will still come as a concern to the Bluebirds given it is the lowest percentage in the entire division.

It is unlikely Cardiff will want the new manager to instigate a complete change of footballing identity at this stage of the season, but they should still target someone capable of steering away from the overtly direct football deployed by Warnock.

This style has clearly not worked for the Welsh side so far this season, and they need to develop other facets to their game in order to break down opponents, and improving their composure on the ball could well be one way of achieving this.