It is hard work being a Cardiff City fan right now.
Life is arduous.
The club appears to be treading water and with the board stating that there is a new direction of "common sense club management" it seems that the books are being balanced at the expense of ambition.
The sale of star man and club captain David Marshall to Premier League side Hull City at the end of the summer transfer window was proof of those circumstances and it appears that it is a stance that is unlikely to change in the near future.
Still, even though it has been a rollercoaster period over the past five years full of emotional highs and lows, there have been some highlights for the club's fans and it has not all been doom and gloom in the Welsh capital.
Football League World writer Steve Day picks the THREE best things that Cardiff have done in the past five years.....
Reverse the re-brand
This is without a doubt the most positive step the club has taken within the past 5 years.
Owner Vincent Tan decided to make himself public enemy number one in the summer of 2012 when he officially declared that the Bluebirds would be re-branding from the colour blue to the colour red.
It was a decision that was greeted with anger and discontent.
It split the fans down the middle and its ramifications are still being felt to this very day.
Tan argued that in order to capitalize on the potential market in the Far East that the re-brand was needed because blue was seen as unlucky in China and its neighbouring countries.
What followed was a bitter period of animosity between the club's fans and the ownership.
Eventually, in 2015, Tan relented and ordered the club colours to return to blue after witnessing falling attendances and a massive decrease in revenues of club merchandise.
Unfortunately, the return to blue was seen as a welcome move by the majority but it was deemed to be too little, too late for a section of fans who felt betrayed by Tan.
A result of the re-brand has been the club struggling to attract fans back to the home games and the negative football that has been adopted by former managers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Russell Slade.
However, the club has put the shambolic re-brand episode in the past and there is at least starting to appear to be a brighter future at the Cardiff City Stadium as a result.
Winning the 2012/13 Championship Title
The 2012/13 season will live long in the memory of Cardiff City fans because it was a dominant one in the Championship for the Bluebirds, that saw them run away with the Championship title as they steam rollered their way to the promised land of the Premier League under the management of Malky Mackay.
Captained by centre back Mark Hudson, Cardiff City amassed a superb 87 points over their 46 league games with 25 wins, 12 draws, and just 9 defeats in an historic campaign for the Bluebirds where they finished 8 points above second placed Hull City.
A squad that included a number of cult heroes such as David Marshall, Kevin McNaughton, Jordon Mutch, Aron Gunnarsson, Fraizer Campbell, and Craig Bellamy will go down in club folklore, as the men who finally gifted the Bluebirds fans with a place in the top flight of English football that they had craved for so long.
Reaching the 2012 Capital One Cup Final
The first season of Malky Mackay's reign as Cardiff City manager was very much a case of rebuilding a side that had repeatedly failed to earn promotion to the Premier League.
A number of key players such as Michael Chopra, Jay Bothroyd, Chris Burke, Adam Matthews, and Gavin Rae all departed the club after their disappointing play-off semi-final defeat to Leicester the season before.
Mackay set about overhauling the playing staff and coaching staff. New players including Craig Conway, Don Cowie, Aron Gunnarsson, Joe Mason, Rudy Gestede, Ben Turner, and Kenny Miller formed the basis of a side that would defy expectations in that first season.
Not only did the Bluebirds eventually go on to shock the division by reaching the Championship play-offs but they also stunned English football by reaching the Capital One Cup Final.
A dramatic match with Premier League title challengers Liverpool that ended 1-1 after full time and 2-2 after extra time eventually saw the Reds win 3-2 on penalties.
It was a spirited display that showed the Cardiff fans that the players were willing to die for the cause.
It mobilised a fan base that had become hurt by failure after failure. It was the dawn of a new era that would trigger one of the most successful times in the club's history.
What do you think? Do you agree with those three things? Or have more positive events occurred over the last 5 years? Was the win 3-2 win at home against Manchester City in the Premier League a more memorable moment? Did sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer prove to be a positively pivotal moment? Let us know in the comments section below!