After 30 years in management and spells in charge of six different clubs, Mick McCarthy does not need reminding how fickle top-level football can be.
But the extent – and the speed – of which his time at Cardiff City has unravelled may leave even this most unflappable and understated of characters scratching his head and wondering where it all went wrong.
Seven months ago, the Athletic reported that McCarthy was one of the candidates to succeed Neil Lennon in the Celtic dugout.
While hiring a 62-year-old on a short-term deal would hardly have inspired a great deal of excitement on the green half of Glasgow, McCarthy had demonstrated, south of the border, the immediate impact he was capable of making at a side performing far worse than the sum of their parts.
In the space of two months, the one-time Celtic defender had taken Cardiff from 15th to eight, relegation fears turning into promotion hopes.
The Bluebirds would eventually miss out on the top six, finishing two places outside the promised land. But the general consensus was that Cardiff would come back stronger in 2021/22, ready to fight for a top-six berth; especially after retaining the services of 20-goal top scorer Kieffer Moore.
12 games later, however, and Cardiff find themselves in a worse position now than they were when McCarthy took over in January.
What next for Mick McCarthy?
A dismal run of six defeats in a row is bad enough.
But ‘bad’ becomes ‘catastrophic’ when you factor in a 5-1 thrashing at Blackburn, a 4-0 home drubbing against West Brom and a 3-0 defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Swansea City on Sunday afternoon.
According to the Sun, McCarthy is now clinging to his job. A trip to Aleksander Mitrovic’s Fulham on Wednesday night could hardly come at a worse time.
“It leaves me feeling very, very sad. I can’t try harder than what I’m doing and I’ll keep doing it until someone tells me otherwise,” said McCarthy after that horror outing at the Liberty Stadium, the anguish dripping like thick syrup from his Barnsley drawl.
“I’m not sure I’ve got the words to describe that, but let’s just say I’m bitterly disappointed.
“I’ve never had a problem with players not playing for me and if they are not, then I’ll be disappointed.
While Celtic appear to have turned a corner under Ange Postecoglou, a 2-0 away win at Motherwell one of their most complete performances of the season so far, McCarthy – and Cardiff – are hurtling like a runaway train in the other direction.
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