Cardiff City manager Dave Jones has endured a frustrating summer
By David Dulin BBC Sport Wales
The summer break was meant to herald a fresh start for Cardiff City following the £6m investment from a Malaysian consortium and the exit of chairman Peter Ridsdale.
But instead it has been a bleak affair as the cash-strapped Bluebirds' problems have continued with a new winding up order from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs being served, public transfer payment demands from Motherwell and a transfer embargo being imposed.
Not the most ideal preparations for the team which narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League in May after being beaten 3-2 by Blackpool in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.
The Bluebirds' off-the-field problems have dominated the headlines over the summer, with striker Michael Chopra also threatening to leave unless new players were brought in.
One who did exit the Cardiff City Stadium was local boy and key midfielder Joe Ledley who joined Celtic at the end of a very long and drawn out transfer saga.
Bluebirds boss Dave Jones, meanwhile, is attempting to hold on to top goal scorer Peter Whittingham.
However, defender Kevin McNaughton is among those staying put having signed a new three-year deal despite concerns over the club's future.
"There is a wee bit of uncertainty at the club," said Scotsman McNaughton. "But the manager is trying to get everybody up for the campaign.
"I think his role is to keep us concentrating on football. There will be guys who look into it quite a lot but I don't really pay a lot of attention to it. You can't really because you can't affect it.
"All you can affect is what happens on a Saturday during the match. I'm sure a few people will be worried about the situation and it might have affected a few of the lads but the season is about to start and everybody is focused on the big game.
"I've been here for four years, I've got family down here now and they've all settled in. I'm not desperate to leave and it certainly was not a hard decision to sign in the summer.
"We've still got the manager who brought me here four years ago and every year we've progressed a little further and we've probably lost only one major player in Joe.
"If the manager brings in a few more fresh faces it will definitely lift the camp and if we start the season well, it will all be forgotten about."
Jones has made three signings this summer - goalkeeper Tom Heaton on a free transfer and his Manchester United teammate Danny Drinkwater on a season-long loan, along with the return of Jason Koumas on loan from Wigan - but none can be completed until the transfer embargo is lifted.
That first game is against Sheffield United at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday and McNaughton has admitted that pre-season has been tough trying to find a 'Plan B' for when target man Jay Bothroyd is missing after they were badly exposed in the play-off final in May.
Kevin McNaughton has been a reliable figure in Cardiff's defence
And McNaughton is conscious that the Bluebirds need to get off to a good start, which is how they reacted at the start of the 2009-10 season coming off the back of missing out on the play-offs all together the previous campaign by one goal.
"It's been quite a difficult pre-season," added the Dundee-born full-back. "We've changed a few bits and pieces tactically-wise and results have suffered a wee bit during the pre-season campaign.
"If we're not going to play Jay up front we are trying to see how we adapt to those situations which was a case of trying to play some more football, keeping it on the ground.
"Getting over the disappointment of the last game of the season is important so it's important that we start the season well and it puts that to bed really, but if we don't start the campaign well it lingers on a bit.
"I think everybody's got that Deportivo [friendly] match under their belts and looking forward to getting into the start of the season.
"The prize at the end is getting into the Premier League and I don't think you need much more motivation than that."
In: Tom Heaton (Manchester United, free), Jason Koumas (Wigan Athletic, loan), Danny Drinkwater (Manchester United, loan) - all unavailable until transfer embargo is lifted
Out: Joe Ledley (Celtic, free), Mark Kennedy (Ipswich Town £75,000)m Peter Enckelman, Aaron Morris, Tony Capaldi, Riccardo Scimeca, Warren Feeney and Josh Magennis (all released)
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