Time over again, Cardiff would no doubt have acted differently in their handling of the transfer and affairs of Emiliano Sala. The fact is, they didn't.
They didn't pay pressing attention to his return from a private trip to France; they did not ask too many questions about the interest in his services from other clubs; they were not overly curious about who got what, and why, from his transfer.
Until they were left with a £15million invoice for a dead striker. Sorry, but that's the bottom line. This is all it is about now: the bottom line. The dignified ceremonies and speeches are over, and what remains is the coldest, hardest dispute over money.
It is all about the money now for Cardiff following the tragic death of striker Emiliano Sala
Had the Piper PA-46 Malibu piloted by David Ibbotson landed safely at its destination on January 21, had Sala now been fully engaged in Cardiff's fight against relegation, had he been scoring the goals Cardiff hoped they were buying, there would not be a peep out of them about any of it.
Not just the hire, ownership and stewardship of a light aircraft, but questions about agents' cuts and inflated fees and third-party ownership and Bordeaux's 50 per cent. All the incidentals that did not seem so important when Sala was young and alive.
Cardiff are not asking FIFA, the FA — or the police, according to the most recent dispatches — to investigate any of their other transfer deals or negotiations.
They do not want them poking around in the six that involved Unique Sports Management, the company that counts Neil Warnock's son James among its employees, for instance. James Warnock is believed to have been involved in Cardiff business involving at least three players — Sean Morrison, Rhys Healey and Craig Noone — but the club seem happy enough with that.
They also do not appear to have a problem with Jack McKay, son of Willie McKay who helped broker the Sala deal, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract as a professional with the club in January 2018 despite enjoying a less than exceptional career.
McKay began his career at Doncaster — a club with which his father had been involved — before going on loan to Ilkeston, signing for Leeds, being loaned to Airdrieonians, signing for Cardiff, and being loaned to Chesterfield in the National League. Given Cardiff were third in the Championship and chasing Premier League promotion at the time of McKay's signing, this seems an excellent if unexpected break for a player who was already 21 and had scored just one goal, for Airdrieonians against Peterhead in the third tier of Scottish football.
McKay, by the way, is a striker. Since joining Chesterfield in the National League on loan from Cardiff, he has made two substitute appearances totalling nine minutes.
By happy coincidence, another of Willie's sons, Jack's twin brother Paul, was also considered good enough to be signed by Cardiff, at exactly the same time. He had also been with Doncaster and Ilkeston, as well as Gainsborough Trinity and finally Leeds, where he had played one game, against non-League Sutton United, in the FA Cup. Leeds lost.
This chequered pedigree, however, was enough to get him a contract until 2020 with Cardiff, the same as his brother. Paul is now on loan to Morecambe, currently 21st in League Two, where he has played 18 minutes across four matches.
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock and chief executive Ken Choo were in Santa Fe for the funeral
So, nothing there that Cardiff might want FIFA or the FA to have a look at — much like the transfer of Sol Bamba, whose move from Leeds was conducted by Mark McKay, also Willie's son, via his company ExCel Foot.
Bamba went from starting the 2016-17 season as Leeds United captain to having his contract cancelled after four games, meaning he joined Cardiff as a free agent. This seems a very peculiar situation, but clearly no need for alarms — particularly as Bamba has arguably been Cardiff's best player, certainly this season, and is very much alive.
Cardiff won widespread praise for their dignified handling of the Sala tragedy but, in reality, they merely behaved with decency, as would be expected of any football club in similar circumstances.
They were respectful, they were appropriate, their manager Warnock spoke sincerely about his emotions, their fans reacted with empathy and warmth to the loss.
Then Nantes put the first bill in. It may have been crudely timed — before a funeral had even taken place — but Cardiff's reaction since has pretty much gone as expected, too.
This is the club that, in the year they were last relegated from the Premier League, 2014, wanted to sue over Crystal Palace finding out their team before a match on April 5.
This is the club that, having sacked Malky Mackay as manager and Iain Moody as sporting director, made belated allegations against both for wrong-doing over transfers and intermediary fees, which remain unproven, with the case struck out in March 2017. Much of the anger from that time centred around the signing of a young striker, Andreas Cornelius, for a then-record fee of £8m from FC Copenhagen. Cornelius, like Sala, was supposed to score the goals to keep Cardiff in the Premier League. He was a dismal flop, failing to find the net in any of his 11 games.
Vincent Tan, the owner, blamed Mackay and Moody, as if the transfer market is an exact science. He claimed the real fee for Cornelius — who has since gone on to play for Copenhagen again, Atalanta in Serie A and currently Bordeaux — was £10m and that his wages were £45,000 per week.
Had he been able to prove Mackay or Moody acted nefariously, he may have attempted to withhold or retrieve payments to Copenhagen. Sala was a record fee, too. Does any of this present pattern sound familiar?
Agent Willie McKay was the man who represented Sala and facilitated the move from Nantes
There are 10 questions Cardiff now say they want answered before fulfilling their financial obligations to Nantes. Most of them are irrelevant to the matter of payment, or are within Cardiff's remit anyway.
Take numbers 2-6, which concern
