Cardiff City chairman Peter Ridsdale has apologised to supporters who feel let down over the club's announcement that no new players will be arriving during the January transfer window.
And he brushed aside suggestions that he would be resigning. Peter told a Press conference:
"Regrettably, we will not have the opportunity to strengthen the current playing squad in the January transfer window.
"A number of our supporters for reasons that I recognise feel aggrieved and not only aggrieved but feel let down.
"The purpose of this Press conference, despite some of the speculation, is that I am here today to formally apologise to all of our supporters who feel I have let them down. And again, contrary to popular belief, I am not resigning as chairman of Cardiff City Football Club.
"The season ticket campaign that was launched pre-Christmas was an offer that if we get promoted this season we will give those supporters their money back. That offer, which I believe was a very good one, remains and will be honoured. And I certainly hope we will be handing back the money to those supporters come the summer if and when we achieve Premier league status.
"At the time we were also working on a number of areas of funding which we believed combined with the season ticket offer would allow us to sort out paying our creditors and indeed to bring in players for Dave's squad. The other areas we were working on have not materialised to date although some of them are still being discussed.
"To the degree therefore that the campaign itself was misleading I reiterate my personal apology but it was not deliberate and it was said at the time with the best intentions.
"I know that a number of our supporters look for knee-jerk reactions on regime change. They've done that in the past with the manager and now they're doing it with the chairman. We are going through a difficult time at the football club but we have achieved many things. We've achieved a new stadium, an FA Cup Final and we are currently fourth in the Championship.
"I had a long discussion with our shareholders this morning and with the board. It was a unanimous decision that to have regime change at this moment in our history would be inappropriate. That doesn't mean to say it won't be appropriate in the future and I've made it absolutely clear that when the job I came to do is completed, I will leave Cardiff.
"Today is not that time, therefore I am here to see out the job I came to do, to finish that job and to steer the club through the immediate short-term financial challenges we face, but I stress short-term. This club in the long term will be in better health than it has for many years. We undoubtedly have some short-term challenges and those challenges will be addressed fairly and squarely and it would not have been appropriate to add to our overheads by bringing in players until they have been resolved.
"Today is about me quite rightly eating humble pie and saying to our supporters: 'If I misled you, and clearly you feel I did, I apologise.' But it's also about my total commitment to lead Cardiff City and to finish the job that I came here to do and hopefully deliver Premier League football in the not too distant future."
