"It can't go on like this, can it?"

"It can."

That iconic two-word response, regularly used in video or meme format on social media platforms to taunt opposition fans - or even wallow in one's own side's dire situation - has now become so chilling for the Cardiff City faithful.

Ironically, the classic two-word contradiction was delivered from one of their former managers.

Mick McCarthy - the man who left the Bluebirds in October 2021 after overseeing eight consecutive defeats, the worst run in the club's history - delivered the now highly-quoted quip to a reporter after his Blackpool side had been on a run of just one win in 17 matches in 2023.

McCarthy lasted just shy of three months in the role at Bloomfield Road before the Seasiders were relegated into League One.

There is something of a horrid symmetry to the situation his former club currently finds itself in.

Omer Riza was thrust into the limelight as early as September of this season after Erol Bulut was sacked having overseen Cardiff's worst start to a campaign in 94 years.

To his credit, Riza galvanised a side that was devoid of confidence and initially looked on course to keep the club afloat.

But the turmoil at Cardiff City Stadium escalated to new heights on Tuesday night as the Bluebirds blew a lead to suffer a highly-damaging 2-1 loss at home to relegation rivals Luton Town.

READ MORE: Omer Riza Tells Cardiff City To Wake Up And Smell The Relegation Threat

It was a third successive Championship defeat and it leaves Cardiff with just four wins from 24 matches.

Crucially, they now sit just one point above Derby who are 22nd - and two points ahead of the Hatters, who are 23rd.

Results elsewhere in midweek were quite simply horrific from Cardiff's perspective as bottom side Plymouth won at Portsmouth while Derby, Hull and Stoke secured victories.

To rub salt into the already stinging and gaping wounds, Cardiff lost Wales international Aaron Ramsey to a hamstring injury in the second-half.

It’s little wonder, then, that Cardiff’s board - and, in particular, owner Vincent Tan - are wondering if all the fizz has gone out of ‘Riz’. 

Based of previous actions, the most likely course would seem to be a sacking.

Whenever Tan has previously felt Cardiff’s survival in the Championship has been under serious threat, he has fired the manager.

READ MORE: Angry Omer Riza Admits Cardiff City Are “Flawed” As Relegation Threat Looms

With nine matches still to go, there must be a temptation for him to do the same now - give Riza his marching orders and bring in a “firefighter”, an experienced old hand to try and dampen down the flames and preserve the club’s current status.

It has been suggested among some of the fan base that Neil Warnock might be called.

That might have seemed plausible at one time, but surely at 76 years of age, the oldest man in the fire station has already packed away his hose and helmet for the final time.

With Warnock, though, you never know. As Robert Duval once almost said in Apocalypse Now, Warnock loves the smell of a burning football club in the morning.

A trip to Blackburn Rovers this weekend, a team that remains firmly in the hunt for a play-off place despite seeing head coach John Eustace leave to join Derby in February, is hardly the ideal opportunity for Cardiff to get their quest for survival back on track.

There is a glimmer of hope for those in blue that will make the arduous nine-hour round trip to Ewood Park at the weekend as Rovers - now managed by Valérien Ismaël - have claimed just one point from their last four matches.

They suffered grim defeats at Swansea and Derby either side of a 1-1 home draw against Norwich, although they sit just four points adrift of the top six, despite losing 1-0 at Stoke on Wednesday night.

READ MORE: Neil Warnock Goes On The Attack . . . And Rangers’ Ball Boys Get An Earful

The bitter reality for Riza is that the trip to Lancashire could well represent the final time he takes to the dug-out with Cardiff, such has been the club's slump of late.

The only factors that may save him are a shock victory, or lack of readily available alternatives.

It further demonstrates the vicious circle that the club finds itself in. 

Or, to put it more bluntly, a circle they are trapped in they have blindly ignored for far too long under the ownership of Malaysian Tan.

Regardless of the outcome on Saturday, Riza certainly won't be uttering the words of one of his predecessors McCarthy this weekend.

Nor would you imagine he would do so over the remainder of the run-in should he remain at the helm.

But having circled the League One drain before, surviving only due to Reading's points deduction, suffering Cardiff supporters are fully grasping the current reality.

That is - barring a rapid improvement in the near future - McCarthy's simple two-word reply is not only applicable to their club, but also entirely feasible unless change occurs.