Cardiff City manager Dave Jones has called on the club's fans to get behind the players and banish the "negativity" he feels is stifling his side.Jones was dismayed at the chorus of boos which followed the Bluebirds' 1-1 home draw with Blackpool on Saturday.
"It's about time we stopped being fragmented and we all stick together and be as one," Jones told BBC Sport.
"Normally when that happens, you'll deliver the goods. But if we're fragmented that will never happen."
Saturday's draw followed two disappointing results over the festive period against two of the Championship's weakest teams.
Plymouth Argyle - who were then rock bottom - shocked the Bluebirds with a 1-0 at the Cardiff City Stadium on Boxing Day.
SUPPORT THE BOYS AND MAKE SOME (Positive) NOISE!!!!!
BrizzleBluebird
Two days later, Cardiff threw away a four-goal advantage at half-time to draw 4-4 away at Peterborough - who had dropped to the bottom following Argyle's victory.
But the south Wales club still remain fourth in the table, and Jones believes the fans need a reality check.
"The atmosphere on Saturday was awful - it was odd and strange," said Jones.
"I've said it before, I'd hate to see the reaction if we were near the bottom if that's the reaction we're getting when we're near the top."
Cardiff's poor form on the field has coincided with fresh financial worries. The club escaped one winding up order on 16 December after agreeing a payment plan with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs over an unpaid £2.7m tax bill.
But they were hit with a new petition just seven days later after they missed a payment, with a High Court date set for 10 February.
It just seems there's a lot of doom and gloom and a lot of negativity
Cardiff City manager Dave Jones
Cardiff have now claimed they are in talks with American investors about a possible £40m takeover - with representatives of those investors watching Saturday's draw with Blackpool.
Jones accepts the off-field uncertainty played a role in the adverse reaction from the supporters, but he stressed everything is being done to regain stability.
"Everyone at the football club is frustrated and we're all trying to do the right thing," he said.
"But when has this football club ever been free from debt? It was in debt when I came [in 2005], and we're still servicing that old debt and we've not added to the new debt.
"We've actually chipped away at it. We're trying to get it right on the field and the people in the hierarchy are trying to get it right off the field.
"But it just seems there's a lot of doom and gloom and a lot of negativity."
Despite the financial problems, Jones feels the club is well set for a takeover.
"We've got a new stadium, great facilities, good assets within the club and we're trying to add to those assets," he added.
The manager has identified four players as his main transfer targets for January, and he remains hopeful of securing those players despite the club saying no players will be bought until the tax bill is paid.
Jones also claims there is no "extra pressure" to sell some of his star players to rise funds to sign those on his wish-list, but he didn't rule out the possibility of some high-profile departures this month.
"If somebody comes in and offers fantastic money for a player we've never stood in anyone's way," said Jones, who could be forced to fend off bids for strikers Jay Bothroyd and Michael Chopra, and £5m-rated teenage full-back Adam Matthews.
"Each year we've had to sell to survive. We've done that and within that we've built a team that's lying in the top half of the division."
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport