TYPICAL of Newport County’s timing to turn professional in a week when it would be remiss for any Welsh football writer not to assess the joy, jubilation, dejection and despair that was produced by the two Championship play-offs.

Unfortunately for County fans it might be a case of look away now, because for once the Exiles are going to have to take a back seat on this page with an assessment of the new status of the club one for next week.

It has been a sensational week in the Championship, two compelling play-off ties putting one Welsh club on the brink of a Premier League debut and one on the brink of a completely new dawn.

Having been at Cardiff’s home capitulation to Reading and seen and heard some of the most extraordinary comments from manager Dave Jones, it would make sense to start with the fallen Bluebirds.

Most of my City supporting friends were magnanimous in defeat, knowing full well that over 180 minutes the best side progressed, even if the 3-0 aggregate scoreline flattered them. Some, of course, are blaming referee Howard Webb.

The conspiracy theorists believe the FA never wanted an all-Welsh final, but in no way, shape or form did the referee cause Cardiff’s downfall. The best team won.

As an outsider looking in, the situation seems abundantly clear.

Twelve months ago Cardiff narrowly lost a thrilling play-off final. Though they were the most potent attacking force in the division, they were an accident waiting to happen defensively, suspect in goal and Charlie Adam ruthlessly exploited their deficiencies at Wembley.

Fast forward to now and Cardiff retain every attacking player, plus Craig Bellamy, the best player in the Championship. That alone should’ve been enough for automatic promotion.

Yet, defensively, if anything, the Bluebirds are now worse. The performances against Reading and Middlesbrough were embarrassing. Only Kevin McNaughton looks up to task and Jones takes serious criticism quite rightly for a series of blunders by on-loan goalkeeper Stephen Bywater and left back J Lloyd Samuel.

If Bywater wasn’t good enough for Derby, he certainly isn’t good enough for Cardiff. And Samuel has been abysmal.

Jones hasn’t addressed the defensive problems and it’s cost the club at the crucial stage in the campaign.

If City lead the Championship for the whole of next season, there is unfortunately now a culture at the club whereby everyone will be expecting things to go wrong in the run-in. That kind of thing can’t be corrected by signing new players.

Jones’ apologists will point to the progress the club has made under his watch on a limited budget and are right to. City should always be grateful to him. That doesn’t mean he’s still the right man for the job.

He has dropped the ball with Adam Matthews, personal ill-feeling leading to the talented youngster being frozen out and seeking a free transfer move to Celtic. A club an estimated £25 million in debt can ill-afford such a turn of events.

Things have also reached an untenable state with his relationship with the Cardiff media.

While there is right and indeed wrong on both sides, Jones’ attack on Western Mail reporter Steve Tucker – captured for all to see on Youtube – was simply too much.

Tucker – who is banned from City press conferences – was called fat and a coward by Jones who spent two minutes explaining how little he cares about Tucker’s opinion.

If you don’t care, why rant about him? If you’re going to call him a coward, do it to his face not from the safety of a press conference where he can’t defend himself. Outrageous behaviour from a manager who should be miles above such petty outbursts.

Tucker’s crime? To predict a 3-1 loss to Reading. As it turned out, an optimistic prediction.

Jones has simply run out of time and excuses for not getting City to the Premier League. They had no business finishing below Norwich this season and unfortunately for all concerned, the time has come for change.

And if you want an example of how a rehabilitated manager can make all the difference, look no further than Swansea City and Brendan Rodgers.

Monday’s clash at home to Forest was one of the best games of the entire season – at any level – and both clubs take huge credit.

Swansea play the game with a style and swagger that is impossible not to warm to and they would represent Wales with distinction in the Premier League.

However, based on the scenes of celebration at the Liberty on Monday, you’d think they were already up.

Write Reading off at your peril chaps, because in Shane Long and Adam Federici, they have match winners at both ends. It really is far from over.

So do we offer commiserations or congratulations to Nathan Cleverly? At the time of writing he looks almost certain to be named a world champion despite his fight on Saturday being called off after his opponent Juergen Braehmer pulled out once again.

It’s premature to speculate on how this will effect Cleverly, but it should be remembered that Lennox Lewis was handed his first world title and things didn’t work out to badly for him. On the other hand, as a wise Twitter poster points out, being announced the winner of a world title by the postman isn’t quite the same as being announced the winner by Michael Buffer.

However, forgetting the Cleverly ramifications for a second, one thing is clear, this sort of thing harms boxing.

How many times should paying punters have to endure this? Promoter Frank Warren is seething and it is easy to see why.

Braehmer sent a medical report two days before pulling out and there was no mention of a cut to his eye. The hotel he was staying in were informed long before Warren that he wasn’t travelling and the news broke via the internet.

Braehmer has shown a complete lack of class and professionalism in the timing and manner of his announcement and this is the sort of thing that causes irreparable harm to the sport.

We already have the ludicrous situation where politics prevent the biggest fights from happening – like Manny Pacquiao v Floyd Mayweather – and more and more we are seeing withdrawals so late in the day that promoters have little room to manoeuvre in appeasing paying punters and TV viewers.

Braehmer has already dodged Cleverly for months and has now pulled out of contention without the class to even let the promoter know.

He is a disgrace to the sport and not only should he be stripped of his title, but he should be fined as well.