Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman has written a letter to the club's supporters in response to recent criticism and pleas for the hierarchy to make public their plans for a brighter future.

The club's Fan Advisory Board (FAB), on behalf of supporters' groups, penned two statements at the back end of last year demanding meetings with Cardiff's top brass, pleading for more transparency over what the future looked like amid yet another relegation battle - the third in four years.

And the club have responded through Dalman, who has said that "greater voice to the widest possible group of supporters is necessary" and "you have our commitment to more regular communication with you". Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

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After stating that Vincent Tan remained "wholeheartedly" committed to the project at Cardiff City - after the FAB demanded they heard more from their "silent" owner - Dalman said of the club's strategy: "The objective is to create a football management environment that can ensure stability, continuity and build a team that can compete.

"We believed that Erol Bulut would be the answer after a promising first season in charge, but the extremely poor start to this campaign necessitated the need for us to change and thus, strategy is affected.

"We are in a relegation battle, let's be clear about that; the focus is now on winning that battle. The priority becomes about a shorter-term strategy and that clearly is retaining our Championship status. The January window is an opportunity for us to fix some of the problems we have on the pitch, plus there are other things we may be able to do, discussions of which are ongoing.

"One issue that is regularly put to me is whether we have the need for a director of football. I've always been open in dialogue in saying that greater football expertise on the board and in management, would be valuable, but that's not to say imperative. Over the last few years our recruitment team has grown and provides good support to the management and the manager in shaping the team.

"Operations management is extremely stable and efficient. The question of director of football will continue to be discussed amongst the board and with the owner."

Dalman insisted the club's strategy in terms of finances was to become debt-free. In response to criticism over the club's inability to do that as yet, which they had previously pledged, the chairman pointed towards the majority of the club's substantial debt belonging to Tan, who could write it off if he so chooses.

"Vincent Tan has more to lose financially than anyone and is still bank-rolling the club monthly," he added. "The aim of this strategy is to attain financial independence because this would then give the board more decision-making independence. We want to continue building towards this."

The statement stopped short of addressing some concerns from supporters, chiefly the dearth of full-time employees at the top end of the pyramid running the club on a day-to-day basis, while the long-term strategy is given in pretty broad strokes.

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Dalman did, however, confirm the club's intent to enter the Welsh League Cup, which could potentially give the Bluebirds a chance to compete for European qualification. All four of Wales' EFL clubs are thought to be backing the plan - called Project Cymru - but it would need support from the English football authorities, too.

Dalman, however, is confident that entering the Nathaniel MG Cup - as it's currently known - would not affect Cardiff's EFL status.

"Following discussion at length with Ken Choo and Steve Borley on this matter, I can say that Cardiff City, Wrexham, Swansea City and Newport County have signed up to an agreement to help the Welsh football pyramid by hopefully improving the UEFA co-efficient of Welsh clubs," he added.

"The club is confident that any participation in this trial would not affect our EFL status for there is no mechanism for Championship stakeholder status to be removed; this only happens upon relegation, promotion or going out of business. We are not concerned about fixture congestion, recognising that both Wigan Athletic and Millwall have recently competed in both European and Championship competitions in recent years.

"The proposal is that money earned will be shared with all clubs and that an element will benefit grassroots football within Wales. Further clarifications will be sought, and updates given thereafter."