[1] The club held talks with former England and Newcastle United captain Alan Shearer to replace Jones but he rejected the job despite stating that he was impressed with the "vision, ambition and determination of the owner Dato Chan Tien Ghee and the board".

[8] Players released at the end of the season were Martin John and Gavin Rae, while Jay Bothroyd and Chris Burke also left the club after failing to agree new deals.

Adam Matthews departed on a free transfer to Scottish side Celtic,[9] having agreed a pre-contract agreement in February 2011,[10] and striker Michael Chopra was sold to Ipswich Town.

[11] During the summer transfer window, Mackay agreed deals to sign free agents Craig Conway,[12] Don Cowie,[13] Robert Earnshaw,[14] Rudy Gestede,[15] Aron Gunnarsson[16] and Andrew Taylor.

[17] The club also completed transfers for Joe Mason, for £250,000,[18] Kenny Miller, for a reported £870,000,[19] as well as signing Slovakian midfielder Filip Kiss on a season-long loan deal from Slovan Bratislava.

[22] The team continued their winning start to the campaign in their first home tie, defeating Bristol City in the first Severnside derby match of the season.

[24] Cardiff ended August with two successive away draws in matches against Burnley and Portsmouth and advanced to the third round of the League Cup after a 5–3 victory over Huddersfield Town.

[46] Cardiff began the month of November with two wins in the space of three days, defeating Derby County and Crystal Palace 3–0 and 2–0 respectively,[47][48] elevating the team into the play-off places for the first time since the end of September.

Following an extended break due to international fixtures, Cardiff recorded a 2–1 win over Reading after goals from Peter Whittingham and captain Mark Hudson.

[45] A goal from Kenny Miller secured a 1–0 victory over Birmingham City on 4 December as Cardiff continued their good form, reaching third place in the Championship table,[56] and a 0–0 draw with Millwall saw the side record their ninth consecutive league match without a defeat.

[58] A late own-goal by Watford defender Adrian Mariappa rescued a 1–1 draw for Cardiff to avoid a second defeat in a row on 26 December in manager Malky Mackay's first match against his former side.

[59] Cardiff eventually recorded their first league win since the start of December with a 1–0 victory over Nottingham Forest following a goal from Miller, ending 2011 in fourth position.

[61] With the winter transfer window opening at the start of January, Cardiff completed their first signing with Elliot Parish joining the club on a permanent basis having been on loan since September.

[63] Three days later, Cardiff played the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against fellow Championship side Crystal Palace, losing 1–0 at Selhurst Park.

[77] A 3–1 victory over Peterborough United in their following match saw Cardiff briefly return to third place,[78] before a third league defeat of the month against Ipswich Town dropped them back into fourth.

[85] After a defeat to Hull City, Cardiff embarked on run of four consecutive draws, three of which came at home, that left them outside the play-off places in eighth position.

This included victories over Middlesbrough, Barnsley, Derby County and Crystal Palace to finish the season in sixth position, securing the final spot in the Championship play-offs.

Two goals from Jack Collison gave West Ham a 2–0 advantage in the first-leg and Cardiff were unable to mount a comeback in the second-leg, suffering a 3–0 defeat to lose the semi-final 5–0 on aggregate.