The scenarios on the table in Cardiff City manager hunt and why fans keep banging the drum
The Bluebirds are currently searching for their next permanent manager following the sacking
Cardiff City supporters once again find themselves in the midst of another managerial search.
Having seen their club steadily fall down the league for four consecutive seasons, it was a blessed relief that Erol Bulut, despite two tricky transfer windows, steered them to a reputable 12th place last season
With the promise of a more quality-focused transfer window and a better, more attacking brand of football, Bulut agreed to a two-year deal and the club, and its supporters, were looking forward to a period of stability. However, as has been the case too often for this club in recent years, they were fresh out of luck.
Due to teething issues implementing a new style and a disappointing transfer window that neglected to address critical areas like a goalscorer and pace on the wings, Cardiff had their worst start in club history, culminating in Bulut’s dismissal.
The board did not anticipate such a sharp decline and that they would find themselves in this all too familiar situation once more. But here we are, alas.
So, while City searches for Bulut’s replacement, let’s examine a few of the options that are probably being considered in and around the boardroom.
Go for experience
Is this a career in firefighting? Divergent views exist. Most people would find it quite bad that the team is bottom of the table and has had the worst start in club history.
But the season is far from over with 37 games left. When Cardiff returns from this international break, owner Vincent Tan will be hoping at the very least that they have time to make significant improvements and move up the league.
There are those at Cardiff who think the only person who can succeed in the dugout is an experienced manager with a strong personality and clear thinking. Too many people who lack the wounds and battle-hardened experience of running a club under such intense scrutiny have been chewed up and spat out.
Right now, Slaven Bilic is the favourite among the bookies, and he apparently has supporters in Cardiff City Stadium’s executive suite. Skilled, having been promoted to the Championship with West Brom, he should be able to handle the typically turbulent seas in the Welsh capital with relative serenity.
On the other hand, it is suggested that the Croat has another engagement that keeps him inaccessible until January. It remains to be seen if it changes the situation.
The truth is that there’s nothing particularly fascinating about the list of candidates, especially the unemployed ones. ‘Obvious’ choices don’t really exist. If that is the kind of player Cardiff is looking for, Gary Rowett is a man who tends to steady a ship and is readily available. Tony Mowbray
While it is stated that people like Tony Pulis, Chris Hughton, Mark Hughes, and Sam Allardyce are not discussed.
While some at the club believe this is the best course of action, the highest success rate amongst prior managers has come from selecting experienced individuals with strong personalities. Will they choose to take a little more of a chance?
The coach vacuum
A few people at the club have also acknowledged that the staff lacks sufficient coaching experience and football IQ.
Vincent Tan aspires to find the next brilliant young player who will lead his team to Premier League football and promotion. For this reason, in recent years, he has provided opportunities to younger managers like Paul Trollope, Neil Harris, Steve Morison, and Mark Hudson.
However, Tan’s actions have been more miss than hit. Cardiff might try to bring in some intelligence to the team by expanding the coaching staff with one or more young, gifted coaches.Get our Cardiff City newsletter by subscribing here.
Numerous coaches exist who are extremely
The issue is that Cardiff has never been strong when selecting a new manager, and it’s a difficult task to provide someone with little to no experience. It’s no small task to ask a new coach looking to make a name for himself to turn around a club that faces relegation after its trajectory has collapsed over the past five years.
However, one route they may take and a possibility on the table is adding to the staff someone whom the club believes has the ability to manage one day. Of course, the obvious issue with it is that it could lead to conflict if you later appoint a manager who wishes to bring in all of their own employees.
The middle ground
There are those, of course, who fall in the middle ground. The managers who have some experience, but for one reason or another find themselves looking for new opportunities.
The likes of Ryan Lowe, Steven Schumacher, Michael Beale and Ruben Selles arguably fall into this category. All of them have had periods of success — or in Selles’ case, he has handled a toxic and horrible situation at Reading admirably and has received praise for doing so — but have also struggled elsewhere.
You could argue both positives and negatives for all of the above, but it’s a struggle to convince all the decision-makers at Cardiff to be completely sold on any of the managers who fall into this category.
Selles at Reading is one who has been discussed. After a disappointing stint in the Premier League with Southampton he has done admirably with the Royals in the toughest of circumstances. He is in a job currently but has also recently voiced his frustrations over the ownership there.
As has been written elsewhere, there are concerns as to whether he would be able to deal with Tan – but the same can be said about many others. It’s not uncommon for an owner of a multi-million-pound company to want accountability from one of its top employees and that’s the cross you have to bear when taking the job at Cardiff.
The trouble is there is no overarching consensus on any of the names mentioned, with pros and cons for all. Bilic was as close as we’ve come at this stage, with Selles also having his backers. But we are still a way off the club having their man.
Let Omer Riza continue
Which brings us on to our next scenario – letting Omer Riza continue. It’s fair to say the way his team performed in the last two matches has bought him some time and earned him credit from those above. At the very least it’s allowed them time to discuss and not rush into a panic appointment.
That in itself has left fans annoyed, because the optics look bad and it makes the club look disorganised. But even fans seem underwhelmed by the names which have been touted so far. And Cardiff know they have to get this right, because relegation is unthinkable.
Clearly, given it was a team with one point in six matches and one goal to its name, it would have been hard to make Cardiff any worse, but there have been some green shoots of positivity. And Riza clearly wants the job, too. His argument is, if you’re going to appoint an untried and untested head coach, why shouldn’t it be him?
At this point — and it must be stressed that this could change very quickly — Riza looks likely to carry on as interim boss after the international break. But either way, some clarity from the top would be appreciated by supporters. And no doubt Riza, too.
Allowing Riza to continue could at least buy time until a truly exceptional candidate becomes available, since there aren’t any. Both Gary O’Neil at Wolves and Rob Edwards at Luton Town have faced significant pressure. It’s hardly too bold to suggest that former Swansea executives Steve Cooper (Leicester City) and Russell Martin (Southampton) have also been feeling the heat lately.
Since assuming interim leadership, Riza has gotten good performances out of important members of this Cardiff team, including Callum Robinson, Rubin Colwill, and Ollie Tanner. This is heartening considering how bad City’s attack was prior to the 44-year-old taking over.
Cardiff have two big games after the international break against Plymouth and Portsmouth and Riza is likely to be given a huge opportunity to further ingratiate himself to supporters and the board with a decent points haul in that double-header.
The 44-year-old needs help, though. He has promoted Darren Purse, arguably the person in the club with the most footballing experience at the highest level, on to the first-team bench, while Gavin Ward has been brought in on an interim basis. Again, if this caretaker scenario is to continue for weeks or even months, clarity is needed in order for the setup to be right.
Fans bang the drum for system change
At Cardiff, the present footballing hierarchy has hardly altered in almost ten years. In that time, football has undergone significant change, and the Bluebirds run the risk of falling behind if significant adjustments are not done to bring in additional knowledge and hold someone accountable for playing selections.
Supporters become nostalgic when they watch old footage of Cardiff dominating the Championship and defeating the best teams in the division just a few years ago. Nowadays, fans typically look forward to the bigwigs from the second division visiting town. Cardiff frequently wins by the narrowest of margins, thanks to a single goal; when they lose, they are too frequently humiliated. Which is a depressing reflection on the
It’s because Cardiff have slowly declined over five years or so and done nothing to stem the flow. Instead, they pluck out a manager, regardless of style, profile, transfer philosophy or thoughts on promoting youth and hope it’s the silver bullet.
In truth, it’s why all of the above are scenarios on the table. At perennially successful clubs, it’s unlikely that almost three weeks on there is still a discussion over which type of manager — not even which manager — they want to opt for this time. That’s where the lack of joined-up thinking lets them down.
There are some at the club who advocate for a full-time employee tasked with charting a direction of travel for the club; setting out goals, philosophies, steering the club’s transfer strategy. Chairman Mehmet Dalman is on record as saying he has discussed it with Tan in recent weeks. Indeed, employing an agency and former managers to consult on who the next boss should be during the post-sacking periods — of which there are many at Cardiff — is an admission in itself that the club needs help, many would argue.
Fans have been banging the drum for years about addressing this issue, but Tan remains unconvinced, which to fans feels bizarre. But some at the club acknowledge that they need help, more footballing experience higher up the ladder, that it confuses them that more radical changes haven’t been made to ensure the Bluebirds get on the right track to sustained success.
Tan pumps serious money into the club on a regular basis. He signs off cheques for eye-watering fees every month to keep the lights on and is no doubt furious he has to pay off Bulut and his staff after being let down again