If you advertise a position at your company and are underwhelmed by the calibre of applicants that express an interest, chances are that your company is not as attractive as you may have thought it was.
A job at a Championship club is prestigious. If you’re a manager, its one of the 50 best jobs available in the UK. Having said that, those in the industry talk. People know which jobs are going to be good for their career progression and which are merely good for their bank balance. A quick buck is all well and good, but ultimately no one wants a relegation on their CV.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer famously sought advice from Sir Alex Ferguson when he became a manager and was told to choose the owner, not the club. He still ended up at Cardiff, despite his initial reluctance and lasted just over eight months. This demonstrates the problem Cardiff now have. They’re viewed as a sacking club, without a support system and with a difficult owner.
During Vincent Tan’s ownership, they’ve tried all types, shapes and sizes, almost always with fairly disappointing results. The most telling fact is that a sitting Cardiff manager has never attracted interest from a rival club, or from a team further up the football food chain and none of them have gone on to enjoy greater success elsewhere.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe two notable managers from this period are Neil Warnock and Malky Mackay, both of whom achieved promotion. Warnock is a one-off and achieved a minor miracle through the sheer force of his personality. Its impossible to replicate his formula, which was a mixture of knowing the club needed him far more than he needed the club and drawing on a lifetime of hard-earned experience.
Mackay is the person you dare not mention at the club, but he is the profile of manager that they will forever remain fixated on. A square-jawed, fiercely driven, confident young manager with his eyes firmly on the prize. Were another Malky type on the market, Cardiff would likely be all over him because he had all the qualities you need to thrive at this club, in spite of itself.
In many respects, Erol Bulut felt like a great fit. He had experience to fall back on, was afforded his own staff and can shoot you a withering look, if required. It felt like it was going well, but we now know it wasn’t really. Clubs don’t sack managers, either supporters or players do. In this case, it appears to be the latter. The fans never turned on him publicly, but the collapse in form spoke volumes.
It sounds like Slaven Bilic is the hierarchy’s preferred choice, but he seemingly remains unavailable until the end of the year, presumably because he’s still being paid by Al-Fateh since being sacked in August. If that his intention, then that should surely rule him out of the running. They cannot afford to wait another 10 weeks for him, with their current perilous league position. He may be a very good manager, but he’s not a miracle worker and that may be what they need by then.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt’s hardly a ringing endorsement for the club either. If he wants the job, sever your ties and leap in. Bilic received a £12.5m pay out from former club Al-Ittihad in 2020, so he’s not short of a few bob. Maybe he’s just waiting to see what else crops up in the interim.
While I understand the appeal of Bilic, a strong character with Championship experience and a solid track record, I’m not necessarily convinced he’s what Cardiff need. Especially at the moment. This is after all a manager that has managed nine club sides and seven of those spells only lasted a year, with the other two stretching to a couple of years. He’s a short-term fix at a time when Cardiff should be trying to put some long-term plans in place.
The Cardiff job always comes with the caveat that you have to be a strong character, in order to stand up to Tan, which is an embarrassing stipulation to have to consider. Not too strong though because if you bump heads, as appears to have been the case with Sabri Lamouchi, then you’re as good as gone. Bilic can be prickly, which could go either way. The squad could probably benefit from a manager with a softer bedside manner post-Bulut too.
What Cardiff are looking for is a unicorn. A strong manager, but not too confrontational. Ambitious, but not ambitious enough to know that Cardiff will likely be a poor career choice. An advocate of aesthetically pleasing football, but none of that passing for the sake of it nonsense. Very good in press conferences because you are the voice of the whole club, but thick-skinned enough to take all of the criticism too. Put that on Linkedin and see how many hits you get.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt seems like some were expecting a new hire over the international break, but the reality was that Omer Riza did well enough in his three games that he was always likely to get a little longer. You may not like the fact that the club have another interim hire, but as long as the club continues to sack managers without any forethought, it will keep happening and they will in turn get a chance to shoot their shot.
I always wonder why the club never seem to give the people what they want in these situations. The people’s choice this time round appears to be Steven Schumacher, who ticks plenty of boxes and is most importantly; available. A popular pick will get more time and patience, while also reflecting kindly on the board. Sometimes the easy option is the right option, but that maybe that’s just too easy.
Cardiff now head into a week where they face Plymouth and Portsmouth, which will be classed as winnable games, plus the visit of fourth-placed West Brom. It won’t make or break Cardiff’s season, but it surely will Riza’s Cardiff career. Were he to pick up a couple of wins, he may well get until at least the next international break. If he struggles for points, he may be out on his ear by the end of the month.
I know not many still do, but I have sympathy for the club with how Bulut’s reign came crashing down. No one saw it coming, but never having a contingency plan in place is incredibly frustrating. They need a plan now and if that is to just wait for Bilic, it could cost them dearly.