To fill the void where speculation was flourishing, I managed to briefly speak to Mehmet Dalman a few days ago. There was a deal in principle with a manager that turned out to be Erol Bulut, but the situation was at a sensitive stage. Thankfully, Cardiff have now secured their primary target and he will be unveiled tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully this helps fill in some of the other blanks.
The last time I spoke to you, the club were accepting applications for the post, rather than proactively pursuing targets. I think the concern is that, for a club that has appointed a lot of managers in recent years, that Cardiff always appear unprepared for the inevitable. Was that also the process this time, or were the club more proactive?
A bit of both. People applied and we also had our own targets. We had time to think, interview and choose. The applicants were excellent and the interview process was informative.
Sol Bamba was immediately installed as the favourite to succeed Lamouchi and there were reports claiming he had been offered the role. Is the hope that he will remain at the club, in some capacity?
Sol was never offered the job by me. I have no idea if someone else offered it to him, but I would have thought the chairman would know! I like Sol. I always liked him as a player and I’ve liked him as a coach. Obviously, the new manager has to choose his own team and you can’t impose people on him. Those are discussions to be had down the road. I hope he stays with us, but that’s not my call.
Sabri Lamouchi was widely popular and you praised him publicly before his departure. Can you shed any light on why a deal with Sabri couldn’t be struck?
Sabri was brought in to do a particular job and he did that. I’m very grateful to him, but the chemistry was not there with the owner, so we chose not to extend his contract. Everyone has now moved on.
In terms of contract renewals, are they the sole responsibility of the manager, or do the board also have a say in the retaining or release of players? Sabri stated that he wanted the club to keep Mark Harris, Joel Bagan and Eli King. Will they now fall between the cracks and with so many high-profile players heading out of contract next summer, the fear is that this always gets relegated down the list of priorities.
It’s very important that the new manager has the chance to cast his eyes on these players sooner rather than later. We don’t allow the manager to dictate everything about the football club because different managers have different views. In the past, I’m so glad we held on to players that some managers didn’t want. I think some of the players probably want to see how serious we are with the appointment of our next manager and I think that’s fair because they don’t want another season of three managers. We want to make sure we have the right manager for the right players. When we take the temperature of the players, they all say they want an experienced manager.
Can you clarify what Cardiff can and cannot do in the transfer market presently? Are they still under a transfer ban, with who, for how long and what would it take for it to be lifted?
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding around this. Technically, we are not under an embargo. We can make transactions, but we cannot pay a fee. I can’t buy a player with a fee and I can’t loan a player that requires a fee either. That leaves free transfers, loans without a fee and that is for both this window and January. We have challenged the EFL to lift the ban and we’re in the process of negotiating a compromise with them. All the managers we’ve interviewed have had full knowledge of that handicap.
Is that in place due to outstanding payments on the Emiliano Sala deal and is paying the next instalment the only way to lift it?
We haven’t been asked to pay another instalment yet. When they do, we have another 30 days to pay it, or we will face another embargo if we don’t. The reason we ended up in an embargo is not because we didn’t want to pay. FIFA have a ruling that says you have to pay within 30 days and once you do, you’re no longer under an embargo. When we paid the first instalment, of £7.2m including interest, Vincent tried to send the money from Malaysia, but by the time the money was released, it took us past the 30 days. FIFA lifted the embargo, but the EFL then told us that their rules are different and if you don’t pay on time, the ban remains, despite the circumstances. The next instalments to be paid will be around £14-15m and we’re ready, to avoid another embargo.
While Cardiff are between managers, what happens with regards to transfer and pre-season planning?
We’ve already planned the summer camps and the pre-season friendlies have all been arranged. Apart from one transfer, all the other transfers are waiting for the new manager because the last thing I want to do is bring four or five players in that the new manager won’t want. I have one I’m trying to get over the line at the moment, regardless of the manager.
The reason I’ve reached out to you is due to the continued lack of communication from the club. It’s the best part of a month since Cardiff’s last game and in that time, a manager has left without explanation and a retained list has yet to materialise. The club just announced that they have sold 10,000 season tickets, so the supporters are doing their part, but last season tested their patience and the hope is that there will be more stability, planning and communication in the future. Will there be wider, regular fan forums going forward, to allow supporters more interaction?
As you can see, I’m very open to discussion, but I’m not going to organise it myself. I meet with the Supporters Trust and other supporters groups as often as they would like, which is quite often. I leave it to the club to put me in front of supporters and I will speak to whoever wants to hear.