Erol Bulut is the sixth longest-serving manager in the Championship and the 3rd of June will mark the one-year anniversary of his appointment. Is he really though and will he actually reach that milestone? Who knows. We’re all way past joking about the situation and some are way past caring.
Bulut remains Cardiff manger, largely in theory. Whether we’ll ever see him again in this part of the world remains a mystery. It’s a ridiculous situation of Cardiff’s own making and very on brand. We had to wait until mid-May last season to discover whether or not Sabri Lamouchi was staying put, while both Mick McCarthy and Steve Morison had protracted contract situations.
The cumulative effect is fatigue and a sense of deja-vu. We’ve all been here before, many times now and it’s taken its toll. To some extent, try before you buy is a smart concept in the football world, where nothing is guaranteed and untold variables can sideswipe what looked like a sure thing. The loan market is the perfect example of that, but there is no manager loan market and for good reason.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe role is too important, with the team built in the manager’s image and disruption in such a key role affects the whole organisation. Admittedly, you sense that the industry is trying to shrink the role of the manager, as specialists become more prevalent and influential. Cardiff have accidentally led the way in that regard, placing very little value in the role for a number of years now. They veer from apprentices to fire fighters, depending on whether it’s the owner’s turn to choose or the chairman’s. Ironically, when Cardiff have taken the job seriously, they thrived under Malky Mackay and Neil Warnock.
Bulut was supposed to be different. An appointment that generated internal enthusiasm and came accompanied by support staff. He started the season in charge and ended it there too. The problem is that for most of that time, the topic of conversation has revolved around his future. Almost since the very beginning, there has been an inevitable and understandable line of questioning regarding his short-term deal. Month by month, rephrasing the same enquiry with increased urgency.
What happens next? Nobody appeared to know, and then the season ended.
The delay appeared to lie at the feet of Vincent Tan. With almost universal support, internally and externally, which is incredibly rare these days, he remained undecided, for a very long time. The suggest is that the ball is now in Bulut’s court, but whichever way you cut it, the reluctance on both sides is hardly a ringing endorsement of the other.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe suggestion when Lamouchi left was that there was a personality clash with Tan and that he wanted too much money, but then the club immediately went out and broke the bank to get Bulut. You get the impression that the haste in topping up McCarthy’s deal, the subsequent collapse in form and prompt exit looms large, but what is the alternative?
The way Cardiff appear to select managers is to invite applications once the position becomes vacant, with very little in the way of advance succession planning. Well, if Bulut goes, the landscape has shifted considerably in the month since the season ended. There are now a lot more vacancies and the preferred candidates are awash with offers. Should Cardiff find themselves back on the hunt, they may soon realise that they’re at a distinct disadvantage, for a number of reasons.
Instability is probably the word that best describes Cardiff and that is not an attractive quality. This is the time of the year when you would hope that the club would be attempting to capture the cream of the free agents. Even if the recruitment team are acting independently, the uncertainty surrounding the manager will be a deterrent for some. The way that Bulut’s deal has been allowed to dwindle, despite tangible progress, will also repel potential managers. In every regard, Cardiff have lost ground.
Embed from Getty ImagesI remain very much on the fence regarding Bulut and I’m far from the only one, but even his staunchest critic would admit that the all too allusive allure of continuity remains a deciding factor. There is no appetite at all for a reboot, but that may well be the direction things area headed.
There was a point where I thought that the longer things dragged on, the less likely Bulut would stay, but that was weeks ago. We’ve gone way past that and now I feel like it’s gone the other way. Surely, after all this time, it would now be stranger if he didn’t return? After a month of procrastination, it would be weird to pass, for both sides.
Maybe I’m overthinking it and I resent the fact that’s all I’ve been left with since the season ended. At a time of the year where I enjoy switching that part of my brain off, I’m nervously checking my phone for updates that never arrive. Any goodwill built up is long gone and anger has drifted to frustration and is now heading towards apathy. That is very dangerous territory for a football club and this farce now needs a resolution, for all our sakes.