At this stage, does it even matter who manages Cardiff? The turnover is so high that anyone joining is merely passing through and has very little chance to make any real impact. That is the general consensus anyway, but I would argue that the opposite is actually true.
Everyone knows that the club is a dictatorship with a board that exists only to execute orders from above, but Cardiff is a two-man show. At most stable, functioning football clubs, there is a whole organisation in place, all working towards a common goal. At Cardiff, there is an owner and his manager. Everyone else has a role, but very little actual influence.
Once upon a time, a manager would be expected to do a bit of everything, but the function has in general been stripped right back over the years and roles are instead allocated to specialists. A manager’s job is to manage. The players and expectations. At Cardiff, the manager is expected to be a throwback. They will be the only person you see or hear from, so any questions about contract renewals, legal issues, the academy or the health of the club in general all get fielded by the manager.
It is a mighty undertaking and a task that has swallowed plenty of mangers whole. Sabri Lamouchi appeared to be a manager willing and able to shoulder that burden, but he is now gone. Why? We’ll probably never know because without a manager, there is no one there to tell us.
Maybe he called the club’s bluff in terms of his demands and lost? The club has become accustomed to paying a coaches wage for their managers after all. Football is an industry where you very much get what you pay for though and as Lamouchi said of Cardiff, if you only change a little, only expect little change.
At the time of writing, it looks like Sol Bamba might be promoted and offering him the job would put him in the difficult position of choosing his own career progression over his commitment to Lamouchi. We all love Sol, but the job is a big ask for someone new to the occupation.
What Bamba does seemingly benefit from is the admiration of Vincent Tan, as it is believed that there has long been a bond between the two. Whether it would be strong enough to stand a run of bad results is another matter entirely. History suggests, probably not.
The fact remains that Cardiff only stayed up due to Reading’s points penalty, but Cardiff would have approached their final two games very differently were anything riding on them. Nevertheless, you can imagine Tan baulking at advice to reward a manager that barely saved Cardiff from relegation.
I thought Cardiff were on something resembling the right track with the duo they had in place and were in a good position to make informed calls on the future of the squad. I guess Bamba taking over may see some of those plans actioned, but whatever way you cut it and however you choose to dress it up, breaking up the double act is destructive rather than constructive.
Nathan Jones is the people’s champ, largely because he’s a Cardiff fan, but that has the potential to go either very well, or terribly bad, with very little in between. I can’t imagine his demands would be any different to Lamouchi’s either. With Sunderland seemingly hell-bent on replacing Tony Mowbray, Cardiff would be worth monitoring that situation with interest because in terms of the job description, he would probably tick more boxes than most.
You felt that the longer Lamouchi was left in limbo, the less chance of him securing a new deal and so it proved. It still felt like a punch in the guts when it was finally confirmed though. Any thoughts on Lamouchi aside, after such a demoralising, painful season, going back to square one again makes me feel sick. It will do nothing for season ticket sales, morale or optimism. Also, what must the players think? Two thirds of them are out of contract next summer and remain in limbo.
Cardiff are back in the market for a new manager, with a reputation as a sacking club. That will only attract those that are heading towards the end of their career and looking for one last pay day, or rookies that likely won’t get this sort of opportunity anywhere else. Anyone looking out for their own best interests will stay well away because there is very little appeal in managing a deeply damaged, dysfunctional football club.