Next Cardiff City Manager Odds: Who could replace Erol Bulut?

EFL pundit Gab Sutton discusses what next for Cardiff City after head coach Erol was given the Bulut... 

Cardiff City have a strategic dilemma, as they enter the next chapter of their trajectory.

As a club, they’ve tended to have success at this level with aggressive, physical, direct teams that are strong from set pieces, and it’s a fanbase that wants to feel as though they’ve given everything and bruised the opposition.

As such, they’re probably not going to make the progress they want simply by copying the methods of their rivals across the road – and that’s not something supporters will want.

Plus, the marginal gains in football can be won by being different from most teams, rather than necessarily following the crowd.

At the same time, football evolves and the general blueprint for success at this level now isn’t what it was six years ago – as proven by the tenures of Bulut, Sabri Lamouchi, Mark Hudson, Steve Morison, Mick McCarthy, Neil Harris, and even in the back-end of Neil Warnock’s tenure.

So, what City are looking for is something in the middle. Elements of the aggression, physicality and directness enjoyed under Warnock, Malky Mackay, Dave Jones and Lennie Lawrence, but with an infusion of better football and more elaborately defined patterns of play.

That’s a starting point. Also, what the Bluebirds need is a young, up-and-coming manager with a willingness to embrace new ideas – like the Ayotallah. Yes, we’re looking at you, Mick.

Sometimes, they’ve had managers who haven’t been at a stage of their careers at which they weren’t especially open to new ideas – while even the younger managers, like Harris and Morison, are quite single-minded characters too.

Somebody with a growth mindset, who has a career on their way up, who can evolve the style without compromising core principles – and ideally, will adopt a meritocracy in which talent can override profile, so Rubin Colwill, for instance, would likely start in attacking midfield ahead of Aaron Ramsey.

Richie Wellens could be a great candidate, with the Leyton Orient boss possessing the energy and charisma required for the job.

The Mancunian is a modern manager, who can give very technical answers to questions in interviews, but he’s also very outspoken and not averse to a bit of showmanship that the fanbase would take to.

While Wellens likes attractive football, he’s built his success in his career – which already includes two League Two titles with Swindon and Orient – on an ability to adapt and mix his teams’ games up.

Similarly, Nathan Jones would carry extra appeal as a feisty Welshman with a reputation for impassioned celebrations, but he’d have to be poached from Charlton after a good start to his side’s League One campaign.

Jones can create a siege mentality at the clubs he manages, once he gets buy-in, and he’s had success with a variety of different styles and formations – so there’s every chance he could enjoy success at Cardiff.

Also on the betting list is Freyr Alexandersson, who led Lyngby Boldklub to promotion to the Danish Superliga in 2021/22, keeping them there before taking charge of KV Kortrijk, a club Cardiff owner Vincent Tan also owns.

Having worked on the coaching staff with Iceland, Alexandersson, it can be presumed, might be schooled in a culture that favours tenacity and bite – things Cardiff fans love.

Alternatively, Omar Riza is a well thought-of coach in the game and has a great opportunity to show what he can do as caretaker.

Riza has worked with the England youth setup before, with the likes of Toby Collyer, Lewis Hall and Brooke Norton-Cuffy, and his relationships and contacts could be extremely valuable if he can prove himself as a number one.

Whoever Cardiff go for, it has to be someone young, hungry and up-and-coming, who can deliver a modern package of the club’s core identity.