After 58 games at Cardiff City, Turkish manager, Erol Bulut was sacked after a terrible start to the season. Bulut’s one win in six has left the Bluebirds at the bottom of the championship table, the worst start for the club since 1930. Chairman, Mehmet Dalman and CEO, Ken Choo have started the process to find Bulut’s replacement, with the aid of specialists to attempt to find the right man for the job.
As always, many names are being thrown around the rumour mill, so let’s have a look into some of the favourite candidates to take the job in the Welsh capital: Freyr Alexandersson. The Icelandic played football for 8 years in the Icelandic leagues before taking the step to become a coach. He has managed Valur Women, Leiknir Reykjavik, Iceland Women, Lyngby Boldklub and has held assistant roles at Valur and the Iceland Men’s team.
He currently manages Belgian Pro League side Kortrijk, who sit second to bottom in the Belgian pro league table. James Rowberry. The second favourite to take charge of the Bluebirds is James Rowberry.
The Welshman has only managed one club previously: League 2 club and closeb Cardiff neighbour, Newport County. During his time there he steered Newport to a mid-table finish in 11th. Since his time at Newport County, Rowberry has been assistant manager with Both Wales’s men’s and women’s national teams, currently assisting Craig Bellamy at the men’s team.
Welshman Mark Hughes is another name said to be in contention. Hughes an extremely successful player in his time played for clubs like Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Southampton, Everton, and Blackburn Rovers. Hughes’s extensive playing career set him up nicely for a role in managing.
He has previously managed Wales Men, Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Fulham, QPR, Stoke City, Southampton, and most recently Bradford City. It is no doubt that the appointment of Mark Hughes to Cardiff City would find an experienced manager, but despite his years in managerial positions, Hughes is yet to win a trophy with any of his clubs. There are still several names linked with the job, and with reports that the search for Bulut’s replacement is going to be thorough, we may not find out who will take the helm of the Bluebirds for a while.
Steven Schumacher has recently emerged as a possible candidate for the job, as well as current interim manager Omer Riza. It is certain the next manager will have a tough job on their hands, needing to turn Cardiff’s fortunes around and lift them from the summit of the table and out of the relegation zone.