Cardiff City on brink of another huge call exactly a year on from their last

On this very day last year, Cardiff City let a manager go. That man was Sabri Lamouchi, the manager who fulfilled his remit by keeping the Bluebirds in the division after relegation loomed large for so much of the 2022/23 campaign.

After the brief relief of avoiding the drop to League One, City fans were brought down to earth and yet another lookout for a new manager began. Neil Harris, Mick McCarthy, Steve Morison, Mark Hudson and Lamouchi had all come and gone in a flash and another search began.

This day 12 months ago really hammered home that the club that had lost its way. The 21st worst team in the Championship, managerless, directionless, rudderless, for many it was hopeless. A club going in the wrong direction, finishing lower in the table year after year after year and haemorrhaging money from manager pay-offs and signings leaving for free on a painfully regular basis.

READ MORE: Ex-Cardiff City star appeals for new club on LinkedIn

READ MORE: Cardiff risk 'chaos' amid Bulut delay as six in running for Besiktas job

That is why this last year has been a blessed relief for so many Cardiff fans who have had to suffer their team falling to awful losses and having to welcome — and buy into — new managers with wildly opposing styles of play.

Erol Bulut came in last summer with decent pedigree and a refreshed chairman in Mehmet Dalman and CEO in Ken Choo sat alongside him, speaking of their renewed hope and optimism for what lay ahead.

The dream signing of Aaron Ramsey came soon after, along with exciting additions such as Karlan Grant and Greek duo Manolis Siopis and Dimitrios Goutas. Established first teamers and rising youngsters were tied down to new deals, pumping value into the squad. Results on the pitch gradually picked up and City soared into the play-offs via their first win on five attempts against bitter rivals Swansea.

A new academy site opened, Bulut went into the valleys and spoke to fans – not because he was forced to, but because he wanted to — and it went a long way with those die-hard Bluebirds who had endured the such appalling seasons which had come before it.

There were bumps in the road and long periods of poor results — their mid-season form at home was particularly bad — while some bemoaned the pragmatic and sometimes workmanlike style of play. Bulut's January outburst in which he cast doubt over his own future due to transfer scruples wasn't necessarily helpful, either.

But Bulut has ambition and passion and will be better for his experience this year. He also wants to better not only his team but the club and each department as a whole. Sometimes that hot-headedness boils over, but it takes that sort of manager to make this club tick.

Think of all the managers who have brought success to Cardiff. They are managers – not coaches. Dave Jones, Malky Mackay, Neil Warnock. The up-and-coming, young coach historically struggles in the Bluebirds hotseat and everything that comes with it. Bulut, barring the aforementioned January meltdown, wears the strain and the pressure well.

He himself admits he is not perfect. He should have handled certain situations better, but he fulfilled the remit and now finds himself haggling over the length of his next contract. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.

From Bulut's side, he wants to know he has the owner's backing. If he wants to revamp the recruitment department and bulk up his coaching staff, he needs a commitment from the club to get the right people on board with his vision. A one-year contract, he believes, isn't necessarily conducive to realising that long-term vision.

Ever since Vincent Tan dished out a two-year extension to Mick McCarthy in March 2021, which had to be ripped up after a horrific run of eight straight defeats just months later, the longest managerial contract Cardiff have dished out is 16 months – and that was to Morison in March 2022. Only one of the last 10 managers — Warnock — over the last decade has managed more than 100 games for the club.

Tan pumps eye-watering sums of money into the club year on year and what he does with his money is, of course, his prerogative. Cardiff are so heavily reliant on the principal that they cannot live without his deep pockets. But as old wounds heal, supporters will hope that Cardiff can nail down a strategy for the long term.

Cardiff have offered a contract to Bulut and there is an understanding from both parties that this cannot go on much longer. Whether Bulut accepts the offer and returns to Wales this summer remains to be seen, but many fans hope that a season which saw the club finally tracking in the right direction isn't thrown away. They don't want to be in the all-too-familiar position they found themselves in 12 months ago, wondering who the next man to have a crack will be.

WHATSAPP: Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community

Credit must be given to both the club and to Bulut himself for how well Cardiff operated in the transfer market last summer, given the embargo and constraints that came with it. Cardiff got creative with their contracts and bettered the squad and Bulut got a tune out of them.

This summer represents a real opportunity for Cardiff to go one step further, build on the foundations and have a real pop at the top six. But the window opens in just four weeks' time. It really is reaching a critical point.

Clubs are drawing up pre-season plans, transfer lists, contract negotiations and loan destinations for young players, while the Bluebirds remain in a state of limbo almost two weeks after the end of the season. It's a massive decision regarding one of the most important positions in the club, if not the most important position in the club.

Bulut and his staff love Cardiff. They believe they deserve an opportunity to finish what they started and want to feel valued. Tan's prerogative is to safeguard the club and to do so in the best way he sees fit. Whether there is wriggle room or a middle ground to be met with break clauses or extension triggers, anything to get this deal over the line, remains to be seen, but at least one side might have to cede some ground in these negotiations.

It feels like we are reaching the endgame, either way, and we will soon know if the outcome is different to the one we saw this time last year. So much has changed — and so much of it for the good — in that time, but it could all be at risk if City find themselves on the lookout for their seventh manager in four-and-a-half years.