Yahoo News Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan had the vision to appoint Bulut - surely he can't throw that away
Cardiff City will soon be reaching a crossroads - and it could go either way.
The positive move will be to give manager Erol Bulut a new contract, sign five quality players this summer to bolster the starting XI, ship a few out to balance the books - and have a proper crack at promotion to the Premier League next season.
The negative move will be to replace Bulut with a cheap manager, cut back on the playing budget - and see the team stagnate at best, more likely head downwards and even potentially towards a relegation battle.
Without wishing to sound over-dramatic, things really appear that delicate as we stand today, three matches from the end of the 2023-24 campaign. I don’t see an option three - appointing someone like Steve Cooper, for example, which would represent a different conversation.
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Thus, given the likely binary choice above, I veer on the side of option one - as will many Bluebirds fans.
Hopefully Cardiff owner Vincent Tan, who had the vision to agree to the left-field appointment of Bulut in the first place rather than same old, same names Championship manager merry-go-round, will also come to the conclusion that this work in progress needs to be seen through.
In other words: Bulut stays is better than Bulut goes.
Not that Bulut is bomb proof, let me stress. Anything but.
In the eyes of many he has made fundamental errors this season, mistakes which have led to quite a few fans, as well as Tan it would appear, being completely torn on whether it’s best to keep him, or let him depart.
Ultra negative football, an insistence upon two defensive midfielders against weaker opposition at home, poor use of his more creative options, picking players who are leaving this summer rather than giving a proper go to talented youngsters who are the future of the club. Those are just a few of them.
On Saturday, his side losing 2-1 at Millwall, Bulut’s first substitutions on the hour mark were to replace Manolis Siopis with Ryan Wintle and Yakou Meite with Famara Diedhiou. Uninspiring, uninventive, not only were those like-for-like changes never going to drag Cardiff back into the game, they arguably worsened the team.
David Turnbull, to keep the ball better and drive the side forward from an 8 role in midfield, and the legs and energy of Cian Ashford for Josh Bowler, would have been far more sensible choices, in my eyes.
Penny for Tan’s thoughts, too.
So Bulut certainly hasn’t helped himself at times with style of football employed, team selection and substitutions. Be that as it may, by the time the final three matches are out of the way against Southampton, Middlesbrough and Rotherham, he will have learned shedloads from his first season in the Championship.
Tan must know that knowledge gained by Bulut can be put to excellent use for Cardiff next season, rather than just start over yet again.
Perhaps Bulut feels he is having to do a holding job at the moment. If so, given Cardiff are 11th in the table and with a brilliant end to the season could yet finish as high as eighth, he has made a decent enough fist of it results-wise. Indeed, you could argue that to finish anywhere between eighth and 11th without a proper centre-forward over the entire campaign represents a remarkable effort.
With the right summer acquisitions, and he has key targets in his mind, I’m told Bulut is prepared to play the more adventurous brand of football Cardiff fans so badly want to see. As a consequence, results should improve still further, with eyes firmly upon a top-six spot a year down the line.
Cardiff’s record this season is a right old mixed bag. It really is. They have won 18 league matches. Only teams in the top six have won more.
Conversely, they have lost 20. Only bottom two Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday, plus fellow relegation-threatened Birmingham, have lost more.
Nine of those defeats have come at home. In front of their own fanatical supporters, who make Cardiff City Stadium something of a fortress when things are going right, it really shouldn’t be too difficult to turn that around, making the difference between mid-table and top six.
When Cardiff went up into the Premier League under Neil Warnock, they won 17 of their 23 home matches. In doing so under Malky Mackay a few years earlier, they won their first 10 at the CCS and 15 in total.
Neither of those teams had prolific goalscorers, by the way. Callum Paterson top scored with just 10 under Warnock.
Heidar Helguson, Peter Whittingham and Aron Gunnarsson were tied on eight league goals apiece when Cardiff won the league under Malky.
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But those two sides each played with greater verve and adventure in the final third than Bulut’s Class of 2023-24, getting the ball forward far quicker and having a better sense of purpose in and around the opposition goal.
Transforming those home results will be the key for Bulut next season, if he stays, but that will require a more progressive style of football. Perhaps employing a good, Championship-proven coach to work next to him would assist to that end.
I really don’t think Cardiff are that far away, but quality, rather than quantity, is what will matter in the summer transfer window. They obviously need a centre-forward who can hold up the ball, link play and score goals. That remains the pressing priority.
However, one, possibly two, really good midfielders are required to enable Bulut’s team to function with more tempo, urgency and creativity. Front foot football, looking forward as the default port of call, as opposed to the ponderous nature of the sideways and backwards football we’ve too often witnessed in recent months.
A fast, tricky winger who weighs in with goals is another must.
If Cardiff can also come up with deals to bring back Liverpool’s Nat Phillips, a brilliant defender at this level, and West Brom’s Karlan Grant, who I feel could flourish in a more offence-minded side with shackles released, then that would be fabulous. Those deals could be loan again, or permanent.
Five or six signings is not a lot in a summer transfer window.
Cardiff already have the makings of a decent enough spine with goalkeeper Ethan Hovarth, centre-half Dimitrios Goutas and holding midfielder Manolis Siopis. We know a really good centre-forward is required to complete the look.
They possess a batch of capable defenders, pedigree players in Aaron Ramsey (when fit), Rubin Colwill (when used) and Turnbull, while Callum O’Dowda will return from an injury-plagued campaign as if he is an exciting new signing.
The home-grown youngsters they sent out on loan, Isaak Davies, Eli King and Joel Bagan will come back to the club much better players for the experience of more regular football elsewhere and ready to challenge, offer different options to Bulut.
With others also around, including experienced hands like Joe Ralls and Yakou Meite, and younger guns such as Ollie Tanner and Cian Ashford, there can be depth to the squad.
Bulut does appear to be a naturally defensive manager; he certainly doesn’t fit the mantra of 30-plus shots per game Tan wants from his team. But I’m not sure any manager hits that kind of target? There is no doubt this team plays to the end under Bulut, he’s made them more defensively resilient and a threat from set-pieces. That is a good foundation from which to build.
Bring in the extra quality and hopefully Bulut will in turn release the handbrake. He will owe it to Tan to do that.
At the very least he needs to make Cardiff a far more easy on the eye force in transition, playing with greater pace and urgency when in possession. That is what we saw at times at the beginning of this campaign, when the Bluebirds showed flashes of excellence away to Leeds, Leicester and Ipswich.
For whatever reason a really bright beginning, which included derby wins over Swansea and Bristol City and a 4-0 away thumping of Huddersfield, suddenly just fell off a cliff. An absolute implosion. For that, Bulut has to take responsibility.
It is part of the learning curve, though, with Bulut having done more than enough in the eyes of many to deserve the opportunity to right any wrongs.
The man who will make this call is Tan, one way or the other. He appointed Bulut in the first place, a bold left-field decision which after years of Slade, Harris, McCarthy and Morison appealed to many Bluebirds fans. A bright new beginning.
As things stand, letting Bulut build upon the work started will surely represent the best bet for Tan to see Cardiff continue to rise - which in turn gives him the chance to get back some of the vast sums of money he has ploughed into Wales’ capital city club.
