Erol Bulut will have an exciting Cardiff City squad and it's time to repay the belief shown in him

Erol Bulut’s new Cardiff City deal is a display of remarkable belief shown in him by Bluebirds chairman Mehmet Dalman.

Were it any other manager, this would have collapsed at any point over the past six weeks amid a stand-off, and complications, between club and Bulut.

The concerns from Vincent Tan were understandable. Frankly some of the football produced from November on last season was amongst the most defensive, turgid and lacklustre many Cardiff fans have seen. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.

On the other hand, Bulut stabilised a team that had come close to relegation the previous year and took them to a comfortable mid-table finish despite lacking a quality Championship proven centre-forward for the entire campaign.

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Dalman is famed for his diplomacy. By sticking with it, appeasing concerns, tweaking here and there, Cardiff kept the deal afloat and managed to get it over the line. Dalman genuinely feels Bulut is the man to take Wales’ capital city club back into the Premier League.

Tan has come around to that way of thinking too and also deserves credit for unlocking the purse strings to stick by Bulut, when he could easily have got rid, and giving the manager a chance to have a real crack at it in the new season.

Bulut will have an enhanced coaching team around him and a budget which wages wise is top six, I’m told.

So with the posturing done and dusted and the deal over the line, the onus next falls on Bulut to deliver.

Payback time for the confidence shown in him, if you like. With Leicester and Southampton out of the way, and Leeds surely needing to prune their squad assembled at vast expense, 2024-25 will be far more of an opportunity for Bulut than last season represented.

He has a year’s Championship experience behind him. That’s invaluable for someone who was new to the British game and who felt he could come here and instantly pull up trees, but began to realise this division is like no other. It is utterly relentless and unforgiving.

Losing that know-how Bulut gained would have represented a retrograde step for Cardiff.

Instead, Tan and Dalman have chosen to stick by him and it is up to Bulut to release the handbrake, stop playing so defensively, and give Cardiff fans the more adventurous, exciting football they want to see.

When the Bluebirds are playing at home against bottom-half sides in the new season, there is absolutely no need to keep picking two holding midfield players and in effect have seven defence-minded players in the side. Plus wingers who spend half the game backtracking to help out.

When they meet one of the more fancied teams at Cardiff City Stadium, there must be no repeat of the 11 men behind the ball, tickle- our-tummies approach which we saw versus the likes of Leeds and Leicester in the Welsh capital.

The fans would much rather witness again what happened in the last half hour versus a Southampton side which went up. Go for the jugular, have a pop, throw men forward, play in the final third, rather than defend, defend, defend.

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That Rubin Colwill-inspired 30 minutes only happened because Cardiff were a goal down and, hampered by injuries, Bulut was forced to throw in the young guns. The teens and early twentysomethings re-energised everybody, including their own more experienced team-mates, with their no-fear approach. Cardiff won 2-1. That’s what it needs to be like moving forward. Particularly at home. End this negative cycle of defensive football and defeat.

Of course Bulut will want a defensive foundation around which everything is built, but it doesn’t need to be anywhere near as negative as we’ve witnessed in recent times. A return to the more swashbuckling approach we saw under Bulut in the opening two and a bit months of the season - before it just fell off a cliff - is what the fans want.

By the time the new campaign kicks off Bulut will have assembled a damn good squad. Plans are afoot to sign a centre-forward, an exciting and quick winger and a dominant midfielder who can go forward, create, control games and stand up to be counted when the going gets tough - like Swansea away.

Those three are the fundamental positions that require strengthening. Quality above quantity. After that we can talk about second strikers, second wingers, full-backs, a possible centre-half and so on.

But get those three in and Bulut won’t have too many complaints. The emergence of the youngsters last season, coupled with others returning from loan spells as much better players for the game-time gained, gives him plenty of options.

Just take a look at some in the squad.

He has a promotion-winning goalkeeper in Ethan Hovarth, backed up by Jak Alnwick. Tick.

He has Perry Ng, one of the best right-backs in the division, backed up by Raheem Conte and Mahlon Romeo. Tick.

He has Jamilu Collins, Callum O’Dowda and Joel Bagan as left-back options. Luey Giles can develop further too. Tick.

Mark McGuinness and Dimitri Goutas are fine centre-backs, with the highly-rated Japanese defender Ryotaro Tsunoda also in the mix. If Nat Phillips can also be persuaded to return, that’s a huge tick.

In midfield Mano Siopis can have a huge season. Expect a new powerhouse to come on board. Joe Ralls’ experience and Eli King’s youthful endeavour provide options. Then, of course, we have Aaron Ramsey, Rubin Colwill and David Turnbull, who will each be better with big pre-seasons behind them. Yes there remain injury doubts over Ramsey, but he’s strengthening his body this summer in the hope of playing far more regularly. Fingers crossed. Big tick.

Further forward the new nine will join, possibly a back-up striker too. Plus a dynamic winger. Isaac Davies returns after knocking it out of the park at times in Belgium, we still haven’t seen the best from Callum Robinson, same with Yakou Meite. Cian Ashford has begun to blossom.

There are others in the squad I’ve not even mentioned who offer further options too.

Yes, there may be departures. Colwill is attracting Premier League interest. While Craig Bellamy is with Burnley, they will remain keen on Davies. Cardiff need to do everything they can to keep those two, mind. They are the future of the club.

McGuinness could fetch a decent sum, Bulut himself has previously namechecked Ng and Ryan Wintle as players who the club could get money for. It remains to be seen where Callum Robinson fits into the plans.

But these are ifs, buts and maybes at this stage. The important thing is who comes in, not who might go. Clearly the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday demands of the Championship necessitates a big squad anyway to keep players fresh.

With the contract negotiations finally done and dusted, Bulut can begin his planning in earnest. Full steam ahead.

The uncertainty over the manager has ended, which is a good thing. He needs to release the handbrake and make the most of the talent that will be available to him on August 10.

After months of turgid fare, an exciting season promises to be in store.