Everything Vincent Tan has said about Erol Bulut as Cardiff City deal reaches crunch point

It's not often Cardiff City fans get to hear from their owner, Vincent Tan, so when they do, his words carry weight.

He is the one man behind the biggest decision currently facing the club right now, whether to pursue a future with Erol Bulut as manager or whether the Bluebirds will, again, turn in another direction.

The situation as it currently stands, which you can read about more in depth here, is that Bulut has an offer on the table and is still deciding whether to accept the terms put to him by Tan.

READ MORE: Erol Bulut's Cardiff City job situation as it stands amid big-club links and hold-ups

READ MORE: Cardiff City star named in team of the season and Swansea player reveals Bluebirds trials

Cardiff hired Bulut on a one-year deal with an option for two further years in the club's favour if certain criteria were met. That has not transpired and we are now in a period of limbo, similar to the situation when Sabri Lamouchi finished the season as Bluebirds boss last year.

So, just what has Tan said about Bulut? Let's rewind to his unveiling, now almost a year ago, to find out why Tan wanted the manager to take the club forward in the first place. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.

“I’d like to welcome Erol and offer him my sincerest best wishes and good luck as manager of Cardiff City," Tan said on June 3 last year.

“This summer allowed us to consider applicants for the manager’s position from across Europe and, having taken our time with the process, I’m extremely confident that we have chosen the best candidate to take us forward.

"Erol has vast experience both as a player and as a manager, having played Champions League football and managed European sides across 200 league games to date. This level of experience is needed at this time and I think will prove invaluable to the squad.

“Erol’s enthusiasm and hunger for success impresses me greatly. When we spoke, it became clear that his intensity and hard work ethic matched the core cultural traits that I want our club to return to.

"His excellent record in European football represents a standard of managerial experience that we have not had at Cardiff City before. His experience in this field, I hope, will allow us to attract a higher profile and standard of player in the coming years.”

Clearly, Tan's words there indicate a direction of travel for more than 12 months, particularly that last sentence. There appeared to be a real appetite for driving the club forward together and an excitement over transfer windows and improving the base level of the squad.

Cardiff's football last season wasn't always high octane or exhilarating, but after two very difficult transfer windows — which Cardiff did well in considering the tough circumstances both of them threw up — Bulut improved Cardiff's league position for the first time in five seasons. Considerably, too, steering the club to 12th, their highest finish since 2021.

The season started well, with the club leaping to as high as fifth after beating Bristol City in October, but, as ever with Championship campaigns, there were bumps in the road. The last time Tan spoke was on Boxing Day, when City were experiencing a lean spell and were in the midst of injury struggles, too.

"We trust Erol [Bulut] but we still have to look at budgets, we're not simply going to buy players. Hopefully in January we can bring in some... good players, we have to study you know?" he told the BBC ahead of the January window.

"Some of our younger players maybe we should give them a chance to go to other clubs so that they can get more football time.

"I think we have a good manager in Erol and I believe we have a very good chance to be in the play-offs hopefully, God willing."

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

Play-off talk always seemed too lofty for this squad, particularly given the midfield balance never quite seemed right and the glaring lack of a goalscoring threat up front.

But the top six was never the ambition at the start of the campaign. You do wonder if all the talk of play-offs after such a positive start to the season might have caused more harm than good. But at the very least, this season should have served as an ideal foundation on which to mount a more sustained attack on those top-six places.

How much direct contract Bulut has actually had with Tan throughout the course of the season is unknown, with the manager dealing largely with chairman Mehmet Dalman, but he did say, when asked about his conversations with the owner: "We have had some calls on the phone. We generally speak about the games. I think you [press] know Vincent better than me, because you have been here longer than me, you know his character.

"One characteristic which is good is that he doesn't like to lose, like my character, I don't like to lose also. But in life sometimes you have to accept it, you can't win every time! You have to see what you have in your hand and what you can do, that's also a point."

Bulut took over after Lamouchi's contract wasn't renewed last summer. A lack of chemistry between the Frenchman and Tan was cited as one of the primary reasons Lamouchi was allowed to leave. However Bulut shrugged off any notion that his relationship with the owner was in any way strained.

"We haven't had fights or anything like that!" he laughed when asked last month. "We have had many talks. I can also not say it is a perfect relationship."