With pretty much a quarter of the season gone, Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman appears to cut a contented figure. The 1-1 home draw with lowly Watford may have been disappointing, but the Bluebirds head into the international break eighth in the Championship table, one point off the top six – and with an entirely different vibe to this time last year.
Back then, at the beginning of October and 11 games into the 2022-23 campaign, the Bluebirds had already sacked their manager, were 18th and a worrying season of tedious struggle down near the bottom was being roundly forecast.Everything just seems to be the polar opposite 12 months on and the expectation is of a top-10 finish, with some firmly of the belief Cardiff can crack the play-off spots.
In Erol Bulut, the Bluebirds have a manager the fans appear to believe in. Given the awful circumstances he inherited, Bulut has done a remarkable job in turning things around so quickly with a revamped squad and easier on the eye football.
That doesn’t put Bulut above criticism or scrutiny. In Aaron Ramsey’s absence, his persistence with Ryan Wintle at 10 rather than the far more creative Rubin Colwill, and choice of Ike Ugbo rather than Callum Robinson up top versus Watford, has raised eyebrows among the supporter base.
But generally Bulut has done a great job thus far and is helping everyone pull in the same direction at Wales’ capital city club. A host of younger players – Rubin and Joey Colwill, Ollie Tanner, Mark McGuinness, Perry Ng among them – have signed new contracts, putting the club on a much sounder footing.
A host of court cases have been dealt with, the damages claim against Nantes in the French courts the only outstanding one.
Cardiff have become a club with a much clearer identity and Dalman, who was instrumental in the appointment of Bulut, puts much of it down to the manager.
“Erol is doing a very good job, in more ways than one, and may it continue,” says Dalman. “Football-wise he’s the most tactically-oriented manager I have come across in my time here as chairman. He’s quite funky, can spot and change tactics as the game goes on, and generally that’s not something I feel we’ve seen too much of here before.
“He’s changed the style of football, for the better, has a good eye for players, spots potential in the younger ones as we’ve seen with Tanner, is a football obsessive who works incredibly hard.
“When he goes home he watches the game back again to assess things, then he’ll watch the game of the team we play next. It means he goes to bed at 3am, but he’s back at the training ground by 8am. He’s very dedicated, one of the first in and definitely the last to leave. That sets the standard for others to follow.
