The Bluebirds have been buoyed by the refreshing and revitalising managerial appointment of Erol Bulut, who has swiftly sought to reinstate a formerly absent feel-good factor within these quarters and push the side back towards the right end of the table once again following two years firefighting at the foot.
They find themselves in unchartered territory given the previous years of strife they’ve endured, but they’re enjoying the ride – for the most part, that is.
Several of Bulut’s lieutenants have been licensed with integral roles in the opening quarter of the season; Mark McGuinness and Dimitros Goutas have been as solid a Championship centre-back pairing as you’re likely to see, Perry Ng has been characteristically reliable, Manolis Siopis has given a new lease of life to the midfield engine room since signing in the summer, Ollie Tanner has bounced back from adversity to be his side’s secret weapon and, of course, Aaron Ramsey was in fine fettle prior to his injury setback.
Not everyone is on the same pedestal in the Turkish boss’ pecking order, mind.
While he’s largely stayed onside – to say the least – with the City faithful, one scathing school of thought pertains to the management of talented duo Callum Robinson and Rubin Colwill, who are both among the team’s most technically gifted operators and felt primed to fill the attacking-midfield void left by the sidelined Ramsey but have seldom got a sniff.And that, rightly or wrongly, doesn’t look subject to change anytime soon either, and Bulut has now publicly declared his stance upon the pair amid what does feel like a very unclear future in the Welsh capital come January and beyond.
During his pre-match duties ahead of Cardiff’s trip to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon, Bulut certainly didn’t mince his words when assessing the players in question and sent out a pretty telling message towards their calls of duty if they are to win him over.
Of Robinson and Colwill – who’ve played a combined 190 league minutes of the total 990 available at the time of writing, Bulut proclaimed: “Football is not only about scoring and playing offensive football. It’s with ball and without ball.
