"No disrespect" - Pundit urges Cardiff City, Vincent Tan to capitalise on Coventry City's Mark Robins call | OneFootball

"No disrespect" - Pundit urges Cardiff City, Vincent Tan to capitalise on Coventry City's Mark Robins call | OneFootball

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·11 November 2024

"No disrespect" - Pundit urges Cardiff City, Vincent Tan to capitalise on Coventry City's Mark Robins call

Article image:"No disrespect" - Pundit urges Cardiff City, Vincent Tan to capitalise on Coventry City's Mark Robins call

The Bluebirds have been without a permanent manager since sacking Erol Bulut on September 22

Former Sheffield Wednesday man Carlton Palmer believes Cardiff City need to do all they can do to try and lure Mark Robins to the club in the coming weeks, following the manager’s dismissal from Coventry City.


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The Sky Blues boss was given the axe last week, having helped the club climb back through the divisions during his seven-year stint in charge of the club, as well as being with a penalty shootout of the Premier League.

It has been over seven weeks since Cardiff City parted company with Erol Bulut, and the Bluebirds are yet to appoint a successor to the Turk, with the Welsh side picking up under interim boss Omer Riza, with 14 points from his nine matches in charge of the club.

But as a boss with a CV like Robins’s becomes available, Palmer believes owner Vincent Tan should be doing all he can do to try and bring the experienced manager to the club over the international break.

Cardiff City improve under Omer Riza after Erol Bulut sacking

Cardiff sacked Bulut late in September, with the opening six league matches of the season rendering just one point, before Riza managed to find a tune out of the same group of players, with a six-match unbeaten run seeing them clamber out of the relegation zone.

Back-to-back defeats to Luton Town and Blackburn Rovers have hampered their progress of late, but the Bluebirds are far from the disorganised, disinterested side they were at the start of the campaign, with things looking a lot brighter than they were 50 days ago.

The form of the side under the ex-Cambridge United man has helped give Tan and his fellow suits plenty of time to weigh up their next move in terms of managerial appointments, but Palmer believes a decision has to come sooner rather than later as we enter the two-week league hiatus.

The ex-England international said: “Cardiff City have yet to move on the situation with Omer Riza, he still doesn’t know if he is going to be appointed as the club’s manager on a full-time basis despite holding the role for six weeks.

“Despite two defeats on the bounce against Luton and Blackburn Rovers, he has credit on the bank after seeing an upturn of fortune, which has seen them register four wins in nine games.

“The Bluebirds were rock bottom of the table, with just one point from six games when Riza was handed the reins, following Erol Bulut’s sacking, and he has earned plaudits from the Cardiff supporters for implementing an exciting style of play, which has unlocked the potential of some young talented players.

“He still doesn’t know what the future holds for him, he is none the wiser, and he is just saying that he wants to get on with his job and do the best job that he can do.

“The Cardiff City hierarchy need to make a decision soon; they have got to the international break and I am sure that Vincent Tan will make a decision shortly.”

Mark Robins availability will have Cardiff City on red-alert

Coventry City had an identical record to Cardiff when Robins was relieved of his duties last week, with the former Manchester United player ending his reing as the longest-serving manager in the EFL.

After years of success which saw two promotions, a Championship play-off final and an FA Cup semi-final, a poor start to the campaign was to be the end of the 54-year-old, with four wins from the opening 14 league matches of the season deemed to be below expectations.

Having been the victim of his own success, Robins has to be one of the best-regarded managers to be without a job at this moment in time, and Palmer believes any club within their right mind should be starting conversations with the manager as soon as possible.

Article image:"No disrespect" - Pundit urges Cardiff City, Vincent Tan to capitalise on Coventry City's Mark Robins call

He continued: “What has thrown a spanner in the works is the fact that Mark Robins has now become available. I am absolutely gobsmacked that Mark Robins was relieved of his duties at Coventry City - it is unbelievable.

“But that throws a spanner in the works given what Robins has done at Coventry, but is he ready to go straight back into management? Or, when we are in the silly season of sackings - which we know is going to be around the corner - does he wait and see if there are better opportunities out there?

“It is an interesting one, it is a very important decision for the chairman, and he has got to make the right call on this one, but if you can get Mark Robins - no disrespect to Omer Riza - but then that is what you have to do, you have to jump in there and get him.”

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