Ranking Cardiff City's top 7 best managers based on PPG - Lawrence = 3rd | OneFootball

Highlights

Cardiff City have struggled to find a manager to take them back to the Premier League after their 2019 relegation.

Since then, the club have struggled in the Championship, struggling to challenge for the play-offs in a period of poor football at the Cardiff City Stadium.

In this article, we'll look at the top Cardiff managers based on their points per game. This will only include managers with more than 25 games in charge, in order to accurately reflect their ability in charge of the Bluebirds.

7 Neil Warnock

The seventh most successful manager in Cardiff history, based on his points-per-game average, is also one of the most beloved. Neil Warnock joined the club in 2016, and within two years guided the club to an incredible promotion to the Premier League after a torrid few years at the club.

He oversaw 144 matches at the Cardiff City Stadium, seeing his side win promotion then suffer relegation from the top tier. Warnock was sacked in the season following the drop, but not before amassing a record of 1.43 points per game in South Wales.

6 Jimmy Scoular

Scot Jimmy Scoular was manager of Cardiff during arguably their most successful period in history. He led the South Wales side to the semi-finals of the European Cup Winner's Cup in 1968, where they were defeated by Hamburg in a two-legged tie.

He also presided over seven Welsh Cup victories and numerous European campaigns during a nine-year spell in charge of the Bluebirds. Scoular managed over 400 matches, matching Warnock's 1.43 points per game.

5 Neil Harris

Despite failing to impress at the Cardiff City Stadium, Neil Harris ranks remarkably high on the list of the best mangers by points-per-game.

Harris finished fifth in his first season with the Bluebirds, but was sacked just 15 months later, having overseen a poor run of form as the club dropped further and further down the league.

The bad form in his second campaign didn't preclude him from this list, as Harris managed a points-per-game of 1.44 in 62 games.

4 Alan Cork

Alan Cork's reign as Cardiff manager lasted less than 18 months, as he managed the club from October 2000 to February 2002. During this time, he earned promotion as the runners-up of Division Three and earned a famous victory over Leeds United in the FA Cup in 2002.

He was sacked soon after the win, but remained one of the best managers under the metrics we are studying. Cork managed 1.46 points-per-game, despite being unpopular with the fans at Ninian Park.

3 Lennie Lawrence

Hartlepool United caretaker manager Lennie Lawrence is among one of the best managers in the history of Cardiff.

He spent three years at the club, winning promotion to the Second Division by beating QPR in the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in his debut season at Ninian Park.

Lawrence earned 1.52 points per game in his 165 matches in charge, falling just behind his eventual replacement on this list.

2 Dave Jones

After taking over from Lawrence in 2005, Dave Jones quickly built himself a reputation as one of the best Cardiff managers ever. He guided the Bluebirds to multiple play-off finishes, including a heartbreaking defeat to Blackpool in the 2010 final at Wembley.

Jones also oversaw the historic run to the FA Cup final in 2008. Cardiff faced Portsmouth in the final at Wembley Stadium, losing to the Premier League side 1-0 in a tense final. They are still the last Championship club to reach the final.

The Englishman spent 315 games in charge of Cardiff, amassing an impressive 1.53 points-per-game.

Both the most successful and the most controversial manager in Cardiff history, Malky Mackay tops the list as Cardiff's best ever manager in this specific metric.

The Scot took over the club after the sacking of Dave Jones in 2011, and quickly made his mark on the side. In his first year, he guided the club to the League Cup final, losing to Liverpool on penalties at Wembley Stadium.

They finished in the play-off places that year, and followed it up by winning the Championship and earning promotion to the Premier League. He only lasted in the role until December that season, after controversially being fired by boss Vincent Tan, giving him a better chance of running up his points-per-game ratio (which was 1.60 in 125 games).