Cardiff City: Lee Tomlin sends clear Vincent Tan message about Omer Riza | OneFootball

Former Cardiff City star Lee Tomlin has called for Omer Riza to be handed the job on a permanent basis

Lee Tomlin has urged Cardiff City to appoint interim boss Omer Riza on a permanent basis.

The Bluebirds remain on the search for their 12th permanent managerial hire in just 14 years following the sacking of Erol Bulut, who received his marching orders from Vincent Tan a month ago yesterday.

At the time of Bulut’s dismissal, Cardiff were rooted to the foot of the table with a wretched record of five defeats and just one goal scored from their opening six matches of the new season.

Riza, a first-team coach at the club who only joined in the summer from Watford, promptly stepped up and took the reins and Cardiff are, it would seem, no closer to hiring a new manager.

It has been reported that the hierarchy are, by and large, underwhelmed with the standard of available candidates at this moment in time, while they are also patient with the process and comfortable keeping Riza in situ.

The 43-year-old has repeatedly reiterated his ambition to land the job full-time, and he is certainly beginning to force his way into permanent contention following an impressive start to life at the helm.

Omer Riza's form as Cardiff City interim manager

It is easy to forget that Riza led Cardiff to a beleaguered 4-1 defeat at Hull City in his first game in charge. That is, of course, because the improvement has been exponential since, with Riza lifting the Bluebirds out of the relegation zone.

Riza arrested Cardiff's seven-match winless streak as they claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Neil Harris' Millwall at the start of October, before coming away from the Severnside Derby with a point - and it arguably should have been all three - as they dominated Bristol City for much of the affair.

Riza, who received significant criticism for his decision to haul off Anwar El Ghazi for Jesper Daland while Cardiff were in control, thus handing the attacking initiative to the Robins, remained in charge for the duration of the international break, where it had been expected that the board would bring in a replacement for Bulut.

Following the international break, Cardiff have been in electrifying form, sweeping both Plymouth Argyle and Portsmouth aside in their last two affairs. Under Riza, Cardiff are playing with control, energy, intent and, most prominently, an overarching sense of confidence, all of which were so sorely absent at the start of the campaign.

They are resurgent at the minute and have been buoyed by two consecutive victories in a matter of days, putting Plymouth to the sword in a stunning 5-0 rout on Saturday afternoon before seeing off Portsmouth in cruise control last night by running out 2-0 victors.

Lee Tomlin's Omer Riza message to Vincent Tan at Cardiff City

Riza has rightly earned plaudits for turning Cardiff's recent fortunes around and instilling such attacking verve into the team, optimising the talents of the likes of Rubin Colwill, Alex Robertson, Ollie Tanner and Callum Robinson.

Supporters are increasingly warming towards the ex-Leyton Orient coach and many want him to land the gig full-time. They are not alone in that desire, either, with Tomlin calling for Riza to be rewarded for his early efforts.

Naturally, Tomlin's voice holds weight among the Bluebirds faithful, with the former playmaker still fondly remembered for almost single-handedly taking Cardiff to the play-offs in the 2019/20 season.

The 35-year-old commented on Cardiff's official Instagram page: "Give riza the job he deserves it 🙌🏻💙."

It will be argued that Riza still needs to show his worth in matches bound to provide a stiffer test, such as Cardiff's trip to West Bromwich Albion this Saturday. Norwich City and Luton Town are both on the agenda before November's international break, too, and you would imagine that Riza will be handed the opportunity to lead his side's next three matches at the very least.

Cardiff need to make a decision sooner rather than later, and Riza himself has called for clarity from Tan and co. Tomlin's demand will be echoed by a fair chunk of fans, make no mistake about that.