Cardiff City: Leicester City coach Brian Barry-Murphy emerges as leading candidate for Bluebirds job | OneFootball

Cardiff City are eyeing a permanent replacement for Omer Riza ahead of their upcoming League One campaign.

Leicester City first-team coach Brian Barry-Murphy has emerged as a contender for the Cardiff City managerial vacancy.

According to journalist Darren Witcoop on Saturday, the 46-year-old is one of the leading candidates for the role, as owner Vincent Tan looks to appoint someone that can deliver promotion back to the Championship.

The Bluebirds suffered relegation to League One last season, coming 24th in the table.

Omer Riza oversaw their decline to the third tier, ending a 22-year spell of consistently being in the top two divisions for the club.

Leicester City coach Brian Barry-Murphy eyed by Cardiff

Barry-Murphy is currently a coach in the first team squad at Leicester, who have themselves suffered relegation from the Premier League.

It is understood that the former Rochdale manager has emerged as a candidate to become the permanent replacement for Riza, who was dismissed last month.

It has been claimed that the shortlist of potential appointments has been narrowed down to just two names.

It was reported by the BBC earlier this month that Cardiff are hoping to confirm an appointment by the end of May, leaving them just one week left to meet that deadline.

Ian Evatt, Des Buckingham, Nathan Jones and Ruben Selles have all also been mentioned as possible appointments amid reports of interviews taking place.

It remains unclear just yet who will be the next Cardiff manager, as the club looks to plan for life in League One next season, with the final decision set to come from Tan.

Brian Barry-Murphy’s coaching career

Barry-Murphy began his managerial career at Rochdale in 2019, initially taking over as a caretaker before being appointed on a permanent basis.

The Irishman spent two years with the Dale before resigning in 2021, which led to a move to Manchester City’s academy system.

The 46-year-old joined the Leicester first-team coaching staff last summer following the appointment of Steve Cooper as manager, and remained with the club after Ruud van Nistelrooy replaced the ex-Nottingham Forest boss.

But he could now look to make the step back up to the main managerial role by taking over at Cardiff for next season.

Barry-Murphy has earned a glowing reputation

Barry-Murphy is inexperienced at this level, and hasn’t had the main manager’s role in four years, so his appointment would certainly be a gamble.

However, he has earned an impressive reputation for his coaching ability in recent years.

He worked at Man City for three years, which involved the development of several exciting players, such as Cole Palmer, Roméo Lavia and CJ Egan-Riley.