Cardiff City’s leadership acknowledges the need for improved football expertise as they fight to avoid relegation this season
Cardiff: The board at Cardiff City knows they’re in a tough spot this season. They’ve admitted that having more football knowledge in the club would really help in the long run.
Chairman Mehmet Dalman, CEO Ken Choo, and director Steve Borley recently chatted with the Supporters’ Trust. Fans are getting pretty frustrated with how things are being run.
They had this meeting just before Cardiff’s 1-1 draw with Coventry City on New Year’s Day. The minutes from that meeting were shared after fans pushed for more talks with the board.
Dalman mentioned that the club’s main goal right now is to stay in the Championship. But he faced questions about what the future holds after years of ups and downs.
Choo added that owner Vincent Tan is really keen on getting the club back into the Premier League. Dalman also said they want more stability and continuity at Cardiff.
He pointed out that there have been too many changes in managers and players, which makes it hard to build something solid. They thought Erol Bulut could be the answer, but the season started poorly, leading to more changes.
Cardiff let Bulut go in September after a rough start to the season, even though he had just signed a new contract. They’ve seen some improvement under interim boss Omer Riza, but they’re still near the bottom of the Championship.
Fans have long complained about the lack of football smarts at the board level, which leads to bad decisions. While many appreciate Tan’s financial support, they feel a better structure could have saved a lot of wasted money.
Dalman said Tan isn’t interested in hiring a director of football again after a bad experience, but he did agree that having more football knowledge would be a good idea.
He emphasized that the long-term goal is to create a solid management team that can build a competitive squad, but for now, they’re focused on staying in the league. Tan has a lot at stake since he’s the one funding the club.
Dalman believes the club’s wage bill is enough to support a top-half Championship team, but they’re not exceeding expectations. He’s hoping the January transfer window will be a chance for Cardiff to avoid relegation.
This is the third time in three seasons that Cardiff finds itself in this situation after the new year, so it’s no wonder fans are frustrated about the lack of a long-term plan.
On the financial side, Dalman confirmed the club is still losing money, but the losses have been significantly reduced. They also mentioned their efforts to engage with fans and promised to improve communication from the board.
