Cardiff City: Decision Erol Bulut made looks wrong after Millwall evidence - View | OneFootball

Alex Robertson made a huge impression in Cardiff City's first league win of the season against Millwall, but Erol Bulut did not start him regularly

Alex Robertson hardly appeared to be a significant part of Erol Bulut's plans at Cardiff City, although the Turk may already be regretting exactly that.

Despite signing a two-year contract extension during the summer after much delay, Bulut was handed his marching orders following just six games of the 2024/25 Championship campaign. Five of those had resulted in defeat for Cardiff, who still find themselves rooted to the foot of the division and have endured their worst start to a league season for more than 100 years.

Bulut had been a popular figure among supporters in his first year at the club, which was doubtless owing in part to the relative representation of stability.

Lasting a full season in the hot-seat tends not to scream longevity at many clubs but doing so at Cardiff, who had not seen a manager see out the entire year since Neil Warnock all the way back in 2018/19, was something of a feat.

Bulut guided the Bluebirds to a 12th-placed finish and although both a sluggish second-half to the season and the damning underlying numbers indicated that Cardiff may well have wound up in a false position - they managed a paltry return of 25 open play goals, conceded 1.5 goals per game and averaged just 1.2 at the other end - optimism remained high among supporters.

The benefit of hindsight suggests questionable construction of Cardiff's squad across the summer, but the arrivals of numerous big name signings such as Anwar El Ghazi and Callum Chambers were generally well-received at the time.

To their credit, though, City also put a profound effort into lowering the average age of their squad by acquiring the likes of Jesper Daland, Will Fish, Roko Simic and, of course, Robertson himself.

The central midfielder, who mightily impressed on loan with League One champions Portsmouth, signed from Manchester City on a four-year deal and for an initial fee just shy of the £1 million mark, which could rise all the way to £3 million if various performance-related criteria is met.

Alex Robertson was not favoured by ex-Cardiff City boss Erol Bulut

Following the signing of Robertson three days before Cardiff's Championship curtain-raiser at home to Sunderland, Bulut lauded the talent and revealed that they had successfully fought off competition from six other clubs for his signature.

"There were six other clubs that were in for him, which shows what a talent he is. We had a meeting 10 days ago and explained our goals for the club and for Alex. Our hopes and plans were aligned.

"Alex can deliver a lot. He's got quality. He’s technically very good with a great work rate and can add to what we already have. We now have a great mix of youth and experience in the midfield."

Bulut's assessment of Robertson was glowing, of course, and has shown itself to be rather right. However, Robertson was among the likes of Rubin Colwill and Ollie Tanner in failing to earn Bulut's trust, all of which swiftly became pertinent sticking points with supporters.

He started just two games in the Championship under Bulut, who chose to haul him off on the hour mark in both of those outings.

Robertson made way for Colwill after sixty minutes in August's 1-1 South Wales Derby draw at Swansea City and the Welshman's introduction proved inspired, in all fairness, although the reality is he never should have been named among the substitutes.

The same instance occurred the following weekend at home to Middlesbrough, a game which Cardiff eventually lost 2-0. That defeat prompted a real turning of the tide with the way in which supporters perceived Bulut, and the frustration was easy to reason with.

Robertson was named on the bench for Bulut's four other matches against Sunderland, Burnley, Derby County and Leeds United, averaging just 28 minutes of action each game.

Indeed, Colwill and Robertson - two of Cardiff's most naturally talented and high-potential players - did not start one league match together under Bulut, despite starring in tandem during their side's 5-3 exit to Southampton in the EFL Cup back in August.

However, they linked up brilliantly against Millwall yesterday, which admittedly does not reflect quite so well on Bulut.

Erol Bulut may regret Cardiff City, Alex Robertson stance off Millwall evidence

Cardiff finally arrested their miserable and winless run of early-season form by claiming a vital 1-0 victory over Millwall on Tuesday evening, where Robertson ran the show in the middle of the park.

Entrusted from the very start, the Australian prospect brought coolness, composure and class to Cardiff's midfield in equal measure.

His ability to play on the half-turn, break defensive lines, expand the pitch with his range of passing and retain possession in tight pockets of space are all quite arguably second-to-none at the club, and such qualities were on show for all to see against the Lions.

Although Robertson just appeared to be running on empty in the dying embers and did give the ball away too cheaply on a couple of occasions, he still enjoyed a stellar performance and rightly left supporters purring.

The real cause for excitement is that, you would expect at least, as he continues to cut his teeth and adapt to the Championship, he will only get better and better. Still only 21, Robertson plays with a real maturity and intelligence which belies his youthful years, and Cardiff supporters are already beginning to imagine the handsome potential profit they could net for him further down the line.

As for the here and now, though, it is difficult to argue against Robertson being one of the very first names on the team sheet and the new permanent manager - whoever that is - simply must afford him more trust than Bulut did. That, of course, was one of his shortcomings and the lack of faith in both Robertson and Colwill lost a lot of supporters.

Cardiff can reap all the rewards from Robertson, both in the short and long-term.