Cardiff City manager search twist emerges involving Brian Barry-Murphy, Aaron Ramsey | OneFootball

An update has emerged on Brian Barry-Murphy and Aaron Ramsey, both of whom are in contention to take the vacant Cardiff City job

Brian Barry-Murphy and Aaron Ramsey both remain in contention to succeed Omer Riza as Cardiff City manager ahead of the 2025/26 League One campaign - but a fresh twist has emerged.

The Bluebirds have been on the search for a new permanent successor to Riza for six weeks, having parted ways with the former Leyton Orient and Watford coach back in April following a string of poor results.

Riza was succeeded by Ramsey on a caretaker basis for Cardiff’s final three matches of the Championship season, but the veteran midfielder was unable to keep the Bluebirds in the division as they returned to the third-tier of English football for the first time in more than 20 years.

Cardiff are now looking to appoint their eighth permanent manager since the start of 2021, and it will be hoped that the next hire can buck the turnover tide in the dugout.

A host of names have been linked to the job in recent times, with Cardiff looking to conclude the search by the end of this week.

As exclusively revealed by Football League World, both Ian Evatt and Des Buckingham have been interviewed for the vacancy, while Nathan Jones was strongly linked but now appears set to stay put at Charlton Athletic after leading their promotion back to the Championship.

Cardiff City manager search update emerges involving Brian Barry-Murphy, Aaron Ramsey

Two other names to have been touted as in contention are Brian Barry-Murphy and Ramsey.

Barry-Murphy, who was previously linked to Cardiff back in 2021, is currently part of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s coaching staff at Leicester City but is poised to be available soon amid the Dutchman’s imminent departure from the King Power Stadium, and he has developed a strong and promising reputation from his three years in charge of Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad.

According to a recent update from Sky Sports' live Transfer Centre yesterday morning [11:23AM], Barry-Murphy and Ramsey are among a number of names on the Bluebirds’ shortlist.

However, it is claimed that the Irishman, whose only prior senior managerial experience came with Rochdale between 2019 and 2021, may potentially hold reservations over becoming a number one in the third-tier.

Ramsey, meanwhile, as noted in Sky Sports’ update, remains under playing contract with Cardiff until the end of this month and remains hopeful of representing Wales at next year’s FIFA World Cup.

The 34-year-old’s immediate future is up in the air at this moment in time, and it will be interesting to see whether Cardiff offer him a new deal.

A playing-coaching contract has been advocated for by many supporters, we know that much. However, Ramsey’s intentions to continue his playing career for at least one more season make it somewhat unlikely to see him taking over as Cardiff manager for 25/26.

Cardiff City may need to move on to fresh managerial targets

Cardiff have been accused of wasting precious time in their pursuit of the aforementioned Jones, a top target they have now seemingly missed out on.

Time is already of the essence when you consider the scale of the rebuilding process required in order to see Cardiff return to the Championship at the very first attempt with sustainable foundations for a long-term future, and the hierarchy simply cannot afford to let the search rumble on for too much longer.

That means, then, if Barry-Murphy doesn’t want to take over in League One, and Ramsey isn’t planning on hanging up the boots quite just yet, they need to set their sights elsewhere.

Former Oxford head coach Buckingham, who led the U’s to promotion from League One in 23/24, is available and represents an appealing and progressive candidate, so he may be worth a punt.