"He ticks all the boxes" - Cardiff City urged to appoint former Sunderland and Birmingham City manager | OneFootball

FLW's Cardiff City fan pundit has given his view on who the club should appoint as Erol Bulut's permanent replacement.

This article is part of Football League World’s 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Cardiff City are still searching for a new manager following the sacking of Erol Bulut.

Bulut led Cardiff to a respectable 12th-placed finish in the Championship in his first year in charge last season, and there was hope that the club could kick on under his guidance after a strong summer transfer window that saw the arrival of eight new signings, including high-profile additions such as Calum Chambers, Chris Willock and Anwar El Ghazi.

However, it did not work out that way, and Bulut was sacked last month after his side picked up just one point from their opening six games of the campaign.

Caretaker manager Omer Riza has overseen one win, one draw and one defeat in the three games since Bulut's departure, and the 44-year-old confirmed last week he was keen to land the permanent job, but he is not the only name in the frame.

According to the Daily Mirror, former Sunderland and Birmingham City manager Tony Mowbray has been sounded out about taking over at the Cardiff City Stadium, while Steven Schumacher, Alex Neil and Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones are also under consideration.

An appointment is expected to be made over the international break, and it is a big decision facing the Bluebirds board with the club currently sitting bottom of the table, three points from safety.

Cardiff City told to make move for Tony Mowbray

When asked who he would like to be appointed as Bulut's permanent replacement, FLW's Cardiff City fan pundit Jack Price urged the club to do everything possible to convince Mowbray to accept the job.

Mowbray has been out of work since stepping down from his role at Birmingham in February due to health reasons, but he has indicated he could be ready to return to management in the coming months, and Jack believes he would be the perfect choice for the Bluebirds.

"For me, Tony Mowbray would represent an inspired appointment," Jack said.

"Of course, the rumours have come out today, I did tip Steven Schumacher as my number one candidate, but I don't think there are any managers I would prefer to Mowbray.

"The caveat is obviously his health and that's why he stepped down at Birmingham, but if he's now in good health, we really should be doing everything in our power to sell ourselves to him.

"He ticks all the boxes having managed the likes of Celtic, Middlesbrough, Birmingham and Sunderland.

"He's experienced enough to deal with the pressure of managing a big club with both internal and external expectations, and he'd also be able to navigate working with a divisive hierarchy that are not exactly hands on in terms of the day-to-day football operations at the club.

"It is a really tough gig at Cardiff, but I think Mowbray would be able to handle that.

"Time and time again he's proven himself to be capable of managing expectations and big personalities in the dressing room.

"As a manager, he's tactically excellent and outperformed all expectations at Sunderland during the 2022-23 season by playing a really exciting, attacking brand of football, and he obviously saw them get all the way to the play-offs in their first season back in the second tier.

"Tactically, I think Mowbray is both astute and very multi-faceted as well, we've seen Mowbray sides win ugly and grind results out when needed over the years, but with ample resources, he favours a possession-based style.

"The style under Erol Bulut was a big sticking point with supporters, we dominated possession, we played out from the back while still keeping the handbrake on and fundamentally playing with a pragmatic and overly patient set up.

"From what I've seen, you don't really get that with Mowbray, he likes his teams to use the ball to their advantage and play on the front foot with really quick transitions in the final third.

"We obviously saw that at Sunderland with Amad Diallo and Jack Clarke, and that ticks a really big box for me.

"On that note, I'd also love to see how the likes of Rubin Colwill, Alex Robertson and even Ollie Tanner could develop under him.

"Obviously Clarke went to another level at Sunderland while Mowbray was there, and he is an incredible developer of talent.

"You normally have to weigh up the pros and cons with potential new appointments, but I don't think there is one factor that really goes against Mowbray.

"I think we need to get this one done as soon as possible, it makes so much sense.

"We don't often get it right with managerial hires, you look at the turnover we've had over the last five years in particular, but Mowbray would be an inspired appointment and I really hope we get this done."

It is difficult to disagree with Jack that, if Mowbray is willing to accept the job, he would be the ideal appointment for Cardiff.

Mowbray has done outstanding work at Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland in recent years, and he was starting to turn Birmingham's fortunes around before he was forced to step down from his role.

The Bluebirds squad could be perfect for Mowbray with a mix of youth and experience, but after previously having disagreements with the ownership at Blackburn and Sunderland, he may encounter similar issues at the Cardiff City Stadium.

As Jack says, it is an incredibly tough task facing Bulut's successor with a relegation battle likely to be ahead, and Mowbray may be reluctant to take on such a high-pressure job as he eases himself back into management.