Cardiff City chiefs admit desire for more 'football knowledge' at...

The board of Cardiff City has agreed that more football expertise within the team would be “desirable” in the long

run, given that the Bluebirds are in a relegation struggle this season.

In the midst of growing fan dissatisfaction with the club’s management, chairman Mehmet Dalman, CEO Ken Choo,

and non-executive director Steve Borley recently met with Supporters’ Trust members.

The minutes from the meeting, which took place before Cardiff’s 1-1 draw with Coventry City on New Year’s Day,

have been released following two calls from fan groups for discussions with the board. Sign up to our daily Cardiff

City newsletter here.

Dalman said the club’s “short-term strategy is to maintain status in the Championship” but was challenged on what

the longer-term future looked like after years of shortcomings. Choo, meanwhile, insisted that owner Vincent Tan is

“absolutely determined to get the club back into the Premier League”.

Dalman admitted that Cardiff’s decision-makers are eager for more “stability and continuity” at the club, with the

chairman adding: “We have had too many changes in manager; too many players arriving and too many players

leaving. That doesn’t help for building long term.

“It was hoped that Erol Bulut would work out and at first it looked like he could be the answer after a decent first

season, but the very poor start to this season meant that the club needed to make changes once again.”

Cardiff dismissed manager Bulut in September after just three months following the worst start to a league season in

a century, just months after he signed a new two-year contract to stay in south Wales.

Despite an initial improvement under interim boss Omer Riza – who has since been appointed until the end of 2024-

25 – Cardiff are second from bottom in the Championship ahead of Saturday’s game against promotion-hopefuls

Middlesbrough.

The lack of football intelligence at the board level, which results in ongoing bad decision-making, has long been a

complaint of supporters. While many fans express thanks and sorrow for owner Tan’s lavish spending, it is also

widely accepted that the amount of money lost might have been much decreased had the footballing structure been

better.

Dalman said once again Tan will not countenance the idea of a director of football, having had “a bad experience

before and doesn’t want to go down that route again”, but the chairman did concede that “more football knowledge

would be desirable”.

“The long-term goal is to establish a football management team that can achieve stability and continuity and develop

a competitive team, but the current focus is short-term and staying in the division,” he continued. Since he continues

to fund the team, Vincent Tan stands to lose more than anyone else.

Dalman stated that the team was “not punching above its weight” despite having a “competitive” salary bill that

could support a top-half Championship team. He thinks that the Bluebirds will have a “opportunity” to avoid the

unimaginable prospect of relegation this season during the January transfer window.

Naturally, Cardiff has found itself in this predicament after the start of the season for the third time in three seasons,

and it is reasonable that supporters are upset about the lack of a long-term plan.

In terms of finances, Dalman acknowledged that although there has been a “substantial reduction” in losses, the club

is still losing money.

The club agreed to improve communication from the board to the larger fan base and justified its interactions with

supporters by citing previous Fan Advisory Board sessions.

Cardiff City chiefs admit desire for more ‘football knowledge’ at club amid relegation fight