“He’s a winner” – Cardiff City told to appoint Steven Schumacher to replace Erol Bulut
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 on the search for a new first-team manager following the sacking of Erol Bulut almost two weeks ago.
The Bluebirds are still on the look-out to see who will be Bulut’s successor, and will be hoping whoever it is can turn round their dire start to the 2024/25 Championship season.
At the moment, the South-Wales outfit sit bottom of the league after eight games played with four points, having only just picked up their first three points of the season in a 1-0 victory against Millwall.
Current caretaker boss Omer Riza has said he’s confident of landing the hot seat at Cardiff, but bookies are suggesting otherwise.
The current front-runner, as per most bookmakers, remains former Stoke City and Plymouth Argyle boss Steven Schumacher.
“Feels like something of an open goal” – Cardiff verdict on Bulut’s successor
FLW’s Cardiff City fan pundit, Jack Price, has put forward his ideal candidate to take charge at the Cardiff City Stadium.
“For me, Steven Schumacher feels like something of an open goal. He’s a young progressive head coach who’s available after being dismissed by Stoke. This doesn’t reflect on his overall ability, of course.
“Stoke are similar to Cardiff in the sense they both have a high managerial turnover. He’s a winner, winning the League One title in 2022/23 with Plymouth, ending on 101 points and finishing above Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town side.
“You’ve got to focus on his time with Plymouth more than anything. He was given time and patience to build a side that was right for him and, tactically, he favours a possession-based style which plays out the back, playing through the final third with pace and directness.
“He did tend to go for a more direct approach at Stoke, but for me, that displays an adaptable and open-minded coach and has more than one way of skinning a cat, so to speak.
“He’s also proven how well he can work with younger players – with the likes of Morgan Whittaker and Jun-Ho Bae at Stoke. Cardiff have highly technical players with a high ceiling, in Reuben Colwill and Alex Robertson, both of whom were unfavoured under Bulut.
“By bringing in a coach that could help maximise their development, it can help net handsome future fees down the line, which is something the board must be thinking about.
“Schumacher is a popular name amongst supporters. Although some want a more experienced boss, I personally don’t think we’re at the point where we need to scrap for results, the season is still salvageable.
“We’ve got a strong squad. Although there is an argument it’s been poorly assembled over the summer, I think there are a lot of players there who are crying out for a young coach in the mold of somebody like Schumacher. He ticks all the boxes, in my opinion.”
