Former Wales boss Rob Page and ex-Stoke City coach Steven Schumacher would both be keen on becoming Cardiff City’s new manager with Freyr Alexandersson also in contention for the Championship strugglers.
- Exclusive from Graeme Bailey
After a home defeat by Leeds United on Saturday left The Bluebirds glued to the bottom of the table – albeit Daniel Farke’s side were aided by a contentious early red card for Joel Bagan – the under-fire Erol Bulut was finally put out of his misery.
Cardiff City have made their worst start to a season in 94 years.
A campaign which begun with a 5-0 thumping at Burnley has shown few signs of getting better, with Cardiff’s only point coming in the South Wales derby with Swansea.
They were also knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Southampton – shipping another five goals in the process – and have not found the net themselves in any of their last three outings.
So whoever comes in to replace Bulut at the Cardiff City Stadium will be under pressure to turn things around pretty quickly if they are to succeed in peeling a club whose confidence has hit rock bottom off the canvas.
HITC have been told that, despite a daunting task potentially facing them, both Rob Page and Steven Schumacher would be keen on the role.
Rob Page and Steven Schumacher eye up Cardiff City job
Page, a former Wales international, actually played for Cardiff briefly in the 2004/05 season. He also served as the National Team boss until June.
Page led Wales to the 2022 World Cup but things unraveled pretty quickly after that. A disappointing group-stage exit in Qatar was followed by Wales’ relegation from the top division of the UEFA Nations League.
The Dragons then failed to fire in Euro 2024 qualification. They were knocked out on penalties by Poland in the play-offs.
Page’s relationship with two key players currently at Cardiff City could stand him in good stead, however, should the Llwynypia-born 50-year-old make a return to club management. Veteran Aaron Ramsey and Ruben Colwill both played under Page in the red of Wales.
HITC have been told that Steven Schumacher is another who would be tempted by the chance to replace Erol Bulut.
A decade younger than Page, Schumacher left Stoke City only last week after a poor start to 2024/25. Albeit not quite as poor as Cardiff’s.
His reputation was relatively glittering in the EFL not so long ago, however. A case in point; Schumacher was linked with Leicester after guiding Plymouth Argyle to promotion.
He secured the League One Manager of the Year award in 2023 after Plymouth accumulated 101 points on route to the title. One of many Argyle players who produced the best football of their career under his watch, Plymouth’s Bali Mumba labelled Schumacher an ‘unbelievable’ coach.
Schumacher would not be the first talented young head tactician to bounce back from a difficult spell at a perennially underachieving Stoke outfit either.
Nathan Jones and Gary Rowett would then pull up trees at Luton Town and Millwall respectively, while Alex Neil’s 32 percent win rate in The Potters remains a rare blot on his own copybook.
Freyr Alexadersson could swap Kortrijk for Vincent Tan’s Cardiff
HITC have been told that another, more left-field name, under consideration by Cardiff is that of Freyr Alexadersson.
Formerly the manager of the Iceland Women’s team from 2013 to 2018, Alexandersson recently made the shift over to the men’s game.
The Reykjavik-born 41-year-old also appears to have a knack of helping struggling teams avoid relegation. He took over current employers KV Kortrijk when they were bottom of the Belgian league and kept them in the top flight.
Alexandersson also secured Lyngby Boldklub’s top-flight status after guiding them to promotion from Denmark’s second tier.
Interestingly, Cardiff owner Vincent Tan is also a majority shareholder at Kortrijk. Bluebirds striker Isaak Davies spent the 2024/25 campaign on loan under Alexandersson, scoring 12 goals in the process.
Striker Roko Simic chose Cardiff over Sunderland in the summer, meanwhile, and is now also following in Davies’ footsteps with Alexandersson’s Kortrijk outfit.
And, speaking to Icelandic publication Footbolti a few months ago, Alexandersson admitted he would relish the chance to move from one Tan-controlled club to another.
“Vincent Tan and (Cardiff chief executive) Ken Choo look after both clubs,” Alexandersson said.
“It’s no secret when I spoke to Kortrijk I also had a conversation with the management of Cardiff [about potentially becoming] a manager in the Championship or Premier League.
“There are big dreams and I realise that. It would be great if it was Cardiff. I would love to coach Cardiff at some point.”
The post Exclusive: Ex-Bluebirds ace keen on Cardiff job, former women's boss also in contention appeared first on HITC.
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