By Gareth James
Cardiff City boss Erol Bulut threatened to quit when there were no new signings with a week to go in the January transfer window, but now he admits to being stunned by the uplift in standards when he finally got four players in.
The Bluebirds brought in Josh Wilson-Esbrand, Nat Phillips and Famara Diedhiou on loan from Man City, Liverpool and Granada respectively.
They also signed midfielder David Turnbull from Celtic and goalkeeper Ethan Horvath from Nottingham Forest on permanent deals to bolster their Championship play-off hopes.
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The boost the new boys gave the side, along with the return to fitness of Wales skipper Aaron Ramsey, led to a 1-0 win at Watford last weekend that ended a run of three successive defeats in which they conceded 10 goals.
Now Bulut wants to ramp up the quality when Preston North End arrive in the Welsh capital this weekend to further bridge the five-point gap to the play-off places
“Our tempo and quality in the training sessions looks different than a few weeks ago,” said Bulut.
“It’s different when you train with Under-21s players to players who have played for clubs like Celtic.
“Everyone should understand what I am trying to do, bring the level of the players higher to push the level of the players already at the club higher. That’s why I am talking about the project for the next few years.”
The battle for a play-off place comes 12 months on from the club narrowly avoiding relegation into League One last season.
Erol Bulut Q&A: Cardiff City cannot lose Joe Ralls this summer and why next season's planning must start https://t.co/6uN97i8lvV pic.twitter.com/YKAyxtwA1Y
— Cardiff City Online (@CardiffCityLive) February 8, 2024
And Bulut – whose Cardiff contract expires in the summer – is challenging players to raise their levels to avoid falling down the pecking order at the club.
“You have to increase your level, if not, you are out,” he explained.
“Football is like this, if you cannot adapt, you cannot play. When the speed is higher, some players cannot follow, then you have to change. We have to bring in players on that level.”
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Bulut believes the triumph at Vicarage Road, combined with Cardiff’s late dealings in the January window have significantly lifted the mood at the club ahead of their Championship run-in.
“This win has given us a lot of confidence. We needed it,” added Bulut.
“When we see the last few games, the players were frustrated. We didn’t have enough players, we had injuries and some players could not be replaced.
“They were waiting for a few transfers to come in to have a better squad.
“I said it many times in press conferences and now we have the players in who have good quality. For that price that we had, we got good players in.”
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