By Paul Jones
Cardiff City caretaker manager Omer Riza insists he has not given up hope of being given the job permanently despite the worst possible audition.
The Bluebirds, who sacked Erol Bulut eight days ago following their worst start to a season in 94 years, are still rock bottom of the Championship table after a 4-1 hammering at Hull City.
Cardiff’s record is pitiful – one point from a possible 21 after seven matches with a goal difference of minus 15.
Riza may believe he should be the man entrusted to succeed Bulut but it already looks a job for a specialist relegation escapologist.
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With less than one sixth of the season gone, Cardiff are already four points adrift of the safety zone.
“I have to remain positive. I still believe there’s something more to come as a team to really have another go,” said Riza.
“We need results now, but it takes time. Tuesday against Millwall is another massive game. We have to be on point otherwise it will be a difficult evening.”
“I want to be a head coach – I’ve made no secret of that. I’ve been ready for the last couple of seasons to step into a position like this.
“I’ve not just walked off a street. I’ve worked in coaching for the last 13 years and my time will come when it comes.
“I’m taking each game and each training session as I can.
“I’ll act in a professional way and makes sure the boys keep working away and that the club is in the best position.”
Another dark day but congratulations goes to Callum Robinson for winning Cardiff City's goal of the month.
— Nigel Harris (@NigelBlues) September 28, 2024
Cardiff actually opened the scoring through Callum Robinson after 18 minutes but fell apart thereafter.
Man of the match Bachir Belloumi equalised four minutes later with his first goal for Hull before adding a fine second after 35 minutes.
Any hope of a Cardiff revival under interim coach Omer Riza disappeared after the restart when Oscar Zambrano’s deflected hit squirmed into the bottom-left corner.
Chris Bedia’s stoppage-time penalty, after Perry Ng fouled Abu Kamara, confirmed a Hull rout.
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Riza added: “We approached the game in a positive way. We wanted bodies in advanced positions, and we wanted to be creative.
“I don’t think it was a 4-1 game – there was a really aggressive approach to our attacking and defensive play – but it was.
“But the details of when it counted, we faltered, and that’s something we can only work on over time.
Hull City were celebrating their 120th birthday and Cardiff turned out to be perfectly behaved guests who didn’t threaten the celebrations.
Hull boss Tim Walter said:“We tried to show that we can win, especially at home and especially on a big birthday.
“We tried to celebrate together with our fans and we showed we can win together and we want to do it even more.
“It was a good game. We had great moments in the offence, but we also had a few moments in defence where we can press and defend better. We tried to create chances and play forward.
“We showed our mentality after conceding the first goal, after last week [against Stoke] we did it again which is really brilliant and showed everyone that we have a good mentality and the players really trust in our philosophy.”
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