Cardiff City will hope to conclude their long-running hunt for a permanent successor to Omer Riza this week, with Des Buckingham a strong contender to become Vincent Tan’s newest managerial recruit in the Welsh capital.
Remarkably, it has now been more than seven weeks since Riza was relieved of his duties with three matches remaining in the 2024/25 Championship season, which ultimately resulted in relegation for the Bluebirds as Aaron Ramsey found himself with too little time to inspire a turnaround in fortunes after taking over as caretaker.
As is the normal course of relegation to League One, a massive rebuilding process awaits Cardiff this summer, which they must begin in earnest.
However, their protracted search for a new manager ahead of the club’s first third-tier season in more than 20 years is still ongoing, and it is causing real frustration among supporters, who have grown increasingly dissatisfied with controversial owner Vincent Tan, as well as Mehmet Dalman [chairman] and Ken Choo [chief executive].
Several names have been floated as potential successors. Last month, Football League World exclusively revealed that both Buckingham and former Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt were set to be interviewed for the role, while Brian Barry-Murphy has also been linked, and Cardiff fell short in a punchy and well-publicized pursuit of Nathan Jones, who, despite his boyhood allegiances to the club, ultimately decided to sign a fresh five-year contract with Charlton Athletic after taking them back to the Championship via.
Ramsey, meanwhile, had been a genuine contender to accept the role full-time, with reports last week indicating that the Welsh international skipper was the front-runner.
However, Ramsey is likely to seal a stunning move to Mexican top-flight club Pumas UNAM before his contract with Cardiff expires later this month.
However, Buckingham, who has risen to the top of the bookmakers’ odds following news of Ramsey’s planned move across the Atlantic, is expected to stay in the running and is surely one to watch this week as Cardiff look to ultimately install a new manager in charge.
Don Goodman issues Des Buckingham warning involving Vincent Tan, Cardiff City sack factor
Buckingham, of course, led Oxford to promotion from League One last year and is known for employing an attacking possession-based style of play, while his experience working for the City Group conglomerate represents the type of progressive and modern head coach who could provide the Bluebirds with rare long-term managerial consistency.
Cardiff’s management churn is well-documented, and Buckingham may be the club’s ninth permanent hire since the beginning of 2021. Tan is known to be impulsive and unafraid to act when things go wrong, and Sky Sports analyst Don Goodman has warned Buckingham about this.
Although Goodman believes Buckingham’s promotion-winning record at this level would make him a “reasonably-wise” option for the club, he has remarked that Tan’s managerial churn and proclivity for sackings may mean the job comes with a “little bit of a warning sign”.
| Cardiff City’s permanent managers under Vincent Tan | ||||||
| Manager | Years in charge | Games managed | W | D | L | Win percentage % |
| Dave Jones | 2005-2011 | 315 | 132 | 84 | 99 | 41.90 |
| Malky Mackay | 2011-2013 | 125 | 54 | 37 | 34 | 43.20 |
| Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 2014 | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 30.00 |
| Russell Slade | 2014-2016 | 86 | 32 | 27 | 27 | 37.21 |
| Paul Trollope | 2016 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 16.67 |
| Neil Warnock | 2016-2019 | 144 | 59 | 29 | 56 | 40.97 |
| Neil Harris | 2019-2021 | 62 | 24 | 17 | 21 | 38.71 |
| Mick McCarthy | 2021 | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 36.84 |
| Steve Morison | 2021-2022 | 45 | 16 | 8 | 21 | 35.56 |
| Mark Hudson | 2022-2023 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 22.22 |
| Sabri Lamouchi | 2023 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 19 | 33.33 |
| Erol Bulut | 2023-2024 | 58 | 21 | 7 | 30 | 36.21 |
| Omer Riza | 2024-2025 | 40 | ||||
If appointed, Goodman has suggested that the 40-year-old must have a solid start to next season; else, Tan may be prepared to act quickly.
“I think Des Buckingham appears to be the favourite for the Cardiff City job,” Goodman told FLW.
“With Aaron Ramsey leaving to Mexico, Buckingham practically has a free run at it.
“I believe he would be a reasonable option given his experience in League One with Oxford, where he helped them win promotion back to the Championship.
“But obviously, from his standpoint, it will come with a warning message that it must go well or he will be out very, very quickly.
A good start would have to be the order of the day under their ownership, given that they have no trouble firing managers.”
There will be great anticipation at Cardiff City in League One.
The Cardiff position is well-known for putting a lot of pressure and expectation on both internal and external stakeholders.
Cardiff’s key decision-makers will undoubtedly demand promotion at the first attempt from whoever succeeds Riza, whether Buckingham or another candidate, while the standing and stature of Wales’ capital club, which competed in the Premier League only six years ago, adds a natural weight of pressure.
At this point, fans are realistic enough to understand how much work needs to be done behind the scenes to make promotion a reality, but Buckingham’s credentials in the third tier may make him the best remaining option to try and fulfil that ambition on the first try.
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