By Graham Thomas
The Omer Riza Era Part Two begins on Saturday when Cardiff City – late to most parties, including their own – host Watford.
It will be Riza’s first match since he was confirmed as the club’s new permanent manager.
The use of the word “permanent” here should really require as asterisk since Riza – in interim charge since September – has been given a six-month contract until the end of the season.
As a show faith, it’s rather like one of those celebrity pre-nups. Till death us do part and all that but, hey, let’s be realistic here.
What the club’s treatment of Riza – a decent man and capable coach – highlights is the sense of drift at Cardiff, of decisions being swerved and uncertainty prevailing.
When Riza took over, Cardiff had taken one point from their first six matches under Erol Bulut.
With Riza, they lost their first game but then took 14 points from the next six matches – the type of form that if extended over a season would lead to promotion.
That was the moment – seven games in – at which the club should have declared the interim would stay in charge until the end of the season.
But with every question about his future came doubt and confusion, every query producing nothing more than a realisation of just how powerless he was.
Inevitably, that murkiness seeped into the playing side, to such an extent that the last five matches have produced just two points.
In effect, owner Vincent Tan has wasted five games – either through doubts over Riza, or through trying to persuade another manager who did not materialise.
Either way, it has stalled the momentum and leaves Riza in a position of having to try and get a second wind.
At least his press conference on Thursday showed he is certainly up a for the fight. He knows he has his doubters and was willing to take them on.
In fact, he is happy to use their misgivings as fuel to fire his determination.
“I want to apologise to a certain extent to those who feel that I’m not ready for the position,” said the 45-year-old Londoner.
“That comes with respect. You have to gain respect and you have to gain the belief from people as to whether they think you’re good enough or not.
“I’m prepared to do that. I’m prepared to work hard, I’m prepared to show that I work hard with my team, and with my staff, to make sure that we put in the best performances possible for the club.
“So, that is the first thing I wanted to address and let people know that I’m not disappointed at the fact that some people may feel that way.
“I am relatively inexperienced if you like, if people want to call me that. But I know that I’m ready and I’ve said that from day one.”
Riza does have a coaching background that stands up to inspection. He has worked at Watford, in their academy and then with the club’s U23 side, before stepping up as assistant to Valerien Ismael before the former manager was sacked.
Riza has also coached England age group teams at U16 and U17 level – the same kind of route taken by Welsh coach Steve Cooper, before he caught a break with Swansea City.
Whether Riza can continue to rise through the ranks, as Cooper did, remains to be seen, but if he keeps Cardiff above the relegation zone come May, then that should be measured as success, given where they were when Bulut departed.
He says: “I have not been given any specific targets. We have to finish as high up the table as we possibly can and try to win every game.
“But I firmly believe that the way we’re working, with maybe a couple of additions, I think we can pick up a lot more points and we can keep climbing up the table.”
