Under-fire Cardiff boss Bulut will 'never give up'

Erol Bulut joined Cardiff City as boss in the summer of 2023

Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut gave an impassioned defence of his tenure as he vowed to “never give up” after overseeing the club's worst start to a season for 35 years.

Cardiff are bottom of the Championship having lost four and drawn one of their five matches, scoring just one goal in the process.

Bulut signed a two-year contract in June but could face an uncertain future if results do not improve, given that Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan has gone through 11 permanent managers during his 14 years at the club.

"It's normal that I have pressure when you don't have the results we are expecting - what the board and the fans are expecting - but I can live with this," he said.

"With them [Cardiff hierarchy] I don't have a problem. Now we have to speak about being together, fighting together, getting results.

"When someone has to pay for something, I have to pay, I have no problem with that. But I take the responsibility for everything."

Asked if he expects to remain in charge if Cardiff lose again at home to Leeds United on Saturday, Bulut said: "This answer I cannot give because I don't know it.

"I will never give up until the end. This is my character. Who wants to be with me in this boat? We are together. I won't jump out of the boat."

The pressure seemed to be getting to Bulut following Cardiff's most recent defeat at Derby County last Saturday as he refused to do interviews after the 1-0 loss at Pride Park.

Bulut was banned from the touchline at Derby following his red card at Swansea City last month. Although that suspension did not preclude him from doing interviews at Pride Park, Bulut handed his media duties over to assistant coach Omer Riza.

This disappointing start to Bulut's second season comes after the former Fenerbahce boss had overseen a big improvement in his first campaign.

Before Bulut's arrival, Cardiff had endured two successive battles to avoid relegation but, with the ex-Turkey Under-21 international at the helm, they finished a comfortable 12th in the Championship table.

In doing so, Bulut became the first Bluebirds manager to last a whole season since Neil Warnock oversaw the 2018-19 term, which ended with relegation from the Premier League.

This season, however, has seen the Bluebirds revert to the kind of results and performances which saw them struggle in previous campaigns.

"It's the first time in my career I've had a start like this," said Bulut.

"What I don't like also, if media or social media are writing about something to criticise me or my work, this I don't like. Because it's not true.

"You have to be honest. When everything goes well, everything is fine; when you have a few losses, no-one is next to you. This is not something new. At least now I can see who is really next to us and who is not next to us. This is the point. Now I see real fans and real people who are next to us.

"When we are winning, everyone is next to us. When we are losing as a team, then who is next to us? When I see stupid things on social media about my players or myself, I don't need that. If you are with us or with Cardiff City, you have to be with us until we die."