Rinomhota - from Cardiff outcast to starring role

Andy Rinomhota joined Cardiff City from Reading in 2022

Andy Rinomhota's Cardiff City career seemed to be over at the start of this season.

With just one league start since then-manager Erol Bulut's appointment in 2023, Rinomhota had been pushed firmly to the periphery.

Now, with the resurgent Bluebirds turning a corner in their bid for Championship survival, it is difficult to imagine current boss Omer Riza selecting a team without Rinomhota in it.

The 27-year-old's revival is all the more remarkable because he has re-established himself in an unfamiliar position, switching from central midfield to right-back.

And Rinomhota has performed so well in his new role that he has made the position his own, at the expense of Cardiff's player of the season for the previous two campaigns, Perry Ng.

Ng had to make do with a place on the bench when he first returned from injury and, even since reclaiming his starting place, it his him – not Rinomhota – who has been shifted over to left-back.

Rinomhota is now a pivotal part of a Cardiff team enjoying an eight-match unbeaten run – a far cry from the second half of last season when he was sent out on loan to Rotherham United.

"When Erol came in last season, it looked like I wasn't going to be getting a chance, and I didn't. That's exactly how it was," the Zimbabwe international says.

"I wanted to play as many games as I could so I had to go out on loan. I got games there, came back in and it still seemed like a similar situation. So I was thinking, do I go out on loan again? I just wanted to play football.

"I ended up staying and now, under Riz [Riza], I've managed to work myself back into the team and managed to keep a place there now. So I'm happy at the minute."

Whereas Bulut did not see Rinomhota as a part of his plans, Riza demonstrated his faith in the player as soon as he took the reins, initially as interim manager, by restoring him to the matchday squad for his first game in charge last September.

After featuring as a substitute midfielder as Cardiff picked up their first wins of the season in the autumn, Rinomhota's breakthrough moment came in November's 2-1 victory over Norwich when he made his first league start for the Bluebirds since January 2024 – and in unfamiliar territory at right-back.

"This is the longest run I've had in the position. I've had odd games here and there, maybe just filling in for players," Rinomhota says.

"That's how this one started, filling in for Perry, and I've taken to it. At the start it felt a bit unfamiliar but I've adapted to it well. I'm happy to be playing no matter what position it is."

Rinomhota's transition has been impressively smooth, applying many of the attributes he honed as a midfielder to his new role.

He is comfortable in possession and helps Cardiff build play from the back, while his athleticism allows him to make surging runs forward as well as cover defensively.

It is a move others have made at the highest echelons of the game. Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold played much of his youth football in midfield before establishing himself at right-back, though he has also played for England as a midfielder. Others, such as Bayern Munich and Germany great Philipp Lahm, enjoyed success by switching from full-back to midfield.

Rinomhota laughs modestly at the mention of those stellar talents, but he offers an interesting insight into the technical similarities and differences between the two positions.

"Going from midfield to right-back, in midfield you always have to be checking your shoulder because everything can be happening all around you, whereas at right-back almost everything is in front of you," says Rinomhota.

"So it's a little bit easier in that sense, then the awareness you've already got from midfield helps. You know what to expect from all other areas because midfielders cover a lot, so I think that has helped.

"And being a more defensive midfielder, those defensive capabilities have shone through. I have better games against better teams with better wingers because that's when I have to be up against them in one-v-ones, so that's more when I actually stand out."