Cardiff City

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Wales striker Mark Harris could be facing former club Cardiff City next year – if he keeps up his prolific form.

Harris, 25, spent six years with the Bluebirds before leaving on a free last summer.

He was snapped up by League One Oxford, with the five-cap international playing a major role in their push for promotion.

The U’s are in the final play-off spot before Tuesday night’s game with top-six hopefuls Lincoln, with Harris having scored five goals in his last three games.

The Swansea-born forward – who has also had loan spells at Welsh clubs Wrexham and Newport – made 95 appearances for Cardiff after turning pro in 2017.

He struggled to hold down a starting spot and, despite former manager Sabri Lamouchi suggesting he wanted to keep the lively frontman, he departed at the end of his deal.

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He had already hit 13 goals for Oxford before his recent run for the side also containing former Cardiff defender Ciaron Brown and another ex-Bluebird, Josh Murphy.

But he has discovered a purple patch of form at just the right time with two goals in each of the 4-0 wins over Fleetwood and Burton and the opener in last Saturday’s 5-0 demolition of fourth-placed Peterborough. Murphy and former Wales Under-21 international Billy Bodin were also on the scoresheet.

Harris, who travelled to Qatar as part of Robert Page’s Wales squad for the 2022 World Cup, could yet be lining up against the Bluebirds next season if Oxford can carry on their form into the play-offs and secure second-tier football for the first time since 1999.

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Cardiff City could be without new defender Ryotaro Tsunoda for the start of the 2024-25 season after the defender underwent surgery.

The Japanese centre-back signed for the Bluebirds in the January transfer window before immediately joining Belgian side KV Kortrijk on loan.

Tsunoda, 24, impressed in nine appearances for the Pro League team, but suffered a hamstring injury during their 1-0 win over defending champions Anderlecht last month.

The club confirmed, external the former Yokohama Marinos player had required an operation for the problem, saying the procedure was similar to the one that kept Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne sidelined for four months.

It means the Under-20 international faces a race to try and return fit for Cardiff in time to kick-off the new Championship season.

Tsunoda had been part of the Marinos side that qualified for the knock-out stages of the AFC Champions League and was called into the Japan squad earlier in the season only to miss out on a cap through injury.

This latest setback prematurely ends Tsunoda’s time at Kortrijk who are currently in the middle of a relegation play-off campaign to try and preserve their top tier status.

The club have close ties to Cardiff having previously been owned by Cardiff backer Vincent Tan and also have striker Isaak Davies on loan.

Davies had described Tsunoda’s displays as brilliant, although has been in eye-catching form himself having scored three goals in his past three games. The former Wales Under-21 international now has 10 for the season with three games remaining.

The 22-year-old is set to return to south Wales at the end of the Belgian season, telling BBC Radio Wales Sport earlier this term the move was "the best thing I could have done".

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Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut says striker Callum Robinson and defender Mahlon Romeo will return to the squad for the game against Southampton on Saturday.

The duo missed the games against Birmingham City and Millwall after being disciplined by the club for an "internal" issue.

Bulut had suggested Romeo would be involved against his former club Millwall, but opted against it after the full back suffered "problems" at the Den in the past.

Romeo joined the Bluebirds from Millwall in 2022, and was targeted by home fans when he returned there a few months later.

Bulut added he'd have a "small talk" with Robinson, who's made 22 Championship appearances in this campaign, scoring one goal.

Since the turn of the year, injuries have restricted him to a cup start at Sheffield Wednesday and a substitute appearance in the league against Sunderland.

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Here are the Opta stats ahead of tonight's Championship match between Birmingham City and Cardiff City.

• Birmingham City have won just one of their last 10 league meetings with Cardiff City (D3 L6) though that sole win did come in the reverse fixture this season (1-0).

• Cardiff City are unbeaten across their last four away league games against Birmingham City (W2 D2) whilst also scoring two or more goals in each of the last three, including a 2-0 victory in this fixture last season.

• Each of Birmingham’s last six league games at St Andrew’s have been decided by a one-goal margin (W3 L3), with the Blues beating Preston 1-0 in their most recent such game there.

• Cardiff have won four of their last six away league games in midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), though have lost two of their last three such games.

• Five of Cardiff’s last eight Championship goals away from home have come from corners, while 10 of their 22 overall on the road in the competition in 2023-24 have come that way (45%).

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Erol Bulut’s Cardiff City future should have been sorted out midway through the season, according to former Bluebirds striker Ian Walsh.

Bulut sees his contract expire at the end of the season having been named Cardiff boss on a one-year deal last summer.

His team are destined for a mid-table Championship finish, which represents significant progress following last season’s scrape with relegation, although Cardiff have faced some criticism from fans over their playing style as well as a lack of consistency.

As yet there is no clarity yet on whether owner Vincent Tan will ask Bulut to lead Cardiff in the 2024-25 campaign.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales’ Call Rob programme, ex-Wales international Walsh criticised Cardiff’s failure to hand Bulut a new deal.

“How can you run a professional organisation and be in this situation where you have got a manager who has got to 56 points?” Walsh said.

“Five games to go, let’s say they just get four points – it’s 60 points in a season where nobody expected anything from them.

“This should have been sorted out in January. Irrespective of whether you feel Bulut is the man for the job – and I know fans are saying he is not up to it – he has achieved things at Cardiff City that a lot of people thought were never going to happen this season.

“Yes it’s been fluctuating but overall you have to make a decision for the manager and for the players.

“Where is the club going? The fans have got to stand up now and demand something from Vincent Tan.”

Rob Phillips
BBC Sport Wales football correspondent

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They are the issues at the heart of the debate over manager Erol Bulut’s future at Cardiff City.

Yes, progress has been made under the former Fenerbahce boss. But for some fans the football is, well, boring.

So should substance triumph over style? Or may be it is not quite as simple as that anyway.

This is Cardiff City after all.

The debate was brought into sharp focus last weekend as the Cardiff City Supporters' Trust issued a statement demanding the Bluebirds make a decision over whether to renew Bulut’s contract this summer after his first season at the helm.

Bulut’s team then gave a passive performance and were beaten 3-1 by visitors Hull City, to virtually extinguish already slim hopes of claiming a play-off place.

Going into Wednesday’s game at Birmingham, Cardiff are 11th in the table on 56 points with five matches remaining this season - and even a mid-table finish would be an improvement on recent campaigns.

This time a year ago, Cardiff fans were sweating on Championship survival. Their team failed to reach 50 points and their cause was helped significantly by a points deduction for Reading, who ended up going down.

In 2022, Cardiff hit the 50-point mark – but only in their penultimate game of the campaign.

This season they could still surpass their 2021 tally of 68 points, when they finished eighth.

So the progress under Bulut is palpable. Admittedly that was not a high bar after the past two seasons, but Cardiff fans will be happy not to have had relegation concerns this term.

And Bulut could point to problems he has overcome, such as a greatly restricted contribution from star summer signing Aaron Ramsey and limited spending in January – the first window following the lifting of an embargo which had prevented Cardiff paying fees for players.

Yet not all are convinced by Bulut’s style.

Passive - a word Bulut used to describe the first-half show against Hull - slow, negative and boring are the common criticisms.

See also Nathan Blake’s “front foot” comments on these pages.

Though it matters not how goals are scored, Cardiff have the lowest number of goals from open play in the Championship (20) and while they are regarded as a counter-attacking team, they have yet to score on the counter this season.

That said they are top of the table for goals from set-pieces (19), and nobody complained too much when Neil Warnock steered Cardiff to promotion in 2018 with a side who had the joint highest number of goals from set-piece situations (21).

Undoubtedly the lack of a prolific striker is a problem, but then only Preston and relegated Rotherham have a lower shots per game ratio, so how many chances would any forward get?

Is the Bulut approach a work in progress? Could this season's style develop expansively with better players on board?

Or is this his chosen approach to succeeding?

What is it about lies, damned lies and statistics?

All these elements make for a passionate debate among a loyal supporter base on BBC Radio Wales' Call Rob programme as well as lively fans' forums.

Such is the way Cardiff are run, the opinions are unlikely to influence the only man who will make the decision on Bulut's future – owner Vincent Tan.

Will he recognise the clear progress? Or will his well-documented desire for players – including goalkeepers – to have shots on goal sway his thinking?

There is no doubt chairman Mehmet Dalman is backing Bulut, having led the quest for his signature last year.

Dalman will be keen for Bulut to have his contract extended and continue to build on the development there has been this season.

If Bulut is staying, it would be fair on him and his family to be told now.

The uncertainty is dominating the agenda, not helping the club at present or in future planning.

Of course, it's possible the debate will count for nothing. At the end of the season Bulut could decide to walk.

His reputation is such that he would have little trouble in finding another post.

If there is a parting of the ways, the Bluebirds' managerial merry-go-round would stir into action again – with Cardiff looking for their sixth 'permanent' manager in three years.

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Former Cardiff City striker Nathan Blake says fans want to see the Bluebirds playing on the front foot.

Cardiff have made progress this season under Erol Bulut, with the club destined for a mid-table Championship finish after last year’s relegation near-miss.

Nevertheless, Bulut’s team have at times faced criticism from supporters for their tactical approach.

Bulut’s future in Wales remains uncertain, with his contract set to expire this summer, and Blake has suggested the former Fenerbahce boss could – at times – look to take a more positive approach.

“The manager is saying the team was too passive,” Blake told BBC Radio Wales Sport in the wake of Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Hull City.

“At no point did I see him freaking out and telling people to squeeze, press or get up the pitch.

“How they set up is clearly how they have been training all week.

“You will get away with it here or there [with the fans], or if they think they are coming up against a team who are flying at the top of the league and this is the way they can beat them. It’s acceptable [in that situation].

“But on the whole they want to see you on the front foot, not the back foot.

“As the manager, you are not responsible for players’ desire and commitment, but how you set up and how you ask the team to play will allow your team to be super aggressive, pressing the ball, or if you say to them sit deep, two banks of four and frontmen drop in as well [it will be different].

“I don’t see progression in the way Cardiff are playing.”

Hull was a third defeat in four matches for Bulut’s men, who return to action at relegation-threatened Birmingham City on Wednesday.

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Cardiff City fear they could be without on-loan Manchester City defender Josh Wilson-Esbrand for the rest of the season.

Wilson-Esbrand is due to undergo a scan on a hamstring injury which forced him off during Saturday's 3-1 Championship home defeat by Hull City.

The 21-year-old had come on as a second-half substitute but lasted only 18 minutes before pulling up.

Wilson-Esbrand, who was on loan at French club Reims before switching to Cardiff in January, has made eight starts and three substitute appearances for the Bluebirds.

If the injury is significant - as Cardiff fear - then the England Under-21 international may miss the remaining five matches of the season.

Cardiff travel to relegation-threatened Birmingham City on Wednesday night, where they could again be without Wales midfielder Rubin Colwill.

Their injury list also includes striker Kion Etete and midfielder Ryan Wintle, who both missed the Hull defeat, as did Republic of Ireland international Callum O'Dowda.

Cardiff will go to St Andrew's looking to improve on a run of three defeats in the last four games, a run which has left them 11th in the table.

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Manager Erol Bulut bemoaned Cardiff City's lack of consistency after they slumped to another home defeat against Hull City.

Saturday's loss was a third in four Championship games, leaving the Bluebirds 11th in the Championship table.

They had won at promotion contenders Coventry City on Easter Monday but, with defeats at home to Sunderland and Hull either side of that notable victory, Cardiff have shown themselves to be frustratingly inconsistent.

The Hull result also means Cardiff have lost as many games, nine, as they have won at home this season.

“This is the Championship, first of all. Anything can happen," said Bulut.

“We have this all season. We’ve been really good for three, four or five games then we have a break and don’t have the consistency.

“This is our biggest point about the team when we think about next year. We have to manage the players and the players must manage themselves to be consistent.

“There have been too many ups and downs during the season. You can see then you cannot push to the higher level, you’re only in mid table.”

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The Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust has expressed concerns about "growing uncertainty" over the future of manager Erol Bulut.

Bulut, whose one-year contract expires at the end of this season, has repeatedly stated his desire to extend his stay at Cardiff - but the club have not yet offered him a new deal.

In a statement on Saturday, the Supporters' Trust's board said: “We are reliably informed that the decision on who shall be the club’s manager for the 2024-25 season, and on what terms, has been solely in the hands of club owner Vincent Tan for some time.

“The Trust Board understands that as of today he has not made a decision on whether or not a new contract should be offered to the current manager Erol Bulut or the search should begin for a new manager.

“We strongly urge the owner to make that decision as speedily as possible to remove growing uncertainties and disquiet amongst fans about the matter.

"Cardiff City fans deserve certainty, given that at this time they are being asked to renew their season tickets or become new season ticket holders.”

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Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut says they will be without Rubin Colwill and Callum O'Dowda for Saturday's game against Hull City.

The Bluebirds go into the match at Cardiff City Stadium in 11th in the Championship, one place and two points below the visitors.

Cardiff should, however, have Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey available for selection, though Bulut said he will not start on Saturday.

"After the last game I was saying the injury was not that big, but he [Colwill] will be out for the next two games with the ankle injury," said Bulut.

"We have Callum O'Dowda injured as well, he won't be with us this weekend.

"It’s a hamstring injury from the last game, but he might only be out of Saturday’s game

"[Aaron Ramsey] trained with us with no problems today and we will hopefully have him with us, but not to start."

Cardiff, like Hull, are not mathematically out of the race for a play-off place, but either side would likely have to win all their remaining games for an outside chance.

The Bluebirds are currently eight points behind Norwich in sixth place, with six games remaining in the Championship this season.