Cardiff City

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Cardiff City boss Erol Bulut has added to the tributes to former Bluebirds star Sol Bamba.

The Ivory Coast defender, who had been working as technical director at Adanaspor in Turkey, died a fortnight ago, at the age of just 39.

Derby County and Cardiff will honour Bamba before the two sides meet in a Championship encounter at Pride Park on Saturday, while players on both sides will wear black armbands.

Bamba is a former Cardiff captain and had a spell training with Derby in 2016.

Bulut's time in Wales did not coincide with Bamba’s but the Cardiff manager said: “I know him as a player from Trabzonspor, I met him also last season when we started.

“Great guy, great character and I met him a few times. We talked a little bit. A really, really good person. As a player [he] was also a great one.”

He added: “Of course, for Cardiff City fans he's one of the best players. He was very good with the fanbase.

"When I read about that, I got a shock. I thought something was wrong so I was calling a few friends I know in Turkey.

“He was 39 years old. It comes too quick. It hurts. It hurts.”

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Had things worked out differently, Nat Phillips would have been in the away dressing room at Pride Park this Saturday.

Phillips impressed while on loan at Cardiff in the second half of last season, making 18 appearances – and scoring once – after joining from Liverpool in January.

After that successful spell, the Bluebirds were keen to re-sign Phillips for the 2024-25 campaign, but they will instead find themselves lining up against the centre-back this weekend.

Cardiff ultimately looked elsewhere in their search for defensive reinforcements, with Calum Chambers signing from Aston Villa, Jesper Daland arriving from Cercle Brugge and Will Fish joining from Manchester United.

Phillips, meanwhile, was linked with a permanent move to Turkish club Trabzonspor, who reportedly saw a £4m offer for the 27-year-old turned down by Liverpool.

After a summer of uncertainty, he ended up leaving Anfield on loan once again, with a move to Derby County completed on deadline day.

He will be available to Rams boss Paul Warne for the first time when Cardiff visit this weekend.

Ebou Adams is also set to feature against his old club after completing a permanent move from Cardiff to Derby over the summer, while Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Curtis Nelson could also face their former employers.

Gambia midfielder Adams and wide player Mendez-Laing, of Guatemala, have both been declared fit to feature by Derby boss Paul Warne having been away during the international break.

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Manager Erol Bulut says he will watch Saturday’s Championship match away to Derby County “like a fan”.

Bulut was handed a one-match touchline ban after an incident in Cardiff’s 1-1 Championship draw at Swansea City last month.

He has called the ban “unfair” but has to comply.

Bulut said: “I will be in the directors' box. Like a fan I will watch the game, thanks to referees.”

Asked about the punishment, Bulut said: “I think it was unfair that I got a red card without doing anything. I didn't touch anybody, I didn't say any bad words against anybody.

“I get touched and pulled, nobody from the opposition gets punished... the rules have maybe changed - you don’t touch anybody you get a red card, if you touch anybody you get nothing.”

Bulut said he submitted his views to the Football Association but had not expected to escape punishment.

However, the Cardiff manager is allowed to remain in contact with his coaches on the touchline.

In his absence last season, his long-time assistant Nicholaos Karydas took the helm in the technical area.

After the Swansea game, Bulut's media duties were covered by former Watford coach Omer Riza, who has been part of Bulut's staff since the summer.

Bulut said: “We will all be together on the phone. So I will try to help my guys from the directors' box.”

Bulut says watching from the directors’ box means he will have to refrain from his usual animated approach when on the touchline.

He said: “I'm a person who is always active. I have to control myself for sure [in the stands].”

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Cardiff City’s midfield have put in some work over the international break, with Manolis Siopis joining Aaron Ramsey in playing twice for his country.

Having played 25 minutes as a substitute in Greece’s 3-0 win over Finland last Saturday, Siopis racked up another 88 minutes of game time as the Greeks won 2-0 against the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday.

Ramsey has had more recovery time ahead of Cardiff’s Championship trip to Derby County on Saturday, as Wales’ second game of the international break was in Montenegro on Monday.

The 33-year-old played only the final 10 minutes in Niksic, having lasted 72 minutes in the draw with Turkey last Friday.

Andy Rinomhota, who is yet to feature in the league this season but has made two EFL Cup appearances for Cardiff, played throughout two AFCON qualifiers for Zimbabwe – goalless draws with Kenya and Cameroon.

For the remainder of Cardiff’s international contingent, there was plenty of travelling but not much game time.

Callum Robinson played only six minutes of the Republic of Ireland’s defeat to Greece, while Callum O’Dowda sat on the bench throughout. Both players were unused substitutes in the loss to England last weekend.

USA goalkeeper Ethan Horvath went to Kansas, for a 2-1 loss to Canada, and then Ohio, where the Americans drew 1-1 with New Zealand, but did not make it off the bench in either friendly.

Rubin Colwill saw no action with Wales, while Jesper Daland did not feature for Norway after suffering an ankle injury.

Perry Ng has also been away, with Singapore, though that was only to take part in a training camp.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Derby County and Cardiff City will stage a minute of applause before Saturday’s Championship match to pay tribute to former Bluebirds captain Sol Bamba.

Bamba, who had been working as technical director at Adanaspor in Turkey, died last week at the age of 39.

Bamba had a spell training with Derby in 2016 and both clubs will wear black armbands as a mark of respect, with the minute of applause preceding kick-off.

The former Cardiff, Leeds United and Hibernian defender overcame non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021 but died last month in Turkey after being admitted to hospital.

The Ivory Coast defender - who also had spells with clubs including Leicester City, Middlesbrough and Dunfermline Athletic - won promotion with Cardiff in the 2017-18 season.

Image source, Huw Evans Agency

Former Cardiff City defender Greg Halford has switched clubs again.

Halford, now 39, has joined Blyth Spartans, meaning he has now chalked up more than 20 moves in his long career.

The Chelmsford-born player had an 18-month spell at Cardiff City, joining in January 2017.

Halford was part of Neil Warnock’s outfit which gained promotion to the Premier League in 2018.

He left the club after his contract expired that summer having 33 appearances and scored one goal.

Halford began his professional career at Colchester United, making his debut in April 2003.

His versatility – he has operated as a right-back, centre-back, in midfield and even as a striker – has ensured he has attracted £7m of transfer fees during his nomadic football existence.

There were notable moves to Reading, Sunderland and Wolves, while he also played more than 70 league games for Nottingham Forest.

His football journey has taken him from step one to step seven in the FA pyramid and to Aberdeen in Scotland and Waterford in Ireland.

After dropping out of the EFL, he helped Hashtag United win the Isthmian League Northern Division.

Now he will look to add to his 500-plus career appearances with Northern Premier League club Blyth.

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Former Cardiff City winger Sheyi Ojo has joined Slovenian side Maribor.

Ojo, 27, had been without a club after being released by the Bluebirds over the summer.

The former Liverpool youngster made what proved to be his final Cardiff appearance in August 2023, before being sent on loan to Belgian club Kortrijk for the majority of last season.

Ojo made 40 appearances in 2022-23 after joining Cardiff for a second time in July 2022, but fell out of favour under Erol Bulut.

He had previously made 42 appearances for Cardiff during a loan spell in 2020-21.

Ojo has signed a two-year deal with Maribor, who finished second in the Slovenian top flight last season.

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Cardiff City new boy Jesper Daland will have to wait for his chance of a first Norway cap after injury seems to have seen him withdraw from international duty.

Centre-back Daland, a late transfer window signing from Belgian side Cercle Brugge, was called into Norway’s squad for their Nations League games with Kazakhstan and Austria.

But he was not named in the matchday squad for the 0-0 draw in Almaty, and is again missing from the selection to face Austria, with reports suggesting he pulled out of international duty through injury.

The 24-year-old suffered an ankle problem in Cardiff’s 2-0 defeat by Middlesbrough last Saturday, although manager Erol Bulut stressed it was “not a big injury”.

An Under-21 international, Daland is yet to make his senior bow alongside the likes of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard.

Bulut will hope Daland will be available for Saturday’s return to Championship action against Derby.

Cardiff have nine players on international duty, including defender Perry NG who completed a training camp with Singapore as he seeks to earn citizenship.

Prior to Monday night’s match in Montenegro, Aaron Ramsey played 72 minutes’ of Wales’ 0-0 draw with Turkey while Rubin Colwill was an unused substitute.

Neither Callum O’Dowda nor Callum Robinson made it off the bench in Dublin as the Republic of Ireland lost 2-0 to England, though could feature against Greece tomorrow night, for whom Manolis Siopis played 26 minutes as a second-half substitute in their 3-0 win over Finland.

Evan Horvath did not add to his 10 caps for the United States, remaining on the bench as they lost to Canada for the first time since 1957 before Wednesday’s friendly with New Zealand.

Meanwhile, midfielder Andy Rinomhota played 90 minutes as Zimbabwe drew their AFCON qualifier in Kenya, with a fixture against Cameroon coming up on Tuesday.

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Cardiff City have reached the first international break of 2024-25 after what has been a disappointing start to the season.

Erol Bulut’s side began the campaign with some optimism thanks to the progress made last term and a clutch of new signings.

Yet after four league games, Cardiff are bottom of the early-season Championship table with only one point on the board and 10 league goals conceded.

The point came, of course, in the south Wales derby, when Callum Robinson struck what is to date the Bluebirds’ only league goal this term.

There have been defeats against Sunderland, Burnley and Middlesbrough, leaving Bulut’s men under pressure to deliver a result when they return to action after the international break at Derby County on 14 September.

We asked for your views on the season so far. Here are some of your responses.

Carter: Extremely disappointed with the start of this season. The way the team sets up and the style of play is awful. I'd be happy staying in the Championship with a young exciting team, with players from the academy giving everything they have for the badge. It cannot continue this way. A smart, affable man, with limited experience will never succeed.

Darren: Terrible start to the season. Players don't seem aware of system they are supposed to be playing and their natural game is stifled.

Owen: Undoubtedly a poor start to the season. Having said that, there are good players in the squad and there have been some passages of good play in the games so far. I think the system and formation needs a tweak - with two strikers in a 4-3-1-2, especially at home. There also seem to be issues with fitness and injuries for a few in the squad.

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Simon: We have been struggling since mid-last season, especially at home. The style, fluidity and quality of play is woefully bad. That is on Bulut. He should have gone at the end of last season - many fans agreed. But a small, vociferous group of fans and the local media seemed to be having a love-in with him and the club listened. This is the reward!

Tony: The manager needs to change his tactics. We do not press opposing teams and when results don’t go our way, Mr Bulut blames the players! Did he forget that he is the one picking the team? Another disappointing season ahead for the Bluebirds, unfortunately.

Lyndon: The most damning statistic is the one goal. We have been exposed by our failure to acquire a proven goalscorer. We don’t have anyone on the bench to worry our opponents and without a 15-20-goal striker, we are going to struggle

Benj: There’s no way around it, this is an awful, awful start. Having such a huge negative goal difference after four games is shocking. This doesn’t feel like we’ve made any progress since last season. It actually feels like we’ve gone backwards despite signing a few quality players. Bulut needs to change the team. Brutally, and quickly.

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Bluebird Noise: I think it’s time for a steady nerve. Looking beyond the results, we were the better team first half against Burnley, whose bench cost more than our entire squad. Two of our main strikers are injured for three months and Robinson who scored six in pre-season is also not fully fit.

John: Tactically very weak with very little pace or vision throughout the squad which is very worrying. We look very vulnerable on the break as teams seem to find it very easy to get behind us as we struggle to recover and offensively we are so slow and deliberate, teams find it easy to negate our attacks - a very worrying trend!

Gary: Bulut has to go. He’s had time and money to bring players and failed to sign a decent striker, the one position we needed. Ten [goals] against and one for is embarrassing. His tactics are woeful and his football hard to watch.

Rubes: We haven’t been able to score in open play for many seasons now. There is no creativity, no intelligent play. It’s so poor to watch. The manager is obviously to blame as it is nothing new. What has he been doing in the off-season?

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Manager Iain Darbyshire says Cardiff City Women can be “so proud” despite their heavy defeat to FC Twente in the Champions League first qualifying round.

The Bluebirds were beaten 7-0 by the Dutch champions in Enschede on Wednesday.

But Darbyshire insisted the Adran Premier champions could have done no more.

“I'm so proud of the players,” he told the club’s website.

“For 70 minutes, we were competing and we were in the game against a team that are one of the best in Europe.

“They played Ajax last weekend and beat them very comfortably and they're full time professionals, full of international talent.”

Cardiff have lost some key players this summer, with a number of younger players coming into the club as they prepare for the new Adran Premier season.

Darbyshire says his side are “in a good position” building up to the domestic campaign.

But before their league opener, at Wrexham on 15 September, Cardiff play a third-place game as part of a Champions League mini-tournament.

The Welsh side will face North Macedonia’s FK Ljuboten this Saturday.

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Midfielder Kieron Evans hopes his maiden goal for Newport County in the EFL Trophy will be the first of many at the League Two club.

The 22-year-old, who is on a season-long loan from Championship side Cardiff City, gave County a first-half lead at home to Cheltenham Town on Tuesday.

But the visitors came from behind to beat the Exiles, who had Jacob Carney sent off before half-time.

“It’s always nice to get off the mark early doors so hopefully now it’s going to come more often,” said Evans.

“If you watched the first half I thought we played really well, but second half we were up against it a bit.

“On Saturday [at Morecambe], I came on for 15 to 20 minutes and the gaffer (Nelson Jardim) has said ‘just go and express yourself, drive with the ball’, so that’s what I went out and did."

Evans says he is hungry to gain League Two experience after previous loan spells in the National League, with Torquay and Gateshead.

“I’m just excited to push myself at this level," he added.

"The gaffer and Daf (assistant boss Dafydd Williams) have been brilliant since I’ve come in and the way they play is brilliant.

"It’s exactly what I like to do, play on the floor, so it’ll suit me perfectly.”

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Nine Cardiff City players have been selected to represent their countries during the September international break.

Aaron Ramsey and Rubin Colwill are in the Wales squad for the Nations League games against Turkey and Montenegro.

Craig Bellamy has confirmed Bluebirds midfielder Ramsey will remain captain for the new Wales head coach's first games in charge.

Cardiff pair Callum O'Dowda and Callum Robinson have been included in the Republic of Ireland's 23-man squad for the upcoming Nations League matches against England and Greece.

They could face midfield team-mate Manolis Siopis who is in the Greece squad for the game against Ireland and also Finland.

Goalkeeper Ethan Horvath has joined up with the U.S national team to face Canada and New Zealand in two friendly matches.

New signing Jesper Daland is on duty with the Norway squad as they begin their Nations League campaign with a visit to Kazakhstan, before hosting Austria on Monday.

Andy Rinomhota has been included in the Zimbabwe squad for their upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Kenya and Cameroon.

And right-back Perry Ng has moved a step closer to playing for Singapore after training with their national squad this week.

Cardiff return to Championship action against Derby County on Saturday, 14 September.

It's not been the start to the Championship season Cardiff City fans were hoping for.

Four games in and just one point - and just one goal - to their names, the Bluebirds are spending the international break bottom of the table.

There were boos for manager Erol Bulut and the side after the weekend defeat by Middlesbrough that means - at this early stage - it's the worst start to a Cardiff league campaign since 1989.

And some of the guests on Call Rob Phillips didn't hold back either.

But how concerned are you about the signs so far from the Bluebirds? Is it just a matter of time before the team clicks with new signings still settling in?

Or are you worried that there is something lacking in the team?

What would you change in time for the trip to Derby a week on Saturday.

You can have your say by sending us your views here, external