Cardiff City

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Cardiff City interim manager Omer Riza remains in the dark about his chances of getting the job permanently.

The Bluebirds continued their resurgence under Riza with a creditable goalless draw at Championship promotion hopefuls West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

That was Cardiff’s third successive clean sheet and took the 44-year-old’s tally to 11 points from his six games in charge, after the Welsh side had picked up just one point from their first six games of the season under Erol Bulut.

Riza has made it clear he wants the job permanently but, despite regular telephone conversations with owner Vincent Tan, Riza has had no steer either way from the Cardiff board.

“It’s not something for me to answer anymore. It’s down to the board,” Riza told BBC Sport Wales.

“They’ll answer any questions regarding it. I’m just happy to be doing my job and hopefully doing it well and us showing what we can achieve. I think we’ve kickstarted that.”

Asked if he expects to be in charge when Cardiff host Norwich City next Saturday, Riza added: “I’d like to think I would be but I don’t know.”

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Rubin Colwill is ready to "reach for the stars" after proving he is willing to graft and produce consistent high-level displays for Cardiff City, says interim manager Omer Riza.

Wales international Colwill excelled in the wins over Plymouth Argyle and Portsmouth as the Bluebirds climbed out of the Championship's relegation zone.

It comes after the 22-year-old has consistently struggled to nail down a regular starting berth under a number of managers in the Welsh capital.

He came off the bench in the first four league matches of the campaign under Erol Bulut but has started all five of the Bluebirds' games under Riza so far.

And the interim boss feels Colwill's willingness to identify and learn from his weaknesses is starting to show on the pitch.

"He's hungry. He wants to improve and reach for the stars," said Riza.

"I think he can do that, he's got all of the attributes. He does need to do certain things to get to that, and he's starting to put those things in place.

"The danger with Rubin at times is, if he finds things too easy, he starts getting sloppy in certain areas, and he knows that.

"We'll continue to work on that, he's a young lad, if there's stuff he can't work on at his age, still, then we're not doing our jobs properly.

"You've seen him in the last five games, he's played all of them. Now it's about how much can he do."

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David Turnbull admits he finally feels like a Cardiff City player having been handed a prominent role under interim boss Omer Riza.

The midfielder joined the Bluebirds from Celtic in January and initially was a regular under Erol Bulut.

However, he has endured a tough start to the current campaign, with a combination of injury and non-selection seeing him play just once in six games under Bulut - who was sacked after a 2-0 defeat by Leeds United.

Turnbull featured as a substitute in Riza's first two matches as caretaker boss and has started the wins over Plymouth Argyle and Portsmouth.

The 25-year-old admits he is grateful to Riza for the faith the former Leyton Orient boss has shown in him.

"Even when I wasn't playing he kept me involved, the same with the other boys so he's been brilliant in that way," said Turnbull.

"In the past few games, I feel like a Cardiff player now. 

"I know I can play at this level, I know I can impact games and I think that's what you're starting to see and I just hope for many more to come."

Cardiff have picked up 10 points from their last four matches to climb out of the Championship's relegation zone.

Turnbull feels the clarity and methods offered by Riza have been pivotal in the Bluebirds' upturn in form.

"Since Riza has come in, he's given us a kind of style of football that the boys want to play, and he wants to play," he added.

"Everybody knows what they're doing, to a man, and it suits the boys. It's good football, good on the eye and it's working so far."

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Nathan Blake says Cardiff City's transformation under interim boss Omer Riza has been "huge".

The Bluebirds beat Portsmouth 2-0 on Tuesday courtesy of Callum Robinson's fourth goal of the season and an own goal from Wales international Regan Poole.

The win means Cardiff have collected 10 of the last 12 points on offer under Riza, who has stated he wants the job permanently following the sacking of Erol Bulut a month ago.

And former Cardiff striker Blake believes Riza has put himself in pole position to become Cardiff manager on a full-time basis.

“I think the transformation has been huge, why not give the job to Omer Riza," he told BBC Radio Wales.

"Sometimes you can be looking for something that’s right under your nose. People will say that he hasn’t got the experience, but unless he’s given an opportunity, you won’t know.

“On the back of these two performances [against Portsmouth and Plymouth Argyle], it’s like night and day/. The players are clearly playing for the manager. You want to keep this momentum going if you’re Cardiff City - he’s done himself no harm.”

Cardiff were rampant as they raced into a two-goal lead before the break against John Mousinho's Portsmouth, who saw Paddy Lane and Nicolas Schmid leave the pitch through injury to compound a wretched first half.

The game evened out in the second period, although the Bluebirds dug in to keep a third successive home clean sheet.

“Everybody impressed [against Portsmouth], it was all 11 and the subs, it was a dominant performance," Blake added.

"Pompey weren’t in the game. Watching the game you’d think Cardiff City were in the top six and Pompey were bottom.”

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Cardiff City interim manager Omer Riza has called for clarity as he bids to get the job on a permanent basis.

The Bluebirds beat Portsmouth 2-0 on Tuesday to earn a third win from five games under the former Watford coach, who took charge after Erol Bulut was sacked a month ago.

Riza is in regular contact with Cardiff owner Vincent Tan but has not been told how long he will remain in post.

"I have chats with the owner all the time. I spoke to him this morning and he was very nice and polite,” said Riza.

"Clarity is always best because then you can really move forward with the plans the club's got in place or the plans I might have.

"Of course, it would be nice to have some clarity, but in the meantime what's important is that we are going well.

"We are getting the points and we have climbed off the bottom off the table. We're in a better position than we were and that's important, because from there you can always move forward."

Cardiff’s win over Portsmouth – who are now bottom of the Championship – followed their 5-0 hammering of Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

Having scored just four goals in their opening nine league games , the Bluebirds have struck seven in two to climb off the foot of the table up to 19th place.

Tougher challenges await, such as a trip to promotion contenders West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, but Riza says Cardiff will continue to play attacking football.

“We’ll keep trying to play the way we are in possession,” he added.

“But out of possession we will have to be on our game, making sure we don’t lose the ball or, if we do lose the ball, make sure we don’t get hurt.

“We want to create as many opportunities as we can. Once you get that balance, you can apply it really well. The next thing is that teams will not allow us to do this every week.”

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Robert Earnshaw says Cardiff City must start planning on how to become a Premier League club as opposed to regularly changing managers amid relegation battles in the Championship.

Erol Bulut was sacked by the Bluebirds in September after overseeing the club's worst start to a season in 94 years.

Interim boss Omer Riza has put himself in the frame to be named as Bulut's successor having guided his side to two wins, a draw and just one defeat in his four matches in charge to date.

And ex-Cardiff striker Earnshaw believes the club's hierarchy must start to take a long-term view with managerial appointments as the Bluebirds seek to recruit a 12th permanent boss in the 14 years that Vincent Tan has owned the club.

"The bigger question for Cardiff City is, you can't continue to have 12 to 15 to 20 games of a manager and then on to the next one, and the next one. You've got to start fundamentally looking at what the club wants to be in the next two to three years and who is the right man," Earnshaw told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

"You've got to have results, but also, if you look at the last two or three years from Cardiff City, it's been below what the performances should be.

"Now it's about, can Cardiff City not be looking at relegation like the start of this season. Can we be looking to build a club that starts thinking about the Premier League?"

Cardiff go into tonight's Championship fixture with Portsmouth (19:45 BST) on the back of a 5-0 thrashing of Plymouth Argyle - their biggest league win since 2017.

But Earnshaw warned the Bluebirds of complacency against a Pompey side that secured their first Championship triumph of the campaign at Queens Park Rangers last time out.

"I don't think anybody saw what happened on Saturday with that 5-0 win happening," added Earnshaw.

"It's going to be a very tricky game tonight because you win 5-0, sometimes it's like 'oh yeah, we've arrived' so I think that's the worry for Cardiff City."

Despite urging caution, Earnshaw added: "They've been very good in the last four games, picking up points, a couple of wins and a draw in there."

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Cardiff City midfielder Alex Robertson will be looking to continue his excellent recent form when he is reunited with Portsmouth on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old joined Cardiff from Manchester City in the summer after helping Pompey win promotion from League One last season during a loan spell at Fratton Park.

Robertson was man of the match as the Bluebirds thrashed Plymouth Argyle 5-0 on Saturday to move off the bottom of the Championship table.

Next up for Cardiff is a home fixture against Portsmouth, who are one place below them in 23rd.

"I loved Portsmouth, it's a great club," said Robertson.

"It will be good to see some familiar faces. I've got a few really good friends still there."

The Australia international could have made his loan at Portsmouth a permanent move but opted to join Cardiff.

"There were quite a few clubs that I had conversations with," Robertson added.

"I was just drawn to Cardiff, the club, the team, everything about it I loved. I'm really enjoying my time here so far."

Despite Cardiff's early-season struggles, Robertson is settling in well in central midfield with his creativity and crisp passing.

He opted not to join Australia's squad for this month's international window as he looks to concentrate on matters at Cardiff City Stadium.

"[It was] just that I want to focus on my club football. I'm loving it here at the minute," Robertson said.

"We're not in a sticky situation here but, obviously where we are in the table, we want to climb it.

"I'm fully focused on my club and our team, trying to get us up. So the international has... I've not parked it, but I'm just focusing on my club at the minute.

"To be fair, I didn't hear anything from the last camp so I'm not sure what happened on that end.

"The previous camps I said wanted to focus on the club. I'd come back from a big injury, so that left me out for a long time."

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Aaron Ramsey might be unavailable for Cardiff City because of injury - but the captain is being put to use in a new role.

Ramsey, 33, was sat in the stands for Saturday's 5-0 thrashing of Plymouth Argyle and sharing his tactical analysis with interim manager Omer Riza on the touchline.

The Wales skipper has already been tipped for a coaching future by his international boss, Craig Bellamy.

Ramsey - who already has his Uefa A licence, one below the Pro licence needed to work at the highest levels - has been tipped to take over the Bluebirds as a player-coach.

Those rumours have been played down, but Riza was grateful to have the former Arsenal and Juventus midfielder's support against Plymouth.

"We had Aaron Ramsey upstairs today casting an eye down to give us some information and it all came together well today," he said.

"I said to Aaron yesterday that I'd like him to go up there, cast his eye over the game and if he had anything of importance to come down.

"To be fair, when he came down and mentioned a couple of things, it was what was in our minds anyway which is nice, so we're all on the same page.

"It's important when you've got players like Rallsy [Joe Ralls] and Aaron who are experienced and aren't playing, you have to try and use them in a different way and we did that today."

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Plymouth Argyle manager Wayne Rooney believes Cardiff City's Perry Ng was "clever" in the role he played in Ibrahim Cissoko's red card during the Pilgrims' 5-0 thrashing in south Wales.

Cissoko was sent off for shoving Ng to the ground with his team already 2-0 in the first half on Saturday.

The Plymouth forward was retaliating after Ng had kicked the ball at him as he lay on the ground having been tripped by Bluebirds winger Ollie Tanner. Ng was given a yellow card after Cissoko saw red.

"He [Cissoko] has reacted, the player's [Perry Ng] been clever and very dangerous," said Rooney, who had to watch from the stands at Cardiff City Stadium as he served a one-match touchline ban having been sent off during last month's win over Blackburn Rovers.

"He kicked the ball at him on purpose, that could have been a different colour to what he got, Ibs [Cissoko] has reacted in the wrong way.

"The emotions of the game sometimes, you get those reactions and unfortunately that's happened to us today."

Cardiff were already in control and leading 2-0 when Cissoko saw red, and the Bluebirds took advantage of his dismissal to more than double their goal tally for the season in a thumping win which lifted them off the bottom of the Championship table.

"We have to give Cardiff a lot of credit," former England captain Rooney added.

"They deserved to win the game, they were the better team."

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Cardiff City fans will miss the sight of Wayne Rooney prowling the sidelines in this Saturday's Championship encounter (12:30 BST) after the Plymouth Argyle boss fell foul of the Football Association.

The former England captain, 38, has been given a one-match touchline ban and fined £5,000 after admitting charges of improper conduct after being sent off towards the end of his side's 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers this month.

Rooney's ire was raised when a foul was not given in the build-up to Rovers' late equaliser - although Morgan Whittaker headed an Argyle winner deep in stoppage time.

Rooney accepted using improper, abusive or insulting words towards a match official and a charge of improper and/or violent conduct relating to him kicking a water bottle, plus returning to the field of play after being sent off by coming out to congratulate his players following the final whistle.

Assistant head coach Pete Shuttleworth will be issuing orders from the dugout while Rooney is in the stands.

Plymouth are 14th in the Championship with 11 points and Cardiff will be looking to take advantage of their disruption to add to their five points and try and move off the foot of the table.

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Striker Kion Etete and winger Isaak Davies are nearing a return for Cardiff City following hamstring injuries.

Neither Etete nor Davies have featured yet this season having sustained their injuries during the summer, but both are back in training.

“Kion’s training now. We’ve been monitoring him, making sure he’s not doing too much,” said interim manager Omer Riza.

“He did a full session today so in the next week or two he should be in contention to be back in the squad.

“Isaak’s been doing some running so he’s about another four weeks away from being able to play. He’s doing well.”

Aaron Ramsey (hamstring) remains out, but Rubin Colwill (illness) and Cian Ashford (back) are training, albeit with Ashford not being risked against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

“They’re both fine. Rubin’s been training, Ashford will be back in training on Sunday,” said Riza.

“Rambo [Ramsey] has been running at three-quarter pace, so potentially after the next international break [in November] he could be back in.”