Cardiff City

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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.”

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Midfielders Manolis Siopis and Andy Rinomhota will return to Cardiff City able to boast of success on the international stage.

However, for Greece's Siopis, helping his side beat England 2-1 in the Nations League at Wembley was tinged with tragedy.

Greece's players dedicated the win to team-mate George Baldock, who died on the eve of the game aged 31.

Siopis played every minute of that win and the one that followed against the Republic of Ireland.

Another Cardiff midfielder, Callum O’Dowda, was not involved in that defeat for Ireland or their 2-1 win over Finland on 10 October.

United States goalkeeper Ethan Horvath also got no game time in his nation's friendlies as they beat Panama 2-0 last Sunday and were beaten 2-0 by Mexico on Wednesday.

In Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Cardiff Rinomhota played his part in back-to-back successes against Namibia, beating them 1-0 behind closed doors last Thursday at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg before a 3-1 triumph at the same venue on Monday.

In Aaron Ramsey's absence, there were no senior Cardiff players in Craig Bellamy's Wales squad for their Nations League draw against Iceland and 2-0 win against Montenegro.

Rubin Colwill has been due to feature for Wales Under-21s in a Euro 2025 qualifier against Czech Republic, although an admin blunder by the Football Association of Wales ensured the 22-year-old was ineligible to feature.

Colwill later withdrew from the squad - along with Cian Ashford - for a 4-2 friendly loss against Slovakia on Tuesday.

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Wales rugby union forward Aaron Wainwright says he fell out of love with football after being released by Cardiff City as a teenager.

The number eight, who has 48 caps for Wales, joined the Bluebirds' academy at the age of 10 but was let go by the club when he turned 16.

A defensive midfielder in the round-ball game, Wainwright joined Newport County after his Bluebirds exit before quitting football and turning his hand to rugby.

The 27-year-old recalls playing with a number of current Wales footballers during his time at Cardiff while discussing the "brutal" nature of the industry.

"At the time I was thinking that I wanted to be a professional footballer," the Dragons back row told the Scrum V podcast.

"I played with Regan Poole who went to Manchester United, Mark Harris, Rabbi Matondo, so I played with a lot of them coming through.

"I didn't think I wasn't as good as they were or that I wasn't going to make it.

"I always had it in my head [that I'd make it] until there was a crunch decision to be made. I think there were 17 or 18 of us, and I think only four got offered contracts.

"I went in with my parents and came out crying.

"I'd been injured for a while. I came back from injury and I hadn't got to the levels that I was at before.

"They said 'we haven't seen enough from you since you've come back from injury, we're going to have to let you go' and that was it basically.

"I went to Newport County and had an offer to get a scholarship with them, but I just fell out of love with football after that.

"It's brutal, but that's how football is, and those are the decisions that have to be made."

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Cardiff City are preparing to host one team who have not won an away Championship game since early April and another who last triumphed on their travels in the second tier in 2012.

For Omer Riza's Bluebirds, some would argue, opportunity knocks.

Plymouth Argyle are the visitors to the Cardiff City Stadium this Saturday and, while the Pilgrims have found form on their own patch in recent weeks, they are yet to win on the road in 2024-25.

After a slow start to life under Wayne Rooney, Plymouth are up to 14th in the table thanks to three straight home wins.

But Argyle have won only one point – and scored just one goal – in four away games this season.

When you add in the end of the last campaign, Plymouth have banked only one point from the last 18 on offer away from Home Park.

While Plymouth have struggled on the road, Portsmouth - who visit Cardiff next Tuesday - have found life hard both at home and away in 2024-25.

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Last season’s League One champions are yet to win a game since promotion, though they are above 24th-placed Cardiff in the table on goal difference having drawn five of their nine league fixtures so far this term.

Portsmouth barely lost a game in the second half of last season as they stormed to the title, but it has been a different story since they returned to the Championship.

Their last away win at this level came at Doncaster Rovers in April 2012, when former Bluebird Greg Halford was among their goalscorers.

It should be said, of course, that Portsmouth were relegated that spring and have only just returned to the second tier after 12 years away.

And while Cardiff may view home games with Plymouth and Portsmouth as opportunities to improve their poor record in this campaign, their opponents will be thinking something similar about a trip to face the side who are currently bottom of the table.

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Joe Ledley has issued an apology to Leon Britton - 16 years on from making his first appearance in a south Wales derby.

Midfielder Ledley was shown an early yellow card for a foul on opposite number Britton during Swansea City's 1-0 League Cup victory over Cardiff City in September 2008.

Jordi Gomez's 57th-minute free-kick proved enough for the Swans to earn victory, and former Wales international Ledley admits he swiftly learned from his rash moment, in what was his first taste of derby action.

"Obviously, being a Cardiff boy, this was a massive derby for me, all of my mates and family were on me, making sure you put in a performance and hit someone hard," Ledley told the Feast of Football podcast.

"Just before I was going out on the pitch, you know what it's like with managers giving the team talk, [former Bluebirds boss] Dave Jones said 'right, nobody lose your head and just concentrate on the game'.

"I was getting booed in the warm-up, booed when I touched the ball. I apologise... first five minutes into the game, the ball being passed to Leon and I just went steaming through, took him out, yellow card.

"It completely ruined my game. You know what it's like when you're on a yellow, you don't want to get sent off, it's the last thing I needed, going back to Cardiff.

"So I do apologise, there was an opportunity there and I took the player first and not the ball."

Ledley was never on the winning side during his outings for Cardiff against the Swans, and the 37-year-old recalled the time where he was able to fully appreciate the hostility between the two sets of supporters.

"I remember another story at your place [Swansea], there was a throw-in and this geezer has gone 'Joe, I know your address' and it was the whole address. I was living at home," he added.

"He said it. I was living in Fairwater at the time and I was thinking, 'I hope my parents are alright when I get back home'.

"Thankfully nothing happened. But it [the derby] means a lot to both sets of fans."

The full episode of Feast of Football is available now.

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Cardiff City midfielder Emma Beynon has announced her retirement from football.

The former Wales international made the announcement as she revealed she is due to have a second child.

Beynon, 28, was the Bluebirds’ players’ player of the year as they won the Welsh treble last season, including scoring in the Welsh Cup win over Wrexham.

Capped under Jayne Ludlow in 2017, Beynon spent 10 years at Swansea City, winning four Welsh titles before switching to Cardiff last summer.

Both Cardiff and Swansea paid tribute to Beynon who confirmed the news on social media, writing: “I will be forever grateful to the players, staff and the club for believing in me when they did.

"The past year as a Bluebird has been one of the most memorable seasons playing football.

"To win the treble and players’ player last season feels like the perfect ending to what has been an incredible 22 years playing football.

“From Champions League football to my first senior cap for Wales, playing at every youth level and captaining my country, I feel happy with everything I’ve achieved through playing football.

“With all the highs and lows one thing was certain, my family was always by my side. I will be forever grateful for the love and support they gave me, but now I am more than ready for the next chapter of my life as a family of four.”

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Former Preston North End boss Ryan Lowe says the vacant manager's position at Cardiff City is a "fantastic job".

The 46-year-old, who has also managed Bury and Plymouth Argyle, is one of the bookies' favourites including ex-Croatia boss Slaven Bilic and Steven Schumacher - sacked as Stoke City boss in September - to become Cardiff's next permanent manager.

Interim Bluebirds boss Omer Riza has been in charge since Erol Bulut's sacking and has said he would like the role full time.

Lowe had been at Preston since 2021 but asked to leave in August after just one game of the new season following discussions with the club’s board.

While Lowe would not be drawn on whether there has been any contact with the Cardiff hierarchy, he made it clear it was a job worth considering.

“I can’t tell you anything that you don’t already know,” Lowe told Sky Sports.

“What I will say is that I think Cardiff City’s a fantastic football club, very attractive to any manager who is out of work.

“[They have a] great fanbase and [they are] probably in a false position because they have got some quality players and they have got a fantastic youth system as well.

“So it’s a fantastic job for not just myself but… any other manager that’s out of work.”

Cardiff remain bottom of the Championship despite Riza leading them to their first league win of the season against Millwall and a draw at Bristol City this month.

The Bluebirds return to action on Saturday, 19 October with a 12:30 BST kick-off at home to Plymouth Argyle.