Vincent Tan urged to take big Cardiff City boardroom action to fix "a lot of problems" | OneFootball

FLW's Cardiff City fan pundit identified the one critical issue his side must fix this summer after suffering relegation to League One

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Cardiff City will be preparing for life in League One for the first time since its inception more than 20 years ago after an agonising 0-0 draw at home to a managerless West Bromwich Albion side on Saturday afternoon confirmed their relegation from the Championship.

Last promoted from the third-tier all the way back in 2003, the darkest day in Cardiff's recent history came amid the club's 125-year anniversary. The reality, unfortunately, is that what was supposed to be a monumentous campaign full of energy and expectation following a respectable 12th-placed finish last time out has instead played out as a historically wretched one.

Erol Bulut and Omer Riza, who were both sacked at different stages of the season prior to Aaron Ramsey's appointment on an interim basis for the remaining three league matches, fell short. Many of the players too, supporters have argued, ought to assume a weight of responsibility.

Above all, though, the general consensus is that the blame lies at the boardroom door. Cardiff's top-brass, made up of the three key decision-makers in controversial, all-powerful owner Vincent Tan alongside Mehmet Dalman [chairman] and Ken Choo [chief executive] have all been the subject of intense criticism from supporters this season, with unrest in the Welsh capital reaching its highest stage since the club's infamous rebrand more than a decade previously.

Two separate fan-led protests have been staged and open letters from both the Cardiff City Supporters Trust and the South Wales Echo have been penned to Tan himself.

It's easy to see, mind you, why both supporters and the media are growing increasingly impatient and frustrated.

There is little strategy or continuity in the day-to-day operations of the club, which neither Dalman nor Choo are involved in. Tan's own seeming refusal, for whatever reason, to hire a sporting director or director of football to oversee a more tangible footballing philosophy and increased nous and impetus in a boardroom so evidently devoid of proven footballing expertise, meanwhile, has been a continued sticking point among the club's faithful supporters, too.

These concerns are amplified by the fact Cardiff have had seven permanent managers in charge since the start of 2021, routinely undertake "rebuilds" of the playing squad, frequently deviate between different managerial styles and strategies and have ultimately been relegated to League One after spending three of the previous four campaigns fighting against the drop.

Few can, and have, dismissed Tan's financial investment and support, for which Cardiff would be considerably worse off without, but the lack of footballing strategy and IQ is pertinent and just how that is addressed ahead of a crucial few months in the summer period may just dictate how the Bluebirds fare not only in 2025/26, but for the foreseeable future.

Cardiff City, Vincent Tan urged to make big boardroom changes following relegation

FLW asked our resident Bluebirds fan pundit, Matt Hall, to name one issue he believes Cardiff must fix as a priority ahead of next season in League One.

Echoing the sentiment among both supporters and the press who cover the Bluebirds, Matt emphasised the importance of addressing the footballing structure above the manager.

Matt believes more footballing structure, strategy and support is needed to supplement Tan's investment, which will naturally take some form of hit following relegation and significant corresponding revenue losses, with a contingent philosophy vital to rebuilding the Bluebirds at such a critical and damning juncture.

"So with regards to what the club needs to fix, the one answer lends into a few answers," Matt told FLW.

"The main thing the club needs to fix is the football structure above the manager. There were photos of Stephen McPhail at the game on the weekend, he is the sporting director at Shamrock Rovers and has done a really successful job there.

"Meanwhile, at our club, we've got Ken Choo and Mehmet Dalman who aren't full-time and know nothing about football. So realistically, we have nothing in place and Aaron Ramsey himself did a speech at the awards evening emphasising the need for structure, he can't stop mentioning it.

"I think every fan will say the same thing. In order for League One to become a positive, we've got the right tools in place but we just need someone to line that all together and someone that Vincent Tan can rely on to feed him the information and stop having this gap above the manager.

"At the moment, it's an empty void and it's not helping anyone bouncing from manager to manager and style to style. Transfers are going all over the place and it's actually damaging the academy, that is really well set up, because they're not having a functioning first-team to go into.

"A sporting director, even that alone, would fix a lot of problems."

Cardiff City, Vincent Tan must get it right with next managerial appointment

Cardiff's hierarchy have long been guilty of a lack of strategy and succession planning, especially in terms of the managerial hiring policy.

The vast managerial turnover over the last five years proves as much, with a succession of untested, rookie and internally-appointed bosses in Mark Hudson, Steve Morison and most recently Riza all struggling during their respective reigns in charge.

Cardiff have not had a manager in the last decade who has been poached, or has left before graduating to bigger and better things elsewhere. That's telling, in all honesty - instead, many managers, just like the players who have come and gone, have seen their stock stagnate, or fall off entirely after taking the job.

The whole process when it comes to hiring and firing managers is very deliberated and drawn out; weeks and weeks went on before Erol Bulut was finally handed a two-year deal last summer, while Omer Riza was kept on in an interim basis for two months after succeeding the Turkish boss but was appointed permanently at a stage where the early momentum had dissipated and Cardiff were in poor form, while numerous opportunities to part ways and recruit a more experienced, fit-for-purpose manager were squandered, then he was eventually sacked when it was far too late for Ramsey to realistically keep the side in the Championship.

Cardiff will now be on the hunt for a new manager this summer, but history suggests we can have no real idea of how quickly that process will be conducted and completed. All we really know is that learning from previous, and repeated mistakes, will make or break the Bluebirds' future.