Tony Pulis makes feelings clear on Cardiff City manager situation and what must happen next

Wales Online

13-05-2025

Tony Pulis makes feelings clear on Cardiff City manager situation and what must happen next
The former Stoke City and West Brom head coach has spoken out about the team he cheered on as a kid
Former Middlesbrough and Stoke City manager Tony Pulis
(Image: Getty Images )
Tony Pulis hopes Cardiff City can bounce straight back to the Championship, but believes the new manager must nail down an identity for the club in order to do that.
Cardiff suffered a drop to League One following a disastrous season, one which saw them endure their worst start in the club's 125-year history and end with a whimper.
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There have been too many mistakes, too many managers and not enough wins over the last few years and for Pulis, who used to watch the Bluebirds regularly at Ninian Park as a child, it's sad to see.
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Pulis, who enjoyed huge success while managing Stoke City but also enjoyed spells at Crystal Palace, West Brom and Middlesbrough, believes owner Vincent Tan will be "feeling the pressure" in the knowledge that this next managerial appointment is huge in the context of getting City back to the second tier.
"I hope Cardiff can bounce back, there's been a real downturn on things there," he told OLBG.
"The owner has spent a hell of a lot of money but because you lose and because things don't go well and because of the appointment of maybe one or two people, it drifts away and everything gets thrown at the owner and Mehmet Dalman.
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"I've met Mehmet. Mehmet is a really, really lovely person and another person you would hope would be successful. But they have to find a way, they have to find an identity.
"I don't think they've had an identity for a couple of years. I don't think, from the outside, that the club has had the direction that it's needed.
"Vincent Tan has put a lot of money into that football club so everything will be pointing at him at the moment and he'll definitely feel the pressure – the appointment of the next manager is going to be massive for them."
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In the last few days, Pulis has been linked with a new role in Egypt. Reports have claimed that Egyptian side Zamalek have approached the Newport-born manager to become their director of football.
The 67-year-old has regularly been linked with managerial vacancies at Cardiff but it is understood he will not be considered as Omer Riza's permanent replacement.
Speaking previously about his soft spot for Cardiff a decade ago, Pulis said: 'I watched Cardiff when I was a young boy and that was when John Toshack was playing with Ian Gibson in midfield.
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'My dad once took me to Cardiff on a Tuesday evening to watch Real Madrid with 50-odd thousand people in the stadium."