A stat that may surprise the Bulut fans

[the other bob wilson]

Thats the question, has he turned defensive because his attacking players weren't prolific enough so had to apply a safety-first approach, or is he just a defensive type coach that would have still done the same with Rambo and O'Dowda?

My main fear of change is will Dalman and Tan get anyone better, I doubt it and we will end up with a Harris or Morison, who are far worse and could take us down the divisions.

My attitude is that I don't see us getting back to the Premier League under this ownership - that might be harsh given that we have done it twice before under Tan and I suppose if we were to get a strong Warnock type figure again who would win his share of battles with the Board then it may happen, but I think we're less likely to see another manager like that any time soon.

I admit I've become very negative over Bulut since the turn of the year (since he had his strop after the Plymouth defeat really), but where you say he "turned defensive", I think he has always been, very, defensive. We brought in a striker, an attacking midfielder and a more attack minded left back in January and I've not seen any change in approach from City apart from about twenty five minutes against Ipswich - it was such a disappointment to see the attitude in the derby game which followed, the players were probably more to blame in this case because some of them looked intimidated by the occasion, but it was the same old, same old boring tactics from Bulut as well.

[llan bluebird]

My attitude is that I don't see us getting back to the Premier League under this ownership - that might be harsh given that we have done it twice before under Tan and I suppose if we were to get a strong Warnock type figure again who would win his share of battles with the Board then it may happen, but I think we're less likely to see another manager like that any time soon.

I admit I've become very negative over Bulut since the turn of the year (since he had his strop after the Plymouth defeat really), but where you say he "turned defensive", I think he has always been, very, defensive. We brought in a striker, an attacking midfielder and a more attack minded left back in January and I've not seen any change in approach from City apart from about twenty five minutes against Ipswich - it was such a disappointment to see the attitude in the derby game which followed, the players were probably more to blame in this case because some of them looked intimidated by the occasion, but it was the same old, same old boring tactics from Bulut as well.

Except Ange at Spurs aren't they all defensive?

Pep defensive starves you of the ball with 100's of lateral passes, it easier in FIFA mide of unlimited financial restrictions
Liverpool under Klopp relies on keeping it tight and world-class wide forwards
Arsenal has a great set-play game and world-class wide forwards
Villa are a dour system based team as they don't have the money of the others

I think Bulut is of this generation of coaches/managers, led by analytics without any fresh ideas, and lets be honest that's all we are going to get with this lot, as I doubt we are scouring the world looking for someone who is doing things a bit different.

IMO there are catergotiries of head coaches nowadays

1- Lower-level screamers and shouters "c'mon boys lets ****ing 'ave them" (old school)
2- recently Badged up all doing the same drills, sessions and tactics (Bulut)
3- Experienced and found a nuance to the new coaches so exploits their groupthink (Bielsa,Warnock)
4- World class leaders that everyone copies ans subsequently gets taught to the fresh group 2's (Mourihno, Klopp, Pep, Anchelotti)

We are likely to end up with another group 1', so I live in hope that Bulut can get from 2>3

He doesn't know what to do with Colwill

[the other bob wilson]

Except Ange at Spurs aren't they all defensive?

Pep defensive starves you of the ball with 100's of lateral passes, it easier in FIFA mide of unlimited financial restrictions
Liverpool under Klopp relies on keeping it tight and world-class wide forwards
Arsenal has a great set-play game and world-class wide forwards
Villa are a dour system based team as they don't have the money of the others

I think Bulut is of this generation of coaches/managers, led by analytics without any fresh ideas, and lets be honest that's all we are going to get with this lot, as I doubt we are scouring the world looking for someone who is doing things a bit different.

IMO there are catergotiries of head coaches nowadays

1- Lower-level screamers and shouters "c'mon boys lets ****ing 'ave them" (old school)
2- recently Badged up all doing the same drills, sessions and tactics (Bulut)
3- Experienced and found a nuance to the new coaches so exploits their groupthink (Bielsa,Warnock)
4- World class leaders that everyone copies ans subsequently gets taught to the fresh group 2's (Mourihno, Klopp, Pep, Anchelotti)

We are likely to end up with another group 1', so I live in hope that Bulut can get from 2>3

He doesn't know what to do with Colwill

My thinking on the subject is that brave players want the ball and brave teams look to dominate possession. I appreciate where you’re coming from as far as Pep’s team is concerned, lots of people think they’re boring, but I’ve always thought of them as an attacking team.

I can go all the way back to the 1967 European Cup Final between Celtic and Inter Milan, I was eleven and it was the first match I can remember where I gave tactics any thought. Celtic were like Ange’s Spurs side, but it was more Inter who interested me. They scored a penalty early and then stuck eleven men behind the ball and tried to hold out for eighty five minutes - they didn’t, and ended up deservedly losing 2-1. Inter’s approach was successful in terms of trophies won pre 1967, but I thought their negative approach cost them dear that day as a kid and I still do now.


Fifty seven years later, the thinking at Cardiff City under Erol Bulut is akin to Inter’s approach that afternoon against Celtic. It’s almost as if they want the opposition to have the ball and we play with an isolated, token, striker. In fact, Inter at least didn’t start defending until they had a lead, Cardiff under Bulut often start even home games looking as if a a goalless draw is the height of their ambitions.

The language around football changes, but the basics don’t really - counter attacking football is, essentially, defensive football and, for all the talk of transitions, teams are really just counter attacking like an away side from fifty and sixty years ago tended to do.

It seems to me that City under Bulut are set up to play counter attacking football as did Wales last Thursday, but the difference between the two teams was stark - Wales had the vibrancy and pace to make counter attacking football exciting, even though I view it as a cowardly philosophy at heart, City are, presumably, a team set up to counter attack, but they’re not very good at it and have ended up over reliant on set piece goals.

What Bulut has done is remind me that I’m a football fan, not someone working in the game who has a means justifies the end approach - back in the sixties, it was teams like Celtic and the Charlton, Law and Best Manchester United team which helped make me a football lover. However, there was also my love affair with Cardiff City to be borne in mind and for the last ten years or so, I’ve had trouble reconciling the two things - I love Cardiff City, but these days they don’t play the game which I fell in love with and I find Bulut’s football as uninspiring as Russell Slade’s.