By Gareth James
Erol Bulut refuses to accept that Cardiff City are in a relegation fight – despite their alarming slide down the Championship table.
Having been firmly in the play-off mix earlier on in the season, Cardiff are now closer to the relegation zone than the top six.
But Bluebirds manager Bulut does not believe they are now focussed on fighting to avoid the drop into League One.
“I think in football, nothing is guaranteed,” he added.
“But I think with the team that we have right now, with 13 games to play, we don’t have to think about the relegation places. That’s my opinion.”
https://twitter.com/CardiffCityFC/status/1760697706291360135?s=20
The Bluebirds have won just once in their last eight games in all competitions and are winless in their previous four Championship outings.
It comes after what was a positive start to the campaign, with Cardiff falling from being fifth in October to 14th place ahead of their clash with fellow strugglers Stoke City on Saturday.
All 10 clubs below Cardiff in the Championship have changed their manager during the course of the 2023/24 campaign.
But Bulut says he has no regrets over taking the Cardiff job amid what is his side’s worst run of the season.
https://twitter.com/CardiffCityFC/status/1760597799530533134?s=20
The Turkish boss says he made the right choice by moving to south Wales last summer – stressing that he remains eager to keep building at the club.
“For me it was not an easy decision to come to Cardiff,” he explained.
“I made the decision for me and I did not make the wrong choice, I think I made the right choice to be here in Cardiff.
“I made the correct choice to be with this team to build something at Cardiff City with the board, the players and my coaches.
“I knew it was not an easy job, but now I think everybody, fans, media, inside the club, how we started and how we went in the first few weeks, we put the expectations high.”
'Heads up and get ready to go at Cardiff.'
Post match reaction from Steven Schumacher. pic.twitter.com/p2LUhargVl
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) February 17, 2024
He added: “Many big teams with big budgets are behind us.
“We cannot say we have invested really big amounts to get players in to be at a different level so we have to go step by step.
“Of course I would like it more to be in the top six but this is a big step from last season to this season.”
Stoke are in an even bigger mess than Cardiff, having fallen to just three points above the relegation zone after five defeats in their last six matches.
Head coach Steven Schumacher, who took charge at the club in December, has been unable to halt their decline and wins for QPR and Sheffield Wednesday last weekend has cranked up the pressure on their rivals at the bottom.
But Schumacher said: “It’s a big game but they all are.
“There are 13 games to go and loads of teams in the bottom half of the division in the same situation as we are.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re ready to stand up for the fight and that’s what we keep asking the players to do. I know we’ve got the right characters in there to get the results we need.”
All the information for supporters making the trip to South Wales on Saturday, or those planning to, is available in our away supporters' guide for the Cardiff City Stadium.
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) February 21, 2024