Cardiff City 'made contact' with title-winning European boss after Erol Bulut sacking

Cardiff City reportedly made contact with Norwegian manager Eirik Horneland in the days after sacking Erol Bulut.

The Bluebirds made the decision to part ways with Bulut back in September after a home defeat by Leeds United, a result which consigned Cardiff to the bottom of the table after just one point from their opening six games.

Fans at the time were clamouring for Cardiff to be swift in making their next managerial appointment, fearful they would lose ground on the rest of the teams around them if that period of instability became sustained.

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And while the club were not thought to be rushing into their next appointment, clearly they did begin their search pretty quickly after Bulut's dismissal.

According to former Brann midfielder Vegard Leikvoll Moberg, Cardiff showed interest in the Norwegian club's manager, who has enjoyed real success in recent years.

Having joined Brann as an assistant in 2020 following a stint in charge of Rosenborg, Horneland took the top job the following year and broke the Norwegian First Division's record for points and goals scored in 2022, steering them to promotion to the Eliteserien.

Last year, Horneland led Brann to their seventh Norwegian Football Cup title and a UEFA Conference League play-off round, where they lost to AZ Alkmaar on penalties.

They have gone from strength to strength under the manager, who shared an agent with former Bluebirds boss and fellow Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and are now even challenging Bodo/Glimt at the top of the table. They sit in second place in the top tier at time of writing.

Moberg, who was speaking to the 'Spiss Vinkel' podcast, said: "I was actually called at the end of September. These are facts and not rumours, but there was someone who was going to check up on Horneland from Cardiff City. So there is no doubt that there is interest in Horneland, says the 33-year-old in the podcast.

"It was a Norwegian who called on behalf of Cardiff. They wanted to hear what he is like as a coach and as a person - everything is possible."

Horneland holds a win record of 64 percent with Brann. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

However it must be stated that things have moved on considerably since this initial contact was said to have taken place. At the time of writing the permanent Cardiff job is very much Omer Riza's to lose.

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City have embarked on a fantastic run of form following the defeat at Hull during Riza's first game in charge and are now unbeaten in their last six matches, winning four and drawing two.

Riza held talks with Cardiff's hierarchy at the weekend and they are understood to have gone positively, with all parties now wanting clarity around the situation as we head into the international break following this weekend.

There are two very important games before then, of course, with Cardiff taking on Luton Town on Wednesday evening before a lunchtime kick-off at home to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.