Erol Bulut has claimed that he had talks to become Cardiff City manager three years ago but chose to take over at Turkish giants Fenerbahce instead.
Bulut made an impression in Turkey with his first few managerial positions, first with Yeni Malatyaspor and then with Alanyaspor, with whom he reached the Turkish Cup final in 2020. Clearly, he was turning heads at the time, and clubs both inside and outside of Turkey were interested in him, including Cardiff City.
“I received an offer from Cardiff three years ago,” Bulut told the Turkish newspaper Milliyet. “At the time, I was in Alanyaspor.” We had meetings, but Fenerbahçe was more important. Fenerbahçe was my choice. When the offer came this year, I thought, “Why not?” I traveled to Europe. It was my intention to go.”
At the time of writing, Bulut’s popularity in Cardiff had never been higher. He has led the club to eighth place in the Championship, with the Bluebirds having made the best start to a league season since Neil Warnock promoted them in 2017/18.
After two years of battling relegation, the Bluebirds faithful are overjoyed. And, while Bulut has refrained from saying he is looking for promotion this season, he has recognized that finishing in the top ten is a huge step towards that ultimate goal after the previous two seasons were abysmal.
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