Exclusive: Cardiff City backed to appoint League Two manager by Sky Sports pundit - He'd be a "great fit" | OneFootball

Sky Sports' Lee Hendrie spoke exclusively to FLW about Cardiff City's reported interest in potentially appointing Salford City boss Karl Robinson

Cardiff City are on the search for a new permanent manager to succeed Omer Riza after suffering relegation from the Championship in dead last position, marking a shocking return to the third-tier of English football for the first time in more than 20 years.

In the club's ceremonious 125-year anniversary, Cardiff endured a historically dismal campaign by sweeping through three separate managers en-route to the drop, with their fate confirmed before the final day courtesy of a 0-0 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion.

Erol Bulut failed to build upon the respectable 12th-placed finish which was returned from his first term in charge and led Cardiff to their worst-ever start to a league season before being dismissed all the way back in September, while Riza, who was only appointed permanently in December after a mixed two-month interim spell, was relieved of his duties ahead of the remaining three games of the campaign with the Bluebirds staring relegation in the face.

In came Aaron Ramsey, still on a playing contract with his boyhood club, to lead the team on a caretaker basis after seeing his own season curtailed through injury, but the Welsh international captain simply had too little time to save a side destined for the drop.

League One now awaits for Cardiff, who are in a state of both flux and plight amid significant unrest among supporters towards the club's key decision-makers - namely controversial owner Vincent Tan, alongside Mehmet Dalman and Ken Choo.

The trio have a significant decision ahead of them in a bid to swiftly instate the man believed to be capable of taking Cardiff back up to the Championship at the very first attempt, and as per a recent report from Football Insider, Salford City boss Karl Robinson is a "top contender" for the vacant managerial hot-seat in the Welsh capital.

Lee Hendrie backs Cardiff City to appoint Salford City manager Karl Robinson

Robinson's reported consideration from the Bluebirds has received a mixed reception among Cardiff supporters, although Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has backed the potential appointment and believes the 44-year-old's experience would make him a "great fit" in South Wales.

He led the Ammies to an eighth-placed finish in the 2024/25 League Two campaign, where they fell agonisingly short of securing a play-off spot. Robinson is indeed experienced, having already taken charge of close to 800 EFL matches during a career which has included spells with Oxford United, Charlton Athletic and MK Dons, and he guided the latter to a first-ever promotion to the Championship back in 2015.

"Karl Robinson has obviously done a great job at Salford," Hendrie explained when speaking exclusively to Football League World.

"I know Karl relatively well, such a character of the game. He's done very good jobs at Oxford and MK Dons.

"I think him being linked with Cardiff City wouldn't be a bad shout. I really think the club will be distraught that it's been relegated, it needs someone that knows that league really well and Karl does tick the box for that.

"He's shown that he's got potential in his previous roles, so I think a club like that needs an identity of how they're going to play play. Karl will certainly do that, he will stabilise them and I think he would be a really good fit for the club knowing that he knows the league.

"When you compare it to the teams he has been at previously, this is a club that will be looking to bounce back and I think Karl would be a great fit for them."

Next Cardiff City manager must utilise youth factor

Whoever is next at the helm, be it Robinson, more popular picks among supporters such as Nathan Jones or Des Buckingham, or anybody else, that manager simply must capitalise one the one redeeming factor of a sore recent history at Cardiff, which is the club's prosperous youth system and increased presence of young talent in the senior team.

Despite such severe shortcomings in other departments, Cardiff have made significant efforts to bolster the conveyor belt of talent coming through at youth level, having opened a new, state-of-the-art academy training base less than two years ago, while recruiting younger profiles to the first-team with the hope of eventually seizing sizable potential and resale value.

There are a number of talented young players who must be at the forefront of Cardiff's 2025/26 campaign in the third-tier. Highly-rated central defender Dylan Lawlor, still aged just 19, will surely have a big part to play, and the likes of Ronan Kpakio (17) and Luey Giles (18) will hope for real first-team breakthroughs.

Meanwhile, Eli King and Joel Colwill, yet two more recent academy graduates, are both aged 22 or under and are returning from loan spells in League One with Stevenage and Exeter City respectively.

You also have 22-year-old midfielder Alex Robertson, who has impressed following his arrival from Manchester City last summer, 23-year-old playmaker Rubin Colwill and, in the final third, attacking talent such as Cian Ashford, Isaak Davies, Roko Simic, Ollie Tanner, Tanatswa Nyakuhwa and January's star recruit, the eight-goal talisman Yousef Salech, all aged 23 or under.

Cardiff fans are fully aware that the nucleus of a sustainably-successful side for years to come is right there, just in need of being fine-tuned, capitalised and knitted together. Being able to do that, then, will be a big limitus test for the next manager to arrive at Cardiff in the coming weeks.