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Omer Riza lays out his Cardiff City January transfer vision but admits being in job limbo is 'hard'
Cardiff City interim boss Omer Riza has said he would like to sign up to three players in the January transfer window but admitted it was hard to nail down his plans due to the nature of his role still being in limbo.
Cardiff have had to fight tooth and nail to get off the foot of the table after the worst start in their 125-year history, but Riza must take huge credit for overseeing a rise out of the relegation spots, including a six-game unbeaten run which came to an end in the 1-0 defeat by Luton Town on Wednesday night.
It won't be long before attention starts to turn to the January transfer window, with Cardiff's squad having been maxed out at its 25-player capacity. A delicate jigsaw puzzle must take place in order for them to strengthen in the new year.
Two things high on the agenda are likely to be goals and pace and while Riza wouldn't divulge exactly what he wants in the new year, he said that if he is given the manager's job permanently, there would be some movement in both directions.
"I don't think it'll be a really busy month - but everything is based on if I'm here or not," Riza said.
"For me, if I'm here it won't be major, the squad is full so there my be potential for players to go out on loan, which opens up spaces, and there may be potential for players to go out because they need first-team football and they might not get much first-team football here.
"With regards to players coming in, yeah, two or three players, I feel we need in certain areas of the pitch, either for back-up or to add another dimension to the team. That process has to start - it has started in respect of conversations, but it could all change."
With regards to the striker position, a lot of the burden has been carried by in-form striker Callum Robinson, who is currently nursing an Achilles injury. Wilfried Kanga and Yakou Meite have struggled to fill Robinson's boots when the Irishman has been absent this season.
"That's probably the position where a lot of focus is at the moment (for January) potentially," Riza said of strikers. "[Kion Etete and Isaak Davies] coming back in might give us a different dimension.
"Cal is doing a great job, but he won't be able to play every game, because of problems with his body at the moment or there being too many minutes for him."
This is Riza's first gig in the hot-seat at Championship club and while it is still on an interim basis, he admits he has learnt a lot about himself in six weeks or so. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.
Granted, the results have helped, but he wants to carry on the positive work he has done so far, but admitted it's "hard to carry on when you don't know what's next".
He held talks with the board last week and while he described those talks as "positive", we are yet to find out what the club's plans are for appointing a successor to Erol Bulut on a permanent basis.
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"Nothing has surprised me in the sense of the day to day, I've known I can do it and I'm comfortable," Riza added. "I suppose the level at which you have to perform for people to recognise that maybe you are good enough or not to do the job, that's surprised me a bit.
"It's in black and white what you're achieving - you either win, lose or draw and you're judged on that. Dealing with players, staff, the board, the fans, it's all been great.
"I have learnt that I'm ready to do the job. I know that. I've learnt that I'm good with people - I think. I've learnt that sometimes I have to think before I speak - definitely. If I say something to the media they find a nice sentence that changes the narrative! Not in a nasty way, just learning what I have to be aware of. Managing media has been something I've enjoyed a lot.
"I have just enjoyed the whole thing and I want to carry on. It's hard to carry on when you don't know what's next. That can be hard, too, your decision-making, what you're trying to achieve, when you are in a position, your decision-making can be different, because you are just working towards every game.
"I've not had any meetings with regards to my plans moving forward for the club. I've not had any conversations like that - people are seeing that from what we are doing on the grass. Obviously I have got ideas and I've always said it's important I get fans off their seats. Fans have to get off their seats and enjoy themselves and that is down to the players, the staff and the team.
"It would be nice to have a transfer window, two transfer windows, build slowly and create more and more. I had two objectives; making sure we were an attacking side and every time we got the ball the opposition were scared, and we are disciplined and work really hard. But there's no point me thinking about what we can turn this club into if I don't know if I'm going to be here or not."
The ambition of the club at the beginning of the season was to better where they finished last term - 12th.
When they were rock-bottom well into October, that looked way off, but now there does seem to be some cautious optimism after a run of good games.
But Riza believes the club would benefit from implementing a cogent strategy for the future. Only then can the club's ultimate ambition of playing in the Premier League again be realised.
"I think it needs consistency from the top down," Riza said. "It takes time. There has to be a plan in place for what it is the club wants to do - how they want to play. I know that comes down to the manager coming in and how they are going to do that and I've already stated how I want to do that.
"I am not going to talk about what the team needs, in respect of the players, but what the boys have to give is a wholehearted performance all the time - in training, around the city, on the pitch - and have a respect which is deserved of the city and the club.
"I have an affinity for young players because I came through a system myself. I want to give young players an opportunity but you can only do that when there is a solid foundation and you are ready to give them those opportunities, otherwise it hinders them. And I want to win games! I want to see this team back in the Premier League, because it's Cardiff, it's a massive club and for as long as I can remember it's been a big club. It's got a great history and fan base, but you can't achieve all these things without consistency."
