Luton's relegation rivals sack Riza and appoint ex-Arsenal midfielder for run-in
Bluebirds make a change with three games to go
One of Luton’s main Championship relegation rivals, Cardiff City, have sacked manager Omer Riza with just three games of the season to go.
The Bluebirds sit second bottom in the table after being leapfrogged by Town yesterday afternoon when the Hatters won 1-0 at Derby County and City were beaten 2-0 by Sheffield United. Riza, who had managed Cheshunt and Leyton Orient previously, also on the backroom staff for the England U17s and Watford, had moved to Cardiff as first team coach under previous manager Erol Bulut in June 2024.
When Bulut was sacked in September, the ex-Arsenal youngster was appointed interim boss, named in permanent charge in December on a contract until the end of the season. Despite beating local rivals Swansea City 3-0, the Bluebirds have been in woeful form during the last few months, as following a 2-1 success over Derby County on January 25, have won just two out of their last 14 matches, with seven defeats, including a 7-0 hammering by Leeds United.
With the Bluebirds now in real danger of playing League One football next term, their final three matches seeing them at home to Oxford United, West Bromwich Albion and away to Norwich City, former Arsenal and Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey will now be in the dug-out, as a club statement said: “Cardiff City FC can confirm that a decision has been taken to relieve Omer Riza of his duties as First Team Manager.
“Aaron Ramsey will lead the Club for the remaining three games of the Sky Bet Championship season, beginning with Monday’s match at home to Oxford United. Chris Gunter, Joe Ralls, Tom Hutton and Matthew Bloxham will join Aaron in the technical area. We’d like to thank Omer for his passion and effort during his time as Cardiff City manager and wish him the very best for his next steps in the game.”
Riza had been forced to apologise recently after labelling some of the Bluebirds fans as ‘clueless’ for their continued criticism of the job he was doing, as he stated: “It was absolutely not my intention to cause any offence to a fanbase that has been so supportive of me personally since I took charge earlier in the season. I guess I was thinking of a very small minority of messages that had been a little too personal and it was out of that frustration and the pressure of the job that I said what I said. Quite frankly, I'm sorry for the hurt."