Erol Bulut: Cardiff City manager avoids media after Derby loss

Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut refused to give interviews after Saturday’s defeat at Derby County handed the Championship bottom side their worst start to a season in 35 years.

It was Cardiff’s fourth defeat in five league games, during which they picked up just one point and scored one goal.

With a goal difference of -10 at the bottom of the table, this is the Bluebirds’ worst start to a season in the Third Division since 1989-90, when they took just one point from their opening five games.

Bulut was banned from the Derby touchline after his red card at Swansea City last month.

Although the suspension did not prevent him from giving interviews at Pride Park, Bulut handed over his media duties to assistant coach Omer Riza.

“If you talk about concerns, obviously we have lost games and taken one point, so this is not where we want to be,” Riza told BBC Sport Wales.

“We want to win games and gain momentum. The only way to do that is to win and perform well. We’ve done well in periods, but that’s not enough.”

This disappointing start to Bulut’s second season comes after the former Turkey Under-21 international had made a big improvement in his first season.

Before Bulut’s arrival, Cardiff had endured two successive battles against relegation, but with the former Fenerbahce manager at the helm they finished a comfortable 12th in the Championship table.

In doing so, Bulut became the first Bluebirds manager to last a full season since Neil Warnock took charge of the 2018-19 campaign, which ended with relegation from the Premier League.

This season, however, the Bluebirds have again achieved the same results and performances as in previous seasons.