Cardiff City's manager search has dragged on into a second week.
The Bluebirds parted company with Sabri Lamouchi last Tuesday and are on the lookout for fourth manager in eight months after Steve Morison, Mark Hudson and Lamouchi all tried and ultimately failed to earn new deals.
With Cardiff having finished just above the relegation zone, they need a running start going into the 2023/24 Championship campaign. However, there are a number of big questions which need answering first...
READ MORE: Cardiff City new manager search Live
The manager
The biggest of all considerations at this moment in time is the search for a new manager to take the reins next season. Cardiff have gotten it so wrong so many times in recent years, they need to make sure this appointment is right.
At the end of last week, we learned that Vincent Tan was seriously considering re-appointing Steve Morison. Indeed, it all looked ready to go, but the longer it goes on without him being announced as manager, the less likely it appears to be.
The prospect of re-hiring Morison certainly split opinion at the top of the house at Cardiff, with some trying to convince Tan that it would represent a big backwards step if the former Millwall striker was to get that job again, just eight months after he was fired. While it has still not been ruled out completely, with each passing day the possibility seems to narrow.
What we have heard, though, is that we should not be surprised if the new manager is not from the UK. French, German and Turkish names are all understood to have been in the conversation in recent days, with the club looking to cast their net into Europe. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Lamouchi aside, Cardiff have tended to opt for British managers, but it appears the club are once again exploring options from outside of these shores. We have seen Alexander Blessin, the German former Genoa and KV Oostende manager who began his coaching career at RB Leipzig, shoot up the odds list into fourth favourite in recent days.
Managers based in the United States are also being looked at, we are told.
The official line is that the interview process is still in progress, but there is obviously a growing urgency that the club want to make a swift appointment in order to get the ball rolling on a number of other issues which need to be tackled in the coming days and weeks.
Cardiff rarely have time to consider new managers for any length of time, given they are typically mid-season appointments and/or firefighting jobs. This time, though, they are understood to be speaking to or at least looking at far more options than they have previously been afforded the chance to in the hope of getting the appointment right.
The backroom staff
Another important aspect in shaping how the club plan to move forward on the pitch next season is the backroom staff.
Lamouchi's former assistant Sol Bamba, who is the bookmakers' favourite, is still currently under contract until the end of June, but quite what happens with him is still up in the air.
He is clearly a bona fide fan favourite and supporters would love to have him around again next season in order to strengthen that bond between the club and its fanbase. It is understood Cardiff would like him to stay in some capacity, but a decision on whether he will stay or not will likely depend on who the new manager is – if indeed it isn't the man himself.
Dean Whitehead is another potential concern. Like Bamba, Whitehead's contract also runs out in June. Players have spoken highly of Whitehead's impact on and off the training ground and he is believed to be a valued part of the backroom team at Cardiff, despite arriving only last November under Mark Hudson.
The worry is that he coached alongside Valerien Ismael at Besiktas last season before joining Cardiff and Ismael has just taken the gaffer's job at Watford. Notably, when Chris Wilder left, all of Watford's backroom staff left, too, meaning Ismael currently has no first-team coaches at Vicarage Road. Therefore the possibility of Whitehead leaving to link-up with Ismael at Watford cannot be ruled out at this stage.
If a situation should arise where Bamba and Whitehead decide to depart, then the new manager would seemingly have carte blanche to bring in their own staff.
The retained list
Supporters are desperate to find out when the retained list will be released. However we are led to believe there will be very few surprises.
The club have had to submit their retained list to the EFL but can choose to publish it at their own discretion. Clearly, there are still a couple of decisions which will be left up to the new manager.
Gavin Whyte has already announced his departure, while Connor Wickham is also almost certainly out the door, too. Tom Sang looked likely to leave before Lamouchi's exit, while Mark Harris was close to signing a new deal under the Frenchman. But the new manager will make a final decision on those two.
It seems likely at the time of writing that Joel Bagan and Eli King will stay on, with the club believing them to have a future in the Welsh capital. The same is thought to be the case for Kieron Evans, too.
Ultimately, though, the new manager will make the ruling on those still to be decided, meaning more uncertainty continues to hang over some players' futures in this mid-season limbo.
Transfers
Transfers are a big consideration this summer. Cardiff underwent a huge squad overhaul last year with Morison bringing in 17 new players after a raft had left.
While a core of quality players are in the building, the lack of strength in depth became telling as injuries began to tot up last term. A further strengthening of that squad at large this summer is needed, while the three quality loan players from last season — Cedric Kipre, Jaden Philogene and Sory Kaba — must be replaced with players of equal ability.
We saw in January that the club have a transfer plan and team in place to bring in players even without a manager in situ, Kaba being a case in point, so we are led to believe that longlists of players are being drawn up to strengthen in the positions required. Clearly, more firepower up front without Kaba and Wickham is near the top of the wish list. More creativity is needed, too.
But, ultimately, the new manager will have his own ideas and direction for the club and how he wants the team to play. He will also have players he might want to bring with him from his former teams or leagues in which he has managed. Cardiff found bargains in Jamilu Collins and Kaba when looking abroad and foreign signings are thought to be on the agenda again this time around.
Without the manager's approval, though, the task is a little trickier. And the clock will tick louder the closer it gets to the opening of the transfer window on Tuesday, June 13.
READ NEXT
