Who is Omer Riza? Cardiff's continuity candidate stakes his claim

Omer Riza was reported to be “hurt” and “very disappointed” when he lost his previous job at Watford – and even felt he should have been given the chance to become number one when they sacked their manager.

Now the 44-year-old has the chance to prove he is good enough to land that role at Cardiff City, having been appointed interim boss following Erol Bulut’s dismissal.

Riza joined Bulut’s coaching staff in the summer after spending almost six years at Watford.

He lost his job with the Hornets when they sacked Valerian Ismael as manager. He had been promoted to assistant first team coach after several years in the club’s academy.

It was reported that Riza, who holds a Uefa Pro Coaching Licence, felt he deserved to succeed Ismael, external as the continuity candidate at Vicarage Road, but Watford went on to appoint Tom Cleverley as their new head coach instead.

Riza, who started his playing career at Arsenal in the Arsene Wenger years, is now being asked to bring that continuity to Cardiff, however briefly, by stepping into Bulut’s shoes while they search for a new permanent manager.

“Started my new chapter and I’m very excited,” Riza posted on social networking site LinkedIn when he joined the Bluebirds in June.

“The manager and staff, players [and] fans have been great.

“When you look at what you want to achieve, you think of all the things that you need just to be able to function in the elite environment.

“Fundamentals like tactical, strategical, understanding of delivery to peers and players. Working relationships within the small teams to become a total team.

“Preparation, organisation, communication.

“Honesty, humbleness, respect, humility and hard work... key in my life and it will never change as it was how I was raised."

Cardiff fans will hope to hear more specific plans for addressing the team’s desperate league position when he speaks to the media for the first time before Saturday’s game at Hull City.

Supporters will hope he has some ideas for rescuing a side stuck to the bottom of the Championship with just one point and one goal from six games.

Certainly, nothing should be lost in translation. Riza may be of Turkish Cypriot descent, but he was born in north London and sounds very much like a Londoner.

He was limited to a handful of first-team appearances at Arsenal, but went on to play for the likes of West Ham, Barnet, Cambridge and several non-league sides in addition to spells at Turkish clubs Trabzonspor and Denizlispor.

Riza has plenty of coaching experience, but his only frontline management role in the English Football League came with a caretaker spell at Leyton Orient in 2017.