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Tom Coleman

Every Cardiff City manager of the Vincent Tan era rated and where Mark Hudson figures

Many in Wales probably won't care who England decide to go for should Gareth Southgate stand down as manager.

But the list of early runners and riders does perhaps say something about the respective managerial recruits at Cardiff City and Swansea City in recent times.

Graham Potter, Steve Cooper and Brendan Rodgers have been mentioned as possibilities to take over from Southgate. It's a sign that Swansea's recent managerial history is littered with names who have gone on to bigger and better things. In contrast, managers in the capital rarely leave. They're almost always pushed.

READ MORE: It is crunch time for Vincent Tan as he faces big Cardiff City decisions if he is to realise Premier League dream again

Cardiff's managerial merry-go-round has been a constant cycle of short-termism and quick fixes. Mark Hudson is the latest one take on the job, and he hasn't been in there long enough to really make a definitive judgement on his performance in the hot seat so far. But he will be hoping he can break the cycle.

As the list below shows, history is not on his side.

Malky Mackay

The man who first delivered Premier League football to the capital, albeit subsequent allegations off the pitch clearly taint what should have been a favourable legacy. The Scot temporarily smoothed over, at least partially, the turmoil caused by the change in colour, overseeing the club's strongest home start to a season, which provided the backbone for a successful promotion charge.

An FA investigation took place into inappropriate text messages containing discriminatory content. Although later cleared, the scandal caused Malky to drop out of the running to take over at Premier League side Crystal Palace, and he later joined Wigan in 2014. He's now in charge of Ross County.

Verdict: He did deliver the Premier League dream. 8/10

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

The Norwegian followed on from Mackay in a bid to keep the Bluebirds in the Premier League. It proved a hugely difficult reign, and he failed to keep Cardiff up. A poor start to life back in the Championship saw him sacked the following September. After a brief spell back in Norway with Molde, he was appointed caretaker boss of former club Manchester United in 2018 and stayed four years before departing.

Perhaps the only one on this list to move to better things, his reign in the capital has largely become the butt of many a joke among Cardiff fans. Currently without a club.

Verdict: A huge disappointment in the end. 2/10

Russell Slade

Tasked with picking up the pieces following Solskjaer's largely disastrous reign, he had to oversee a number of first team exits as the club looked to balance the books. Still had a decent squad though and guided the team to 11th and eighth placed finishes in the course of his two-year reign.

Tan had initially said he hoped Slade would rival Arsene Wenger in terms of longevity, but supporters never quite bought into it and attendances dropped amid what many felt was a dire standard of football. Was moved upstairs to become the club's 'head of football', but stepped down from his new role in June 2016 after just two weeks.

He's now without a club after leaving non-league Hereford by mutual consent in 2020.

Verdict: Did the cost cutting but lots of fans simply didn't take to him. 5/10

Paul Trollope

Lasted just 12 games of the 2016-17 season, winning only two of them before being sacked in the November.

Would later go on to be Chris Hughton's assistant at Brighton and Nottingham Forest.

Hasn't yet returned to management, with his spell at Cardiff a real low point.

Verdict: Was a miserable appointment. 2/10

Neil Warnock

Surely the most successful of the Tan era. Was sent in to perform a salvage job in 2016, yet mounted an astonishing assault on promotion the following season. Cardiff finished second behind winners Wolverhampton Wanderers to return to the big time.

Once again they failed to maintain their place in the top flight, but not without one heck of a fight. Were VAR in existence back then for a controversial Chelsea goal, the Bluebirds might well have retained their Premier League place.

Warnock was sacked after a disappointing start to the following campaign back in the Championship, and there are some sections of Cardiff fans, who believe his reign is at least partially to blame for some of the club's current problems. An inability to really bring any young players through the ranks, as well as several expensive flops during his time as manager were clearly blots on his legacy in the capital.

But to dwell on those criticisms would be to overlook his success on the pitch, which so far hasn't been topped.

Verdict: Brought a broken club back together again. 9/10

Neil Harris

To follow on from Warnock was always going to be a tough task, but Harris initially did it quite well, although results were admittedly mixed during the early days of his reign. A thumping defeat at Queens Park Rangers saw many a knife sharpened in terms of his future, but he recovered brilliantly following the enforced break for Covid.

Cardiff won six of their last nine games that season to muscle their way into the play-offs, where they were unfortunately seen off by Fulham. Harris was dismissed the following season following a run of six straight defeats, and is now in charge of Gillingham in League Two.

Verdict: Tan liked him a lot, but many fans begged to differ. 6/10

Mick McCarthy

He was only supposed to be a short-term stop-gap for the Bluebirds, but a run of six consecutive victories clearly forced the hand of the hierarchy and Big Mick was handed a two-year deal.

The Yorkshireman responded with some hugely strange selection calls, the nadir coming early in the following season when he decided to play five centre-backs in a match against West Brom and did the same versus Swansea. He was then humiliated by old pal Warnock, whose Middlesbrough side condemned McCarthy to an eighth straight defeat, which ultimately saw him dismissed.

It wasn't all bad. He did help the emergence of promising youngsters like Joel Bagan, Isaak Davies, Mark Harris and Rubin Colwill.

But on the whole, the football was dreary, the results were poor, and McCarthy's inability to move with the times ultimately proved fatal.

Verdict: Started well, finished appallingly. 2/10

Steve Morison

Again, took over in an interim role, and saw his chances of taking over long-term initially dismissed by chairman Mehmet Dalman.

However, Morison changed the brand of football, and turned results around to keep Cardiff away from the relegation zone.

He was entrusted to rip up and rebuild an ageing and largely stale team over the summer, bringing in 17 players. An indifferent start to the season then saw Tan's finger get twitchy once more, and Morison was shown the door.

The decision shocked Cardiff fans. Currently eyeing a return to management.

Verdict: Perhaps the trigger was pulled too soon, but Tan felt Cardiff were going down under Morison. 6/10

Mark Hudson

Another stop-gap, the third on the trot, who was then given the job full-time. Can he last more time than McCarthy or Morison?

If we're honest, there's not been an awful lot of improvement from the Morison era in terms of results on the pitch. A run of six defeats in their last nine games has left the Bluebirds in real danger of getting sucked into a relegation battle.

Dropping down to League One would be utterly catastrophic, and if Cardiff happen to be in the bottom three in the new year, Hudson could well find himself under pressure.

He's clearly a respected figure inside the dressing room and among the members of the hierarchy. However, results have to improve, for more reasons than one.

Verdict: He needs to get results and fast, although we'll hold off on a mark for the time being.

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