By admin 
Omer Riza described Cardiff City’s first-half performance in the defeat to Blackburn Rovers as “unacceptable” and admitted that the international break has given those above him the opportunity to appoint a permanent manager.
Cardiff looked lackluster in the first half against Rovers and went a goal behind. Andi Weimann then scored his second just after the break, before David Turnbull pulled one back for Cardiff. However, the visitors dealt the Bluebirds a “sucker punch,” according to Riza, when Lewis Baker sealed the three points for Rovers late on.
While Riza was pleased with his players’ fightback, he told them that their first-half performance was well below the required standards.
“The first half was unacceptable,” he said. “I told the boys that in no uncertain terms. You can’t start games slowly, thinking you’re going to have loads of time on the ball and that it will be easy, assuming the opposition won’t come after you. We lacked intensity, urgency, and direction in the first half.
“When we spoke before the game about what we needed to do, we didn’t stick to the game plan. We were our own worst enemy in the first half.
“In the second half, I thought the reaction was better. We tried to apply more pressure and had the ball a lot more. However, when we delivered into the box, was it with quality? Were our set pieces of good quality? Not really.
“We got back in the game with the penalty, making it 2-1, and we were pushing for that second goal. The crowd was up, but we were hit with the sucker punch again due to the things we didn’t do well — not recovering, not tracking runners, or preventing the opposition from scoring. It was disappointing overall, but the second half was better.”
There had been calls for interim boss Riza to be appointed on a permanent basis after their impressive comeback win against Norwich City a week ago.
However, following two losses in four days — first at Luton Town and then at home to Blackburn — some of the momentum has been lost.
More than a week has passed since Riza held what he described as “positive” talks with the club’s hierarchy, but the lack of communication from above has left supporters confused and in the dark.
It appears that Riza, who has overseen four wins and two draws in nine games, is just as uncertain as everyone else. The interim manager acknowledged that this international break gives the club an opportunity to consider other options if they don’t want to appoint him permanently.
“Regarding what it looks like, I don’t know,” Riza said candidly. “Every international break is a chance to bring in another manager. We’ve always said that when you’re winning, it’s more difficult; when you’re losing, it’s easier to make a change.
“It depends on what the club wants to do moving forward. Only they can answer that.
“What I’m focused on is winning games. The pressure is there when you don’t win, and then the opportunity arises for anything to happen. I’m not going to say whether I want the job; you already know the answer to that.
“I think we’re on the right track. We’re not going to win every game, and I’ve said that before. But we can’t lose like that, especially in the first half. The second half was better.
“They’ll make a decision eventu
ally, you just have to wait.”