Cardiff City: Pundit touts Ian Evatt, Ruben Selles and Richie Wellens as Erol Bulut replacements | OneFootball

Sam Parkin has touted Ian Evatt, Ruben Selles and Richie Wellens as potential appointments for Cardiff City

Pundit Sam Parkin of the 'What The EFL?!' podcast has touted Ian Evatt, Ruben Selles and Richie Wellens for the vacant managerial hot-seat at Cardiff City, who are now in the search for their 12th permanent managerial appointment in 14 years after parting ways with Erol Bulut last weekend.

The former Fenerbache boss arrived at the Cardiff City Stadium in the summer of 2023, with the side having spent the previous two second-tier campaigns battling against relegation to League One. Bulut guided Cardiff to a respectable 12th-placed finish in his first season with the club, eventually earning himself a new two-year contract after extensive delay.

However, he was handed his marching orders merely three months into that deal following a disastrous start to the 2024/25 season, which had been one of expectation by supporters.

Indeed, the acquisitions of numerous big-name signings in Anwar El Ghazi, Callum Chambers and Chris Willock had generated excitement among the overwhelming majority of fans, who had felt at the time that what they perceived as a productive summer transfer window would provide the foundations for a potential play-off push.

Any such ambitions, though, now appear firmly out of reach. The Bluebirds have claimed just one point from their opening six Championship encounters - scoring their only goal in a 1-1 draw away to Swansea City in August's South Wales Derby - with five defeats rooting them to the foot of the league table and ultimately forcing the club's hierarchy into taking action.

First-team coach Omer Riza will be undertaking duties as interim boss for the time being, a position which is expected to be held until the commencement of the international break following Cardiff's Severnside Derby trip to Bristol City next Sunday.

Ian Evatt, Ruben Selles and Richie Wellens touted for Cardiff City job

Cardiff took an almighty gamble by hiring Bulut, who had no previous experience within English football. That, of course, is not always a recipe for disaster, but the Bluebirds have been advised to cast their net out domestically this time around by looking to potentially considering three managers currently plying their trades in League One.

"I'd just like to see someone with a concise plan with a different idea over a longer period," Parkin explained while assessing Cardiff's managerial situation on the latest episode of the 'What The EFL?!' podcast.

"I know we're talking about an owner that historically hasn't hung about and it's a bit all over the place behind the scenes. [Steven] Schumacher is obviously there but it's a little bit of a gamble maybe, what about Ian Evatt at Bolton?

"Might be a bit of a jump, Selles at Reading isn't going to hang about too long if this [Reading's ownership situation] continues, someone like Richie Wellens deserves an opportunity in the Championship.

"These are a just a few names. I think it's time now that Cardiff took a bit of a gamble and stuck with it, but I probably don't envisage that happening and maybe it will be someone to safeguard their Championship status now that they're in a desperate situation."

Cardiff City may consider Nathan Jones over Ian Evatt, Ruben Selles and Richie Wellens

Cardiff should not turn their noses up too swiftly at a manager working in the third-tier of English football, which can often prove a real career springboard.

However, Evatt has attracted significant backlash from Bolton supporters for playing an overly-patient and risk-averse brand of possession-based football which disillusioned those at Cardiff under Bulut and, though Selles and Wellens have worked well with limited resources at Reading and Leyton Orient respectively, you would likely expect Cardiff to be considering a different manager in the division if League One is indeed a managerial market on the radar of the hierarchy.

That manager, of course, is Nathan Jones, who hails from the Rhondda Valley and is an ardent supporter of the club. Currently with Charlton Athletic, Jones recently made little secret of his desire to manage his boyhood club despite taking the Addicks to fifth-place in the table at the time of writing.

When quizzed by South London Press about the vacancy back in South Wales, Jones said: "When this kind of stuff comes up I’m very flattered to be linked with that. One day - I’ve made no secret and been totally open - I would like to manage Cardiff. It is my home town club, my dad lives close.

"So that is where we are. I won’t be disrespectful to anyone in any way. So for me it is nothing, I get on with my job day to day and I love my job here and the people I work with. I’ve asked a lot of people to buy-in to that. There is nothing to say really."

However, the Welshman previously admitted in 2022 that he would never turn down the opportunity to go back and manage his boyhood club. Should Cardiff make a formal advance, then, there is every chance that Jones would jump at the opportunity.