Omer Riza hits out at "clueless" Cardiff City supporters as Neil Warnock talk swirls | OneFootball

The club are reportedly considering changing their manager at this late stage of the season.

Cardiff City manager Omer Riza has called a lot of the club's supporters "clueless" amid speculation that he may be replaced as boss before the end of the season.

The Bluebirds are currently on track to be relegated to League One for the first time since the competition was rebranded in the 2004/05 campaign.

It's not exactly mission impossible for them to survive the drop, but pressure is certainly building on them to strong some results together, otherwise they will run out of time.

Because of the perilous situation they find themselves in, the Cardiff hierarchy has reportedly been in talks with relegation battle specialist, and former Bluebirds boss, Neil Warnock over returning to the club to try and save them in the final four matches, as per journalist Graeme Bailey.

Omer Riza responds to sacking links and "clueless" supporters

There doesn't appear to be any swift movement happening on the Warnock front, with Riza currently set to take charge of City's trip to face Sheffield United on Friday.

He said after his side's 1-0 home defeat to Stoke City that he was uncertain over his future and he reiterated that point in his pre-Blades press conference.

"I haven’t been given assurances, but I’ve been given the job and until such a time I’m told differently I’ll continue to do my job to the best of my ability and that’s it," said the Turkish manager, via Wales Online.

"No one’s come out and said ‘you’re here until the end of the season’ – they’d be stupid to do that if they’ve got other things in their mind."

When asked about whether the club's hierarchy should publicly put to bed any rumours about a change of manager, if they aren't true, Riza said: "But that has to come out to the media not to me.

"But I’m not concerned about the fact…if they (the board) feel someone could come in and save Cardiff from going down and do a better job than me, then I’m happy for that to happen.

"I don’t believe that’s the case, I believe I’m the right person to do the job and that won’t change. If I felt I wasn’t the right person to do the job I would have said a long time ago I don’t feel I can do it and step away but that isn’t the case."

Riza also fronted up to the criticism he has received from the club's supporters about not owning responsibility for the team's poor performances since he was appointed in December.

"If there's going to be blame then it's got to be on me. I'm the manager of the team and I take full responsibility. I know how important it is. It's a failure on my part if we go down. I have standards, goals, ideas about where I feel I can take this club.

"I have always been taught that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It's only going to make me better, stronger. I read all the comments from fans and unfortunately a lot of them are clueless. That's what I've got to learn. To come away from that side of it, so I can stay focused.

"There are lot of good people out there and around the club and within the club. We've got to do this together."

Riza did praise the club's supporters as well, highlighting how many of them will be making the long trip to Bramall Lane on Friday. However that wasn't enough to make up for his stinging remarks, which the club's supporters trust have now responded to.

"Comments that fans are clueless are both disappointing and disrespectful given the need for everyone to be pulling in the same direction as Cardiff City battles to avoid relegation," read a statement from the CCFC Supporters Trust.

"Given the club’s precarious position, the manager, indeed any manager, should expect to receive criticism from fervent supporters who are passionate about the future of our club. We hope Omer will reflect on his ill-judged comments."

Changing manager now could be suicidal or a stroke of genius

There are four games left of this season, two of which are in the next four days. Any new manager stepping into Riza's shoes will have such little time to make any changes to this team, other than morale; this scenario would be mission impossible.

Warnock has pulled off great escapes before, but not one like this. Even with Huddersfield Town a few seasons ago, who looked like a lock to go down, he had 15 games to sort them out, not four.

It'd be such a brilliant decision if Cardiff do pull the plug on Riza and bring someone else in who ends up saving them. The flipside of that is they could make the change and that could be the thing that sinks them. It's a really pivotal decision that the Bluebirds' board is going to have to make sooner rather than later.