We can now confirm Erol Bulut’s backroom staff for the upcoming 2023/24 Sky Bet Championship campaign.
Joining the Club as First Team Assistant Coaches are Nikolaos Karydas and Nadir Sönmez, with Mario Galinović agreeing to become our new First Team Goalkeeping Coach.
Niko has previously worked with City boss Bulut at Süper Lig side Gaziantep FK, focussing on the technical performance side of the game.
Nadir joins the Bluebirds from Fortuna Köln II, where he was Assistant Manager. The 33-year-old has previously had spells with the likes of 1.FC Mönchengladbach, Wuppertaler SV and SC Fortuna Cologne.
Former Croatian international goalkeeper Mario played football professionally for 19 years, before taking up stints as a goalkeeping coach at Panathinaikos, Sparta Prague and PAOK.
Alongside Nikolaos, Nadir and Mario, Tom Ramasut will continue in his position as First Team Coach.
We’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Niko, Nadir and Mario to the Welsh capital!
Sol Bamba and Dean Whitehead will depart the Club at the conclusion of their current agreements at the end of June 2023.
City legend Sol re-joined the Bluebirds as part of Sabri Lamouchi’s backroom staff in January of this year. He originally linked up with Cardiff City as a player in September 2016, quickly establishing himself as a fans favourite after scoring the winning goal on debut against Bristol City. We wish Sol nothing but the very best for the future.
Dean was bought to the Club by former boss Mark Hudson in November 2022, and managed the team on an interim basis for two fixtures in January 2023.
He returned to his First Team Coach role under Lamouchi for the remainder of the 2022/23 season, aiding in the Club’s survival in the Championship. We’d like to thank Dean for his valuable contributions whilst in the Welsh capital.
James Wood, who took up the position of First Team Goalkeeping Coach during the 2022/23 campaign, will now return to his previous role with the Academy. Our thanks go to James for his contribution during his time with the First Team last season.