Cardiff City have appointed Paul Trollope as manager. The 43-year-old had been the favourite to take the top job when it came to the playing squad, once Russell Slade was confirmed to have moved upstairs to a ‘Head of Football’ role. Ken Choo had already made it clear that the appointment could have been an internal one after describing Russell Slade’s move as a ‘re-shuffle’.
Then, this morning, the club confirmed the appointment of Trollope on its official website, also confirming that he will not report directly to Russell Slade, giving clarity on his position on dealing with the first team squad without any outside interference.
The club’s statement from their official website reads: “Cardiff City Football Club is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Trollope as Head Coach to oversee all first-team affairs.
Paul, who joined the Bluebirds in March 2015, has been instrumental in helping to move the Club forward. It is felt that his knowledge of the Club and its players will allow for stability and continuity.
Prior to his time at Cardiff City, Paul was first-team coach at Birmingham City and then Norwich City between 2011 and 2014. He gained managerial experience prior to that during a five year spell.
In appointing Paul, owner Tan Sri Vincent Tan made the following comments.
“I am delighted for Paul on his new appointment. He is young, full of ideas, extremely hard working and this is an opportunity for him to establish his credentials further.
“I believe Paul will improve the team in several areas. In particular, I hope he will lead the team to play an attractive style of football that Cardiff City fans love.
“We hope that under Paul’s leadership, Cardiff City will return to the Premier League. I’d like to thank him for what he’s done for us so far whilst wishing him the best of luck for the future. He has our full support.”
There has already been dissatisfaction amongst fans calling the appointment ‘lazy’, ‘lacklustre’ and that the club are showing their lack of ambition for next season in appointing from within and continuing the same management team despite the new roles.
Paul Trollope told the club website: “It’s a very proud moment,” began Paul. “I’m honoured and delighted to have been given this opportunity and it’s one I’m very much looking forward to getting my teeth into, and getting cracking with straight away.
“We’ve worked here for fifteen, sixteen months and have built up good relationships with the players and the staff. We know the Club inside out now so, coming into this role, it certainly gives me an advantage. Hopefully that will be beneficial for moving forward and bringing us the success that we look for.
“Of course, everyone’s got their own personal philosophies on how they want the game to be played. We’ll certainly look at the squad and people we can bring in to add to a good group of players. We’ll then decide the best way to play and the best formation. Hopefully we’ll add some flexibility in, that means we find a good solution to winning games.”
Trollope had been head coach since February 2015 and has had an influence on the coaching setup since his arrival. His only managerial role was at Bristol Rovers, where he oversaw 284 games from the dugout, winning 106, drawing 71 and losing 107.
He gained promotion to League One with Rovers via the play-offs and also took the club to their first FA Cup quarter-final in 50 years. Trollope believes in ‘attack-minded football’ and to play ‘progressive, passing football’. Before joining Cardiff City he had continued coaching at both Birmingham City and Norwich City.
As with every managerial appointment, the former Wales midfielder Trollope will be judged by his results firstly along with his style of play and relationship with the fans with the latter likely to prove a difficult ask with plenty of disgruntled fans wanting the ‘X-Factor’ appointment of either Craig Bellamy or Neil Warnock.
Trollope’s backroom staff has yet to be confirmed but former Bluebirds favourite Scott Young has already been told that he will not be part of the first-team coaching setup at the Cardiff City Stadium.
