Club legend in strong message to Cardiff City owners over Omer Riza

Bluebirds legend Nathan Blake has urged Cardiff City's owners to allow Omer Riza to continue his work and take heed of the footballing philosophy he is implementing.

Interim manager Riza has overseen an upturn in results after taking over the club when they were sitting rock-bottom of the Championship after six games.

In his half a dozen games in charge, Riza has led Cardiff on a five-game unbeaten stretch following a defeat at Hull during his first game at the helm. The results have seen impressive performances against fellow strugglers Portsmouth and Plymouth Argyle, which has garnered much support for Riza from the Bluebirds faithful.

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Perhaps the most eye-catching aspect of Riza's temporary reign has been the visible change in football, implementing a far more attacking approach while coaxing the best out of players who were on the fringes at the beginning of the campaign.

And Blake believes Riza deserves great praise for how he's turned things around so far and has urged the board's top brass to allow him to continue his process for the time being.

"You do need some sort of consistency. When a manager gets a job permanently, it does change the mindset of players," he told the BBC.

"I think they need that stability going forwards. You've got to take your hat off to him (Riza) , from where they were and how they were playing, they've totally changed around.

"I did the game against Portsmouth, and what I'd say to the ownership is that, going forwards, when people talk about the philosophy of Cardiff City and how they play, just watch what's going on at the moment and you'll understand.

"For me, he's done a really good job in a difficult circumstance. What Cardiff's owners need to do is make sure they don't try to start controlling things. Just step out and let people who can do the job do their job well." Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

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Blake follows another Cardiff legend and ex-Wales international in calling for patience over the appointment of a permanent successor for Erol Bulut. Indeed, earlier this week Danny Gabbidon called for Riza to be given more time in the job after his impressive start.

The ex-centre back said: "While they're winning, why do you need to rush into making a decision? They've got some big games coming up, Norwich and Luton, those are the games where his credentials as a manager will be tested.

"While they're winning, I don't think there's any rush to do anything or make it permanent. If they were losing games still then yes, there's a quicker need to maybe change things or bring someone in.

"While it's going at the minute, just let him go on, see how the team does, let him build the confidence in the players, and if they keep picking up results then he will deserve to get the job.

"At the moment, there's not too much pressure on him (Riza). Just let the manager manage. No rush for me."