Erol Bulut is confident that owner Vincent Tan will back him in the January transfer window and bring in the three or four players he believes will make the difference between Cardiff City ending the season in the play-offs or below.
The Bluebirds brought in nine players in the summer and have enjoyed a fantastic start to the season, sitting in seventh place in the Championship table ahead of the game against Norwich City at the weekend. But Bulut believes this represents only the building blocks and thinks the squad can be bettered in the new year.
Bulut has confirmed he wants three or four new faces after Christmas and is looking to add in all areas of the squad. Speaking about Tan and the prospect of the January window, he said: "I want to speak about our owner, Vincent. At the start of the season we didn’t have it easy and he supported us really well and we made some good transfers, I think. I think in January, for the transfer period, when it opens, he will again be behind us and support us really well to get a few targets that we are focussing on.
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"He has the same character as me, he does not like to lose! That is good. That's why he will give more attention and support us much more with that.
"It’s clear what we want and in which positions we want. Maybe this makes it easier for us, because we are focussing on a few positions. For those positions we have a few names. It's not easy to make transfers in January, everyone knows this. But we are focussed on a few names and I hope with the big support of Vincent we can get it done, those deals."
While Bulut would of course not be drawn on specifics, he did hint at one position he was looking at. With the Africa Cup of Nations on the horizon in January, Jamilu Collins could miss a big chunk of games in the new year. Given Callum O'Dowda's injury troubles so far this season, is left-back on the agenda? "Possibly," he told WalesOnline. "Good analysis!"
Clearly Tan, like all City fans, is delighted with how the season is going, particularly when you think of it in the context of the two seasons which preceded it. While Bulut doesn't speak as regularly as some managers might have done in the past, he said he has a good relationship with the Bluebirds chief.
"With Vincent, I've spoken two or three times and they have been really good discussions, generally, about life and football," he added. "I am doing [transfers] generally with Mehmet Dalman, our chairman, and he is bringing stuff from Vincent to me. But we have good communication.
"His character is not to lose and always to have victories. So all of us have to do something about that. And I think in January he will support us really good and we can make something on the transfer market."
The start of the season has been so positive that some supporters are already dreaming of an end-of-season play-off campaign. It is, of course, too early to make any concrete predictions regarding how the table will look come May, but Bulut is sure that he needs extra bodies in January if Cardiff are going to be in the equation.
"I think we have to add," he said. "Because it comes to a period where it will be hard over the next two and half months, with injuries, cards, our squad is not the biggest. We will use all of our players and give all of our best, to stay where we are right now, close to the play-offs. But this, we've got it with hard work, so we will not give it away.
"I hope in January, when we can get a few players, we can add more quality in our squad so that we can go through (to the play-offs)."
