Tan Says Slade, Is so much better than our last two managers

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan launches passionate defence of Russell Slade: 'He's so much better than our last two managers!'

Thursday 11th Feb 2016

BY PAUL ABBANDONATO


In an outspoken interview, Cardiff City's owner doesn't hold back when asked his views on Slade and his predecessors



Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has launched a staunch defence of under-fire manager Russell Slade and insisted he is doing a much better job than his predecessors Malky Mackay and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Tan spoke on a flying visit to Wales where he conducted a compelling Q&A session with Bluebirds fans and commercial partners at Cardiff City Stadium.

In a fascinating conversation with lasted an hour and 20 minutes, Slade addressed a range of issues, including the flak Slade continues to take.

But he insisted: "Russell has been excellent, a lot better than the last two managers who I paid seven or eight times a higher salary to.

"Did they do a seven to eight times better job? No, they did much worse, lost me tons of money.

"If I listen to the so called 'experts' in Wales, and I deliberately use apostrophes there, then I just hear Russell is terrible, Russell is this and that.



"They forget he came in at a time when I told him to clean up the mess. We'd just had two very well paid managers who spent an awful lot of money, but in my opinion didn't do very well.

"Everybody seemed to condemn me when I brought in Russell, saying 'Oh he's only from the lower leagues'. But if you always adopted that view, nobody would be given a chance. I gave him a chance and I'm glad I have done.

"He is totally trustworthy and I believe he's done very well. When Cardiff City got promoted I put £20m in to buy players that season for that 'great manager' (Malky Mackay).


"One of them was a £10million striker from Denmark who didn't even play 90 minutes for us and never scored a single goal. Andreas Cornelius was on £45,000 a week. Jordan Rhodes has just joined Middlesbrough... for less than £10m. And I bet he's not on £45,000 a week.



"The fans love the previous manager (Mackay), but sometimes football fans get emotional, not logical."

Of Slade, Tan continued: "Please be reasonable, don't always hammer the man. Okay, he's not Tony Pulis, who would have cost us an awful lot of money.

"Okay, he's not one of these big brand name managers. Well, they get sacked too. Who would have thought Jose Mourinho would be out of a job this season?

"Sometimes you need to be given a chance and I've given Russell one."
Slade's contract runs out this summer and his future has been subject of much speculation.

But Tan said: "We do business on a handshake. We trust eachother. Don't worry about whether we will renew or not. We will do what's right for the club."

He's not the best manager out there but he's trying his best and we're in the mix. I don't believe he's the best man for the job but its clear he's Tans man and is staying so we should all get behind him and support the team.

Very interesting. Comments (especially about Pulis) seem to show he is a lot more plugged in to what is going on in South Wales than many would have believed...

During Tans regime, Malky is the best manager. Excellent home record when we was in the championship that year.

He's best in Tan's eyes (and I can see his point) because he's cheap and hasn't got us relegated or wasted millions on transfers.
On the other hand though he inherited a good Championship squad and in my view he's underacheiving with them and the majority of his signings are questionable (Tamas,Revell,Doyle etc) ,they were a waste of money in my view but not on the scale of Cornelious

Surely malky isnt the one who says how much a player is paid. Surely that should be the people in the back round. Sure he may give an opinion but its people tan has working for him that ultimatley signs the cheques

From Vincent Tan's perspective, that's actually hard to disagree with, as Russell Slade has done all that was asked of him on a shoestring and with two hands tied behind his back; other than maybe a top 6 place!

From a supporters perspective, I think there would now have to be an improvement of home form and (critically) style for Russell Slade to be given any leeway at all and most would still like to see a new man at the helm for the start of next season (or before)

It's a toughie. !! I do feel for Slade, he's been given an objective . Achieved the objective but still not receives a bit of credit apart from Tan. If Derby can sack the manager for being 5th then who knows. ...?

Very interesting. Comments (especially about Pulis) seem to show he is a lot more plugged in to what is going on in South Wales than many would have believed...

I'm pleasantly surprised to see him mention Pulis, and just by his comments about other clubs players and such too. People keep saying he knows nothing about football, but his comments here from the man himself seem to suggest otherwise.

Personally, I'm hoping his MLS franchise works in our favour like his other clubs are starting too. He's a lot more clued up than people think, I believe.

Fair play to him, he seems to be up to date on current football affairs.

And with regard to the best manager of the 3, i see his point. Although Malky did get us promoted( which i am massively grateful for), it did come at a massive financial cost. Slade is (at the moment) keeping us within touching distance, at a much lower cost.

Surely malky isnt the one who says how much a player is paid. Surely that should be the people in the back round. Sure he may give an opinion but its people tan has working for him that ultimatley signs the cheques

Exactly my point. Malky did not sign any cheques,Tans men did that. Tan hated Malky for standing up to him (remember after Man City at home and allegedly the Newcastle home game), so Tan could not take not being the hero and wanted to destroy Malky.
Slade just does what Tan (and Tans mother want) so they like him. Despite the fact that after almost 800 games as a manager he is tactically clueless.

Hard to disagree when you consider the money and mess they left.

However now Slade has cleared the decks a bit its time for a change.

Better than Malky? No chance. Better than Ole? Hard to say, as Ole wasn't in the job long enough to judge in the Championship IMO.

Tan just trying to justify his decisions.

Better than Malky? No chance. Better than Ole? Hard to say, as Ole wasn't in the job long enough to judge in the Championship IMO.

Tan just trying to justify his decisions.

As I said above Tan only sees Slade as a good manager as he's cheap and hasn't wasted millions of £££ (he's just wasted small amounts)

Hmmmm very interesting article. Tan seems more in touch than i suspected.

I think Cornelius was a dreadful mistake but other than that Malky bought pretty well imo. Though he certainly overpaid.

Soljksksjekseraer was just dogshit.

Better than Malky? No chance. Better than Ole? Hard to say, as Ole wasn't in the job long enough to judge in the Championship IMO.

Tan just trying to justify his decisions.

Point he makes as a business man (which is not the same as we want as fans) is were Malky or Ole 7 times better than Slade?

Cheap Talk - all pre hearse as usual --------- The circus and its real master - better Manager ? Hmmmm

this league this year should of been a walk over now we have seen the quality throughout - games we have let go

Slade may be a nice person does as he's told and happy to get less than previous managers but he on double is usual Income finds himself in a premier league set up which he wont get the chance again to do so IMO

Any how enough of Tan - Slade his he going to invest still ? is his son taking over ? does tan expect to stay attached to the club for years to come -

is there a crisis at the club regarding fans - and future fans attendances next season - ??????? Hmmmm

Cant really disagree with what Tan is saying here Slade is something that Tan has got a hard on for and that's value for money cheap and cheerful.

The Malky situation is tough; sure you can say at the end of the day that Tan ultimately signed the players, but he obviously put his trust with Malky and his scouting team and they let him down big time.

In terms of our promotion season, it was a weird one. Malky did spend a lot of money, but think back to some of the signings. Kimbo and Mutch were about £2mil each but only played half the games throughout the season, Maynard cost £3million but only played a couple of games before getting crocked. He ended up getting us promoted with the bulk of the team he put together for peanuts the year before, yet still burned through a lot of money. So in a way he should have achieved the success he did, yet he still did a good job with what he was working with.

On to Slade now: Considering the constraints he's had to deal with, and the wage he's on, he's definitely done a decent job. Sure he could be doing better, sure we could hire a better manager, but he's done nothing to deserve anywhere near the amount of vile abuse he's had directed at him this season.

The Malky situation is tough; sure you can say at the end of the day that Tan ultimately signed the players, but he obviously put his trust with Malky and his scouting team and they let him down big time.

In terms of our promotion season, it was a weird one. Malky did spend a lot of money, but think back to some of the signings. Kimbo and Mutch were about £2mil each but only played half the games throughout the season, Maynard cost £3million but only played a couple of games before getting crocked. He ended up getting us promoted with the bulk of the team he put together for peanuts the year before, yet still burned through a lot of money. So in a way he should have achieved the success he did, yet he still did a good job with what he was working with.

On to Slade now: Considering the constraints he's had to deal with, and the wage he's on, he's definitely done a decent job. Sure he could be doing better, sure we could hire a better manager, but he's done nothing to deserve anywhere near the amount of vile abuse he's had directed at him this season.

Agree Slade nowhere near deserves the personal abuse he has been getting from so called fans.

If OGS was on 7/8 times Slades wages then that puts Slade on approx 500k a year 10k a week.

You can find several links online to say Ole was on 4m a year or 75k a week with us.

As ive been saying for some time. £120k a year my arse.

If OGS was on 7/8 times Slades wages then that puts Slade on approx 500k a year 10k a week.

You can find several links online to say Ole was on 4m a year or 75k a week with us.

As ive been saying for some time. £120k a year my arse.

75k a week if that's true then that is clearly way to much no wonder we have ffp problems

I said earlier its maybe time to leave the past in the past and move forward together given the great news today but this applies to Tan too.

The fans have got to let the rebrand go and hes got to let Malky go ffs.

Does'nt take a lot to be better than our last two managers. If you gave my next door neighbour's cat the sort of money they had, it would probably do a better job than they did.

If OGS was on 7/8 times Slades wages then that puts Slade on approx 500k a year 10k a week.

You can find several links online to say Ole was on 4m a year or 75k a week with us.

As ive been saying for some time. £120k a year my arse.

Your absolutely right and that puts this nonsense about RS salary firmly to bed.

If OGS was on 7/8 times Slades wages then that puts Slade on approx 500k a year 10k a week.

You can find several links online to say Ole was on 4m a year or 75k a week with us.

As ive been saying for some time. £120k a year my arse.

75k a week if that's true then that is clearly way to much no wonder we have ffp problems

Plus a 2m bonus if he kept us in the PL or promoted from Championship in 2nd season !!!

If OGS was on 7/8 times Slades wages then that puts Slade on approx 500k a year 10k a week.

You can find several links online to say Ole was on 4m a year or 75k a week with us.

As ive been saying for some time. £120k a year my arse.

75k a week if that's true then that is clearly way to much no wonder we have ffp problems

Plus a 2m bonus if he kept us in the PL or promoted from Championship in 2nd season !!!

Ole was a total rip off.

Cheap Talk - all pre hearse as usual --------- The circus and its real master - better Manager ? Hmmmm

this league this year should of been a walk over now we have seen the quality throughout - games we have let go

Slade may be a nice person does as he's told and happy to get less than previous managers but he on double is usual Income finds himself in a premier league set up which he wont get the chance again to do so IMO

Any how enough of Tan - Slade his he going to invest still ? is his son taking over ? does tan expect to stay attached to the club for years to come -

is there a crisis at the club regarding fans - and future fans attendances next season - ??????? Hmmmm

You say this league should've been a walkover. There are a few teams in this league that have spent multimillions this season, and they aren't walking over the league, they just have slightly more consistency than us.

Cheap Talk - all pre hearse as usual --------- The circus and its real master - better Manager ? Hmmmm

this league this year should of been a walk over now we have seen the quality throughout - games we have let go

Slade may be a nice person does as he's told and happy to get less than previous managers but he on double is usual Income finds himself in a premier league set up which he wont get the chance again to do so IMO

Any how enough of Tan - Slade his he going to invest still ? is his son taking over ? does tan expect to stay attached to the club for years to come -

is there a crisis at the club regarding fans - and future fans attendances next season - ??????? Hmmmm

You say this league should've been a walkover. There are a few teams in this league that have spent multimillions this season, and they aren't walking over the league, they just have slightly more consistency than us.

Agreed. Derby, Boro, Hull and Burnley all very, very good championship sides/squads that could potentially survive in the Prem.

League is as good as it's ever been if not better.

Every season someone says that the league is weaker this year.

The Malky situation is tough; sure you can say at the end of the day that Tan ultimately signed the players, but he obviously put his trust with Malky and his scouting team and they let him down big time.

In terms of our promotion season, it was a weird one. Malky did spend a lot of money, but think back to some of the signings. Kimbo and Mutch were about £2mil each but only played half the games throughout the season, Maynard cost £3million but only played a couple of games before getting crocked. He ended up getting us promoted with the bulk of the team he put together for peanuts the year before, yet still burned through a lot of money. So in a way he should have achieved the success he did, yet he still did a good job with what he was working with.

On to Slade now: Considering the constraints he's had to deal with, and the wage he's on, he's definitely done a decent job. Sure he could be doing better, sure we could hire a better manager, but he's done nothing to deserve anywhere near the amount of vile abuse he's had directed at him this season.

Malky also bought Joe Mason for 250 -300 K who went for 3.5 million, and most most of signings were transferred for the same money, Maynard injury wasn't Malky's fault, just bad luck. Just one bad buy, so take 3 million from Mason's tranfer and it evens out.

Slade is not my cup of tea better that OGS yes but not in Malky's league, however he has done what he has been told do, also seems to be a nice guy and yes he doesn't deserve the abuse he gets. So let's all get behind him and the team for one big push to the Play offs