Cardiff City board told Riza signing Salech was on him

OMER RIZA TALKING ABOUT YOUSEF SALECH:



"Put it this way, when I wanted to sign him, the message was, 'This is on you. Is he at the level to step up to the Championship? Is he going to be able to do this? Or do that?'

"I said, 'Look, I'm telling you what he's going to do' and so far, touch wood, he is doing that. I always say, live by the sword, die by the sword, let's hope it continues. I don't want to put too much pressure on him. We've got other players like Robbo up there who can score goals, that's their job.

"He was good today, Yousef, he was strong, won his headers and first and second balls, he tried to bring the ball in. He created opportunities and scored an opportunity. I'm really happy with him.

"That was from the board, which is fine. Sometimes it's 'Are you sure about this player?'

"That's fine. I think it was a tongue in cheek comment - I hope it wasn't a serious threat! But it was on me. I made a decision and stuck by it. He's doing well and I'm pleased for him.

"I had the confidence he would do well. Players take time to settle, but other than the first couple of days when he looked a bit nervy coming into the group, he takes things in his stride.

"I keep saying, he is honest, hard working, hungry, wants to get better, engaged, he's scored five now and could have had a hat-trick today! He is doing excellent and working hard."

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Think this is a massive f you to the board, I was dubious about signing Salech due to what had been said about his recovery but he’s not shown any signs of discomfort that was reported. 6 in 12 is a brilliant return for a striker and it’s refreshing to see a striker trying after seeing some of the crappiest strikers to grace the game

Think this is a massive f you to the board, I was dubious about signing Salech due to what had been said about his recovery but he’s not shown any signs of discomfort that was reported. 6 in 12 is a brilliant return for a striker and it’s refreshing to see a striker trying after seeing some of the crappiest strikers to grace the game

Hi goals to minutes ratio must be ridiculous. I doubt he played much more than a half of football in his first 3 games. 10 mins against Swansea, maybe 15 mins or so against Millwall and Derby?

He has the best minutes to goals ratio in the league this season.

Although in fairness, it's a small sample size for him as he's not been in the league as long as others - so probably not a fair stat to put out.

But it's been a brilliant start by him and for me, he should be one of the first names on the team sheet.