Veteran Euro boss claims Cardiff City approached him over manager's job

The former Rangers and PSV boss says he was contacted by the Bluebirds

Veteran football manager Dick Advocaat claims Cardiff City contacted him about becoming their manager.

The 77-year-old, who has a storied CV which includes spells with PSV, Rangers and various international positions, is currently in charge of Curacao, having taken up a role with the Caribbean side in January 2024.

Reports in the Netherlands state the former South Korea head coach was offered the chance to take the Bluebirds reins but turned the approach down.

Cardiff sacked Erol Bulut earlier on this season after a terrible run of results left them in a perilous position in the Championship. Omer Riza was handed the keys at Cardiff City Stadium on a temporary basis before getting the job until the end of the season.

It’s not clear when Advocaat was approached. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

He said: “Cardiff made an informal approach for me. It is insane that at my age clubs are still coming after me.

“But the people on my home front were no longer in agreement with me taking a job like this.

“Someone on the Curacao team staff must have leaked the news of Cardiff’s interest.”

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It appears the Dutchman's sole focus is helping his current employers to the next World Cup.

He added: “It’s realistic to say we can qualify for the 2026 World Cup. We have a team that is hard to beat, and the players give their all.

“I will retire once I leave the Curacao job. Then I will be 78, and that is a good time for me to stop."

Cardiff sit 21st in the Championship standings, one point above the drop zone with eight games of the season to go.