Ramasut in City’s
CARDIFF City’s first-team coaching staff bears little resemblance now to the one which started the season.
With Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor out the door, and James Rowberry having taken the top job at Newport County, goalkeeping coach Andy Dibble is the sole survivor in the dugout.
But there is a fresh opportunity for the three men now tasked with changing Cardiff’s fortunes around.
There was a clamour from a large number of supporters for under-23s boss Steve Morison to take the reins after his threegame stint as caretaker manager, while former captain Mark Hudson being brought back to the club gives the dugout some much-needed clout.
However, the third member of the coaching staff, Tom Ramasut, has slipped under the radar somewhat.
Here, we chart the career of the man who will be crucial to how City go about their business over the coming months...
PLAYING CAREER
Ramasut’s playing career began in earnest when he moved to Norwich City in 1995 and he quickly established himself as an accomplished left-sided midfielder for their youth team.
Despite being two years his elder, Ramasut would have been on the books with the Canaries the same time as Cardiff hero Craig Bellamy.
Norwich’s financial struggles in the summer of 1996 meant Ramasut had to leave the club despite impressing during his outings with the reserve team.
Ramasut went on to join Bristol Rovers as a 19-year-old in September 1996 and made 42 league appearances before being released two seasons later.
He is best remembered at the Gas for a 30-yard screamer he scored during a 5-0 hammering of Wigan Athletic. In 2018, the Bristol Post named him one of the club’s most underrated players over the last two decades.
Ramasut, who represented Wales at under-16s and under-21s level, failed to agree a new contract with Rovers in July 1998 and was released. He trialled with Walsall in August 1998 and then Cardiff City in the September, both were unsuccessful, though.
He then moved into Welsh domestic football and turned out for a whole host of clubs including Merthyr, two stints with Carmarthen Town and three spells with Haverfordwest County.
He was also one of the casualties when Barry Town were forced to release its entire first-team squad owing to their financial woes.
COACHING CAREER
Ramasut’s first foray into coaching was when he joined the Bluebirds a decade ago, in 2011.
Away from Cardiff, he has had opportunities to further his development, such as when he was appointed player-coach at Bridgend Town in 2012 and he also had a time as assistant manager at Cambrian & Clydach between 2014-2016.
But it is within Cardiff’s academy that he built his reputation within the club.
He spent some time as the academy’s head of coaching, meaning he would help develop the young coaches at the club and oversaw mentoring schemes.
Ramasut, 44, was seen as the perfect man to take over the club’s under-23s after Andy Legg left the role in November 2019 and he took charge of the team for three months before Morison was brought in.
The pair struck up a perfect yin-andyang partnership which has driven the under-23s to new heights and their success at academy level did not go unnoticed when the decision came to the top brass appointing the new senior coaching team.
WHAT HAS STEVE MORISON SAID?
When asked about his assistant boss, the Bluebirds manager said: “Tom is great. I would have been lost without Tom when I first came in.
“He is an excellent coach. We work
really well together. He knows his strengths, I know my strengths. He is excellent on the grass and in detail and planning.
“This place is his life. Cardiff is his life. It’s great to have someone who knows everything and everyone around the football club.
“It’s about having as many good people around as possible and Tom is one of those really good people.
“He doesn’t stop working. The players will really benefit from his hard work.
“I’m really pleased. When I got asked the question about helping out the team initially, they asked who I’d like [to assist me] and it was a no-brainer. I didn’t even have to take a breath.”