BIG INTERVIEW
Former Cardiff boss Omer Riza on his rollercoaster ride
IN NOVEMBER 2007, Omer Riza was playing up front for Trabzonspor in front of 77,000 people at Galatasaray’s fearsome Ataturk Stadium, targeting a return to European football and even dreaming of representing Turkey.
Two years later, aged just 30, he came on as a half-time substitute for Shrewsbury in a 2-2 draw with Macclesfield.
“I was thinking ‘Wow, I’ve come out of Trabzon, I’ve played Osasuna in Europe and my contract was worth this much’,” recalls Riza, who was born in London to Turkish Cypriot parents.
“Now I’m in and out of the team at Shrewsbury and earning next to nothing. How did I get here? How did I go from that to this?”
The answer to that question is depressingly familiar. Trabzon stopped paying Riza’s wages, he walked out on his contract and the Turkish Football Federation retained his registration, effectively banning him from playing for any other club.
By the time the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in his favour, Riza had missed 15 months of football and his career - on the pitch, at least would never recover. Yet that painful fall from grace would also prove to be a pivotal moment in his life.
“I’d never really thought about life after football,” admits the 45-year-old. “I didn’t have any interest in coaching when I was young. But sitting there at Shrewsbury with an uncertain future, it made me start to reflect and say ‘What’s next? What am I doing to do?’.
“I knew I was good with youngsters. When I was 28 or 29 and someone was making their debut or stepping up to train with the first team, I always tried to make them feel comfortable. I always tried to answer their questions.
“I enrolled on a B-Licence as much to keep myself busy as anything else - and that’s how it all started.”
It is a journey that took Riza from a player-coach at Histon to manager at eighth-tier
Cheshunt to head coach at Cardiff City, and typifies the extreme highs and lows that have defined his career in football.
As a teenager, he was promoted to the Arsenal first team by Arsene Wenger and trained alongside the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry.
Impatient
“My biggest regret at Arsenal is not signing a new contract when it was offered,” says Riza, who left to join West Ham in 1999 without making a senior appearance.
“I was too impatient. I could see other players being picked for political reasons rather than performance and that frustrated me. These days, I always tell my players to be patient, keep working hard and you’ll get your just rewards. I didn’t follow my own advice.”
At Upton Park, the cast list was equally stellar.
“Our squad had some of the best English players to come through in a long, long time,” Riza marvels. “Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Rio Ferdinand. We had David James and Trevor Sinclair, who were both internationals as well.
“It’s funny because I’ve often been told - especially as a coach - that I lack experience. But I spent five years training with world-class players and trying to break into the same teams.
“Was I good enough? Probably not. But the standards, the levels and the behaviours never leave you.
“I don’t care if someone’s a superstar. There’s certain things I expect from my players, whether that’s character or application or respect for the environment. If they don’t give that, then they won’t be around my teams. I’ve learned that from some of the best in the world.”
Riza also played in the UEFA Cup and for Turkey’s B team, yet finished his career scratching around in Non-League with Chelmsford, Harlow and Boreham Wood.
Another example of Riza’s wildly contrasting fortunes came in March 2017 when he became Leyton Orient’s fifth manager of a calamitous season that eventually saw the O’s relegated to the National League under ruinous owner Francesco Becchetti. Needless to say, it wasn’t easy.
“I took the job and literally a day later he didn’t pay the players,” remembers Riza, whose youthful side featured the likes of Steven Alzate and Josh Koroma.
“The PFA got involved, the FA got involved. Senior players
were causing problems. I had to have some very harsh conversations with that group just to keep the show on the road.
“It was tough. But we worked hard, I learned a lot and I came out of there having managed eight games in the EFL.
Reputation
“Naively, I thought that would enhance my reputation. In fact, I couldn’t get a job. And I don’t just mean as a head coach. I was applying for college jobs, youth jobs, everything. I eventually ended up going to Watford and doing the Under-15s part-time.”
Once again, Riza rebuilt his career from the ground up, working his way through the ranks at Vicarage Road to become assistant to head coach Valerien Ismael.
Overlooked in favour of Tom Cleverley when the Frenchman was sacked in March 2024, he joined Cardiff as assistant to Erol Bulut and within months had been promoted to interim head coach.
Riza would remain in post for all but the final three games of the season, when a desperate final throw of the dice saw Aaron Ramsey fail to keep the Bluebirds in the Championship.
After years of declining fortunes and dwindling investment under unpopular owner Vincent Tan, nobody was surprised. So how does Riza reflect on a job that many felt was impossible from the outset?
“I know that’s what everybody said,” he concedes. “But there’s no way I wasn’t going to take it on. And I honestly think we would have survived. Three games, two points off. It was doable.
“Looking back, we had some real good moments. I think we went nine games unbeaten at one point and seven games unbeaten in another. I was nominated for Manager of the Month twice.
“Obviously they had issues. They had some senior players who needed clearing out and I had to deal with all the fallout from that. I maybe didn’t quite have all the powers I needed in terms of changing staff or making transfers. You often had to go round the houses to get things done.
“But I actually had a great relationship with Vincent. We spoke by phone or text most days. He has opinions on football, like anyone, but he puts a lot of money into the club and I respect him highly. Mehmet (Dalman, the Cardiff chairman) was great, too.
“Looking at Cardiff now, they’ve got a much more settled squad and a lot of the younger players have bedded in. There is still a lot of stuff that needs fixing and I still think they could do with some older heads. But the club is in a better place, for sure.”
Now Riza is looking forward to his next challenge as a head coach, and is hopeful it will not mean starting from scratch yet again.
“I always try not to be negative,” he says. “But there are times when I think to myself ‘How many people go from playing in Europe to playing League Two in 15 months? How many people have to go from managing in League Two to coaching Under-15s just to stay in the game?’.
“At the same time, it does make you tough. It does make you determined. And ultimately, I think endeavour, hard work, work ethic, and respect to the trade - all of those things have got me where I am today.”