Pompey Championship rival moves quickly to sort managerial mess after weekend sacking

Portsmouth's Championship rivals Cardiff City could make a swift managerial appointment after parting company with Erol Bulut last weekend.

The Bluebirds axed the Turkish boss following a winless start to the campaign, in what has been the worst start to a season in 94-years. Former Cambridge United and Shrewsbury Town striker Omer Riza has been appointed on an interim basis ahead of their clash with Hull City at the weekend.

Cardiff might not be without a manager for long however, as according to reports in Belgium, a managerial candidate has already flown in to hold discussions with the Welsh side. HLN, a newspaper in Belgium, claims that Freyr Alexandersson held talks with Cardiff last week and said that his time at KV Kortrijk 'seems to be coming to an end'.

This is something that Alexandersson has since denied, taking to Twitter to squash reports. He responded to a fan on Tuesday by saying: “Dear Arne. The only lies are the ones in that article. Would never set up this kind of scenario. Thanks for your support.”

The 41-year-old in an interview back in May spoke of his desire to manage in England, either in the Championship or the Premier League. He was speaking at a time when Cardiff had yet to give Bulut a contract extension, before they ended up giving him a two-year deal, which would be cut short after just eight games.

Speaking to Icelandic football outlet Footbolti, Alexandersson said: "It’s no secret when I spoke to Kortrijk I also had a conversation with the management of Cardiff that I’m going to train in England, to be a manager in the Championship or Premier League.

“There are big dreams and I realise that. It would be great if it was Cardiff; I would love to coach Cardiff at some point.”

Alexandersson is currently the manager of Belgian side KV Kortrijk, who are owned by Cardiff’s owner Vincent Tan. He was only appointed their manager in January, but managed to preserve their top-flight status, despite being 11-points adrift of safety at the time.

His other jobs include managing the Iceland women's national team, as well as working as an assistant to the men's team, whilst also enjoying a three-year stint at Danish club Lyngby Boldklub.

Alexandersson is joint second favourite for the job in the current markets, but surprisingly leading the way is former Blackburn Rovers and Man City boss Mark Hughes. The 60-year-old has been out of work for just under a year after he was sacked as Bradford City manager, leaving them 18th in the League Two standings.

Pompey will have a faint bit of interest as to who Cardiff appoint as their next manager, as right now the two sides occupy the relegation places. Both teams have yet to win a league game this season, and will meet at the Cardiff City Stadium next month (October 22).