Why Di Matteo is the only man for Cardiff job

Roberto Di Matteo led West Brom to promotion to the Premier League in his only full season in charge

Looking at the list of potential candidates to take over from Dave Jones as manager of Cardiff City, one man springs out as the perfect choice.

Roberto Di Matteo did very little wrong at West Brom before being harshly sacked earlier this year and seems to tick all the boxes Cardiff should be looking at.

Dave Jones did a terrific job with the Bluebirds but it was clear he had reached the end of the road.

Two play-off defeats in two years left the club needing new blood as the agony of those losses would have been hard to recover from.

With a new man at the helm with new ideas, that should reinvigorate the whole club and set them on the road to another promotion push.

After six years under Jones, Cardiff need a younger, more progressive manager to install new energy. Ideally, this man should also have a promotion to the Premier League on his managerial CV and play attractive football to re-attract fans disillusioned at recent near-misses.

That is why Di Matteo should be the only man Cardiff need to look at.

He led West Brom to promotion to the Premier League at the first attempt with free-flowing, attacking football and they then had a successful start to life in the top tier.

Things did get more difficult as his first Premier League campaign as a manager progressed but he left them in 16th place and in with a great chance of staying up.

The side he built subsequently survived comfortably under Roy Hodgson so Di Matteo has nothing to reproach himself about with regards to the job he did at the Hawthorns.

Cardiff would be the perfect route back into football for him and his assistant Eddie Newton as they have a similar potential to West Brom and seem like a Premier League club in waiting.

Eddie Newton was Di Matteo's assistant at MK Dons and West Brom

Newton even had a short spell at Cardiff as a player so already has some idea as to the expectations surrounding the club.

Di Matteo would jump at the chance to take over the Bluebirds so the board should act quickly to secure one of the brightest young managers around.

One thing is for sure, he won't be unemployed for long.

If Cardiff don't take him, one of their Championship rivals will as his ability as a manager is clear for all to see.

His calm style is just what the Bluebirds need right now to help them recover from their play-off agony and push on again, as employing a manager similar to Jones would only set the club back.

Jones did a fine job there but the mental scars from promotion near-misses will not heal unless a completely different man with new ideas comes in.

Di Matteo and Newton also led Milton Keynes Dons to the League One play-offs in their only season there so their job at West Brom cannot be described as a one-off.

They are ambitious, young and just the breath of fresh air that is needed at Cardiff after their play-off loss and rivals Swansea's promotion.

Other candidates include Chris Hughton, Billy Davies, Martin O'Neill and Craig Bellamy, but Di Matteo still appears the outstanding choice.

Chris Hughton was harshly sacked by Newcastle in December

Hughton did well to get Newcastle promoted under difficult circumstances and could be a decent choice to manage Cardiff, but his appointment is not likely to get pulses racing in the same way Di Matteo's would.

Davies has one promotion to the Premier League on his CV but Cardiff would have to shell out major compensation for him and he appears to have unfinished business at Nottingham Forest.

O'Neill would be a popular choice among fans but he is probably waiting for a Premier League job and is likely to demand a large transfer budget if he was to take over a Championship club.

As for Bellamy, he has no coaching qualifications so to even link him with this job is ludicrous.

Di Matteo is the most realistic choice and his installment as manager would give Cardiff the best possible chance of promotion.

Cardiff's board should appoint him now before someone else does.