Cardiff City board said 'this is on you' to Omer Riza but manager's call has been proved right
Omer Riza feels he has been vindicated in the decision to sign Yousef Salech after Cardiff City's board told him "the decision is on you".
Riza had to convince the Bluebirds board that the 23-year-old striker would be a good fit for the club and the Championship and the Cardiff boss has certainly been proved right thus far.
Salech netted in the 2-1 defeat by Burnley on Tuesday night and he also hit the post and bar during a match in which he looked the home side's most potent attacking threat.
READ MORE: Calls for BBC pundit Micah Richards to be sacked after live TV comments
Salech now his six goals in 12 games in all competitions for Cardiff and even ousted top scorer Callum Robinson, who has 12 this season in total, from the starting line up for the Clarets clash. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.
Asked if he was surprised just how quickly Salech has taken to Championship football, Riza said: "Put it this way, when I wanted to sign him, the message was, 'This is on you. Is he at the level to step up to the Championship? Is he going to be able to do this? Or do that?'
"I said, 'Look, I'm telling you what he's going to do' and so far, touch wood, he is doing that. I always say, live by the sword, die by the sword, let's hope it continues. I don't want to put too much pressure on him. We've got other players like Robbo up there who can score goals, that's their job.
"He was good today, Yousef, he was strong, won his headers and first and second balls, he tried to bring the ball in. He created opportunities and scored an opportunity. I'm really happy with him.
Further clarifying the board reaction to him wanting Salech, Riza added: "That was from the board, which is fine. Sometimes it's 'Are you sure about this player?'
"That's fine. I think it was a tongue in cheek comment - I hope it wasn't a serious threat! But it was on me. I made a decision and stuck by it. He's doing well and I'm pleased for him.
"I had the confidence he would do well. Players take time to settle, but other than the first couple of days when he looked a bit nervy coming into the group, he takes things in his stride.
"I keep saying, he is honest, hard working, hungry, wants to get better, engaged, he's scored five now and could have had a hat-trick today! He is doing excellent and working hard."
WHATSAPP: Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community
Cardiff ultimately fell to defeat against Burnley, however Riza thought his side were the better team in the second half and Bluebirds fans might be inclined to agree with him.
But they left themselves with a mountain to climb after conceding two poor goals in the first half through Josh Brownhill and Maxime Esteve and could only muster Salech's effort in reply before the break.
Despite huffing and puffing - and a huge missed chance from Will Fish in stoppage time - Cardiff ultimately fell short.
On the game, Riza said: "I'm disappointed. The goals were not outstanding goals, I thought we were poor at dealing with the ball in the box early on. We weren't tight enough, didn't pick up men well enough, we weren't sharp enough and you make it very hard for yourself.
"Having said that, we scored the goal which gave us a lifeline. After about 20 minutes I thought we tried to get after them a little bit more and I thought we were better than them second half, if I'm honest.
"Will (Fish), nine times out of 10 he will score that. In training he scores them all the time. The keeper has come out, spread himself, put him off a bit and it's gone past the far post. Yousef hit the bar, hit the post, but the bottom line is we didn't pick up any points.
"The second half they go into a low block with a back five, with a low block, to stop us from scoring and they got their result. Disappointed overall, we were worth a point there."
