Peter Ridsdale hopes to make City a force in the Championship after taking over the day-to-day running of the club. Sam Hammam has been impressed with his input so far and so has offered him an extended contract at the club.
Ridsdale joined the club three months ago and was asked to restructure our finances. Sam is a keen admirer of the former Leeds supremo and has now offered him a new deal which will see him playing a much greater role at Ninian Park.
Ridsdale's new job title will see him cover a number of functions at the club with David Temme stepping aside. He will be concerned with the general running of the club as well as looking at how we can be more economical with our spending. His other roles will range from match day security to the hiring and firing of off-field staff. Temme, meanwhile, will concentrate solely on the new stadium and trying to get that underway as soon as possible.
Ridsdale's track record leaves a lot to be desired. At Leeds his excessive spending nearly finished the Yorkshire side. His 'buy now pay later' attitude look Leeds to the brink of Premiership success and to the 2001
Champions League Final, but they were then forced to offload all their big earners due to massive debts and they were eventually relegated.
Ridsdale has also been at charge at Barnsley, where to his credit his restructured and eased their money problems before departing. He has also served on the English FA Cup and international committees.
"At Leeds United he almost achieved the dream," Hammam told Wales on Sunday when Ridsdale first arrived at Ninian Park. "He came within a whisker of making them the best in the country.
"At Cardiff he has a very wide and far reaching brief and I believe that he is the perfect person for the job."
He will have some big decisions to make during the closeseason when the offers start coming in for players. Sunderland have already tabled an offer for youngster Cameron Jerome believed to be around £500,000. That will be a real test of our resolve. City are also said to be looking at offloading high earners Warner, Campbell and Lee whilst others remain in danger of being shown the door.
