By Ian Gordon

Vincent Tan has given his backing to Cardiff City boss Russell Slade after revealing Tony Pulis was too expensive.

The Malaysian billionaire owner was urged to appoint fans’ favourite Pulis after sacking Old Gunnar Solskjaer 17 months ago.

Instead, the owner opted for ex-Leyton Orient manager Slade whose relationship with the Bluebirds fans has not always been harmonious.

But Tan gave Slade, who has steered the club to within five points of the Championship play-offs despite selling of the team’s top players.

Tan, on a rare visit to Cardiff, said: “Please be reasonable, don’t always hammer the man. Okay, he’s not Tony Pulis, who would have cost us an awful lot of money.

“Okay, he’s not one of these big brand name managers. Well, they get sacked too. Who would have thought Jose Mourinho would be out of a job this season?

Tan insisted Slade – who was told to slash the playing budget by £12million and sell the likes of striker Joe Mason this season – had done a better job than previous bosses Solskjaer and Malky Mackay.

He added: “Russell has been excellent, a lot better than the last two managers who I paid seven or eight times a higher salary to.

“Did they do a seven to eight times better job? No, they did much worse, lost me tons of money.

“He came in at a time when I told him to clean up the mess.

“Everybody seemed to condemn me when I brought in Russell, saying ‘Oh he’s only from the lower leagues’.

“But if you always adopted that view, nobody would be given a chance. I gave him a chance and I’m glad I have done.”
endig