Cardiff City expert gives insight on Andy Rinomhota

Reading FC academy graduate Rinomhota has returned to the club after a turbulent three-year spell with Cardiff City.

The move saw the midfielder play 82 games for the Bluebirds across the Championship, the FA Cup and Carabao Cup – whilst also going out on loan to Leam Richardson’s Rotherham in the Championship.

Speaking with the Reading Chronicle, WalesOnline’s Cardiff City correspondent Glen Williams gives his insight into Rinomhota’s time with the Bluebirds.

“His time at Cardiff was strange,” Williams said, “during his first season, he was a regular, however it was a bad season for Cardiff and not many players came out of that year with much credit.

“The second season, new coach Erol Bulut brought in Manolis Siopis, a Greek international whom he adored and filled the same role Rinomhota might have expected to fill.

“Cardiff fought off a lot of competition for his signature, so for him to be sent out on loan having not really grabbed his opportunities during his second season was a disappointment.

“Despite suffering relegation last season, Rinomhota, in an unfamiliar right-back role for the most part, was one player who came out of the campaign with credit from some supporters.”

Coventry City’s Jack Rudoni (right) and Cardiff City’s Andy Rinomhota battle for the ball during the Sky Bet Championship match at the Cardiff City Stadium. (Image: Nigel French)

Last season, Rinomhota played 34 games under three managers for the Bluebirds – Erol Bulut, Omer Riza and Aaron Ramsey.

It was an absolute disaster of a season for Cardiff City, which saw them relegated to League One, with nine wins, 17 draws and 20 losses in the Championship.

When analysing Rino’s defensive attributes, as the midfielder predominantly played as a right-back for Cardiff, Williams said: “Defensively, he was very astute.

“There was a time last season when he was arguably Cardiff’s best one-v-one defender.

“Clearly, Rinomhota is limited in attack, but once the supporters understood what he was going to bring to the team then he was welcomed.”

Cardiff City’s Andy Rinomhota (left) and Watford’s Kwadwo Baah battle for the ball during the Sky Bet Championship match at the Cardiff City Stadium. (Image: David Davies)

Andy Rinomhota won the Players’ Player of the Season award for the 2024/25 season, clearly having made an impact on his teammates.

“Players’ Player awards often goes to players whose influence is perhaps unseen at times and that’s what I suspect this award was for,” said Williams.

“Players were likely happy to see his redemption arc, for want of a better phrase, having gone from being surplus to requirements at the start of the season under Bulut, to a mainstay in an unfamiliar position for the remainder of the campaign.

“A dependable performer who, while never likely to rip up trees and who has his limits, adds value to any squad at this level of the football pyramid.”

Cardiff City were relegated to League One after five consecutive seasons in the Championship after only amassing 44 points in 46 games.

Rinomhota’s contract came to an end in the summer and, to the surprise of many, the 28-year-old’s contract was not extended with the Bluebirds.

When asked what the reason behind this was, Glen explained that Cardiff were looking for a “hard reset” and to focus on developing academy players.

He said “Cardiff got rid of more than a dozen players in the summer as they looked for a hard reset.

“The club has gone in a totally different direction, culled a lot of the older, more experienced players, and have packed the starting lineup with exciting academy players in a new direction under Brian Barry-Murphy.

“Extending the contract of Andy Rinomhota would have stymied the progress of the likes of Joel Colwill, Dakarai Mafico and Eli King.

“Rinomhota also doesn’t really fit into the style of football Barry-Murphy likes to play, either.”

Cardiff City are currently 5th in the league hoping to bounce straight back into the Championship – They face the Royals at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on April 18.

Glen Williams is the Cardiff City correspondent for WalesOnline and abreast of all things Bluebirds. He previously worked as a sports reporter at the Daily Mail, MailOnline and Mail on Sunday, covering football, rugby and cricket.