Barry-Murphy hails support of Cardiff owner Tan

Head coach Brian Barry-Murphy says he has felt "nothing other than support" from Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan.

Head coach Brian Barry-Murphy says he has felt "nothing other than support" from Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan as the Bluebirds prepare to return to the Championship. Cardiff are yet to bring in any new signings since they won promotion from League One last season, although they have landed goalkeeper Nathan Trott on a permanent basis after he impressed while on loan in 2025-26. Despite the lack of business, Barry-Murphy was keen to emphasise Tan's commitment to Cardiff after his side were beaten 6-0 in their opening pre-season friendly by FC Midtjylland on Saturday.

Barry-Murphy spent four weeks in Malaysia with Tan and his family during the summer, an experience he says offered a valuable insight into the Cardiff owner and his ambitions for the club. "It was a privilege for me to visit Malaysia and learn a lot about the history of the country, the history of Vincent and what he and his people stand for," the Irishman said. "It was very enlightening for me and I am very grateful to have had that opportunity."

Barry-Murphy said he was particularly impressed by Tan's detailed knowledge of Cardiff's promotion-winning campaign. "His understanding of the team and what we did last season was beyond what I expected," he added. "He doesn't miss a trick.

He's very clear, very honest and very direct about what he enjoyed, and he seemed really energised about what we could do moving forward." In June, Tan converted £42m of Cardiff's debt into equity, almost halving the amount the club owes to its majority shareholder. Barry-Murphy, who won promotion in his first season at Cardiff after taking charge last summer, says the club's hierarchy are always supportive when it comes to the transfer market.

"Whenever we can explain to him (Tan), to Mehmet [Dalman, Cardiff's chairman] and to Ken [Choo, the club's chief executive] where we want to improve the squad and how we want to do it, and as long as it represents good value for the club, I've never felt anything other than support," he said. When asked about plans for this transfer window, Barry-Murphy reiterated his determination to build a squad capable of exciting fans while continuing the progress of last season.

"We're very hungry and have a huge appetite to give the supporters a team they're genuinely excited to watch again and see evolve and improve," he said. "That will involve adding to the squad, although it's impossible to put exact timings on deals in this transfer window, perhaps even more so than in previous years. "We're looking to move every area of the team forward.

It's not one area or another, like last season." Despite his desire for new faces, Barry-Murphy remains encouraged by the quality already at his disposal and believes Cardiff's current players still have significant room for growth. Cardiff will continue their pre-season preparations when they travel to face Cork City on Tuesday.