Northern Irishman Paul Munster has emerged as a surprise contender for the vacant Cardiff City managerial job, according to journalist Will Unwin.

The 39-year-old is currently managing at Indonesian top tier side Bhayangkara and has been since 2019, and it is a team who he has top of the division after eight matches.

Munster had a playing career which saw him start out in Canada before moving to Slavia Prague of the Czech Republic, and after stints in Sweden and another club in the Czech Republic he returned home to Belfast with Linfield.

His managerial career started in 2012 back in Sweden with Assyriska, staying in the country until 2018 with the likes of Orebro Syrianska and BK Forward before moving to Indian side Minerva Punjab as their technical director.

Munster briefly managed the national team of Vanuatu in 2019 before moving on to his current job, where he has a points per game record of 1.97 according to transfermarkt.

Per Unwin, Munster is under consideration and was presented to Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan as a potential option to replace Mick McCarthy, although it remains to be seen if they will pursue him.

The Verdict

This would certainly be an interesting way to go down to find McCarthy's replacement.

Even though he will not be known in England, Munster has seemingly built himself overseas and he will obviously draw parallels to Graham Potter, who also spent time in Sweden but at a higher level.

If it's true you have to commend the club for thinking and looking at options outside the box but it would be a major risk to bring in someone who has relatively little experience.

It also seems like a very unlikely one but it certainly makes things a bit more interesting as Vincent Tan and co search for the right man to overturn the terrible form the Bluebirds are in.