Yahoo Sports 'For the gaffer' - Cardiff beat Swans for grieving Riza
Cardiff City's resounding 3-0 derby win over Swansea City was for manager Omer Riza after his "extremely difficult" week, says assistant coach Tom Ramasut.
Riza had travelled to see his father Josh in London before he died on Thursday, but the Bluebirds boss was back for training on Friday and stood on the touchline on Saturday as Cardiff powered to their biggest south Wales derby league victory since 1965.
The home fans at Cardiff City Stadium paid a touching tribute to Riza during the game as they sang "This one's for your dad", which the manager acknowledged with a wave and applause.
And even when Riza was sent off for a late confrontation with Swansea midfielder Goncalo Franco, the Bluebirds fans gave the 45-year-old a standing ovation.
"It's really heartwarming because I know there's been a lot of great messages from fans," said Ramasut, who took the post-match media interviews as Riza's red card precluded him from doing them.
"It's been an extremely difficult week. His father passed away on Thursday, he drove back home on Wednesday to spend some time with him, we trained Thursday, did media and the signing of Yousef [Salech] and then he drove back home to spend the last moments with his father, which is extremely difficult. He drove back down and prepared for the game on Friday.
"What's been such a warming feeling is the support he's had from the players, all the staff, and the togetherness we've shown and I'm sure he's taken a lot of comfort from that.
"I'm sure his father will be looking down. I think he felt like he had a responsibility and that was the right thing to do."
'Cardiff players stood up for their manager'
Cardiff thoroughly outplayed Swansea for only their fifth win in 14 derbies, with Callum Robinson scoring two second-half goals before Dimitrios Goutas added a third.
More important than landing such a decisive blow against their arch rivals, the Bluebirds' win boosted their bid for survival in the Championship and took them up to 20th place in the table.
Tempers flared after the final whistle, with almost every Cardiff and Swansea player and member of staff embroiled in a mass scuffle.
"There's a huge amount of emotion in this game for both cities and both clubs. That's understandable and that's what makes it the fixture it is," said Ramasut.
"We want to see that passion from our players and fans - that's exactly what we want to see. We have just got to be careful we don't step over the line.
"Omer may have felt that some of the players might have done that, they might not have been disrespectful and that might have just triggered and flared some of that emotion at the end.
"I know those players were standing up for their manager and that's what you saw at the end.
"I'd like to think [Swansea players] know the situation the manager is in. Then whether anything was said, you've just got to be mindful of that.
"If that was the trigger, I'm not 100% sure, but there could have been things said. We want it to be full of passion and emotion, that's what it is, but it's always done with an element of respect."
Asked to clarify whether or not the Swansea players' alleged disrespect had anything to do with Riza's father, Ramasut said: "No. I'm not saying that at all.
"What I'm saying is there was that collision, but there might have been other things in the heat of the moment - normal things you'd expect in a derby. But you've also got to be respectful of someone's situation, in my eyes."
