Bamba shows there is value in market... if you look hard enough The fan’s view
IN life, you get what you pay for and in football, the big spenders tend to rise to the top. So how do you explain Sol Bamba?
Neil Warnock took a player that was on the football scrapheap, a free agent six weeks after the transfer window had closed, and somehow turned him in to one of the most-loved players in the club’s recent history.
Arriving at a time when Cardiff were already blessed with a trio of impressive centre backs in Sean Morrison, Bruno Manga and Matthew Connolly, Bamba has been a titan and became indispensable within his first 90 minutes.
Anyone wondering whether Cardiff needed the giant Ivorian received a short, sharp answer during his debut in the Severnside derby last season.
He immediately filled a leadership void that many did not even realise existed, taking ownership of the side with the force of his personality.
All of the qualities we have now become accustomed to were also on display; intercepting the ball with his telescopic legs, the odd charge forward and providing a formidable threat in the opponents penalty area.
On this occasion, he bagged the winning goal and the affection of all those in attendance.
You could argue that Bamba, 33 next month, has fashioned Cardiff in his own image as much as Warnock has. The impact of both has dovetailed to the extent that it is becoming increasingly hard to think of one without the other.
They are like a sorcerer and his apprentice. Bamba describes Warnock as a “father figure” and has revealed that they always had designs on working together.
“We’ve always been in contact and we’ve never managed to properly work together before. As soon as he had the chance to bring me in he did and as soon as I had the chance to work with him I took it.
“We’ve got a very good relationship – we don’t even need to talk, we understand each other. He’s given me a lot of confidence to express myself on the pitch. He’s very good with the lads, jokes around a lot but at the same time he’s straightforward and I think footballers appreciate that.
“When it’s not good he’ll tell you as it is and when it’s good he’s happy to praise you, and that’s what we like.”
The camaraderie Warnock has cultivated appears to be shared by the rest of the squad and Bamba recently admitted: “We want to go to war for him because of what he does for us. I don’t know how he makes us feel like that but that’s how it is. It’s crazy when you look at his age but I can’t stop talking highly of him.”
As for Warnock, the feeling is clearly mutual and he rarely gives a press conference without talking up his on-field general. In recent weeks, he claimed that Bamba “brings the best out of Sean Morrison” and even went as far as to add: “I wouldn’t swap him for anyone in the Premier League, let alone the Championship.”
Signed on an 18-month deal, Bamba has already extended those terms. Having agreed to remain with Cardiff for the next three years, Warnock revealed: “He’s like a young pup at the minute. It’s nice to tie him down. He’s done really well and it’s only right we can give him that security because he’s so committed to the club. His influence not just on the field but off it as well is great.”
The only blemish in Bamba’s Cardiff career to date is the incident that occurred at Ipswich last season, when he flew in to such a rage that he was dismissed saw has subsequent ban extended by an extra game due to the aggression that ensued.
It was no surprise to see Warnock trying to face Bamba down, later explaining: “If I could have got him on the floor I would have done.”
They talked it through, Bamba apologised and it is very much water under the bridge now. If anything, it only strengthened their relationship.
So what did everyone else miss? Why has Bamba led such a strange, nomadic career?
Most Cardiff fans are wondering where he’s been all their lives, yet he spent a five year period between 2006 and 2011 in Scotland with the underwhelming likes of Dunfermline and then Hibernian, who signed him for the princely sum of £50,000 in 2008.
After a spell at Leicester, where he was replaced by Wes Morgan, he briefly passed through Trabzonspor in Turkey and Palermo in Italy before ending up at Leeds, initially on loan.
Despite initially impressing, he fell