More young guns ready to make mark at Bluebirds, says Bamba
SOL Bamba believes the future of Cardiff City is in good hands with a number of “bright” young players coming through the club’s academy system.
The Bluebirds have ploughed a lot of time and resources into their academy over the last 18 months and we are beginning to see some results at firstteam level, with Joel Bagan, Ciaron Brown, Tom Sang and, most recently, Rubin Colwill having broken through.
And Bamba hopes there is more to come, because the talent is certainly there. Importantly, he believes City have the right environment and manager in Mick McCarthy, who will afford the youngsters an opportunity if they are good enough.
“They just need to be given the chance,” Bamba told WalesOnline.
“I think we’ve got some very good youngsters.
“Like everything, it’s about being given the opportunity.
“The gaffer came in and he is doing this and those kids just have to grab it.
“I just think, why it’s very good for those youngsters is that [the senior players] have got no ego, we’re here to help.
“I’ve been in clubs before when the first team don’t talk to them!
“I do think they realise we are here to help. In the dressing room we talk to them and make them feel welcome.
“I’ve had some good and bad senior pros, some have treated me very badly, some treated me good.
“So I do think it’s my role to welcome them and make sure they do what they do best.
“The future is definitely bright for the youngsters in Cardiff, especially with the manager we’ve got because he will give them a chance if they deserve it.”
As ever with followers of a football club, supporters are eager to know who the next cab off the rank is.
We have seen those mentioned above come in and perform admirably when given their chance and it is hoped they will all have a place in the first team moving forward into next year and beyond.
But there are other players, who have not yet been given that chance, who Bamba rates highly and believes they are the next ones banging on the door for a shot in the first team.
“I like Patts, the midfielder - Keenan Patten,” Bamba said.
“I have liked him for a long time and he hasn’t featured yet.
“Kieron Evans is good as well. Hopefully he will play before the end of the season.
“I like Tav (Tavio d’Almeida). I prefer him centre mid.
“At under-23s level he can play at the back, at Championship level I don’t think he can play at the back.
“He is very good on the ball. He got injured this season so that’s why he hasn’t featured so much but he is someone we need to look at.
“And the left-footed defender, Jack Bodenham, he’s very good, too.”
Bamba has spent time training alongside these players, who have been elevated to the first team at the club’s Vale of Glamorgan HQ from time to time, but has also coached them as he looks towards the next chapter of his career.
The defender, who has just undergone the last of his final chemotherapy session for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, has spent a lot of time coaching these players with time on the pitch for himself not a possibly at the minute.
Although he does harbour hopes of playing in the last game of the season against Rotherham.
Bamba, who said he was pushed towards the coaching route by Neil Warnock when he was at the club, is currently doing his UEFA A licence with the Welsh FA and hopes to finish that by next January, with a view to moving into management.
Given his standing within the club and the wealth of football knowledge he possesses, supporters will no doubt be desperate for him to be kept on in some sort of coaching capacity at the club.
And fans can rest assured, because it appears conversations are well underway over the Ivorian’s future at Cardiff City.
“We’ve been talking to the club about this and getting involved with [the under-18s and under-23s] more, see if I can do it the same time as playing,” he said.
“That’s the plan, yeah. I’m coming to the end, there’s no two ways about that, so I need to get a bit more involved. Hopefully that’ll be the case.
“And hopefully it will be here, because I’ve been here long enough, the club have got a long-term plan for me, so we’ll see what happens.
“I call Cardiff home, so I’ve got no reason to go anywhere.”