" Neil Warnock / Sol Bamba "

" Sol Bamba "

Monday 24th October 2016


Of all Warnock's Bosman acquisitions, Bamba was the one who raised the most eyebrows.

Junior Hoilett added speed and width to a squad that had been desperately and all too clearly short of it ever since Fabio headed for Middlesbrough and the Premier League.

Marouane Chamakh added a physical presence and hold-up ability that takes some of the pressure off the veteran Rickie Lambert, while Kieran Richardson offered depth and cover to a squad not naturally blessed with left-sided players.

Bamba, however, didn't look to be correcting an obvious flaw, with Cardiff possessing a battery of excellent centre-backs. Nevertheless, Warnock was a long-term admirer and was desperate to finally take him under his wing.


The results have been spectacular and Bamba's importance goes far beyond his relentless defending, making tackles and heading crosses clear. The latter had been a major Achilles heel in the early season.

Bamba has also emerged as Cardiff's most vocal defender, organising his players. With Warnock attempting to instil real discipline in a short amount of time, that has been vital to the short-term success.

Cardiff have sat deep, with their defenders and midfielders stepping out one at a time to engage the opposition.

It is a real skill to do that without leaving gaps to exploit, and Bamba has been key.

His total commitment was summed up by his goal against Bristol City, when he almost smashed the net with his volley from a yard out.

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I hope Sol keeps up this form. I understand he may make the odd blunder,as Leeds fans point out, but I think Warnock can manage him well and make sure he does those simple but hugely important things consistently well. The biggest test for Sol and in fact city will be against Newcastle away. Different kind of threat from Newcastle strikers and midfield.

Interestingly watching some Premier league games over the weekend some of the best defenders knew when they needed to launch the balls to the wings or clearing their lines with not-too-fancy accuracy. These are so called 'ball playing defenders'. A Warnock side that does it is seen as 'long ball' while a Liverpool side that does it are seen as 'solid'. LOL. I also notice Sol did play some decent passes on Saturday, kudos to him.

Very pleased with Sol. I also think that in January we will be in the market for a pacey striker and some of those clearances can be chased down where at the moment, unless they are landing near ricky, they are being picked up by the opposition. Not much Warnock can do about that right now though.