The Ivorian scored on his Cardiff City debut last night.
Cardiff’s Sol Bamba scores their second goal
Cardiff City’s new boss admits he first told Ivorian defender Sol Bamba he wanted to sign him whilst he was still a Leeds United player.
Bamba made an instant impact at Cardiff City last night, scoring and winning man-of-the-match on his debut for the Bluebirds.
Bristol City’s Lee Tomlin in action with Cardiff’s Joe Bennett and Sol Bamba
He was signed on a free transfer by Warnock earlier in the week. Bamba was released by Leeds United the day after the transfer window shut. The Ivory Coast international had fallen out of favour with Leeds boss Garry Monk.
But Warnock admitted, as reported by Wales Online, that he first told Bamba he would want to sign him whilst Rotherham United manager. He stated:
“He thinks he’s Beckenbauer at times, but he just got rid of the ball tonight. He made some really crucial tackles too. He’s a leader and great in the dressing room.
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock
“I spoke to him on the pitch at Leeds when I was Rotherham manager and said ‘I wish I could get hold of you’. And it turned out that we were both without a club this summer, so I rang him and said ‘wherever I’m going, you’re coming with me’ – and here we are.”
The game in question would have been the 2-1 win for the Millers against Leeds in April, when Bamba was still a regular Leeds starter.
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock celebrates at the end of the match
At that point in time it would have looked unlikely that the club captain at Elland Road would suddenly become a free agent and remain that way until Warnock got back into management.
Luckily for Warnock, and it seems for Cardiff, that was the case.
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