Former Leeds United star linked with Championship managerial job despite bitter exit

A former Leeds United star is reportedly in the frame to get a Championship managerial job. It may still be early in the season, with most Premier League teams playing just seven games, while the majority of Championship sides have played 10.

But we have still seen plenty of sackings up and down the English football pyramid, including one at Cardiff City. The Bluebirds are not expected to make a real push for promotion this season, overhauling their squad with mostly free signings in the summer, but they certainly don’t want to be battling the drop.

And after picking up just 11 points in 10 games - leaving them in 18th place - Cardiff decided to do away with Steve Morison, who was only appointed manager last season. The Welsh club are now looking for a new manager, though they appear likely to give interim boss and former favourite Mark Hudson a chance to impress first.

Hudson, who was Morison’s assistant, remains the favourite to be appointed full-time, at least as far as PaddyPower are concerned, with the former centre-back priced at 6/4. But interestingly, another former Cardiff defender, Sol Bamba, who spent more than a year in all at Elland Road from 2015 to late 2016, is now second favourite.

Bamba is priced at 7/2, and he is a much-loved figure among Cardiff fans having been part of Neil Warnock’s promotion side in recent years. The veteran centre-back was ultimately released having played very little late in his time in South Wales due to his battle with cancer.

Bamba spent five years with Cardiff, but his exit was a bitter one after he found out on Twitter he was being released.

He later told WalesOnline: “It’s a tricky one because I don’t want to batter the club. That is not my intention at all. I had five unbelievable years and I just want to focus on the positives.

“But if I am completely honest, I was disappointed by the way the club went about it and the way we finished it. Everyone knows me at the club, I’m a straight guy, I can handle the truth and I wanted the club to come and be straight with me and say, ‘Listen, you’re coming back from illness, we want to go in a different direction’, whatever it was, just be honest and I will take it. Fine.

“But they didn’t do that. Funnily enough, I found out I was released like all of you guys - by Twitter. I think for everything I did for the football club, I deserved better.”

Despite that, Bamba holds plenty of affection for the Bluebirds, and the club’s fans still view him as a real favourite. That might explain why he is so high in the odds, and that’s despite the centre-back having not yet retired as a player. He is currently training with Bristol City to keep fit after leaving Middlesbrough after last season, but he will not pen a deal with the Robins.

Recently sacked Watford manager Rob Edwards, has been installed as third favourite for the job at 9/1, while Luton Town’s Nathan Jones (12/1) and Burnley assistant Craig Bellamy (16/1) are also being linked.