Sabri Lamouchi: Cardiff City appoint third manager of season
- Published
Former Parma and Monaco midfielder Sabri Lamouchi won 12 caps for France between 1996 and 2001
Cardiff City have appointed former Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi as their third manager of the season.
Lamouchi, 51, will be joined by ex-Bluebirds defender Sol Bamba, who will assist his former Ivory Coast national team manager.
Lamouchi's contract at the Cardiff City Stadium is understood to run until the end of the season.
Cardiff sacked Steve Morison in September while his successor Mark Hudson lasted just 118 days.
Dean Whitehead, who has been caretaker manager, will remain at the club as part of Lamouchi's backroom staff.
Lamouchi's remit will be to keep Cardiff in the Championship, with the Welsh club hovering just one place above the relegation zone in 21st position and without a win in 11 games in all competitions.
"His appointment has come about following a period of serious consideration and reflection as to what is the best for our club," Cardiff owner Vincent Tan told the club's website.
"I'm confident Sabri will be able to deliver what we know this squad is capable of achieving and I look forward to the games that we have ahead of us.
"I'd also like to welcome back Sol, a sentiment I know that [fans] will share."
It is understood the Cardiff board felt experience of managing in the Championship was essential as they sought Hudson's replacement.
Lamouchi was in charge of Forest when they were pipped to the play-offs by Cardiff and Swansea City on goal difference on the final day of the 2019-20 season, his first campaign at the helm.
He was replaced by Chris Hughton in October 2020 following a poor start to the following season.
Since then the Frenchman has managed Qatari side Al-Duhail, having previously worked in Ligue 1 as manager of Rennes, steering them to fifth before taking the role at the City Ground.
The former midfielder had a distinguished playing career during which he won silverware with Auxerre, Monaco, Parma, Marseille and El Jaish in Qatar.
Bamba returns
Sol Bamba scored 10 goals in 118 appearances for Cardiff
Bamba's return will be popular with fans, as he was a key player during his five years with the club.
The former defender made 118 appearances for the Bluebirds between 2016 and 2021, scoring the winner on his debut against Bristol City in what was also Neil Warnock's first game in charge.
The Ivory Coast international's immediate impact - and rapport with Warnock - helped move the club from relegation worries to a mid-table finish, before promotion to the Premier League in 2018.
Bamba played in every game of that successful promotion campaign and was named in the Championship team of the season.
Writing on social media, external about his return to Cardiff, Bamba said: "Back in the Blue Nest. Delighted to be back in a club that means so much to me. [It is a] difficult situation but all together we will turn this round."
During his time as a Cardiff player, Bamba was also diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but announced he was cancer free four months later after undergoing chemotherapy.
Bamba, who played for Middlesbrough last season, will be joined in Cardiff's backroom team by Whitehead, first-team coach Tom Ramasut and Graham Stack, who remain at the club.
"I want to thank Dean, Tom and Graham for their commitment and diligence during the interim period and am pleased that they will be part of our plans going forward," Tan added.
Cardiff will look to bolster their squad before the transfer window closes, but are only able to sign loan players and free transfers following the lifting of their transfer embargo.
The lifting of the embargo follows Cardiff paying the first instalment of the £15m transfer fee for striker Emiliano Sala, who died in a plane crash en route to joining the club in January 2019.
Fifa imposed a transfer embargo for three transfer windows following Cardiff's refusal to pay the first instalment of the fee they had agreed for Argentine striker Sala.
Cardiff had insisted Sala was not officially registered as their player.
They lost their appeal against that ruling by Fifa at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne in 2022, though the dispute continues.
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