Race, management and punching through glass ceilings - why Sol Bamba will let nothing stand in the way of his future
Bluebirds fan favourite Sol Bamba wants to become a manager when he finishes playing and insists he is not deterred by the dearth of BAME managers currently within the game in England and Wales
Sol Bamba has spoken about the lack of BAME coaches and why it will not deter his desire to become a manager (Image: Getty Images)
In football, there are players who instantly stand out as the ones who will graduate to management.
Sol Bamba is one of those players.
Sunday 2nd July 2020
It is understood the Bluebirds fan favourite has been earmarked for a coaching role at the club when he finally hangs up his boots, whenever that might be, as he takes his first tentative steps on the pathway to management.
He has undertaken his UEFA A Licence, the badge which permits managers to take charge of second-tier clubs, and is looking forward to the next stage of his career, although he is quick to point out he has one more year on his Cardiff City playing contract.
But, it's not as simple as that.
At present, only six of the 91 Premier League and EFL managers or head coaches are BAME. There are just two in England's top two tiers; Nuno Espirito Santo, the Wolves manager who hails from Portugal, and Sabri Lamouchi at Nottingham Forest, who is from France with Tunisian parentage.
Following the death of George Floyd, we have seen the Black Lives Matter movement sweep not only the nation but the world.
We have seen it receive huge backing in the media, sport and in football more specifically, with the introduction of players and staff taking the knee before each game gets underway.
While this is certainly a step in the right direction, there is also widespread recognition this must not be a flash in the pan. This is not a social media trend, this must be a driver for real change. Cardiff's Nathaniel Mendez-Laing recently had words to that effect tattooed on his leg.
But the dearth of BAME managers currently employed in the EFL and Premier League suggests there is a long way to go still.
Those figures alone could be off-putting to any prospective BAME manager, but Bamba believes there is no better time than now to redress the balance.
When asked if he was discouraged by the lack of black managers within the game, Bamba replied: "No, not at all. I actually think if you want to break that (barrier) then we need to do it.
"I've been talking to a few other ex-pros who have been saying, 'Oh, I won't do it, I won't get an interview', but if that's the mindset you've got then we have got no chance and there will never be any black or BAME managers. And I think that's the problem.
"I know the pathway has to be better, don't get me wrong, but I do think we need to do more and forget about the mindset of, 'Oh I'm not going to get an interview', because it takes time. Everything takes time.
"We have seen a change with the Black Lives Matter movement, but it will take time.
"So I am definitely not put off by it, I'm just going to do my thing and hopefully I am going to have a chance one day to do it."
At the end of June, the Premier League, EFL and Professional Footballers' Association announced a scheme to help BAME players move into full-time coaching roles in the professional game.
The initiative, which starts next season, will offer six coaches per campaign a 23-month placement at EFL clubs.
"This is a critical time for black, Asian and minority ethnic coaches," said Doncaster Rovers manager Darren Moore, who is chair of the Premier League's black participants' advisory group, at the time of the announcement.
"We all know and agree that the diversity of coaches and managers must increase and this placement scheme represents a positive step.
"There are lots of roles in the academy system, all the way through to first team, and young coaches can slot in at different points to begin that journey.
"We need to have the right structures and people in place to develop their careers. I know from my own experiences the value of strong support throughout the coaching journey."
Bamba has worked with the Bluebirds' youth setup over the last 12 months, imparting his wisdom on the club's under-23s as he worked his way back to full fitness from an ACL injury.
The Paris Saint-Germain academy product and Ivory Coast international has invaluable knowledge to pass on to the next generation and Bamba is widely tipped to become an astute manager in the future.
It is why these sorts of players cannot slip through the coaching net and why all barriers to entry must be stripped away, a notion to which Premier League chief executive Richard Masters agrees.
"It is vital that there are no barriers to entry to the pipelines for employment in coaching," Masters said back in June.
"We need more BAME coaches entering the system to create greater opportunities throughout the professional game."
But there is a fierce desire burning within Bamba to make his mark on the game in management and the numerical imbalance pertaining to BAME coaches will not deter him.
In his view, he is adamant there will be no glass ceiling in the next stage of his career.
"I would probably punch through it!," he said.
A good footballing man with such a fountain of knowledge, and seemingly bundles of leadership and man management skills, Bamba will doubtless be a catch for any football club's coaching setup.
But the Bluebirds, of course, have first dibs.
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