A look at the bookies' list of candidates to become new Cardiff City manager contains the usual old suspects: Nathan Jones, Tony Pulis, Neil Warnock, Sean Dyche - blah de blah.
Two outstanding candidates whose names should be right at the top of the pile in my view, but which aren't, are a couple of Bluebirds legends.
One is Craig Bellamy. I've backed his corner before. Bellers just gets the club, many fans would love him, he'd play football the right way, invest in youth. He possesses a brilliant football mind and, having learned closely next to Vincent Kompany, I feel there's potentially a more than decent manager in the making there.
Read more: The reasons why Cardiff City sacked Steve Morison and the candidate they will look to next
What's not to like about any of that lot? But we've been here before with Bellamy. He wouldn't work with Vincent Tan, claim the critics, he left the club under something of a cloud. Nothing that isn't resolvable mind, where there's a will there's a way, but Cardiff had the opportunity to embark down this route previously and instead opted for Steve Morison.
The alternative to Bellamy is another idol to the fans: Sol Bamba. He, too, ticks so many of the boxes Cardiff City need right at this moment in time. He really does.
Bamba would unite the bulk of the fan base and thus the club. He cares with a passion about what he dubs "my beloved Bluebirds"; he has a unique rapport with the supporters; he too would play the modern way, methods Morison rightly brought in. Bamba is bright, articulate, communicates well, commands respect, and his football knowledge and tactical awareness is evident for anyone to see when he's working as a TV pundit.
But where he differs to Bellamy is in being a natural leader of men. Sean Morrison was officially Neil Warnock's captain, a great leader in his own right, but Bamba was hugely influential inside that dressing room. When he spoke, others listened - be that team-mates, Warnock or indeed Vincent Tan, who Bamba has a bond with. When Bamba acted, others followed him over the trenches.
He also happens to be fluent in several different languages. Relevance of that, you might ask? Because his wide-reaching connections could be hugely beneficial to the Bluebirds.
From spells with PSG, Trabzonspor in Turkey, Palermo in Italy, England, Scotland, Wales, plus 46 caps for the Ivory Coast, Bamba's contacts within the game reach areas others can't.
I rather like the idea of him unearthing some unknown young French or African striker Cardiff pay £250,000 for, who goes on to be an absolute sensation and is sold for multi millions. Or a midfielder, defender or goalkeeper for that matter.
Also, having worked so closely with Neil Warnock, how can Bamba not have learned the fine arts of football man-management, so crucial in a role as big as this one where, as Morison quickly discovered, the spotlight really is upon you?
Yes, Bamba has no senior management experience. Nor did Morison, and plenty of fans warmed to him. Nor did Roberto Martinez when Swansea took a punt on him, while Brendan Rodgers was still a rookie as he too made his managerial name down west. Kenny Dalglish hadn't even finished playing when Liverpool went for him in the mid-1980s, the start of what one veteran boss dubbed "designer managers".
Get the latest Wales football news sent straight to you with our Don't Take Me Home newsletter below:
Football has moved on since then. Lots of younger men are being given their chance. The key is in appointing the right one.
Of course Bamba would represent a risk for Cardiff, so too Bellamy. But who doesn't?
Steven Gerrard's ex-No. 2 Michael Beale was being heavily touted last time, and probably will be again. He could be excellent, but is he not a risk? Jody Morris was another in the frame. Is he not a risk?
As the man in caretaker charge, it is probably Mark Hudson's job to win or lose. He is bright, knows the club, could be good. But is he not a risk?
Tony Pulis, Neil Warnock? Cardiff fans don't want to go back to that style of football. That would be risky.
Sean Dyche could be brilliant, has a proven record with Burnley. He would probably be the closest on the list to a guarantee, in many ways is the kind of earthy "them against us" type of manager many Bluebirds fans would associate with, but there are elements of risk to him, too.
There are pros and cons to everybody. For me, Bamba and Bellamy have more plusses than minuses, not least that fans who are divided over the sacking of Morison, many against, many for, need to be brought back together as one by the new man at the helm. Which they will be, of course. There is just more chance of that happening more quickly and of being sustained if someone like Bamba or Bellamy were put at the helm.
They would be afforded more latitude than most just because of who they are. At the moment Cardiff is about a vision, a club in transition, and the next man will need time to see that through.
Whoever takes over at least has a decent squad of players to work with, and to build upon in the January transfer window. That is down to the excellent work undertaken by Morison during the summer when he ditched the old guard he inherited and brought in a raft of younger, quicker, hungrier players more in tune with the modern approach Cardiff have begun to adopt.
It didn't work for Morison in the end, because he was unable to follow that up with good results in the little time he was afforded. He learned the painful way that this is very much a results business.
But his successor could definitely benefit from the painstaking efforts put in by his predecessor in the role.
Why shouldn't that individual be Sol Bamba? At the very least he needs to be a part of the conversation, does he not?
READ MORE:
