Cardiff City legend Sol Bamba has warned manager Steve Morison to be careful in the way he handles his players after subbing off striker Max Watters before half-time against Coventry City.
Watters was hauled off before the break in Cardiff's 2-0 win over the Sky Blues, with Morison bluntly admitting after the game that he felt the young forward wasn't good enough to stay on the pitch.
The 22-year-old was visibly disappointed as he took his place on the substitutes' bench, with Bamba himself admitting at half-time that he wasn't sure why he was hooked.
Asked if he understood the logic behind the move, Bamba replied: "Not really, if I am honest, because he had the two best chances for Cardiff. He makes a great run behind the back three, he's onside and it's a good effort and a good save from the goalkeeper.
"I don't understand at all why he's been substituted. I don't think Cardiff changed the shape. If you change the shape maybe you can understand why, but it doesn't seem like they changed the shape so it's a surprising one really."
It's not the first time Morison has caused a stir with his substitutions.
Back in December, the Cardiff boss decided to hook Isaak Davies during the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth, just 30 minutes after the youngster had come off the bench.
Davies was labelled a 'hindrance' by his boss, but has since produced a strong run of form, potentially vindicating Morison's decision.
But Bamba has warned that such bold calls may not always yield such positive outcomes.
"We don't know how long he's going to be here. It's a results business and he needs results as quick as he can," he continued.
"But you have to be careful here. You have to take it two ways because Steve has done it before to a young kid, Davies, and we have to be careful that it doesn't become a habit, where if something doesn't go well for 20 minutes he just changes it.
"That will affect the players. Fair enough, he wasn't doing what the manager asked him to do, so he can change, and obviously at the end he got a result so the end justifies the means.
"But you have to look at the bigger picture and be careful on the players. The welfare of the players as well and the whole dressing room because the lads will have seen that and will be thinking 'that can happen to me' and will worry about going out and putting a performance together.
"It's a fine line and today was the right thing to do because they got a result. Jordan Hugill came in and made a difference, so today you can applaud him.
"But in the long term you need to be careful with that."
Jay Bothroyd, also on pundit duty in the Sky studios, hopes the forward can bounce back, and has urged him to seek counsel with his boss this week.
He said after the game: "When that kind of thing happens, you just think 'it's my fault'.
"When he came off, you could see he looked gutted. He looked dejected. But I think the good thing is that the coaches came to him straight away and said 'listen, today wasn't your day, keep your head up and keep working hard'.
"But he needs to go back in tomorrow or whenever it is and speak to the manager and say 'can you show me where I could have been better'. He's young. He can improve, and I think step by step with the help of the coaches, he can get better.
"But right now, he's going to take that personally. He's going to get upset, but the main thing is they've got three points, so he can't stay upset for too long. Games come thick and fast in the Championship, so he's got to focus on that."
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