Sol Bamba's presence at Sabri Lamouchi's Cardiff City unveiling on Friday was very much welcomed. But it perhaps wasn't the Sol many of us had expected to see.
Of course, he is overjoyed to be back. He loves the club and made a point of saying it before, during and after the press conference to those in attendance. But the Bluebirds' decline, both during and after his final years here as a player, has clearly hurt him.
Bamba was stern and, in truth, he looked like he meant business with his passionate responses to the questions posed to him.
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Speaking of watching the club's perennial demise over the last few years, Bamba admitted: "It wasn't nice to see. But clubs go through periods all the time. I was here as a player when we were successful. And, before we came in, that wasn't the case. It's all about timing when you come to clubs.
"When I came here as a player, it wasn't the best time, but we managed to change it all together. That's the key for me. That's what we have to try to do - all together. If we do that, I think we will be successful."
Straight off the bat, Bamba hit the nail on the head when it came to key issues surrounding the club.
Despite being flanked by two board members in chairman Mehmet Dalman and CEO Ken Choo, he did not shirk the disquiet among fans right now and apparent disconnect between the club and its supporters.
Cardiff's last home game saw a small protest against the board and owner take place outside Cardiff City Stadium's reception as fans' grumblings were voiced through chants aimed at the top brass.
That had not escaped Bamba. He saw Neil Warnock, almost single-handedly, piece this club back together when he took charge as discontent had ramped up among supporters back in 2016.
Without burdening Bamba with too much — he has enough to help Lamouchi with on the training ground, of course — he appears the perfect figure to help heal some of the rifts and bring the club and the fans closer together, just like Warnock did. He addressed the scale of that challenge head on, too.
"As a manager, [Lamouchi] commands respect," Bamba said of the new manager. "He's aware tactically and technically, and that's very important and that's what this club needs at the minute.
"They have a manager who will come in and and manage the players and manage above as well. The connection is very important between the board, the players and the fans. It's important the fans are on board.
"We have to bring the club all together, because let's be honest, at the minute, unfortunately, there is a bit of distance between the fans, the club and the board and our job is to bring everyone together, because without all of us and all of them, we won't be able to do it.
"Hopefully we can we can do that and the gaffer can bring that to the table."
Cardiff's lack of direction or plan has been as evident off the pitch as it has on it in recent times. But the appointment of Lamouchi seemingly strikes a nice blend between the short-term, stop-gap managers and the up-and-coming coaches whose playing days are literally only months behind them.
If he is successful in his mission of keeping City in the Championship this season, he wants a crack at the gig next season, too, which he spoke about in more detail here.
Lamouchi has made no promises over style of football, suggesting he would adapt to the players he had at his disposal. With that in mind, though, this squad is certainly capable of playing a more pleasing brand of football than City squads of recent years gone by. Every Cardiff fan would concede this group of players is playing to less than the sum of its parts at the moment.
But Bamba believes his old Ivory Coast boss is the type of figure who can coax the best out of them. Better performances and better results will, slowly but surely, only serve to help knit this club and its supporters closer together.
"I think it's the right time for someone like the gaffer to come in to lead," Bambe added. "He is a leader. I think, from what I'm seeing from the outside, that is what the squad is lacking at the minute.
"Confidence is a big thing. You can clearly see when he watch the games, some of the players lack confidence at the minute, but, you know, the key is winning games, when you win games, everything is good.
"It's all about what you show on the pitch. I think with Cardiff fans in particular, if you are 100 percent committed then they respond to it.
"I'll be honest, when I played for other clubs and you came here, you're like 'Oh, this is going to be a tough night!' Now, you come here and it's easy. Teams come here and win games or draw games and we need to make sure this is a fortress. When you come to Cardiff City, you're gonna have a tough time.
"We need to bring that back and if we do that I'm sure the fans going to respond. They travel in numbers to away games, home games as well. The minimum we can do is give 100 percent commitment and make sure we leave everything on the pitch."
Bamba's tone was bang on the money. Lamouchi even chirped in at one stage to say: "He's talking like a coach!"
It's Bamba's first coaching gig and it couldn't have fallen more sweetly for him. He and Lamouchi were going to link up wherever the Frenchman landed next. Bamba said it was just "written in the stars" that it happened to be at Cardiff City.
But he wouldn't get caught up or giddy about the prospect. There's work to do and he, more than anyone else, doesn't want to fail this club or its fan base.
"All of you guys know how this club means to me and my family," he said. "I'm very, very happy and excited. But that's done now.
"We're going to have to get down to work and move — move this club to where I feel we belong. We're going to do it step by step.
"It's a good squad. But I think we have to be realistic, the table never lies. This is why we're in this situation, so all we can do is guarantee you hard work and commitment. We're going to do everything we can."
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