Former England striker Rickie Lambert has revealed the attraction of working again with manager Paul Trollope convinced him to join Cardiff City.
Lambert was the most significant signing by a Welsh club on deadline day as the Bluebirds moved to solve their goal-scoring problems by bringing in the forward on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
The 34-year-old made his name at Southampton but arrived there from Bristol Rovers where he spent three seasons coached by Trollope and current Cardiff assistant Lennie Lawrence.
“I played under Trollope and Lennie at Bristol Rovers – that was a big reason why I pushed this move so much,” said Lambert.
“I’m not playing a lot at the minute and what I miss most is scoring goals.
“The sooner I can get on the scoresheet and start helping my new team, the better because I’m used to people relying on me for goals.
“I’m very excited. I can’t wait to get started. It’s been a long day trying to push this through, but it’s something that I was desperate for. I’m overjoyed.”
Lambert was good enough to be in England’s World Cup squad as recently as 2014 and scored an impressive 117 goals in 235 matches with the Saints.
But his career stalled after a £4m move to Liverpool that year where he made just seven starts in the Premier League and scored just twice.
The appearances – and the goals – remained scarce at West Brom with just one Premier League goal in 20 appearances, although 15 of those were off the bench.
Cardiff will be hoping more opportunities will rekindle Lambert’s appetite for goals and give them some desperately needed firepower.
The club have scored just four goals in their opening six matches of the season and no Cardiff player is yet to score in a home game.
Lambert moves in as out-of-favour striker Adam Le Fondre has left Cardiff for a season-long loan to Championship rivals Wigan.
Also on the move out of the club is young striker Rhys Healey. The 21-year-old has joined Newport County on a five-month loan.
