Sometimes it is just the facial profile..
The jawline reveals clues..
Jutting, redoubtable, distinct.
The beard, offers an extra layer of the undoubted visual message, 'do not mess with me', belying the usual calm persona..
If this was a silhouette, the answer of who this potential Baggies cult hero ' ces't tres simple'?
Add a stetson and a glance...
This man's fissure and cold calculated stare, would fit perfectly in a Sergio Leone, Spaghetti Western,,,
Even Clint Eastwood might have thought twice about tangling with Cedric la Magnifique?
Or 'Kipre. Kipre, Kipre' as the chant goes..
Who'd have thought that the mere mention of this man's inclusion in a WBA defence a couple of seasons ago, may well have been met with derision??
Cedric Kipre is a proud Parisian, his parents emigrated from the Ivory Coast, despite being the youngest was the most physically imposing of four siblings.
Cedric's elder brother Stephen is also a footballer having spells in both France and Scotland.
As as a kid, Cedric was originally a striker, bur over time, gradually moved back to central defence.
Cedric supported his local team, PSG and was particularly enamored by one player, who in Cedric's words 'made me fall in amour with football',
The extraordinary and extravagantly talented Ronaldinho Gaucho
It's really touching and informative to see Cedric's eyes soften when he reflects back on those childhood days and the effect of watching his hero play for PSG, with such dribbling wizardry of this brilliant, maverick, Brazilian,.
I do hope Cedric has seen footage of Laurie Cunningham,?
No doubt he'd be hugely impressed by Laurie, for so many similar reasons of his love and respect for Ronaldhino..
Kipre was part of a very talented PSG Academy with one of his team mates at the time being the French International, Mousa Dembele', but his biggest long term influence was a first team defender, a player whose sheer physical presence is very reminiscent of the defender 'Big Ced' was to become..PSG and later in his career, Liverpool defender, Mamadou Sakho...
You can only imagine the influence this fellow Parisian of African parents [Senegalese], had on Cedric, as at the time Sakho was captain of PSG at just 17 years old, and whose character is undeniably as solid as his defending, he's now financing an orphanage in his parents home country.
Early influences can resonate..
At 17, Cedric was signed by Leicester City, in a seminal time for The Foxes, coinciding with their 2015/16 incredible run to become Premier League Champions, under Claudio Ranieri.
Cedric impressed as a young defender, but the central defensive roles were filled by the backbone of that vintage Foxes team, the redoubtable Robert Huth and the veteran skipper, Wes Morgan, who between them, started 73 of the 76 Premier League games that season.
Although in the words of Cedric, 'that season proved anything is possible in football', the reality was, 33 different players played first team football for Leicester City that season..
The teenage Kipre was not one of them..
A further irony, considering how Marc Albrighton bombed on his loan move for us, in that Leicester City 'glory year' , no one played more games for Leicester than Albrighton...
In that initial season at Leicester, Cedric, like all developmental players should, experienced a very different level of football, being loaned out to the Southern League 'Steelmen' otherwise known as Corby Town.
The loan only lasted a month and included just three games, but Cedric was described as 'being the real deal, a breath of fresh air... ' by Corby's boss, Tommy Wright..
Sentiments, we as Baggies can only endorse this season...
One of the more endearing scenarios to Cedric's time at Leicester was, due to problems with his own accommodation, Kipre and his brother, Stephen moved for a month into the abode of Leicester's first team phenom', N'Golo Kante, an experience that has forged a very strong friendship to this day.
N'golo was born and brought up in a nearby suburb of Paris to Kipre, and as Cedric reflects, not too many people would have reached out and helped the way Kante did..
Kipre talks of the humble, genuine nature and very quietly spoken Kante, and the long term influence he has had on him.
A shared belief in religion, although different, [Kante is Islamic and Kipre is Christian], created deeper empathy and a lasting friendship.
Cedric in these early years, could be described as 'magnetic'..
To Steel....
When Kipre was deemed surplus to requirements after three formative years at Leicester, he joined the UK's other 'Steelmen', north of the border this time in, Motherwell FC, dovetailing uniquely with his stint at Corby..
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In many ways, Motherwell was the making of Cedric Kipre, and for the first time while there, he took those rare steps to become part of that halcyon group of players, known as cult heroes..
For us, I think of the likes of Fraser and Cantello, Gera and Koumas...
At Fir Park, the first ever terrace chants of 'Kipreee. Kipreee' were heard, his influence warmly remembered and never forgotten in North Lanarkshire.
Known affectionately, to his team mates as 'Breadric, due to his love of carbohydrates, Cedric was originally judged to be a 'rough diamond', but my word, did that diamond shine??
In a vintage season for Motherwell they reached both the League and Scottish Cup Finals, a truly remarkable turn of events for a relatively small club, the 'Well' defence being heavily fortified by the presence of Kipre.
But physical presence is one thing, nous only comes with experience...
That season, Cedric received his first two red cards of his career, one for tangling with so called Celtic 'hard man', Scott Brown, the other, was in the 2017/18 Scottish League Cup Final and an encounter with an ex Baggie flop, Scott Sinclair..
Flop can be defined in many ways. Performance wise, Sinclair's impact for WBA was exactly that.
At Celtic, Sinclair took flopping to a whole new level, with an outrageous dive after being barely touched by Kipre in the first half of the Final..
This led to a truly extraordinary penalty decision and a beyond cruel red card for Cedric..
To rewatch this footage, it's plain embarrassing by Sinclair, it's even plainer agony for Kipre, whose incredulous look and sinking to his knees, said everything about getting duped by a decision..
Or a cheat..
Lessons can sometime be learned the hardest of ways..
Celtic of course beat the ten men, as they were to also beat Motherwell in the Scottish Cup Final, but Kipre's season in the Scottish Premier League, is still remembered by the 'Well' faithful with huge fondness...
He is still, a Fir Park cult hero for life...
One theme that truly bamboozles any Baggies fan is the lack of international recognition for such a phenomenal player.
The ONLY international cap Cedric has received so far was when playing for Motherwell, but his call up was much like his career, a very unorthodox route,
The selection came about, due to a chance encounter with fellow Ivory Coast defensive legend Kolo Toure, at of all places, an airport...
This 'chance' meeting and conversation led to an instant call up and one appearance for Ivory Coast U23's in 2018..
Since then, inexplicably, nothing..
Despite that, there is still huge joy in Cedric's eyes. reflecting on what his call up meant to his parents.
You would have to say though, that the lack of international recognition for Kipre is an .'.absolument scandaleux'..
Diamonds only increase in value..
The once 'rough diamond' was polished in Scotland and Kipre from being an unknown quantity, in less than a year was judged to be worth a Million, and despite a heavy hearted feeling due to a mutual admiration between Cedric and the Fir Park faithful, Kipre made the move to the DW Stadium and a new life at Wigan.
Five seasons previously, Wigan had won the FA Cup, but in 2018/19, Wigan were now residing in The Championship, though that preseason The Latics were seemingly bolstered defensively, by the signings of the talented trio of Cedric, and also two teenage full backs, who are now amongst the best in the Premier League, Antonee Robinson and Reece James.
Wigan boss, Paul Cook recognized the absolute need for Cedric to make an instant impact, as a serious knee injury robbed him of his main centre half and another contemporary Premier League defender, Dan Burn...
When you lose 6ft 7', a 6ft 4' replacement will do very nicely..
Cook reflected on Kipre's impact, seeing Cedric as, 'physically intimidating, but humble and a joy to coach and develop', [a pretty common summation of Kipre's character throughout his career..]
In the two years Cedric was at Wigan, he never missed a days training, with 77 appearances, but his undoubted commitment could though be overpowering, with the accruing of 15 yellow and two red cards.
With two teenage full backs and the inexperienced Kipre in defence, and a tricky end to the season to navigate, Paul Cook believed that added experience at central defence would be vital...
It's therefore hard to think of a better short term signing than a Swedish Baggies legend who two years previously had left The Hawthorns for his familial climes of Sweden and Djurgårdens IF.
Jonas Olsson was though, in his own way, a little homesick, declaring on arriving at Wigan..
' I feel more British than Swedish in a sense...'
It seems almost like a WBA testimonial match dream team with Olsson and Kipre paired in central defencc.
'Olle Olson', [real name], being fifteen years older than his young Parisian defensive partner, was the perfect role model for Kipre to shine.
It's a tale few Baggies know, but in the five vital end of season games they played together, Wigan were unbeaten, guaranteeing their Championship survival..
The most rewarding win in that relegation saving run, was at promotion chasing Leeds, a game Wigan remarkably won 2-1, the victory was made more impressive by Wigan playing most of the game with 10 men, due to Cedric receiving another deeply contentious red card.
But you cannot put a price on experience, and Jonas was instrumental in this unexpected Wigan win, against all odds..
The red card to Kipre, in itself was remarkable.
Patrick Bamford had rounded the Wigan keeper, and Cedric produced the most athletic and LEGAL, goal line block, using his chest to defy a certain Leeds goal.
The referee did not see it that way and gave Cedric another unjustified red card.....
Fast forward three seasons and the subtle but illegal use of the hands to stop a certain QPR equalizer?
Experience counts...
The following season was cruel for Wigan beyond belief..
If the 'Coronavirus Season' of empty grounds wasn't surreal enough, to get relegated with a positive goal difference has to be a unique statistic? Just adds to the layers of the unbelievable for The Latics..
Defensively, Wigan were excellent, only a third of the teams in The Championship had a better defensive record, much of this was down to Kipre's maturing excellence and a Wigan run of eleven games and one goal conceded.
Utterly remarkable for a mid table team..
Sadly, the inept leadership of the Hong Kong consortium who owned Wigan caught up with them, and in a season where on merit they should have finished 13th, the 12 Point deduction jettisoned them ten places to 23rd and the cruelest of fate.
Relegation...
Kipre saw the Wigan situation as an utter betrayal from the owners, and when you are hoping, at best, to receive half of your salary, for a season of outstanding improvement, you can totally understand Cedric's bitter and fully justified sentiments.
With relegation, the scenario of your best players being sold is an inevitable outcome, and the Kipre bidding war came down to two clubs, led by two men who know a bit about what it takes to be a high quality central defender.
Slaven Bilic for WBA and Tony Mowbrey of Blackburn Rovers..
In the end, Kipre became probably Luke Dowling's best signing in his role as The Albions' Technical Director, Cedric agreeing to a four year contract, [that ends THIS SUMMER!].
In Dowling's words, 'Kipre had been a target for some time, and has the potential to be a Premier League defender..'
Not wrong..
Dowling's overall vision at WBA can however be generously described as mixed at best..
Dowling also thought Ken Zahore and Karlan Grant would be goal scoring assets and lucrative investments at 23 Million between them..
Maybe try stick to recruiting central defenders in the future Luke?
Truth is, without Dowling's insistence, there was no way Kipre would have been a West Brom player, as Slaven Bilic simply didn't particularly rate Kipre, or more particularly see any need to sign another central defender long term.
Semi Ajayi and Kyle Bartley were Bilic's preferred starters, add in the emerging Dara O'Shea and a few weeks into the season, the very expensive and damaged goods that was the impact of Branislav Ivanovic...
The fact Ivanovic was signed ELEVEN days after Kipre signed, tells you everything about the mixed messages and misguidedleadership at WBA during this time.
Cedric Kipre was very much on the outside looking in, and as he reflected, 'when I signed I expected to play..'
Cedric though recognized being on the bench 'as a learning experience watching the best Premier League players', so his time actually wasn't wasted...
It seems Cedric was not only a substitute but more importantly for his career, an eager student...
But it was hardly enough. .,
And as Kipre contended, he was 'rushed into the signing', for WBA, a move he may well be, quickly starting to regret?
The urge to play and improve was very much central to Kipre's mindset and ambition, so it's remarkable to think that in Cedric's first Baggies season, he had a 5 month spell when he played a total of just 48 first team Minutes [the FA Cup defeat to Blackpool], so an obvious need to 'be happy again and playing football' led Kipre being loaned to Belgian side Charleroi in December 2020 for the rest of the season...
Patience is a virtue and the character of this quiet and reflective Ivorian seems a constant theme throughout his career ; even at Charleroi it again took six games on the bench before he made his debut for 'The Zebras',
The Stripes shirt theme yet again..
Actions often speak louder than words, and Cedric's debut was described as 'flawless and encouraging' and in his five starts in the Belgian Pro League resulted in the best run of form in the Charleroi season, unbeaten with just two goals conceded.
Another string to the Kipre bow..
It just needed WBA to recognize his potential..
A new start coincided with a new boss and having a fellow Frenchman in charge things looked promising.
It was however oddly enough, yet another in the line of former centre half's managing WBA in that three season period of gradual decline..
From Slav to Big Sam.
From Val to Bruce..
For the first time since his time at Wigan, Cedric had a coach in Valerien Ismael who seemingly believed in him, conversing in French and naturally bonding..
With Val's words, 'Cedric, I'm counting on you this season' told early, and Ismael's adoption of a back three, playing football from out of defence, should have tapped into Cedric's strengths..
The season's opener was a credible 2-2 away draw to Bournemouth, with David Button starting in front of the dropped Sam Johnstone, and the Baggies first official viewing of Valball', with Kipre as part of a defensive trio with Kyle Bartley and Dara O'Shea.
Cedric though did not impress his fellow Gaul in charge, and was only selected once in the next 15 matches, that being the lambs to the slaughter, Carabao Cup half dozen debacle to Arsenal.
No doubt Val did not see 'Val Ball' and Ced as being complimentary, although in Ismael's defence, WBA did only lose two of those first fourteen league games...
Not seeing Kipre starting became as predictable as the 60th Minute, Ismael ritual substitution...
Yet again another truncated, frustrating season was materializing, with Kipre's self confidence getting another battering.
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It took the pivotal 3-0 defeat to Fulham, with the Cottagers firmly moving in the direction of promotion as we reversed in the opposite, for Cedric to reemerge again in the team replacing Semi Ajayi...
For a time, things were looking up personally for Cedric, he was a regular under Ismael, playing fifteen consecutive games, the Baggies faithful warming to his physicality, defensive prowess and long raking balls from deep positions, but the occasional dip in concentration was an undoubted and fair concern.
WBA results and performances declined and 'Val ball' ironically became a short managerial end game, destined to last only seven months.
A Gallic accent was to be replaced by a Geordie with the appointment of the much maligned Steve Bruce..
It was obvious that Steve Bruce, like Slaven Bilic before, didn't rate Cedric from the outset.
Kipre's WBA days looked over..
There was an absolute inevitability in the following pre season of a Bruce decision to loan or sell Kipre.
On reflection though, many of those season long loans from that 2022/23 season were actually the making of arguably the three key WBA performers this season,?
Tom Fellows to Crawley Town, Alex Mowatt to Boro' and Cedric to Cardiff City..
The previous season, it was Alex Palmer to Lincoln City..
Loans CAN work!
Chris Brunt must take credit here, being the WBA 'Loan Player' Manager, his awareness and reporting of progress of loanees and the direct connection between club and loanee can be seen to have huge benefits, and is no doubt the perfect person for this vital role and and long may this continue..
At 25 years old, Cedric badly needed playing time and a manager who believed in him..
Both of these requirements were satiated at Cardiff City, under Steve Morison, with Kipre quickly endearing himself to the Bluebirds faithful by performing a rendition of their inimitable goal celebration, in a 'Get to Know-Cedric Kipre' video, performing 'The Ayatollah', a goal scoring ritual that the Bluebirds players and fans have been regaling in since 1990...
The 22/23 season saw Cedric start in the mass majority of Cardiff City games, in fact in the 42 games Cedric played, Cardiff only conceded 46 goals, a remarkable statistic for a team that finished just one place above relegation.
No doubt the Cardiff faithful and Cedric himself would have welcomed at least another year in the Principality, but three converging and very fateful events precluded this from occurring.
Firstly, this was to be the last year of Kipre's Baggies four year contract, play this season out, Cedric becomes a free agent..
The only possibilty a second Kipre season with Cardiff was going to occur was either through a second loan or more probably a fee, something Cardiff could not administer due to a transfer embargo from the fallout of the tragic tale of their signing of Emiliano Sala, the Argentine striker who perished in a plane crash in January 2019.
Sala's fated private plane journey was a fated flight from Nantes, where Emiliano had returned to collect his belongings...
Sala's prophetic last words via a text to his friends as the plane took off was 'man I'm scared' due to 'a plane that feels like it's falling to pieces'....
The third of these converging events was the transfer of Dara O'Shea to Burnley.
Carlos Corberán needed to create fresh finance due to the end of the Premier League Parachute Payments.
Coupled with O'Shea's desire to be to be back in the Premier League, learning under the tutelage of a fellow defender of the highest quality in his new manager, Vincent Kompany??
All very understandable...
As in football, as in life, one door opens and another door closes...
For Cedric it was very much welcome back and his first experience of life under the master planner and coach, that is Carlos Corberán.
Corberan recognized the talent and potential of Kipre back in 2018/19 in his role as Assistant Manager of Leeds United, under Marco Bielsa.
After Leeds played Wigan, in Carlos's words,
'Kipre was one player I really liked when we faced them'.
First impressions count..
With a strong pre season, Kipre looked forward to his future with huge optimism, but the opening game was an unmitigated disaster, away to Blackburn..
WBA were two down in 22 Minutes, the second goal caused from an errant pass by Kipre to Nathaniel Chalobah, that was seized upon and finished with telling aplomb...
You look closely at Kipre in the aftermath of that awful, avoidable goal, he was partly culpable for, lying forlornly, face down in the Ewood Park turf...
'A Euro for your thoughts, Cedric?'..
There is no way on earth anyone could have predicted this 'Lazarus' return to form for Cedric, particularly as later he was yellow carded and subbed for Kyle Bartley with 20 Minutes to go.
But Corberan is such an astute and deep thinker, he clearly saw something other WBA managers had not seen..
A future for Kipre
This instilled a huge vote of confidence, Carlos had in Cedric's words, 'helped me grow as a man and a player'..
A clear display of a word, so close to Kipre's heart and very rare for him at WBA...
'Trust'.
The opening game may have put, perhaps ,understandable doubt in many managers minds, but not many managers are like Carlos...
'In Carlos we trust', for a reason..
Each Corberan training session is high in planning, high in intensity, and these long, detail honed training sessions inform...
You only need to look at the number of WBA players who have improved since Carlos took over?
From every account, Cedric is a consistently diligent, committed individual who trains well..
Put the two elements together and you have the perfect recipe for progress, something we have seen all season from Kipre.
The ultimate endorsement of the improvement for Cedric came from no less than Baggies legend Bomber Brown, someone whose seen it and done it all at The Hawthorns.
Bomber described Cedric as being a 'revelation'..
The Bomber is rarely wrong and not one for hyperbole'
Kipre's starts in the 23/24 season have so far coincided with less than a goal a game being conceded.
39 games played 34 goals scored against a defence featuring Cedric, and we can only hope he recovers quickly from that cheap, blindside, off the ball hit against Millwall, that damaged Kipre's shoulder..
Of course the figure could be 35 conceded but for the 'Hand of Ced'....
Sometimes it can be what you get away with...
Even Cedric's forays at attacking set pieces have created rewards, beautiful thigh control and precise volley for the vital goal against Middlesbrough was just sublime..
When asked was this goal a surprise?, Cedric's eyes twinkled, and he reflected back to his Parisian days where he started life as a striker..
That hidden 'Ronaldinho' from his days as a PSG fan, still happily resides in Kipre's psyche' and soul..
With Cedric being out of contract in three months time, the need to keep our best central defender for several years is urgent, and as this may well be the most important contract of Kipre's career, being 28 years old in December, the peak age for a defender..
An assured future with a rejuvenated club, under the fresh and positive stewardship of Shilen Patel, is more tempting than we could possibly have hoped for months ago, but defenders of Kipre's ability, for us, are rare.
The reality is, Cedric would be free to walk away from a club, that at times, shown limited faith in him.
With suitors in Europe as well as The Premier League, it may be a tough scenario to conclude this dealin our favour..
As Corberan states, regarding new contracts, 'It's all about the financial expectations of the player being the same as the financial possibilities of the club'...
Talks are ongoing, but marrying those two objectives can often be problematic.....
Of course promotion for us would help hugely....
Kipre's journey has been complex and well traveled.
For WBA fans, that presence and assuredness has been rarified air.
I can think of few WBA defenders in recent years who anticipate and make interceptions so perceptively, and also hit tackles with such unadulterated power and timing as Cedric.
To call Cedric a modern day Baggies cult hero is maybe premature?
To sign a new contract for us, and maintains his presence and form, it could become a reality..
For me, there is a special resonance historically about the WBA No.4 shirt..
My first ever WBA shirt was Cantello 4.
When I return to see West Brom in May, my latest one will be Kipre 4.
Let's hope I can wear the shirt next season at The Hawthorns, watching Cedric le Magnifique' in the stripes again, making his own inimitable bid for cult status...