'I would rather watch Downton Abbey than England' - Neil Warnock Former manager is not a fan of Roy Hodgson's cautious tactical approach please log in to view this image Drama guaranteed: England's finest as our favourite aristocratic family Published: 11 October 2013 Updated: 10:12, 11 October 2013 Neil Warnock today admitted he'd rather watch Downton Abbey than see Roy Hodgson's England side try to qualify for the World Cup. England will secure automatic qualification for the tournament in Brazil next year if they beat Montenegro and Poland at Wembley. The build-up has been overshadowed by the release of Harry Redknapp's autobiography, with the QPR boss claiming that several players wanted him to be appointed instead of Hodgson last year. Warnock would rather have seen Redknapp in charge too and while he still expects England to progress, the former Leeds manager is not planning on tuning in due to the quality of football on show. He told Standard Sport: "I donât think what's been said in Harry's book will have an effect on Englandâs preparations, although Iâd rather see a good Downton Abbey than watch England play anyway. "Theyâre not matches Iâm looking forward to because of the pressure they seem to be under in every match. "Everybody has their own way. He is a lovely bloke and a good manager, but he always seems to set up his teams not to lose rather than to win. "I think thatâs the big difference between someone like Harry and him. We have better players than Montenegro and Poland so we should give it a go. "We shouldnât be too cautious. For example, Iâd love to see Andros Townsend play instead of James Milner, especially as weâre at home, but with the way Roy is, he will probably start with Milner. That just typifies the difference in outlook. "Iâd like to think that he can forget all this (Redknapp's claims) and just focus on getting the wins we need to get to Brazil. At his press conference he should just talk about England and not have anything distract him from these two games and be adamant about that. "Itâs his job to get us over the line now, what happened with Harry is in the past. The pressure is on, but they should get through the two games." But Warnock also believes Hodgson made a mistake by making a guest appearance as a pundit on Match of the Day last Saturday. Hodgson was angered by the criticism of England's performance in Ukraine last month from main presenter Gary Lineker and his presence on the show appeared to be an attempt to smooth things over. But Warnock added: "I suppose it can annoy you what other people say as a manager. Roy was upset with what Gary Lineker said and he ends up on Match of the Day on Saturday, but I donât think it did him any good. "All they did was creep round each other and while it wasnât embarrassing, it wasnât far off. They couldnât have sat on the fence more than they did and get splinters everywhere." Neil Warnock will be appearing at the London Sports Writing Festival on Friday, October 18 to discuss his book The Gaffer: The Trials and Tribulations of a Football Manager. For more information and tickets log on to londonsportswritingfestival.com and @lswf2013
Warnock was actually in the pilot for Downton Abbey as crusty old gardener number 3. Sacked for failing to win the Downton largest marrow competition and blaming it on foreigners.
Very frustrating with the number of "injuries" that seemed to be picked up just prior to most England matches. But then the player then seem to make a miraculous recovery for their next club match. But with the attacking players available for this match, if that lot cant score a bundle, then Woy will struggle to defend his tactics
Got to agree with Colin although I have never seen Downton Abbey but I've not bothered watching an England qualifying match since Terry Venables was manager!
Woy, being an old man, has fallen victim to senility and still thinks he's managing Fulham. Boring as ****e these days.
I really don't know how a manager like Warnock can criticise any other football manager, Downton Abbey? I'd rather watch paint dry than any team Warnock is managing.
You know, for a moment there I thought you'd said that Downton Abbey was quite good. I re-read it and thankfully realised that you were having us on.
Well I'm going to try and sneak off work a little early today, before our long Thanksgiving (Harvest Festival) weekend to catch England v Macedonia (hopefully on TV). That strikeforce of Rooney, Wellbeck and Sturridge could prove quite lethal, with Townsend playing too and supplying them with balls, assuming they're not firing blanks. Hopefully Joe Hart has steadied himself for this game with no flapping episodes planned. Likewise, I imagine that the Irish R's will be looking forward to seeing the Republic of Ireland (without Richard Dunne) play in Germany, and then again Tues 15 Oct versus Kazakhstan on home turf (with him playing). Wouldn't mind catching that one myself! This time of year our local brewery, Picaroons, brews an excellent beer using locally collected hops & Canadian grains - tried it yesterday and it is excellent (not too hoppy), so I will be definitely picking up more for the long weekend as it is short supply (can't keep it on the shelves the guy at the liquor store said). In hindsight, I guess I probably shouldn't have mentioned that for the possible consumption of the October teetotallers? please log in to view this image Each batch of Harvest Ale indicates on the label exactly which variety of hops were used and also the farm they were grown. So, great beer and you are supporting the local economy too (Picaroons also brew many other traditional beers). http://www.picaroons.ca/myharvest/
Apologies, it did start with M - was just going to say, not sure if we'd be doing much better against them, then Rooney just scored to make it 1-0 against Montenegro! Perhaps I was thinking too much about that Harvest Ale!
