David McIntyre Blog

Warnock’s on safe ground this summer

No-one is more cynical about the owners of QPR than me, or less inclined to believe what they say. But they’re not looking to ditch Neil Warnock.

I say that having previously broken stories of Holloway, Waddock, Gregory, De Canio, Dowie, Ainsworth, Sousa and Magilton being close to the axe or at least under serious pressure, which sometimes angered the club and left even friends of mine thinking I was on a wind-up or looking to stir.

The reason for that was the apparently ridiculous timing of some of those stories. In Holloway’s case it was soon after promotion, and in other cases it was soon after they had been appointed. But those managers were genuinely in danger. If Warnock was in a similar situation, I’d be all over it. He isn’t.

Aside from Waddock’s appointment in 2006, which was a formality, the one time I suggested a manager would stay, I ended up with egg on my face.

That was when De Canio insisted to the point of outrage that I was totally wrong to suggest he was going, so against my better judgement I wrote a feature reflecting this. Google it. I still can’t bear to look.

It was a huge gaffe and a stupid error of judgement. Deep down I wasn’t comfortable about it from the start and less than a week after our conversation, De Canio announced he wanted out for personal reasons, making me look a very silly boy.

So, after that absolute aberration, which still makes me cringe, I wouldn’t disregard speculation about Warnock unless I was more than sure there was nothing in it.

I’m no fan of the Briatore-led regime to put it mildly. I’ll say one thing for him though: he’s become an easy target. It’s easy to portray him in a certain way. In fact, it’s become trendy to do so. Everyone’s at it now.

I say now, because it wasn’t always like that. It used to be the complete opposite. For some time after the 2007 takeover, the coverage he received was gushing and unquestioning.

In those early weeks and months, his ‘hands-on approach’ – a polite way of putting it – was already having an effect, and Rangers were fast heading in the wrong direction. All was not well, despite the hysteria and hype surrounding ‘the richest club in the world.’

I couldn’t get a story on this out there for love nor money. Nobody wanted to know. Briatore and Ecclestone were unquestioned giants of business and sport, who were revered among the media and simply “don’t do failure” according to those who know them.

All coverage of their involvement in QPR was the same. Rangers had apparently hit the jackpot and were on course for promotion and even the Champions League. It was all about how much they’d spend, who they’d spend it on, and how the club’s fortunes had been transformed.

By and large, that’s how it stayed until Briatore’s bust-up with Dowie.

Some time weeks earlier, I’d written a story that Dowie was close to the sack almost immediately after taking over. Even my mum, having read about it, asked if I was absolutely sure.

But in time, Dowie’s battle with Briatore became common knowledge.

The tide turned against Briatore in a big way. It was open season. Since then, there have been more stories about his interference than you can shake a stick at.

The thing is, not long after Dowiegate, Briatore – relatively speaking – distanced himself from team matters.

So at the time press coverage of his antics was at its peak, the period when his actual antics were at their peak had in fact passed. Things had moved on, but it had become fashionable to write about Briatore’s involvement.

Speculation about Briatore’s input dominated much of Paulo Sousa’s short spell ‘in charge’. Not only was that spell short, it was deeply problematic. But by then Briatore was less of a presence around the club.

The real story was Sousa’s relationship, or lack of one, with Gianni Paladini. But Paladini was a relative unknown compared to the much higher-profile Briatore, whose supposed meddling had become tabloid gold.

Sure, he was still prominent and ended up seeing things the same way as Paladini, his man on the ground. But Briatore’s day-to-day involvement had been scaled back and has never since reached the level it did during the Dowie fiasco.

However, mud sticks. Now Briatore is visible again after a spell being seen to have stepped back, leading fans to believe he had been ousted by the far more popular Mittal family, two and two is being put together.

Warnock is said to be in danger of being ousted in favour of the kind of suave overseas manager I have absolutely no doubt will be on the club’s radar in time. But that time is not now.

Warnock and the board have been a perfect fit because both parties are all about the short-term, and having fun in the Premier League as soon as possible. In Warnock’s case that’s because of his burning desire to have another crack at the top flight before his retirement, which Mrs Warnock is keen to happen in two years’ time.

If it happens with QPR having been established in the top division, Warnock can retire to Cornwall, and Briatore – if he hasn’t sold up by then – can look abroad for his replacement.

That will probably involve several Italians being in the frame, although don’t underestimate the Spanish influence at QPR.

Alejandro Agag, who was instrumental in bringing Dani Parejo to Rangers, is no longer on the board but is still a presence around the club. Spaniards have been considered for the job in the past.

In a nutshell, there is no short-term threat whatsoever to Warnock’s position. In the long term, he is not in QPR’s plans and QPR are not in his. It’s the medium term that matters.

Warnock’s current position is as strong as it could possibly be. Aside from the obvious reasons why, he is also different to his many predecessors in that, crucially, all his key relationships within the club have been and remain strong.

Briatore, Ecclestone and particularly Amit Bhatia are behind him. And although not as close to Paladini as Gregory and Holloway (at first) were, Warnock’s relationship with him is very good indeed.

He was Paladini’s choice for the job, regardless of what the spin machine would have you believe, or Paladini’s detractors want to believe.

But while board members are not at all looking to install a new manager, I do believe they have an idea of the kind of one they’d like next. That is never a good position for a current manager to be in. It usually only ends one way.

So Warnock is right to ensure that aspects of his contract are watertight, just in case.

Warnock will get financial support and plenty of it, but the most important support a manager needs from his bosses is that they can be counted on to stand by him during bad times.

If some are thinking that if it sadly doesn’t work out for old Neil then someone else, like Claudio Ranieri for example, might be a good choice to replace him, then it may only be a matter of time before Warnock is on his way.

And while that might seem outrageous to many fans now, these things can change very quickly. A few defeats early next season, and I wonder if the impression that Warnock might have been the man for the Championship will be restricted to the boardroom.

Think of Gregory and the love-in after QPR up stayed up in 2007.

He wasn’t the man of the moment on a Warnock scale, but there was still a clamour for Gregory to be retained. Few cared though when he was ditched soon into the new season. That, as they say, is football.

So backing Warnock now is easy. It’s backing him during choppier waters that counts, and if board members are looking for reasons not to back him rather than to back him, his position will quickly become unstable.

There is some potential for disagreement in the weeks ahead. Warnock can, and does, expect to be nudged in the direction of a number of Italians this summer, but is not keen to sign many overseas players. His targets are mostly English-based.

But he ought to have few problems there, largely because his greatest strength as QPR boss applies now more than ever.

That strength has always been the timing of his appointment, which came when Rangers were heading for League One and possible meltdown, and the board had become totally discredited.

They had no choice but to step back and make changes – even if they were only cosmetic ones, which they mostly were – in order to attract a manager of Warnock’s status.

His predecessors had worked with both arms behind their back. Unlike them, Warnock arrived at QPR at the stage when things had got so bad it was the owners’ reputation on the line, not the manager’s. That was all-important, and the platform on which he has been able to build.

And now, it’s mostly Warnock who has been credited with Rangers’ promotion. There is very little talk, if any, of the owners being vindicated, or their ‘project’ coming to fruition. In fact there’s the suggestion they may just do something very stupid. The reaction of many fans to Paladini on Saturday also told its own story.

It’s Warnock’s time in the sun, not theirs. His stock has grown and there are clubs who would doubtless be interested were reports of his possible availability true. Hence his smile and relaxed attitude on the issue of his future.

For that reason, the board will need to behave themselves in the coming weeks, or risk becoming even more of a laughing stock than they were 14 months ago.

The bottom line is that although Warnock’s fate is ultimately in their hands, their reputation is still in his.



http://davidmcintyre.wordpress.com/2011/....nd-this-summer/

 

Plausible thinking from a diplomic but no-nonsense QPR chronicler. Thanks for that Northolt.