Queens Park Rangers manager Neil Warnock has a taste for big time - Telegraph “Paul Lambert got Manager of the Year. He did a great job but Norwich had been together two years. Then I realised that it’s managers in the division that vote for it. "So I didn’t even come in the top three! “Seven promotions is fantastic. Talk to supporters of clubs I’ve had. There’s not many who don’t remember my time with enjoyment. When I go to Plymouth they talk to me about coming back from Wembley with their scarves coming out the top of buses. "The same with Notts County, twice at Wembley. Huddersfield fans talk about it. If you talk to players that have left me over the 30 or 40 years I’ve been doing this there are not many that will say they didn’t enjoy it with me, apart from the ones I’ve actually sorted out. “I am driven by certain things said about me. I remember one columnist calling me a bigot. I didn’t know what a bigot was in those days. I’m more educated now. I have people who regularly criticise me and others who are constructive which has surprised me. “You need something when you are a manager to push you on. It’s not money that drives Alex Ferguson on. He’s like a young pup. “You always gets chips on your shoulders as a manager. I look at the past, the opportunities I’ve had, being so close to doing well without any support really. "I bid for Ashley Young when I was at Sheffield United, offering £1.5 million and Watford wanted £2 million. I wondered what would have happened if we’d offered that extra £500,000. "I’ve never seen eye-to-eye with Tony Pulis on a lot of things but he’s done an incredible job at Stoke City. Why? Because he's had fabulous support from Peter Coates (his chairman).’’ Classic Warnock: a compliment with a dig. His tactics have not always endeared him to neutrals. “People talked about me being direct at Notts County. My defenders couldn’t pass water at Notts County. You play the system to suit the players you’ve got. "I want to enjoy watching my team play. Before I retired, I wanted to have a go at being on a level platform with most people, just to get an opportunity. "It’s when you haven’t been given the opportunity, don’t quite make it and get the sack, then you have chips on your shoulder.” So Warnock relishes this chance at QPR, the transfer-window spree funded by the largesse of the highly popular new owner, Tony Fernandes. “We’d been looking in Woolworth’s to buy when all of a sudden we are looking in Harrods. Since lads like Joey Barton have come in, training has gone up 50 per cent. They smile — and you have to smile when you come in here. "For 10 months of the year, it’s like the Russian frontier when the wind comes over the trees! “To have an opportunity to sign Joey Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Luke Young, Armand Traoré and Anton Ferdinand is fantastic. "And I saw some quotes of Ferdinand being £4.5 million but that’s a bit wrong. We paid £2 million.” Classic Warnock: seeking praise for good business. “The only chance I had of signing quality players like that in the past was playing on that computer game with my kid. All of a sudden it’s a reality. "I feel very proud when I watch Shaun in flowing mood and Ferdinand looking like he’s the best thing since sliced bread, when I look at Luke Young make one tackle against Newcastle when he ran 30 yards back and came away with the ball and I look at Traoré coming through just like slicing meat. Whatever the situation, I’m going to bloody enjoy myself this year.’’ He looks for hungry players, players he can make happy by believing in them. “You have to give those type of players the confidence of the length of contract that says 'bloody hell, we really do want you’. That was important to Barton and Wright-Phillips.” With Keith Curle and Mick Jones, Warnock drills them hard, particularly defensively, bringing back-to-back clean sheets in the Premier League. “As I said to Anton and Danny (Gabbidon), when I watch those two they always give you a chance at some stage, whether a back-pass because they always get a little cocky. "It’s getting the mindset to be defensive in defensive situations. The opposition aren’t going to score from row Z. I was really pleased when Anton smacked the ball in the stand against Wolves and smiled at me. That defensive streak also involves attackers like Jay Bothroyd. “He was superb at Wolves. He was our first line of defence. He didn’t let the two centre-halves settle. "When I used to watch the best Liverpool side I’ve ever seen, with Dalglish and Rush, I loved the forwards’ work ethic. Look at Barcelona now. Nobody works harder than Barcelona.” At 62, Warnock is clearly still passionate about the game. “I did say to Sharon (his wife) I’d pack in at 55. I don’t want to be in a wheelchair, although the kids have volunteered to push me around. "Sharon doesn’t understand totally because we’ve got a 13 year-old and a 10 year-old. I want to have some quality time with my kids but this is the Premier League.’’ So would relegation mean retirement? “I don’t think I’ll have much option if I get relegated, I think they’ll retire me. I didn’t want to get the sack from the previous owners because I enjoy QPR so much and I love living in Richmond. "I only want to stay in London. The only way I’m going to leave is if I get a better, bigger club.” Or England. “Well it will be if I get into the Champions League,’’ Warnock laughed. “You’ve got to be really coming to the end of your career like I am or Harry (Redknapp) is, where you’ve seen it all, done it all, and you’re not really bothered (by criticism). "We’ve got some great English players so I’m quite pleased Fabio Capello will be leaving — and that’s not disrespectful to him. “It’s an ideal time for an English manager to come in now and get the best out of players. We’ve got to put humour round the dressing room for England, take a little bit of the pressure off and let them enjoy themselves. ’’ Warnock for England? Marmite Man’s not joking. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...er-Neil-Warnock-has-a-taste-for-big-time.html
Neil Warnock now in the fast lane with Queens Park Rangers Duncan Castles It is a recurring phrase in Neil Warnock's rich Yorkshire syllables. When his fast-flowing sentences tumble into complexity, he often interjects, "Are you with me?" It is more than a rhetorical question because for most of the summer he knew that two-thirds of the Queens Park Rangers' well-heeled owners, Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, were not. Battling with the motor racing magnates to be allowed reinforcements of his own choice, Warnock did not know if he would make it to the big kick-off. He then expected to be fired after a 4-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers on the opening day. But then another prominent figure from Formula One, Tony Fernandes, the billionaire Air Asia chief, turned everything at QPR on its head by buying the club. "I do think if Tony hadn't bought it when he bought it I would have left the club shortly after losing to Bolton Wanderers," Warnock said. Assured of the incumbent's qualities by the co-owner Amit Bahtia, Fernandes decided he most definitely was with Warnock and handed him control of transfers and a budget with which dramatic emergency surgery could be done. Fernandes encouraged the pursuit of Scott Parker and Joey Barton, pushing his financial offer far enough to overcome the reluctance of the latter. With an elite, if erratic, international midfielder committed to QPR others were convinced Loftus Road need not necessarily be a sentence to relegation. Shaun Wright-Phillips had planned to hang on at Manchester City and reconsider his options in January. Instead, the winger negotiated a seven-figure pay-off where he was no longer wanted and was welcomed into Warnock's enthusiastic bosom. Working on "gut instincts" on players and the diligent groundwork of Mick Jones, his long-term assistant, Warnock kept buying. He considered Luke Young "one of the best defensive fullbacks in the country" and knew he had kept a house in London. He had fancied Armand Traore "for ages and ages" and now had the resources to recruit a left-back whom Arsenal no longer wanted. He repatriated Anton Ferdinand for "only £2 million" (Dh11.4m), then got to work on restoring the self-belief of the newcomers and restructuring his team. From a distance, Warnock, 62, can appear an unwholesome character. His teams have played aggressive, in-your-face football with their manager huffing and puffing on the sidelines. Warnock takes few prisoners in his pursuit of a success encapsulated in seven promotions. Yet, ask former charges what he is like to work with and a different picture emerges. Mark Rankine played 19 League games for Warnock at Sheffield United between 2003 and 2004 and was utterly won over. "From the outside I thought 'Oh, I don't know if I fancy playing for him'," the former midfielder said. "Honestly, he was magnificent, his man management was really, really good. He treats his players like adults, which is very different from most." One former player tells the story of the manager arriving at training nursing a grudge against a home decorator who had overcharged him by £200. Warnock, who generally oversees training sessions rather than running them, instigated a game in which his players had to repeat the last sentence he said, with every error punished by a £20 fine. When, 10 mistakes later, Warnock announced he was off home to pay the decorator, his team were not resentful but amused. Humour is one of the traits Warnock believes England's national team requires to achieve their supposed potential. "We've got some great English players so personally I'm quite pleased that [Fabio] Capello will be leaving," he said. "That's not disrespectful to him, but I think it's an ideal time, an opportunity for an English manager to come in now and get the best out of players. "I think we're now at the stage with the quality we've got that we've got to put humour round the dressing room for England. "Put a little bit of the pressure off from the media and let them enjoy themselves. I think you need English humour for that. That's why I'm glad that they look like they're going to get an English manager in." Such is the paucity of domestic candidates that a sequence of successful results from this new QPR side will see their boss suggested as the man to do that job. What Warnock will say for now is that the position is suited to a man of Harry Redknapp's (or his own) years, while throwing in the odd characteristically pointed quip. "It's not for me to tell Capello his job," he said. "Otherwise, I'd probably have got him to the World Cup final." [email protected]
You don't have the successes that Warnock has had, particularly on shoestrings at virtually every club he's been at, to know that he has the art of management down to a T. If we do end up near the top six we can expect his name to be mentioned when Capello heads off to spend his millions and, no doubt, columnists like Patrick Collins will gnash their teeth at the very suggestion!
Considering the unbelievable job hes done for us, it doesn't make much sense that hes only ever had one relegation season in the Prem in his career. Sometimes certain personality types put chairmen off. I'd be amazed if the likes of Billy Davies or Roy Keane ever get a decent Club again.
