‘An absolute stitch-up’:

‘An absolute stitch-up’: Neil Warnock blasts Derby County postponement


Monday 19th March 2018


Derby County’s clash with Cardiff City was postponed due to heavy snowfall.


A general view of iPro Stadium prior to the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby County and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Pride Park Stadium on October 18, 2015 in Derby, England.

Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock has blasted the decision to postpone his side’s clash with Derby County due to heavy snowfall, suggesting it’s a stitch-up, Sky Sports report.

The Bluebirds were looking to extend their lead over fellow Championship automatic promotion-chasers Aston Villa and Fulham on Sunday as the duo dropped points a day earlier.

Cardiff’s clash at Derby was also going to be a tricky one, but with their current run of form of seven successive wins coupled with the Rams’ injury problems, there was arguably no better time to face Gary Rowett’s side.

Neil Warnock, Manager of Cardiff City celebrates victory after the Sky Bet Championship match between Brentford and Cardiff City at Griffin Park on March 13, 2018 in Brentford, England.

Heavy snowfall, however, has been apparent in the East Midlands and local authorities decided to call the game off around four hours prior to kick off as they were worried about safety in the surrounding areas.

Warnock, understandably, reacted with anger to the decision as he suggested to reporters the conditions were fine and the postponement just happens to coincide with Derby’s poor form and injury woes.

Greg Halford of Cardiff City(L) and Neil Warnock, Manager of Cardiff City celebrate victory during the Sky Bet Championship match between Cardiff City and Birmingham City at the Cardiff...

“I'm very disappointed obviously. I'm not overly surprised. When I heard Gary's remarks earlier in the week about "if we can get over this weekend's injury crisis with this game we should be OK"', Warnock explained.

“Obviously there is snow but I think it's a disgrace quite frankly. We've come from the surrounding areas and it's quite accessible and quite easy to get here.”

“(But) whatever I say they'll justify it. They'll get the chief police officer to say what he did and all the reasons. But what I'm saying to you is the ordinary guy in the street, the Derby fans, have a look on the website and they all think it's an absolute stitch-up - the Derby fans! Nobody else.”

“There is hardly any (snow). In a way you can't blame them can you? You wouldn't want to play us at the moment would you?”

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Cardiff came in to the clash having won seven straight league games, and Saturday’s results gave them the opportunity to move ten points ahead of third-place Fulham following their draw with Queens Park Rangers.

The Welsh side would have been facing a Derby side who haven’t won in seven league outings and are missing a host of key players such as Matej Vydra, George Thorne, Joe Ledley and the suspended Tom Huddlestone.

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While I agree with NW it is a stitch up, and diabolical how we have been treated.
I assume the rearranged fixture will be on the 17th.
It seems the EFL are conspiring not to get us promoted.
Hopefully this will reinforce our team spirit , if it was ever needed .
Everyone Warnock , the team the club and the fans , should be galvanised and put everything into these last nine games, starting with Burton.

While I agree with NW it is a stitch up, and diabolical how we have been treated.
I assume the rearranged fixture will be on the 17th.
It seems the EFL are conspiring not to get us promoted.
Hopefully this will reinforce our team spirit , if it was ever needed .
Everyone Warnock , the team the club and the fans , should be galvanised and put everything into these last nine games, starting with Burton.

There's no EFL conspiracy. There's guidelines and possible rules over the timing of rearranged fixtures and to be fair to them, you can now see why. A lot of us would have preferred the Brentford fixture later in the season. If that had happened we would now be in further bother facing 9 games in 30 days, rather than the current 8. They may be a bit more flexible given the reduced likelihood of further postponements beyond that. 3 away trips in 7 days seems very harsh. If they move it to the following week it gives us the one mid week break we get in April closed to the middle of our fixture pile up.

On their statement regarding the postponement they're unlikely to have said anything else at this stage. They've received the report from Derby and have responded on that, excepting it at face value. They'll now have to look into it in more detail, given our formal complaint. If there is any shred of evidence that Derby do didn't all they could to get the game on, then I would expect them to come down hard on Derby.

Clearly they're guilty of sharp practice but proving it may be not be so easy. They need to establish the Police role in all this. At 8 am they said the area was safe and the game could go ahead. Derby have reported to the FA that the Police were part of the decision to call the game off, apparently taken at around the same time. What's that about and what was the Police position ? If the game was called off shortly after 8am as Derby advised the EFL ,why wasn't there ant radio reference to this prior to 8.55 am when I stopped for a break. Clearly I can only speak of the station I was listening to but normally they're a pretty quick reporting postponements.

I think Leicester playing yesterday afternoon, 25 miles away is irrelevant. Derby playing at home to Fulham 2 weeks earlier is much more relevant. Sunday morning followed a 24 hours of poor weather where the actual temperature marginally dipped below zero during the night. Its why the snow pretty much disappeared from roads and paved areas with little or no intervention. The Fulham game followed a week where the temperature was significantly below zero for 24 hours a day, day after day. You cant draw any other conclusion that they worked harder to get the Fulham game on than they did for this.

Derby Count were guilty of showing utter contempt for the football supporter, both their own and visiting and for all those for whom this game would have played a significant part in their weekend.

While I agree with NW it is a stitch up, and diabolical how we have been treated.
I assume the rearranged fixture will be on the 17th.
It seems the EFL are conspiring not to get us promoted.
Hopefully this will reinforce our team spirit , if it was ever needed .
Everyone Warnock , the team the club and the fans , should be galvanised and put everything into these last nine games, starting with Burton.

There's no EFL conspiracy. There's guidelines and possible rules over the timing of rearranged fixtures and to be fair to them, you can now see why. A lot of us would have preferred the Brentford fixture later in the season. If that had happened we would now be in further bother facing 9 games in 30 days, rather than the current 8. They may be a bit more flexible given the reduced likelihood of further postponements beyond that. 3 away trips in 7 days seems very harsh. If they move it to the following week it gives us the one mid week break we get in April closed to the middle of our fixture pile up.

On their statement regarding the postponement they're unlikely to have said anything else at this stage. They've received the report from Derby and have responded on that, excepting it at face value. They'll now have to look into it in more detail, given our formal complaint. If there is any shred of evidence that Derby do didn't all they could to get the game on, then I would expect them to come down hard on Derby.

Clearly they're guilty of sharp practice but proving it may be not be so easy. They need to establish the Police role in all this. At 8 am they said the area was safe and the game could go ahead. Derby have reported to the FA that the Police were part of the decision to call the game off, apparently taken at around the same time. What's that about and what was the Police position ? If the game was called off shortly after 8am as Derby advised the EFL ,why wasn't there ant radio reference to this prior to 8.55 am when I stopped for a break. Clearly I can only speak of the station I was listening to but normally they're a pretty quick reporting postponements.

I think Leicester playing yesterday afternoon, 25 miles away is irrelevant. Derby playing at home to Fulham 2 weeks earlier is much more relevant. Sunday morning followed a 24 hours of poor weather where the actual temperature marginally dipped below zero during the night. Its why the snow pretty much disappeared from roads and paved areas with little or no intervention. The Fulham game followed a week where the temperature was significantly below zero for 24 hours a day, day after day. You cant draw any other conclusion that they worked harder to get the Fulham game on than they did for this.

Derby Count were guilty of showing utter contempt for the football supporter, both their own and visiting and for all those for whom this game would have played a significant part in their weekend.

Whose to say the Policeman who made the decision is not a Derby fan, I don't care what anyone says, the evidence clearly proves it was playable, and that they could hardly provide a team due to injuries and suspension, those players should be banned from playing in the rearranged fixture !!!

While I agree with NW it is a stitch up, and diabolical how we have been treated.
I assume the rearranged fixture will be on the 17th.
It seems the EFL are conspiring not to get us promoted.
Hopefully this will reinforce our team spirit , if it was ever needed .
Everyone Warnock , the team the club and the fans , should be galvanised and put everything into these last nine games, starting with Burton.

There's no EFL conspiracy. There's guidelines and possible rules over the timing of rearranged fixtures and to be fair to them, you can now see why. A lot of us would have preferred the Brentford fixture later in the season. If that had happened we would now be in further bother facing 9 games in 30 days, rather than the current 8. They may be a bit more flexible given the reduced likelihood of further postponements beyond that. 3 away trips in 7 days seems very harsh. If they move it to the following week it gives us the one mid week break we get in April closed to the middle of our fixture pile up.

On their statement regarding the postponement they're unlikely to have said anything else at this stage. They've received the report from Derby and have responded on that, excepting it at face value. They'll now have to look into it in more detail, given our formal complaint. If there is any shred of evidence that Derby do didn't all they could to get the game on, then I would expect them to come down hard on Derby.

Clearly they're guilty of sharp practice but proving it may be not be so easy. They need to establish the Police role in all this. At 8 am they said the area was safe and the game could go ahead. Derby have reported to the FA that the Police were part of the decision to call the game off, apparently taken at around the same time. What's that about and what was the Police position ? If the game was called off shortly after 8am as Derby advised the EFL ,why wasn't there ant radio reference to this prior to 8.55 am when I stopped for a break. Clearly I can only speak of the station I was listening to but normally they're a pretty quick reporting postponements.

I think Leicester playing yesterday afternoon, 25 miles away is irrelevant. Derby playing at home to Fulham 2 weeks earlier is much more relevant. Sunday morning followed a 24 hours of poor weather where the actual temperature marginally dipped below zero during the night. Its why the snow pretty much disappeared from roads and paved areas with little or no intervention. The Fulham game followed a week where the temperature was significantly below zero for 24 hours a day, day after day. You cant draw any other conclusion that they worked harder to get the Fulham game on than they did for this.

Derby Count were guilty of showing utter contempt for the football supporter, both their own and visiting and for all those for whom this game would have played a significant part in their weekend.

Whose to say the Policeman who made the decision is not a Derby fan, I don't care what anyone says, the evidence clearly proves it was playable, and that they could hardly provide a team due to injuries and suspension, those players should be banned from playing in the rearranged fixture !!!

Did the meeting actually take place or did Derby actually go with an almost standard prepared report announcement ? Cant believe they'd leave themselves that open to be honest although the conflicting / inconsistent stories coming out of Derby does make you question the integrity of the decision.

As for not playing who couldn't have played yesterday that wont happen. Who ever is available will be available to play. Its unfair and if there's anything untoward in this they'll be fined. The fact that several thousand people will have wasted their time and hundreds of thousands of pounds wont come into it.

While I agree with NW it is a stitch up, and diabolical how we have been treated.
I assume the rearranged fixture will be on the 17th.
It seems the EFL are conspiring not to get us promoted.
Hopefully this will reinforce our team spirit , if it was ever needed .
Everyone Warnock , the team the club and the fans , should be galvanised and put everything into these last nine games, starting with Burton.

There's no EFL conspiracy. There's guidelines and possible rules over the timing of rearranged fixtures and to be fair to them, you can now see why. A lot of us would have preferred the Brentford fixture later in the season. If that had happened we would now be in further bother facing 9 games in 30 days, rather than the current 8. They may be a bit more flexible given the reduced likelihood of further postponements beyond that. 3 away trips in 7 days seems very harsh. If they move it to the following week it gives us the one mid week break we get in April closed to the middle of our fixture pile up.

On their statement regarding the postponement they're unlikely to have said anything else at this stage. They've received the report from Derby and have responded on that, excepting it at face value. They'll now have to look into it in more detail, given our formal complaint. If there is any shred of evidence that Derby do didn't all they could to get the game on, then I would expect them to come down hard on Derby.

Clearly they're guilty of sharp practice but proving it may be not be so easy. They need to establish the Police role in all this. At 8 am they said the area was safe and the game could go ahead. Derby have reported to the FA that the Police were part of the decision to call the game off, apparently taken at around the same time. What's that about and what was the Police position ? If the game was called off shortly after 8am as Derby advised the EFL ,why wasn't there ant radio reference to this prior to 8.55 am when I stopped for a break. Clearly I can only speak of the station I was listening to but normally they're a pretty quick reporting postponements.

I think Leicester playing yesterday afternoon, 25 miles away is irrelevant. Derby playing at home to Fulham 2 weeks earlier is much more relevant. Sunday morning followed a 24 hours of poor weather where the actual temperature marginally dipped below zero during the night. Its why the snow pretty much disappeared from roads and paved areas with little or no intervention. The Fulham game followed a week where the temperature was significantly below zero for 24 hours a day, day after day. You cant draw any other conclusion that they worked harder to get the Fulham game on than they did for this.

Derby Count were guilty of showing utter contempt for the football supporter, both their own and visiting and for all those for whom this game would have played a significant part in their weekend.

Whose to say the Policeman who made the decision is not a Derby fan, I don't care what anyone says, the evidence clearly proves it was playable, and that they could hardly provide a team due to injuries and suspension, those players should be banned from playing in the rearranged fixture !!!

Did the meeting actually take place or did Derby actually go with an almost standard prepared report announcement ? Cant believe they'd leave themselves that open to be honest although the conflicting / inconsistent stories coming out of Derby does make you question the integrity of the decision.

As for not playing who couldn't have played yesterday that wont happen. Who ever is available will be available to play. Its unfair and if there's anything untoward in this they'll be fined. The fact that several thousand people will have wasted their time and hundreds of thousands of pounds wont come into it.

They have left themselves open to punishment! Evidence points to police not objecting to game, safety advisory group not their remit to cancel, referee didn't cancel surrounding areas safe as pictures show local services running and open who's left? Efl were to quick to side with derby before full facts known even cursery look at conditions will show game could be played if derby wanted it and obviously they had reason for it not to happen.

While I agree with NW it is a stitch up, and diabolical how we have been treated.
I assume the rearranged fixture will be on the 17th.
It seems the EFL are conspiring not to get us promoted.
Hopefully this will reinforce our team spirit , if it was ever needed .
Everyone Warnock , the team the club and the fans , should be galvanised and put everything into these last nine games, starting with Burton.

There's no EFL conspiracy. There's guidelines and possible rules over the timing of rearranged fixtures and to be fair to them, you can now see why. A lot of us would have preferred the Brentford fixture later in the season. If that had happened we would now be in further bother facing 9 games in 30 days, rather than the current 8. They may be a bit more flexible given the reduced likelihood of further postponements beyond that. 3 away trips in 7 days seems very harsh. If they move it to the following week it gives us the one mid week break we get in April closed to the middle of our fixture pile up.

On their statement regarding the postponement they're unlikely to have said anything else at this stage. They've received the report from Derby and have responded on that, excepting it at face value. They'll now have to look into it in more detail, given our formal complaint. If there is any shred of evidence that Derby do didn't all they could to get the game on, then I would expect them to come down hard on Derby.

Clearly they're guilty of sharp practice but proving it may be not be so easy. They need to establish the Police role in all this. At 8 am they said the area was safe and the game could go ahead. Derby have reported to the FA that the Police were part of the decision to call the game off, apparently taken at around the same time. What's that about and what was the Police position ? If the game was called off shortly after 8am as Derby advised the EFL ,why wasn't there ant radio reference to this prior to 8.55 am when I stopped for a break. Clearly I can only speak of the station I was listening to but normally they're a pretty quick reporting postponements.

I think Leicester playing yesterday afternoon, 25 miles away is irrelevant. Derby playing at home to Fulham 2 weeks earlier is much more relevant. Sunday morning followed a 24 hours of poor weather where the actual temperature marginally dipped below zero during the night. Its why the snow pretty much disappeared from roads and paved areas with little or no intervention. The Fulham game followed a week where the temperature was significantly below zero for 24 hours a day, day after day. You cant draw any other conclusion that they worked harder to get the Fulham game on than they did for this.

Derby Count were guilty of showing utter contempt for the football supporter, both their own and visiting and for all those for whom this game would have played a significant part in their weekend.

Whose to say the Policeman who made the decision is not a Derby fan, I don't care what anyone says, the evidence clearly proves it was playable, and that they could hardly provide a team due to injuries and suspension, those players should be banned from playing in the rearranged fixture !!!

Did the meeting actually take place or did Derby actually go with an almost standard prepared report announcement ? Cant believe they'd leave themselves that open to be honest although the conflicting / inconsistent stories coming out of Derby does make you question the integrity of the decision.

As for not playing who couldn't have played yesterday that wont happen. Who ever is available will be available to play. Its unfair and if there's anything untoward in this they'll be fined. The fact that several thousand people will have wasted their time and hundreds of thousands of pounds wont come into it.

They have left themselves open to punishment! Evidence points to police not objecting to game, safety advisory group not their remit to cancel, referee didn't cancel surrounding areas safe as pictures show local services running and open who's left? Efl were to quick to side with derby before full facts known even cursery look at conditions will show game could be played if derby wanted it and obviously they had reason for it not to happen.

It would be a perverse decision to conclude at this stage that Derby have no case to answer. There's far too much evidence in the public domain to suggest that this at the very least needs further and rigorous investigation.

If this game wasn't playable yesterday then you giving clubs cart blanche to call off games as and when they virtually want.

100 percent it does. So far efl have not actually done one other than a statement to say happy with what Derby said. Surely they are aware of the facts presented to them to warrant further investigation.
As always these clubs forgot about the fans...