My biggest Cardiff City achievement,transfer regrets & the
Fri Oct 05, 2018 5:55 am
The Neil Warnock two-year interview: My biggest Cardiff City achievement, transfer regrets and the recipe for survival
By Dominic Booth
Friday 5th October 2018
Neil Warnock knows how far he has taken Cardiff City , even if recent Premier League form takes a little gloss off his remarkable achievements.
The 69-year-old marks his two-year anniversary in the job on Friday, a 24-month period in which virtually everything about the club has changed, largely thanks to Warnock.
From steering clear of relegation to League One, uniting a fragmented club, before leading the Bluebirds into the Premier League - which is presenting its own challenges - it has been an amazing period not just in Cardiff's history, but in Warnock's too.
The wily old boss knows better than most that even tougher times may be around the corner.
And yet despite everything he has achieved, Warnock accepts question marks about his job security from some and admits having regrets about transfers.
Here, in an in-depth and candid interview with Dominic Booth, Warnock reflects upon his extraordinary reign in South Wales...
Rescuing Cardiff from relegation
NEIL WARNOCK:
"This job has been as difficult as any I've had in my career. It's had so many highs and lows," says Warnock, who two years to the day was about to accept an enormous challenge, succeeding Paul Trollope as manager.
The Bluebirds had just been beaten 2-0 by Burton and supporters were fast losing belief. Home crowds were around the 14,000 mark as Trollope's disjointed team languished in the relegation zone.
Still recovering from the damaging red-blue rebrand and smarting from a solitary - and desperate - season in the Premier League the club, as Warnock noticed, was at a low ebb.
But he says: "I never even gave relegation a thought to be honest.
"When I met Mehmet Dalman we actually talked about promotion, because while I could have stayed at Rotherham for the money, I wanted a chance at that eighth promotion and I thought I could do it here.
"The first thing of course was to avoid relegation and the club was very fragmented at the time.
"But just getting those results to keep us up, I didn't think was actually too difficult.
"The group of players we had I knew were good if they were organised - better than their position anyway - and we managed to bring in Junior Hoilett and Sol Bamba and those two were very important.
"Taking them to the end of the season, that was the first quarter."
Uniting the club - team and fans
"My biggest achievement at Cardiff is bringing the whole club together in my two years here," Warnock admits.
"Seeing the 30,000 crowd to watch us play Burnley on a Sunday afternoon - with the game on television - just summed that up. I thought it was incredible and it just shows how far we've come."
From day one, he set about giving those fans, stung by the rebrand and other issues, a team to be proud of again.
After a morale-boosting Severnside derby victory over Bristol City in his first game, the prospect of an eighth promotion never left his mind, even if he had off-field issues to iron out.
"I felt I could do that (promotion) here, but I needed Mehmet and Vincent and the fans on board," he says.
"I felt if we had a decent run at the end of my first season we could then have a look at what we needed to push for the top six. We were proved right.
"Most managers would have said that first season 'my job is to keep us in this division', but the squad had a nucleus of solid players, which I could build on and organised them to give them belief. That first game was important too as that gave belief to the fans that something could happen."
The process of managing "upstairs" - keeping owner Vincent Tan in the loop and tempering expectations - has been a well-documented part of Warnock's role in the Welsh capital.
And it's something which suited the Yorkshireman's effervescent personality and his ability to man manage, which he once described as his "only skill".
"The way that I am, most of my time as a manager has been putting fires out and I don't enjoy dealing with chairmen and owners but I know it's part of my job," Warnock says.
"I knew the club could be successful if everyone was singing from the same song sheet.
"We did everything we could to bring it together and I felt it was important to go round the Valleys, visit a few supporters clubs, to show the fans how much I cared, to give them a voice.
"To show them I hadn't just come to Cardiff for a job, I wanted promotion.
"We've sprinted before we can walk and we didn't expect to get where we are so fast - but you can't turn down success. But it's difficult to maintain when it comes so quick."
Winning promotion
"You can't miss out on promotion though, I'm glad we got it when we did," Warnock says.
It's an interesting line and comes at a time when many critics are suggesting his Cardiff team don't belong at Premier League level.
He led them as underdogs throughout the entirety of last season, which is something Warnock recalls with fondness as one of his biggest Cardiff achievements.
"I can't say I felt confident throughout the promotion season, not when you've got the likes of Fulham and Wolves spending and looking below us you had Villa, which is a massive club who everyone thought would pip us to promotion, Middlesbrough and so many big sides who are still down there.
"We just quietly went about our own thing. Inside the dressing room we thought we had a chance because we bounced back every time we got a kick, which is what the Championship is about."
Neil Warnock after the open-top promotion bus parade (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
Trying to stay in the Premier League
Warnock admits the summer did not unfold as planned.
Cardiff wanted a striker, a position they must wait until January to fill.
It's a predicament like many others Warnock has faced in his two years with the Bluebirds, and once again he must muddle through against the odds.
"The Championship is a tough league but I think we've all learned something about the Premier League already.
"It takes a lot of money and we probably left our main transfer targets a little bit late really. It's not like the Championship when you can wait until the end of August, and we found ourselves trying to sign two midfielders right before the transfer day cut-off and we didn't manage to get the striker in.
"Last summer was about as difficult a summer as I've had in my career - and I've had quite a few summers!
"It was down to frustrations at players really. We just couldn't seem to get anything done, it wasn't for the lack of trying.
"You can only go so far in the Premier League before you have to spend. I think the average now is £15-20million for a good player.
"So we've got to conjure up results to keep us in the mix, then there's got to be investment in January.
"Last time Cardiff were in the Premier League Vincent was disappointed with the money they spent and the players they got and he was determined not to have want a repeat. I didn't mind that as long as I know where I am. I wanted to build the club for the future, because the club will be here a lot longer than me and Vincent.
"But we do need two or three quality players to add to the current squad.
"We need more goal threat from the strikers. I've been disappointed to concede goals at the back but I thought we might have got more from the strike force this season.
"I think there will be money to spend. We've got to try and hang in there so we're within touching distance. It's no good if we're miles away because you can't expect people to spend money."
Not just a striker though - Warnock wants "three or four" additions in the New Year if he can battle through until then without too many more body blows like the 2-1 defeat to Burnley last weekend.
"We've moved mountains every year to get better and we just want the icing on the cake now: we need a striker, we need a top midfield player, a defender," he says.
"We know we need these players now, three to four quality players. It might be a bit of wheeling or dealing, we might need to sell someone or a part exchange or something. That will be the situation in January."
Defying the critics and keeping his job
Warnock knows in football there's little time to look back with nostalgia and accepts he will always have critics, some of whom are questioning his role as manager.
"If we're cast adrift by January the board won't just be thinking about the players to bring in but possibly my position as well. And I accept that, I know what football is like," he says.
"You don't manage at my age unless you've seen the ups and downs all before and I know we can give teams a good game if we eliminate our mistakes.
"But do I think it would be better if they changed manager? No. Could someone come in and motivate them some more? I don't think so.
"You can't ignore what people say and quite rightly if we play so well like last week and lose, what are people going to say? 'When will we win a game?'
"Unfortunately with my name from the outside there's quite a lot of people who like a knock and a moan at me. I can't do anything about that I'm afraid.
"You'll always hear the rumbles from certain people and you get that at every club. But if it was the majority, then I wouldn't be here. I know the fans support me.
"The one thing we've got in our favour is the fans. I get my drive from this club's supporters.
"I've never heard fans that get behind a team like this lot. If you'd said two years ago we'd be playing in front of regular full houses in the Premier League, they would have locked you up!
"Even at Chelsea, 4-1 down, the volume was unbelievable and the Chelsea staff told me they'd never heard anything like it. So we might not be No.1 as a team, but our fans are No.1.
"I'm really proud to be manager at the club and whatever happens in the future, that won't change. When I see some of the things that happen like with Steve Bruce, cabbages and whatever, I think that's disgraceful. That's not for me.
"The thing about this place is that the majority of fans understand where we've come from and how much we've done."
Warnock has been at the club for two years and already achieved wonders. It has been the perfect marriage. But the job is not over yet - Warnock plans to achieve a whole lot more before he leaves Cardiff City.
By Dominic Booth
Friday 5th October 2018
Neil Warnock knows how far he has taken Cardiff City , even if recent Premier League form takes a little gloss off his remarkable achievements.
The 69-year-old marks his two-year anniversary in the job on Friday, a 24-month period in which virtually everything about the club has changed, largely thanks to Warnock.
From steering clear of relegation to League One, uniting a fragmented club, before leading the Bluebirds into the Premier League - which is presenting its own challenges - it has been an amazing period not just in Cardiff's history, but in Warnock's too.
The wily old boss knows better than most that even tougher times may be around the corner.
And yet despite everything he has achieved, Warnock accepts question marks about his job security from some and admits having regrets about transfers.
Here, in an in-depth and candid interview with Dominic Booth, Warnock reflects upon his extraordinary reign in South Wales...
Rescuing Cardiff from relegation
NEIL WARNOCK:
"This job has been as difficult as any I've had in my career. It's had so many highs and lows," says Warnock, who two years to the day was about to accept an enormous challenge, succeeding Paul Trollope as manager.
The Bluebirds had just been beaten 2-0 by Burton and supporters were fast losing belief. Home crowds were around the 14,000 mark as Trollope's disjointed team languished in the relegation zone.
Still recovering from the damaging red-blue rebrand and smarting from a solitary - and desperate - season in the Premier League the club, as Warnock noticed, was at a low ebb.
But he says: "I never even gave relegation a thought to be honest.
"When I met Mehmet Dalman we actually talked about promotion, because while I could have stayed at Rotherham for the money, I wanted a chance at that eighth promotion and I thought I could do it here.
"The first thing of course was to avoid relegation and the club was very fragmented at the time.
"But just getting those results to keep us up, I didn't think was actually too difficult.
"The group of players we had I knew were good if they were organised - better than their position anyway - and we managed to bring in Junior Hoilett and Sol Bamba and those two were very important.
"Taking them to the end of the season, that was the first quarter."
Uniting the club - team and fans
"My biggest achievement at Cardiff is bringing the whole club together in my two years here," Warnock admits.
"Seeing the 30,000 crowd to watch us play Burnley on a Sunday afternoon - with the game on television - just summed that up. I thought it was incredible and it just shows how far we've come."
From day one, he set about giving those fans, stung by the rebrand and other issues, a team to be proud of again.
After a morale-boosting Severnside derby victory over Bristol City in his first game, the prospect of an eighth promotion never left his mind, even if he had off-field issues to iron out.
"I felt I could do that (promotion) here, but I needed Mehmet and Vincent and the fans on board," he says.
"I felt if we had a decent run at the end of my first season we could then have a look at what we needed to push for the top six. We were proved right.
"Most managers would have said that first season 'my job is to keep us in this division', but the squad had a nucleus of solid players, which I could build on and organised them to give them belief. That first game was important too as that gave belief to the fans that something could happen."
The process of managing "upstairs" - keeping owner Vincent Tan in the loop and tempering expectations - has been a well-documented part of Warnock's role in the Welsh capital.
And it's something which suited the Yorkshireman's effervescent personality and his ability to man manage, which he once described as his "only skill".
"The way that I am, most of my time as a manager has been putting fires out and I don't enjoy dealing with chairmen and owners but I know it's part of my job," Warnock says.
"I knew the club could be successful if everyone was singing from the same song sheet.
"We did everything we could to bring it together and I felt it was important to go round the Valleys, visit a few supporters clubs, to show the fans how much I cared, to give them a voice.
"To show them I hadn't just come to Cardiff for a job, I wanted promotion.
"We've sprinted before we can walk and we didn't expect to get where we are so fast - but you can't turn down success. But it's difficult to maintain when it comes so quick."
Winning promotion
"You can't miss out on promotion though, I'm glad we got it when we did," Warnock says.
It's an interesting line and comes at a time when many critics are suggesting his Cardiff team don't belong at Premier League level.
He led them as underdogs throughout the entirety of last season, which is something Warnock recalls with fondness as one of his biggest Cardiff achievements.
"I can't say I felt confident throughout the promotion season, not when you've got the likes of Fulham and Wolves spending and looking below us you had Villa, which is a massive club who everyone thought would pip us to promotion, Middlesbrough and so many big sides who are still down there.
"We just quietly went about our own thing. Inside the dressing room we thought we had a chance because we bounced back every time we got a kick, which is what the Championship is about."
Neil Warnock after the open-top promotion bus parade (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
Trying to stay in the Premier League
Warnock admits the summer did not unfold as planned.
Cardiff wanted a striker, a position they must wait until January to fill.
It's a predicament like many others Warnock has faced in his two years with the Bluebirds, and once again he must muddle through against the odds.
"The Championship is a tough league but I think we've all learned something about the Premier League already.
"It takes a lot of money and we probably left our main transfer targets a little bit late really. It's not like the Championship when you can wait until the end of August, and we found ourselves trying to sign two midfielders right before the transfer day cut-off and we didn't manage to get the striker in.
"Last summer was about as difficult a summer as I've had in my career - and I've had quite a few summers!
"It was down to frustrations at players really. We just couldn't seem to get anything done, it wasn't for the lack of trying.
"You can only go so far in the Premier League before you have to spend. I think the average now is £15-20million for a good player.
"So we've got to conjure up results to keep us in the mix, then there's got to be investment in January.
"Last time Cardiff were in the Premier League Vincent was disappointed with the money they spent and the players they got and he was determined not to have want a repeat. I didn't mind that as long as I know where I am. I wanted to build the club for the future, because the club will be here a lot longer than me and Vincent.
"But we do need two or three quality players to add to the current squad.
"We need more goal threat from the strikers. I've been disappointed to concede goals at the back but I thought we might have got more from the strike force this season.
"I think there will be money to spend. We've got to try and hang in there so we're within touching distance. It's no good if we're miles away because you can't expect people to spend money."
Not just a striker though - Warnock wants "three or four" additions in the New Year if he can battle through until then without too many more body blows like the 2-1 defeat to Burnley last weekend.
"We've moved mountains every year to get better and we just want the icing on the cake now: we need a striker, we need a top midfield player, a defender," he says.
"We know we need these players now, three to four quality players. It might be a bit of wheeling or dealing, we might need to sell someone or a part exchange or something. That will be the situation in January."
Defying the critics and keeping his job
Warnock knows in football there's little time to look back with nostalgia and accepts he will always have critics, some of whom are questioning his role as manager.
"If we're cast adrift by January the board won't just be thinking about the players to bring in but possibly my position as well. And I accept that, I know what football is like," he says.
"You don't manage at my age unless you've seen the ups and downs all before and I know we can give teams a good game if we eliminate our mistakes.
"But do I think it would be better if they changed manager? No. Could someone come in and motivate them some more? I don't think so.
"You can't ignore what people say and quite rightly if we play so well like last week and lose, what are people going to say? 'When will we win a game?'
"Unfortunately with my name from the outside there's quite a lot of people who like a knock and a moan at me. I can't do anything about that I'm afraid.
"You'll always hear the rumbles from certain people and you get that at every club. But if it was the majority, then I wouldn't be here. I know the fans support me.
"The one thing we've got in our favour is the fans. I get my drive from this club's supporters.
"I've never heard fans that get behind a team like this lot. If you'd said two years ago we'd be playing in front of regular full houses in the Premier League, they would have locked you up!
"Even at Chelsea, 4-1 down, the volume was unbelievable and the Chelsea staff told me they'd never heard anything like it. So we might not be No.1 as a team, but our fans are No.1.
"I'm really proud to be manager at the club and whatever happens in the future, that won't change. When I see some of the things that happen like with Steve Bruce, cabbages and whatever, I think that's disgraceful. That's not for me.
"The thing about this place is that the majority of fans understand where we've come from and how much we've done."
Warnock has been at the club for two years and already achieved wonders. It has been the perfect marriage. But the job is not over yet - Warnock plans to achieve a whole lot more before he leaves Cardiff City.
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Re: My biggest Cardiff City achievement,transfer regrets & t
Fri Oct 05, 2018 7:53 am
Good read, he really has done a brilliant job for the club and no what happens this season he will be fondly thought of by me.
I think we all knew it was a bit of a disaster this transfer window, and personally I get the feeling he didn't spend all his money maybe because he just didn't know how or didn't have the contacts like he does on the championship.
I still don't think we are a lost cause. Even the weakest of teams can go on a run of results and it doesn't take much to push you a few places.
I think we all knew it was a bit of a disaster this transfer window, and personally I get the feeling he didn't spend all his money maybe because he just didn't know how or didn't have the contacts like he does on the championship.
I still don't think we are a lost cause. Even the weakest of teams can go on a run of results and it doesn't take much to push you a few places.
Re: My biggest Cardiff City achievement,transfer regrets & t
Fri Oct 05, 2018 8:05 am
A very good read and if ever their is someone I want to pull if off for us its this guy.
i would be willing to give him another go in the Championship if we go down. my only worry is who will come in and replace him, it will happen eventually, because whoever it is their biggest challenge is going to be winning the fans over.
i would be willing to give him another go in the Championship if we go down. my only worry is who will come in and replace him, it will happen eventually, because whoever it is their biggest challenge is going to be winning the fans over.
Re: My biggest Cardiff City achievement,transfer regrets & t
Fri Oct 05, 2018 8:24 am
Bakedalasker wrote:A very good read and if ever their is someone I want to pull if off for us its this guy.
i would be willing to give him another go in the Championship if we go down. my only worry is who will come in and replace him, it will happen eventually, because whoever it is their biggest challenge is going to be winning the fans over.
My concern is if we went down there shouldn't be that much to "fix" I do wonder if that's when he's at his best. Like he said he enjoys putting out the fires.