PRESS CONFERENCE: NEIL WARNOCK TALKS AHEAD OF BORO GAME

Neil Warnock agenda


Friday 20th September 2019


Here are the key items on the agenda for Neil Warnock this morning:

•The fitness of Neil Etheridge following his appearance for the Under-23s.

•The form of Robert Glatzel following his first goal for the Bluebirds.

•Injury update on the rest of the squad.

•His assessment of tomorrow’ clash with Middlesbrough.

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Injury update

"I should bring a list, really. (Neil) Etheridge trained all week after his game. (Sol) Bamba has stepped up and Marlon Pack, but it’s a bit early for him though.

(Lee) Tomlin has trained the last two days, still a bit shaken up. Going to see how he is this morning."

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On Tomlin's car accident

"It was a bad accident. I don’t know all the ins and outs. The other car was badly damaged."

Etheridge update

"I don’t know yet. I will be speaking to Neil. You’ve just got to be so careful, players always tell you they are fit. I will speak to them both today, but I think Alex (Smithies) has done well as well."

Warnock on the competition for the No. 1 jersey

"You see the season he had last season, it was a tremendous season. I bought Alex to give him competition and that’s what he’s done, two of the best keepers in our division.

Sol Bamba told me he was fit three weeks ago and I almost agreed with him and Neil has had quite a severe hamstring thing, same with Marlon (Pack), you’ve just got to be careful."

Neil Warnock on the Bluebirds' start to the season

"It’s taking the opportunities really. The Reading debacle, but other than that we are in the top few in the league for creating chances. Apart from Robert, we have got to get goals from other areas. But we need more from everyone else but we are creating chances."

The boss on Robert Glatzel

"Every striker wants to get off the mark as soon as possible. In training he was excellent. He’s still learning the game as well and it’s a difficult league to come into and he will get better."

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Neil Warnock on what to expect from Middlesbrough this weekend

"The biggest, strongest side in the league when you look at the squad. The height, they are set up in the Championship really. Players like (Britt) Assombalonga who can score goals from anywhere."

Warnock on Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate

"He’s got some good people and a great chairman, one of the best in the league. What Jonathan wishes he’s got is someone like himself playing, he was a great player.

I would imagine he has seen a lot more top end games than myself and I’m sure he’s got his own opinions on what he’s looking for.

They’ve always been a steady club. We’ve always looked forward to the games."

On retiring

"You can never say never. There’s all sorts of things that crop up. I didn’t think Sharon would let me have this job. The disappointment of relegation and the circumstances will always be on my mind. I want to leave a legacy so the club will go forward.

You can never say never or anything. There’s all sorts of things, international jobs, Scotland, it’s all been mentioned over the last few weeks.

But health is the most important thing at my age."

Neil Warnock on the process of finding his successor when he leaves Cardiff City

"I only said that if they wanted me to. So if I could be of any help, not just this year, but in the next ten years, I would want to help Cardiff because it has been a big part of my life."

How the league is shaping up

"You can see the three or four teams that are going to do well but we have got to hang on their coattails until Christmas. Because I think we will do well after Christmas."

Warnock on Lewis Holtby

"There was no interest that I am aware of.

“He is one of a few players who was mentioned with me in the newspapers, but unless someone I don’t know about asked about him, we weren’t in for him."

Neil Warnock on the form and fitness of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing

"Yes, I was worried about him up until last weekend and then had a good chat with him. He’s trained well this week. He has got to do more in training to get back to the levels of fitness he was last year.

“He needs his fitness because he is explosive. So I’m hoping he has had a good week and with a bit of luck, the next few weeks, with hard training he can get back to the form he was in."

The latest on Danny Ward

"Danny has trained well this week. He will probably come back into the reckoning this weekend. If not this weekend, definitely next weekend. So he will be available for selection now."

Neil Warnock on Robert Glatzel's relief at scoring his first goal for Cardiff City

"You can see it’s such a relief. Without a doubt, the way he has trained this week, he is far more relaxed.

"It’s so much better (his family are here). I’m pleased about that. You go back to your room or whatever, it’s nice accommodation, but there’s nothing like having family around you to settle you down. Everything is easier. With scoring his goal as well, he can look to push on now."

Neil Warnock on Cardiff City's home form

"We’ve got to keep it going. We’ve got things to catch up on as well, it’s imperative we don’t we don’t slacken off at home. I thought at Derby that was more like us, after 10 minutes. Against a side, difficult to play against away from home our character came through.

This will be a good test for us. Because they are well organised and disciplined defensively, as good as you’re going to get in the league.

Jonathan has got that side, so we will have to be on our toes."

Neil Warnock on taking in Under-23s matches

"We always talk about the Under-23s, because I think we have got one game and then a blank three weeks. We are trying to organise two or three games against local teams, because I think they are more beneficial to us.

"I think the U23s has been a disaster for managers. The competition was there to bring players through, but it’s not being played as people envisaged it to start with. I’ll be very surprised if it’s not changed completely.

"There was nothing like the old central league. You knew you would get a competitive game every week, but you don’t get that now.

“The local teams we play against, Merthyr, Llanelli, we’ve got games like that coming up and you need games like that to learn about your players."

Isaac Vassell scoring for the Under-23s

"He took his goal well, played well. Curtis Nelson I feel sorry for. Anywhere else, he’d be in the team now, but he has to be patient.

“I’ve just said to him it’s not about this season, it’s about the next 10 seasons he could become a good player at Cardiff and the fans will take to him.

“All the players showed great attitude up there."

On young talent coming through

"There could have been more, I’m sure. It’s one of those things, you can only do so much really. You’ve got so much on with the first team, but I do speak to the academy. But they want to deal with it themselves, but they don’t want to deal with it myself."

Warnock on the Rugby World Cup

"I’ve got my Welsh flag. There is nothing like the Welsh anthem, is there? Obviously I would like England to do well, too."

Cheers Chris

On young talent coming through

"There could have been more, I’m sure. It’s one of those things, you can only do so much really. You’ve got so much on with the first team, but I do speak to the academy. But they want to deal with it themselves, but they don’t want to deal with it myself."

This is slightly confusing and baffling