Warnock spells it out to disgruntled supporters
Yorkshire Evening Post 27/4/12
Neil Warnock has been willing this season to end since the Ides of March or thereabouts. His wish will be granted when Leeds United sign off with a dead rubber against Leicester City.
United’s boss realised some time ago that a Championship miracle was beyond his club, and he saw no harm in voicing that opinion. “Roll on next season,” said Warnock repeatedly, even while mathematical calculations had Leeds in contention for a play-off position.
Certain supporters took umbrage with that, writing to Warnock to complain about what they saw as a premature surrender.
“I must admit I’ve had a few letters about my comments,” he said. “They were asking for their money back for this year. One guy wanted 50 quid back because he’d lost a bet with a mate at Burnley. It’s all my fault that we didn’t finish above them.
“But I’ve got to stand for that. I’m relieved it’s almost over and I don’t think it could have been much better. It’s time to move on. Long-term I had to plan for next season.”
Next season. The focus of Warnock’s attention for several weeks and evermore so with the last of 46 league games upon him.
Tomorrow’s match against Leicester is the essence of a meaningless clash, contested by two clubs who are finding no consolation in their mid-table positions. United, Warnock admits, have fallen short of the expectancy of their crowd. Leicester, in contrast, have struggled to capitalise on the millions of pounds invested by their owners, initially in support of former manager Sven Goran Eriksson. The experiment with Eriksson ended in abject failure.
Warnock watched Leicester lose to West Ham United on Monday night and wondered why Nigel Pearson’s squad are so far down the table, behind nine other clubs. “I can’t understand why West Ham and Leicester aren’t number one and number two,” he said. “They ought to be.”
As for his own squad, Warnock says they are where they deserved to be. For brief moments under him – specifically after victories at Middlesbrough and Millwall – sixth place appeared to be attainable but Leeds and Leicester are proof of the adage that leopards don’t change spots; that teams as inconsistent as they have been are unlikely to find a sudden vein of form at the height of the run-in.
“If we’d had anything about us we could have got into the play-offs,” Warnock said. “But that shows you the level of the Championship.
“We’d have been smudging the picture because I don’t think we were anywhere near good enough. I might get caned for saying that but it’s no good pretending. I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t something needing doing.
“We’re playing Leicester tomorrow and they’ve thrown about £17m at it. They’re not even in the play-offs. The expectations of both clubs are slightly different. Our expectations are because we have such a big fan-base. But when you’ve spent that sort of money, I think the expectation should be far greater. You’ve got to come up with the answers when you spend that sort of money.
“As much as he tried, Sven found out that the Championship’s a unique league. I’m sure Nigel will have his own squad next year. He’ll be a lot more prudent than Sven but they’ll be a more difficult side to play against next season, I’m sure of that.”
Meaningless or not, there are a couple of sub-plots to tomorrow’s match. Leicester’s squad will include striker Jermaine Beckford and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, both of whom served Leeds with varying levels of distinction in the past. Neither has played at Elland Road since declining to sign new contracts and moving on.
Warnock is also aware that defeat would mark Leeds’ 11th home loss of the league season, a record never seen at Elland Road before. Only once have United suffered 10 home defeats, during the 1946-47 campaign. Warnock is keen to avoid that dubious distinction but ready to swallow it if needs must.
Four losses to date have been on his watch, with the other six coming under former manager Simon Grayson and caretaker Neil Redfearn.
“There’s nothing I can do about it,” Warnock said. “If we get beat then I’ve got that record. I’m only really thinking about building a new team.
“At the end of the season you finish where you deserve to be. You have bad luck here and good luck there but you finish where you should finish. We haven’t been good enough and the manner of some of our defeats has upset me.
“But you don’t want unwanted records. It would be a joint-record between me and the other managers who’ve been in charge, though. I wouldn’t be on my own! But we don’t want that.”
Yesterday marked a notable anniversary for Leeds, exactly 20 years since the club won the Division One title after beating Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Warnock was aware of the date and saw present-day significance in it, realising that two decades have passed since the club’s supporters saw a trophy brought to Elland Road, a drought of lengthy proportions.
“This is my one opportunity to put out a team that a new generation of Leeds United fans can enjoy watching,” he said. “We’re on the anniversary of 20 years since the club won Division One and the youngsters of today haven’t seen a lot of that. My intention in my period at the club is to build a side that the young generation can be proud of.
“We all know the history of the club and ex-players are around the place all the time, to remind you of the tradition. The challenge for me is to build a team with the right type of signings so kids come to the ground excited and we give them a good run for my money. That’s what I’m looking at.”
Neil Warnock has been willing this season to end since the Ides of March or thereabouts. His wish will be granted when Leeds United sign off with a dead rubber against Leicester City.
United’s boss realised some time ago that a Championship miracle was beyond his club, and he saw no harm in voicing that opinion. “Roll on next season,” said Warnock repeatedly, even while mathematical calculations had Leeds in contention for a play-off position.
Certain supporters took umbrage with that, writing to Warnock to complain about what they saw as a premature surrender.
“I must admit I’ve had a few letters about my comments,” he said. “They were asking for their money back for this year. One guy wanted 50 quid back because he’d lost a bet with a mate at Burnley. It’s all my fault that we didn’t finish above them.
“But I’ve got to stand for that. I’m relieved it’s almost over and I don’t think it could have been much better. It’s time to move on. Long-term I had to plan for next season.”
Next season. The focus of Warnock’s attention for several weeks and evermore so with the last of 46 league games upon him.
Tomorrow’s match against Leicester is the essence of a meaningless clash, contested by two clubs who are finding no consolation in their mid-table positions. United, Warnock admits, have fallen short of the expectancy of their crowd. Leicester, in contrast, have struggled to capitalise on the millions of pounds invested by their owners, initially in support of former manager Sven Goran Eriksson. The experiment with Eriksson ended in abject failure.
Warnock watched Leicester lose to West Ham United on Monday night and wondered why Nigel Pearson’s squad are so far down the table, behind nine other clubs. “I can’t understand why West Ham and Leicester aren’t number one and number two,” he said. “They ought to be.”
As for his own squad, Warnock says they are where they deserved to be. For brief moments under him – specifically after victories at Middlesbrough and Millwall – sixth place appeared to be attainable but Leeds and Leicester are proof of the adage that leopards don’t change spots; that teams as inconsistent as they have been are unlikely to find a sudden vein of form at the height of the run-in.
“If we’d had anything about us we could have got into the play-offs,” Warnock said. “But that shows you the level of the Championship.
“We’d have been smudging the picture because I don’t think we were anywhere near good enough. I might get caned for saying that but it’s no good pretending. I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t something needing doing.
“We’re playing Leicester tomorrow and they’ve thrown about £17m at it. They’re not even in the play-offs. The expectations of both clubs are slightly different. Our expectations are because we have such a big fan-base. But when you’ve spent that sort of money, I think the expectation should be far greater. You’ve got to come up with the answers when you spend that sort of money.
“As much as he tried, Sven found out that the Championship’s a unique league. I’m sure Nigel will have his own squad next year. He’ll be a lot more prudent than Sven but they’ll be a more difficult side to play against next season, I’m sure of that.”
Meaningless or not, there are a couple of sub-plots to tomorrow’s match. Leicester’s squad will include striker Jermaine Beckford and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, both of whom served Leeds with varying levels of distinction in the past. Neither has played at Elland Road since declining to sign new contracts and moving on.
Warnock is also aware that defeat would mark Leeds’ 11th home loss of the league season, a record never seen at Elland Road before. Only once have United suffered 10 home defeats, during the 1946-47 campaign. Warnock is keen to avoid that dubious distinction but ready to swallow it if needs must.
Four losses to date have been on his watch, with the other six coming under former manager Simon Grayson and caretaker Neil Redfearn.
“There’s nothing I can do about it,” Warnock said. “If we get beat then I’ve got that record. I’m only really thinking about building a new team.
“At the end of the season you finish where you deserve to be. You have bad luck here and good luck there but you finish where you should finish. We haven’t been good enough and the manner of some of our defeats has upset me.
“But you don’t want unwanted records. It would be a joint-record between me and the other managers who’ve been in charge, though. I wouldn’t be on my own! But we don’t want that.”
Yesterday marked a notable anniversary for Leeds, exactly 20 years since the club won the Division One title after beating Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Warnock was aware of the date and saw present-day significance in it, realising that two decades have passed since the club’s supporters saw a trophy brought to Elland Road, a drought of lengthy proportions.
“This is my one opportunity to put out a team that a new generation of Leeds United fans can enjoy watching,” he said. “We’re on the anniversary of 20 years since the club won Division One and the youngsters of today haven’t seen a lot of that. My intention in my period at the club is to build a side that the young generation can be proud of.
“We all know the history of the club and ex-players are around the place all the time, to remind you of the tradition. The challenge for me is to build a team with the right type of signings so kids come to the ground excited and we give them a good run for my money. That’s what I’m looking at.”
