I’ve not lost faith of new owners - Warnock
By Phil Hay
Neil Warnock is confident that he retains the support of Leeds United’s owners following positive discussions in the wake of the club’s damaging loss to Barnsley last weekend.
Warnock said “supportive” conversations had taken place with representatives of GFH Capital, the Dubai-based firm which bought Leeds last month, after supporters called for the manager’s sacking towards the end of a fractious game at Oakwell.
The 63-year-old faced down an angry reaction to United’s performance and saw his squad restore a degree of calm with a 2-1 FA Cup victory at Birmingham City on Tuesday night, their first away success since December 1.
Warnock’s mind turned quickly to a “big game” against Bristol City this weekend, with Leeds five points adrift of the Championship’s play-off positions and their season in the balance. But phone calls with United’s new owners after the defeat at Barnsley reassured him that he had not lost the backing of the board.
Warnock revealed that GFH Capital contacted him to offer “words of encouragement” last Saturday and spoke with him again prior to Tuesday’s third-round replay at St Andrew’s, reiterating the firm’s confidence in him.
GFH Capital took control of Leeds on December 21, purchasing a 100 per cent stake from club chairman Ken Bates and the company’s deputy chief executive, David Haigh, admitted at the time that keeping Warnock as manager was a fundamental part of the takeover negotiated with Bates.
Warnock said: “Everyone’s pulling together and I spoke to the new owners before the game on Tuesday. We’re all pulling in the right direction.
“We just need more results and one or two more bodies in.
“I don’t think I should say too much and if I said the owners had given me the vote of confidence then that would be the end of it. But we did have a laugh about that.
“They’ve been very supportive and they were very supportive on Saturday night.
“They didn’t have to do it but they spoke to me on Saturday and gave me words of encouragement. They’ll be pleased with the result (at Birmingham).”
Leeds recovered from a goal down on Tuesday to settle a tight third-round replay through second half efforts from Ross McCormack and El-Hadji Diouf and St Andrew’s saw none of the aggressive vitriol thrown at Warnock and his players after their loss to Barnsley.
Warnock took issue with ironic chants about Michael Brown and Luke Varney during Tuesday night’s tie – the latter faced taunts of “Varney for England” – but insisted again that he had no argument with the angry response to United’s display at Oakwell “All fans are fickle at every club,” Warnock said, “but if I saw the way we played on Saturday and I’d paid for that, I’d have slaughtered the team and the manager. You can’t fault the supporters for that and it hasn’t happened to me very often in my career.
“I’m not sure I liked one or two fans having a go at Michael Brown and Luke Varney. That’s football but it disappoints me. You should get behind the team if they’re playing well.
“But the fans in general are fantastic and I haven’t had a problem with them from day one.
“The majority of them know what a difficult job I’ve had here. All I can do is my best. You either like me or loathe me and that’s true of managers at most clubs around the country but the majority of Leeds fans are fantastic. They know what I’m doing and they support me.
“I’m in the game for nights like Tuesday. It doesn’t get any better than that, when you think about the pressure we were under and the way we played on Saturday.
“I love proving people wrong when you’ve been kicked in the teeth. It’s much easier to lie down.”
For the second time in eight days, Leeds will meet the club at the bottom of the Championship on Saturday and another team who recently underwent a change of management.
Bristol City sacked Derek McInnes after their heavy defeat to Leicester City last weekend and swiftly named Sean O’Driscoll as his replacement. Leeds met one of O’Driscoll’s teams as recently as Boxing Day, losing 4-1 to Nottingham Forest in the hours before O’Driscoll’s bizarre dismissal from the City Ground.
Warnock was coy about the likelihood of further new signings at Elland Road before the game against City, insisting that the transfer window was a seller’s market.
He has agreed permanent deals with Michael Tonge and Ryan Hall and short-term loans with Alan Tate and Ross Barkley since the start of the month but remains hopeful of further arrivals before the window closes.
“We’ve been asked to give targets and we’ve given our targets,” Warnock said. “We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Shaun Harvey’s in charge of that side of things so we’ll see over the next couple of weeks who we bring in. We’re trying.
“There’s nobody available and nobody wants to sell anybody, but you have to tempt them with players, cash or whatever – usually cash.”
Warnock’s search for new players is taking place against the backdrop of persistent doubt about the future of Luciano Becchio, United’s leading scorer.
Becchio complained of sickness on Monday afternoon and was left out of Tuesday’s replay at Birmingham on the advice of the club’s doctor but Warnock faced further questions about his 19-goal forward, having voiced concerns about the influence of agents on Becchio immediately after United’s loss at Barnsley.
Wigan Athletic and Hull City are two of the clubs who are believed to have taken an interest in him.
Warnock, who claimed that Leeds were yet to receive an approach for the 29-year-old, said: “I talked to him on Monday but the thing is, all through the transfer window you’re going to get agents doing what they do and not just with Luciano. That’s how it is. It’s horrible for managers.”
Asked if Becchio wanted to stay at Elland Road, Warnock said: “We’ll see. I can’t tell you anything other than what I know. I’ve spoken to the owners about it and in due course we’ll probably speak about it again.”