How Neil Warnock Won Me Over: And Other Football Purists Alike

 How Neil Warnock Won Me Over:

And Other Football Purists Alike

"Woodgate has been sacked, I think Warnock is coming in until the end of the season. Its the right move but we have to look into a younger manager for next season to build a project"

This is what I said to my Dad over the phone on June 23rd 2020, following the latest disappointing defeat to Swansea. I was never a fan of Warnock, he seemed to be an enigma; the man who moaned week in week out, argued with officials like it was his favourite pastime or acting like a prime Liam Gallagher to the Sky cameras. He was fine at a distance, but I was certain I would never want him as manager of the club I loved; especially not within a season of Tony Pulis.

I couldn't complain about the appointment, he is an experienced manager; someone who'd been in this situation before. This situation being a relegation battle, something I never came to terms with until I saw the teamsheet against Swansea. "Thats a league one team", I thought. He assembled his trusted colleagues in Ronnie Jepson and the infamous Kevin Blackwell, and I saw pundits and rival fans alike saying "Well thats Boro safe". I was the same, I bought into this project; albeit a short term project. It was poetry in motion, an aging coach looking for one last swansong. I was half expecting the trio to belt out 'Let it be' by The Beatles on the roof of Rockliffe Hall. It wasn't going to be pretty, but he'd ensure the future of Middlesbrough Football Club as a Championship side the following term.

And it wasn't pretty, but we picked up the points we needed. Job Done. Warnock could go back to Cornwall and enjoy retirement with Sharon, Blackwell could finish his kitchen, Jepson could continue doing whatever Jepson did. And I could go back to making threads on Twitter detailing why I think Lee Carsley should be the next Boro manager. After all, I was sick of Boro being labelled as the longball team in the division and I wanted Teesside to be a football utopia where we'd play neat passes from the edge of our box; work the triangles and be the top scorers of the division. However it was not long until Neil was confirmed to take us on for the 20/21 Season. I thought this to be a poor decision, why give a manager a 1 year deal when we are crying out for stability? What if the next manager doesn't fancy the players Warnock brings in? We'll be back to square one. The Managerial Merry-Go-Round would continue, bouncing between the wealth of experience and promising youth more times than a mid-90s Playbunny.

 But this season seemed different, Neil was saying everything right in his pressers; hitting all the right notes. I'd heard it all before under Pulis, but Warnock seemed genuine. He is genuine. He didn't care about making excuses to the fans like Tony Pulis and he wasn't making any false promises like Jonathan Woodgate. This is almost definitely his final job in management and he knew it. 

"Alright Son"

That soothing Yorkshire accent was all over the socials. A clip of Warnock enjoying a bike ride in his training kit being greeted by a car full of the Boro faithful. Gone are the days of 'Monk-Bot'. I realise he is here in the North East for the same reason we are fans of the sport. For the love of the game. Why else would you up roots and move from the South for the 'smoke and satanic mills' of Middlesbrough at the ripe age of 72. That was half the job done, I began to like Warnock. Not as a tactician, but as a person. He understood what other managers claimed to understand.

We began the season with a 5-3-2 formation, a formation which seemed to work in the preliminary stages of the league; but a formation I was never fond of. It became overly reliant on the wingbacks pushing forward and being the focal point of our attack. However it seemed too easy for the opposition wingers to pin us back in our own half, neutralising any attacking threat we had. That being said, we still started the season well; going a number of games unbeaten albeit drawing a lot of them. This also highlighted to me the coach and motivator in Warnock. The meteoric rise in the development of McNair, Fry, Dijksteel and Bola to name a few. This was a team playing with belief, yes the formation wasn't the best in my opinion, but Neil soon changed it up and the rest is history. 

We started playing a 4-1-4-1 formation, yes we do play a long ball out the back much like we did under Pulis. But we aren't reliant on our centreforward winning the ball, we just need him to contest the ball. Making sure the opposition defender cannot bring the ball down and instead have them head it back toward the centre circle. Thats where I began to love Warnock as a tactician, in the moment we lump the ball forward, we press. Making sure we are first onto the second ball, in the faces of the opposition. It is a joy to watch, a far cry from my expectations during preseason. As fans, we want players to appear to want to work hard for not just themselves, but the team, the club. That was it, Warnock completely won me over. Following the long term contract renewals of McNair, Dijksteel and Bola; he is putting together a good spine in the team. Doing something the last 4 official managers have failed to do, leaving the club in a better position than they left it in.

On June 23rd 2020, I said to my Dad that I wanted someone young to build a project and I got that. I didn't get the fresh faced 40yr old on a 5 year contract my fantasies where expecting, but a 72yr old on a 1 year contract with a massive fire in his belly. Someone who gets the same thrills and excitement from the game as he did when he first coached in Seaton Carew. I will be upset when Warnock leaves, whenever he may decide to, which is something I never thought I'd admit to. Whomever is his successor has some big shoes to fill.