Post by QPR Report on Mar 9, 2010 13:58:53 GMT
The Guardian Sports Blog/Louise Taylor
Blog home In praise of Neil Warnock: the Championship's Mr SmoothQPR's gain in signing one of the division's best managers is very much Crystal Palace's loss
Thought for the week
The Championship is lucky to have Neil Warnock
A few years ago I interviewed Neil Warnock at Sheffield United and, when the photographer complimented him on his near perfect skin, Warnock happily regaled us with details of a thorough moisturising routine. After experimenting with his wife's face creams he had become a fan of, if memory serves me right, Elizabeth Arden and was reaping the benefits.
It was an illuminating little chat that not only highlighted the importance of moisturising for anyone frequently working outdoors but revealed a wonderful lack of inhibition or self consciousness on Warnock's part. It is hard to imagine discussing male grooming and face creams of choice with too many leading managers but such types often lack the sort of left-field imagination the one-time chiropodist who led Scarborough into the Football League possesses in spades.
Make no mistake, Warnock, for all his ability to rub people up the wrong way, is a top manager. Crystal Palace's loss will surely be QPR's gain – although it will be interesting to see how the Loftus Road team's style evolves in the coming months. Under Jim Magilton at the start of the season QPR were playing some gloriously purist stuff but increased pragmatism is likely to now be on the agenda.
Whatever the tactics QPR's win percentage will surely increase – providing, of course, Warnock is given time to do his thing. Alarmingly he is the 12th manager, although some have been caretakers, to take charge in this corner of west London since John Gregory's dismissal in October 2007.
For the moment, at least, Warnock is very much on his honeymoon – which got off to the perfect start courtesy of Saturday's 3-1 home win against promotion chasing West Bromwich – and could not be happier if he were driving his beloved tractor down a Cornish country lane.
At 61 he is unlikely to devote the next decade to QPR but that did not stop the team's defender Kaspars Gorkss declaring: "I'd love to see Neil Warnock stay here for the next 20 years. He's very enthusiastic and a good motivator That helped us, that's what we've been lacking, along with consistency. The Gaffer has a long-term contract and it means we can adapt to his ideas and work with him. Hopefully he will bring us some stability."
And honesty too. After Saturday's win Warnock had the candour to confess he had been close to making a major gaffe before the first whistle blew. Indeed he was forced to alter his starting XI at the last minute after striker Marcus Bent, borrowed from Birmingham, spotted that QPR's squad contained more than the permitted five loanees. "Poor old Marcus said to me 'you've already got five in there, so you can't have me on the bench,'" said Warnock.
His return, on Saturday, to Bramall Lane should be a cracker…
www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/09/praise-neil-warnock-championship-smooth
Blog home In praise of Neil Warnock: the Championship's Mr SmoothQPR's gain in signing one of the division's best managers is very much Crystal Palace's loss
Thought for the week
The Championship is lucky to have Neil Warnock
A few years ago I interviewed Neil Warnock at Sheffield United and, when the photographer complimented him on his near perfect skin, Warnock happily regaled us with details of a thorough moisturising routine. After experimenting with his wife's face creams he had become a fan of, if memory serves me right, Elizabeth Arden and was reaping the benefits.
It was an illuminating little chat that not only highlighted the importance of moisturising for anyone frequently working outdoors but revealed a wonderful lack of inhibition or self consciousness on Warnock's part. It is hard to imagine discussing male grooming and face creams of choice with too many leading managers but such types often lack the sort of left-field imagination the one-time chiropodist who led Scarborough into the Football League possesses in spades.
Make no mistake, Warnock, for all his ability to rub people up the wrong way, is a top manager. Crystal Palace's loss will surely be QPR's gain – although it will be interesting to see how the Loftus Road team's style evolves in the coming months. Under Jim Magilton at the start of the season QPR were playing some gloriously purist stuff but increased pragmatism is likely to now be on the agenda.
Whatever the tactics QPR's win percentage will surely increase – providing, of course, Warnock is given time to do his thing. Alarmingly he is the 12th manager, although some have been caretakers, to take charge in this corner of west London since John Gregory's dismissal in October 2007.
For the moment, at least, Warnock is very much on his honeymoon – which got off to the perfect start courtesy of Saturday's 3-1 home win against promotion chasing West Bromwich – and could not be happier if he were driving his beloved tractor down a Cornish country lane.
At 61 he is unlikely to devote the next decade to QPR but that did not stop the team's defender Kaspars Gorkss declaring: "I'd love to see Neil Warnock stay here for the next 20 years. He's very enthusiastic and a good motivator That helped us, that's what we've been lacking, along with consistency. The Gaffer has a long-term contract and it means we can adapt to his ideas and work with him. Hopefully he will bring us some stability."
And honesty too. After Saturday's win Warnock had the candour to confess he had been close to making a major gaffe before the first whistle blew. Indeed he was forced to alter his starting XI at the last minute after striker Marcus Bent, borrowed from Birmingham, spotted that QPR's squad contained more than the permitted five loanees. "Poor old Marcus said to me 'you've already got five in there, so you can't have me on the bench,'" said Warnock.
His return, on Saturday, to Bramall Lane should be a cracker…
www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/09/praise-neil-warnock-championship-smooth
