WE’RE GOING UP! BLUEBIRDS SOUVENIR SPECIAL WARNOCK PROVES ONE OF THEM ALL PLOTTING
NEIL WARNOCK has dubbed Cardiff City’s promotion ‘my greatest achievement in football’ and warned his Bluebirds are ready to ruffle a few feathers in the Premier League.
At the age of 69, Cardiff’s manager stands alone in the record books after clinching an eighth promotion.
Warnock’s stunning record, which sees him move clear of Graham Taylor, Dave Bassett and Jim Smith, reads as follows:
Promotion 1: Warnock leads Scarborough into the Football League for the first time in 1986-87
Promotion 2: Takes Notts County up from the old Third Division via the play-offs in 1989-90
Promotion 3: Does the same the following year to take Notts County from the old Second Division into the top flight
Promotion 4: Triumphs in the 1994-95 Second Division play-offs again, this time with Huddersfield
Promotion 5: Takes Plymouth up from Division Three via the play-offs in 1995-96
Promotion 6: In 2005-06 he leads Sheffield United to the Premier League
Promotion 7: In 201011, takes QPR to the title with a typical Warnock defensive clean sheets.
Promotion 8: Takes Cardiff City into the top flight.
“This is the best one yet, the finest achievement of my career by a country mile,” said Warnock.
“I’ve had some great promotions and some great squads, but because of the circumstances when I came here, second from bottom and building it back up, this season I feel really proud with what w e ’ v e done. record of 25 “I can’t put it into words because at my age, I won’t get many chances. “Everyone has been fabulous buying into what I asked for from day one. “It culminated in the Reading game... and I have never heard fans cheer as loudly throughout a game as that. “The closest I could come to that was the Wales v Australia rugby game I went to. But I think it was even louder than that.” As he looked ahead to the Premier League, Warnock said: “I know we’re not easy on the eye. We’re going to get one or two things thrown at us next season. “But hey ho, it’s better than playing in the Championship. “I’m really proud to have built a team capable of ruffling a few feathers when I look at the teams below us in the Championship with their budgets. “It will be same in the Premier League. We’ll go in there, give it a right old go and ruffle a few feathers again. “That’s the only thing we can do. It’s not rocket science when you take that top six out of the Premier League. “We’ll be odds-on favourites to be relegated, but we were 33/1 to get promoted this season and we did that.
“So, it’s lovely to prove the bookies wrong. You’re going to enjoy it at my age.
“You can’t help but enjoy it. I don’t like losing four or five games on the trot and the experts tell me where I went wrong.
“But if it goes pear-shaped I will just leave! So, nothing to worry about really.
“I’m really looking forward to it. We can’t worry about it too much. We’ll have to buy five or six players to supplement the squad. But I think we can enjoy the challenge. It’s good to have different styles.
“You get what you see with us and that is 100 per cent commitment. We’ve got some ability, people don’t give enough credit at times. But we won’t be silly.
“I’m not going to destroy what we’ve already built up.”
Using Burnley as a a model for Cardiff to follow, Warnock said: “The job Sean Dyche has done is quite remarkable really.
“But I don’t think everybody remembers when they got promoted to the Premier League, they got relegated in the first year.
“The board stuck by him and they’ve reaped the rewards for that.
“But I think we’re quite capable of staying up.
“The greatest achievement is getting this group of players promoted, without a shadow of a doubt.”
“My advice to the players will be don’t get in awe of the opposition when you see the fixtures.
“You take the top six out, and I would think anybody can beat anybody on their day. “They will say we can’t use our style – whatever that is – in the Premier League, but we’ve got there.
“It’s just fabulous. And we will use it.”