I’m a big fan, admits rival Johnson
WHILE Neil Warnock appears to relish being the pantomime villain when Bristol City play Cardiff City and once even explained that he would like a minute’s booing from Robins fans when he passes on, Lee Johnson is quite cordial with his opposite number.
Speaking at the pre-Severnside derby press conference, head coach Johnson admitted he was a big fan of tomorrow’s opposite number.
“Unpopular opinion: I quite like Neil Warnock,” said Johnson with a laugh on Thursday.
“First of all I do respect the jobs that he’s done across his career. Over the last couple of years I’ve definitely got to know him better, obviously from being a Championship manager and talking to him after games, meeting him at reserve games – discussing various things – and various situations like that.
“Look, for a coach like myself, if you take the rivalry aside from the Severnside Derby then it’s interesting to pick the brains from any successful manager.
“And one thing that Neil Warnock has been at Championship level is successful.
Given the fact that we’ve got three ex-players of ours playing from Cardiff – Aden Flint, Marlon Pack and Lee Tomlin – there’s common ground there and common connection.
“It’ll be interesting. It’s obviously not about me and Neil Warnock but the fans having a good day and the team’s performance and the performance of the individuals and us going to get a result at a place that’s a difficult place to go and get a result,” said the Bristol City head coach of Warnock, who has eight promotions under his belt.