Warnock demands clear heads
NEIL WARNOCK has ordered his ‘winugly’ Bluebirds to make sure they keep things pretty, away from the battlefield. The Cardiff City manager is busy leading a squad of misfits, rejects and big bruisers to the promised land of the Premier League. And like most of Warnock’s seven previous promotion triumphs, the trick has been to turn a campaign into a crusade – to make odd-balls click, and outcasts feel loved. But the sort of gung-ho spirit he will again whip up to face Bristol City in today’s Severnside derby showdown MUST stay on the pitch. Warnock has issued an order for best behaviour following West Brom’s Spanish takeaway – and, in response to a tip-off given to him last Saturday from a Cardiff pub, that his players were out on the ale. Warnock said: “I brought up the West Brom thing with them. I said, ‘between now and the end of the season, there will be people just looking for stories. So don’t give them anything untoward, because we don’t need distractions’.
“When I was told about them drinking, I made my own enquiries and found out they were all together in the same place watching the boxing.
“It did bring a smile to my face, because it wasn’t reported to me like that.
“They had their wives with them. I’ve been to a few functions and they’re a great bunch of girls.
“I had a laugh with most of them. I said, ‘you’ve got to have married this lot because they’re footballers, surely? It can’t be for their looks.’”
Since January 1, Cardiff have not lost a league game and it has led to reports of a £10million bonus for Warnock and his squad if they do clinch promotion.
“You have to take that with a pinch of salt,” the veteran boss said.
“I also read that Leicester got £6.7m for winning the Premier League – but that’s inflation for you.
“Money doesn’t play a part at our level. In the Championship you don’t think about your bonus. You just think about points on the board.”
Key to that has been skipper Sean Morrison (below) – and Warnock recognises the value of a centre-back who has scored three goals in four games, as well as kept three clean sheets.
“Sean’s a good man to have in the trenches with you. To have a captain like that has been fantastic. Those types of players are few and far between. They don’t make them like that nowadays. Sometimes, they are not easy on the eye. But to a manager, they are priceless.
“It’s what Arsenal had under George Graham with Steve Bould. It’s why Steve Bruce signed John Terry. They sort things out and that’s how it used to be with successful teams.”