Evans strike is a sharp reminder of life outside top flight for Warnock
When Neil Warnock described this Cardiff team as the best of the many Championship sides he has managed, it is safe to say this was not what he was expecting. The 70-year-old has said this will be his last season in management but, as he pursues a happy ending to a four-decade odyssey, this was an unhappy beginning to his valedictory year.
Cardiff ’s final Premier League game brought the glamour of victory at Manchester United. Their return to the Football League was only 16 miles from Old Trafford but felt a world away and proved altogether tougher.
“Welcome to the Championship,” Warnock said. He needs few reality checks on its complexities but Wigan, who finished 18th last season and were tipped for relegation in some quarters, provided them anyway, scoring three goals in an inspired second-half display. “Sometimes as a manager you think you are a bit fortunate when you come out on the right side,” said Wigan’s Paul Cook. He should harbour no such feelings of guilt. Wigan fully merited victory.
A wonderful afternoon for them was a chastening Cardiff bow for Joe Day. The substitute goalkeeper, who excelled in Newport’s FA Cup run, replaced injured Neil Etheridge and was beaten three times before he saved a shot. Cardiff, who had shown all the hallmarks of Warnock teams in the first half – resilient, redoubtable, uncompromising and at times unpopular – looked more ragged as they lost to a side who coupled a more ambitious style with a late rearguard action.
Wigan’s display amounted to a show of both skill and spirit. They responded to squandering a penalty by scoring three goals in 16 minutes. Josh Windass