SWANS & BLUEBIRDS WEEKEND ACTION
NEIL Warnock hailed Leeds United as the biggest club he’s managed ahead of Cardiff City’s clash against their fierce rivals today.
The veteran boss returns to his old Elland Road stamping ground for a crucial contest in the play-off scrap and is ready for the fanatical Leeds supporters.
He looked back on his time in West Yorkshire with plenty of fondness, despite lasting a little more than a year a Leeds.
“They’re not bad at Elland Road, they know when I was there we had a decent team and we were only a couple of players short (of promotion),” he said.
“It’s a fabulous club and biggest club I’ve been at by a mile, no disrespect to Cardiff or any of my other clubs.
“It’s just a massive club, the fans are good, and all round the area for 20 miles, there’s nothing but Leeds United – they’re all Leeds United mad – and there’d be full houses every week if they got back to the Premier League.
“I had a great time living there, met some lovely people but it wasn’t meant to be. The majority of fans there don’t give me too much stick because I kept the club stable for a while when I was there.
“They’re a good passing side and they have some really good players, I like going back up to Yorkshire.”
After a busy transfer deadline day during which Cardiff signed two players and let three leave, Warnock called the departing Lee Tomlin the most gifted player in his squad — though admitted the mercurial playmaker wasn’t fit enough to play a regular role in Cardiff’s promotion run-in.
The club swapped Tomlin for Jamie Ward in a deadline day loan exchange with Nottingham Forest, with Warnock preferring the Northern Irishman’s versatility and work ethic.
He revealed Tomlin, who now reunites with former Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka at the City Ground, didn’t quite fit in Warnock’s Bluebirds system. Ward arrives as a replacement for his namesake Danny, who is injured for the rest of the season. The 31-year-old could feature against Leeds this afternoon.
“I just can’t see Tomlin getting in my team at the minute and for me, he’s got to get fit,” said Warnock at his Friday press conference.
“We tried with our trainers but we haven’t managed to get him to that level and there’s not much more we can do. It’s an opportunity for him to get some games and Karanka liked him when he was at Middlesbrough. “I’ve always loved Jamie Ward. “He’s susceptible to injuries, but with 18 games to go he’s fully fit and we’ve got to try and make sure – like Junior (Hoilett) – you give him a programme to keep him fit.
“Fully fit, Jamie Ward gives us something in that last half-hour that we haven’t got really. He can play both sides, in the hole, all over the show. I love his attitude and I think there’s a goal in him.”
Warnock admitted he expects Tomlin to thrive in a new-look Forest team under Karanka.
“They’ve signed Jack Colback and Ben Watson,” he added.
“In front of them two, I think Tomlin will have more scope. They are basically anchor players. I couldn’t see Tomlin getting in our team at the moment.
“He has the most ability in our club, I take my hat off to that, but I’ve got to think about the next 18 games, nothing further than that.”
Like Tomlin, Omar Bogle also departed on deadline day.
Peterborough United snapped up the forward on a loan deal, with Warnock admitting Bogle has a point to prove with the League One promotion chasers after an up-and-down spell in South Wales.
Bogle scored three goals and also picked up a red card during his first season with Cardiff.
“I think he’s got to go and play,” added Warnock.
“The red card was a disappointment to me ,but other things as well. It’s an opportunity for him to go in the shop window and get some goals now.”
The boss also admitted he doesn’t like deadline day, with Cardiff conducting a number of ‘surprise’ deals in a hectic final 24 hours of transfer business. “It gets worse every year,” he said. “Every year I say it to myself, ‘I’ll never let happen again’. But opportunities come up you don’t think about. Some of the deals I had no intention of doing coming into deadline day. You have to weigh it all up and if it’s beneficial for the club you’ve got to go ahead with it.
“The Tomlin swap deal came as a surprise, the Traore deal came as a surprise, the Camp deal came as a surprise, the Bogle deal came as a surprise… How many more is there?
“Madine came as a bit of a surprise as well because I never thought we’d be able to agree a deal with Bolton for him. I’m not a big fan of deadline day.”