CASH NOT KING FOR WARNOCK
We’ll survive on great spirit
COUNTDOWN TO THE BIG KICK-OFF
Star man: Relegation odds: To play their way up the Premier League table. How will they do? The Cottagers’ boss plays a highrisk and high-reward brand of football. It succeeded in the Championship. It will be tough to replicate in this company. Far tougher.
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but, as he approaches his 70th birthday, the Yorkshire terroriser insists he will be different to the manager who went through agonies with both Sheffield United and QPR.
Warnock – who took the Bluebirds up last season against all the odds – insisted: “I’m going to enjoy it this time.
“Before, I don’t think I really had a chance, due to different things going on at both those clubs. It wasn’t enjoyable.
“Cardiff is much more stable and so I’m optimistic. You’ve got to be, at my age. You have to enjoy life and grasp opportunities and that’s what we’re going to do.”
But Warnock’s relaxed approach is not simply about lowering the blood pressure for a boss who will be junior only to Roy Hodgson in the top flight – and that by a matter of months.
He has also studied Burnley, Huddersfield, Brighton and Bournemouth and concluded that a happy, penny-watching camp is likelier to survive than a cash-splashing, divided one.
Five years ago, Cardiff came up and splurged owner Vincent Tan’s money on £11million Gary Medel, £8m Steven Caulker and £7.5m on striker Andreas Cornelius, who didn’t start a single game.
This time, Warnock has gone for Championship players and, although he paid £10m each for Bobby Reid and Josh Murphy, they are known quantities rather than gambles.
And Warnock added: “The players who come have to show the right spirit.
“They all know what we expect from them. That’s important because we know we are going to be up against it in a lot of the games, so it’s crucial that the dressing room is right.
“It’s what got us up to the Premier League in the first place.
“My kind of team is where if a player makes a mistake, then his mate gets him out of it.
“You watch players like Eden Hazard and you think, ‘How are we going to cope with that?’. You either have to hope he will be transferred – or be inspired and find the camaraderie.
“It’s going to be tough, but, outside of the top six clubs, any team can very often beat any other team.” Star man: Relegation odds: The ambitions will be higher, but the reality is that staying in the Premier League is a result for the Terriers. How will they do? The second season is always more difficult than the first, as far as the top flight is concerned. There’s a reason for that.