Warnock furious with ‘crook’ claim

CARDIFF boss Neil Warnock reacted angrily last night after MPs heard claims he was a crook who made players pay him for a place in the team. Damian Collins, interim chairman of the Culture Media and Sport Committee, used parliamentary privilege to repeat the incendiary allegations made by Crystal Palace midfielder Jason Puncheon in 2014. Puncheon posted the claims on Twitter following criticism of him by Warnock on a radio show. He said: ‘What I won’t accept is an opinion from a man who’s crooked and ruining the game — Neil Warnock, the man who signs players, gives them extra wages and appearance bonuses to make sure they pay him to get in the team or on the bench. The fact he could even talk about training is shocking, he was never there.’ Collins used the Puncheon incident while questioning FA chairman Greg Clarke over whether the governing body had a ‘lack of curiosity’ about accusations of wrongdoing and whether Puncheon’s claims had ever been properly probed. Warnock said in a statement: ‘These allegations are completely and utterly false. The FA Commission considered all of the evidence in detail in 2014 and found that the allegations which were published about me were unfounded. Any suggestion the FA failed to investigate this matter is simply untrue. ‘In fact, Mr Puncheon apologised to me and removed the allegations from his Twitter account. The FA fined him £15,000 and he was warned as to his future conduct. ‘I am disappointed these allegations have been repeated after Mr Puncheon’s apology and after the FA investigated fully. If anyone had asked me, I would have pointed them to the FA website where the facts are all easily accessible.’ Collins said afterwards: ‘If there has never been any investigation into it, it should be investigated.’