If you fight hard for the boss, he’ll always fight hard for you – Hoilett
JUNIOR Hoilett is only 27. For someone who was playing Premier League football in 2009, that’s young.
His career since has been a piecemeal affair, a three-part story: from a sparkling youngster who lost his way, to an experienced Championship footballer who now looks back to his best.
But it’s fair to say many doubted if the Canadian could ever regain his Blackburn Rovers form in a Cardiff City shirt.
When he signed for Cardiff more than a year ago, plenty were unconvinced. ‘Talented but inconsistent’, ‘past his best’, some groaned. Queens Park Rangers fans didn’t exactly riot when Hoilett departed the club in summer 2016 after running down his contract.
That Hoilett was a free agent when Neil Warnock signed him says a lot about the direction in which the winger’s career was headed before his move to the Welsh capital.
But all that has changed now. The influence of his former QPR mentor Warnock has been palpable and Hoilett’s more consistent form is again putting him in the ‘potential Premier League player’ bracket, eight years after he first burst onto the scene at Ewood Park.
He has four goals and five assists in 15 starts this season.
At times, he has seemed unplayable and is surely among the most talented players in the Championship. Anyone who watched his magical display in the 3-1 victory over Leeds would be convinced that the old Hoilett is back.
Far from being a risky signing, he has become a mainstay for Cardiff. His place in the team is never subject to debate nowadays.
His left-wing wizardry is an essential component in Warnock’s counter-attacking gameplan.
And it’s no surprise that the winger credits Warnock with his resurgence.
“I love working under Neil Warnock, so it was a no-brainer to come here to Cardiff,” he said last year when the first flickers of a rejuvenated Hoilett were beginning to simmer.
“It’s great when you have a manager that believes in you and makes you settle in easy in a new environment.
“It’s good for me to know that the manager is behind me, to give me confidence.”
Hoilett, who became Warnock’s first Bluebirds signing when he followed the Yorkshireman to the Cardiff City Stadium just 48 hours after he was appointed as Paul Trollope’s successor, has since revealed that Warnock had already earmarked a reunion between the pair months before either of them knew they were coming to Cardiff.
The move then came about when Warnock rang Hoilett and told him to pack his bags for south Wales. The pair had only worked together during Warnock’s brief second spell at Loftus Road in 2015, but the Bluebirds boss had clearly seen enough in the 17-cap Canadian international during that period.
“He called me up, and when he did I was 100 per cent ready to go,” added Hoilett. “I’ve worked with him at QPR and he gave me the extra boost there as well.
“He brings a different atmosphere around the building, and he makes it clear what he wants.
“He makes it clear that if you fight for him he’ll fight for you. That’s what you need as a manager, to back your players and give everyone confidence to lift people around the building.”
The pair are now fighting in tandem to propel the Bluebirds towards promotion.
And on the basis of Hoilett’s performances this season, not to mention Warnock’s motivational masterclass, Cardiff fans are yet to see any evidence why that shouldn’t be possible.
Hoiilett has played in every league game this season, featuring in 49 of Warnock’s 51 matches in charge of Cardiff.
After a slow start last season in which he scored just twice, we’re now witnessing the very best of the 27-year-old.
His pace and trickery leave defenders for dead and he’s able to swap positions with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, or drift in-field to feed the striker, or have a shot himself from distance.
It’s no coincidence that Hoilett has both a Championship promotion and being a Premier League footballer on his CV. His ability matches almost anybody in the division and, at 27, he still has plenty more to offer.