Managers need a sense of humour – Warnock
NEIL Warnock feels keeping a sense of humour on the training pitch will be key as teams battle it out for promotion from the Sky Bet Championship.
Just six points separate the topthree sides heading into this weekend’s fixtures.
Warnock, who is appearing as a pundit on the EFL highlights show on Quest this evening (9pm), holds the record for the most promotions in English football with eight.
The 71-year-old left his last job at Cardiff during November 2019, having previously guided the Welsh club into the Premier League.
Warnock believes channelling positive focus is key when the stakes are so high over the end-of-season runin.
“I think Leeds, West Brom and Fulham will be fighting it out for those top two places, but then after that, they are all having ‘iffy’ times really. The pressure must be getting to everybody now,” Warnock told the PA news agency.
“Different managers have different ways of dealing with it. I think humour is a big thing around the training ground.
“If you get too intense, the pressure gets to the players, so you try to do the best you can to keep it off the players.”
Warnock added: “The Championship is such a tight league this year and now heading into the last 10 games, anybody near the bottom can beat the top teams.
“The teams are fighting like nothing on Earth to get results – at both ends.”
Despite making the most of his time out of the game, Warnock admits he does miss the challenge of management, if not the added baggage.
“When you are involved, I don’t suppose you notice how much the stresses of the job take over really, because it is all-consuming over 24 hours a day,” he said.
Warnock has been linked with a return to the dugout at several clubs the latest being Ipswich, who have seen their League One promotion bid stutter under Paul Lambert.
The 71-year-old, though, is not about to rush into anything, but does have an eye on a personal management milestone.
“I have been linked with that many clubs since I left (Cardiff) - it started off in Scotland, at Hearts and Hibs, then with Bradford and Blackpool, Middlesbrough and Ipswich. I have read everywhere what I have been offered,” Warnock said.
“But I am not in a rush. I had such a great club at Cardiff, that I would not want to do anything just for the sake of it.”