' NEIL WARNOCKS HONESTY '
Mon Mar 13, 2017 8:56 am
' NEIL WARNOCKS HONESTY '
By Chris Wathan
Monday 13th March 2017
The draw with Birmingham showed Bluebirds fans exactly why Warnock's honesty about his players is needed ahead of next season
If there was one word that crops up regularly when Cardiff City's players talk about their manager, it is honesty.
It's sometimes said with a smile, one that gives away the fact that the Bluebirds boss is rarely afraid to call it as he sees it, be it good or bad.
It is such honesty that supporters have appreciated since Neil Warnock's arrival, seeing it come out in the side's performances since October and buying into what's happening at what feels like a rejuvenated club.
The 67-year-old was honest about his stance about staying on in South Wales – “I didn't think I'd be doing another season when I first came here, just that I'd be able to help the club move up the table and avoid the drop this time around,” he wrote in his programme notes this weekend – and honest about what it would require from the club's hierarchy to sign a new contract.
The manner of the manager has seen the club use him to launch season ticket sales, and in turn deals for the Birmingham game which brought a 20,000-plus crowd for effectively a meaningless match.
In all truth, Warnock wouldn't be shy in admitting this was hardly a contest to capture the imagination of the floating fan, the stay-away supporter who dropped by to see what the fuss was about; it was a game minus blood and thunder and open excitement, mainly because of the set-up of the point-snatching opponents.
But that allowed an honest appraisal of the team available to Warnock, which paves the way for some home-truths from the manager ahead of the key decisions in the coming weeks about who he can afford to keep on board for that crack at promotion he's got everyone excited about.
Warnock has been loathe to criticise too much in these three games in a row where points have been lost in the last ten minutes of matches, the last two seeing wins spurned in the final moments, this one when Lukas Jutkiewicz scrambled home with 89 minutes on the clock.
“It's pretty much the same group of players,” he has repeated, gently reminding that there have not been too many additions to the team he took over that were in the bottom three (though there was four Warnock signings who started here). It's as if the veteran has acknowledged that it's asking too much to ask any more of his current squad to be at the level he and the 20,000 would like them to be.
And so it will come the time for honesty as he looks at who can stay and who can go.
Having been assured his transfer fee budget, Warnock will now meet with club finance chiefs to thrash out a wage budget, already seemingly knowing who he wants this summer and the weekly packet they will demand. The basic sums will then see how much he has to trim to allow it all to happen.
It means that there is a truthfulness to Warnock when he says that he has players on trial for these final nine games of the Championship campaign that will end somewhere in midtable regardless.
Players have to be prepared for that and be prepared that there will be no sugar-coating of things. Take Craig Noone, for example. The winger was praised to the hilt for his return to form, but has quickly lost his place and, in losing his man in midweek when Blackburn pounced, has seemingly lost a little of his manager's confidence. As Cardiff struggled to find an extra zip to their game here against a Birmingham side not punished while the hosts were on top before and after Joe Ralls' penalty, he was kept on the bench. Undoubtedly talented, but honestly safe from a sale? No-one can be sure.
Anthony Pilkington was brought into the side, in arguably his best position as among a front three as Warnock tinkered to counter Birmingham's wing-back system, and was clearly eager to impress.
Yet he struggled to really show consistent quality, and you begin to wonder where he would fit and if anyone else – to paraphrase Warnock – would be better value.
Then there is Peter Whittingham, a class act but out of contract, out of the side and in all likelihood facing a pay cut and no promises of starts to stay. Honesty and romanticism don't always mix.
Rickie Lambert, with still one year left on the contract signed upon his high-profile arrival, is running out of time as he continues to recover from injury; he has made just seven starts in Warnock's 26-game tenure.
There are others, plenty of others, with Warnock clearly keen on having options within his budget and an interchangeable squad. The effort and honesty Warnock demands means that no player can expect to stay at high levels for too long a stretch and so he has to be able to turn to more than an XI.
It's not that Cardiff were poor here and the fact they are still able to reach 50 points without any worry about being dragged back in to relegation worry shouldn't be forgotten.
But now next season has come into focus, so has the need to improve and to learn to win games such as this, when teams come to aim for a point.
Warnock was adamant afterwards that such drops in levels because players can't give any more or are playing when they shouldn't – Aron Gunnarsson and even Kenneth Zohore here, tasting a bit of criticism after a spell of do-no-wrong praise – won't happen next year because of his summer strengthening.
Take a look at his last two promotions and it's obvious he wants to be able to call upon more than a trusted XI; 19 players started more than ten games when he took Sheffield United up in 2006, 20 players when he repeated the trick five years later with QPR.
Quite truthfully, there is not that number at Cardiff at the moment and players should be prepared for the need to show they can do more to fit into his wage calculations.
But then given Warnock's honesty, they no doubt already do.
By Chris Wathan
Monday 13th March 2017
The draw with Birmingham showed Bluebirds fans exactly why Warnock's honesty about his players is needed ahead of next season
If there was one word that crops up regularly when Cardiff City's players talk about their manager, it is honesty.
It's sometimes said with a smile, one that gives away the fact that the Bluebirds boss is rarely afraid to call it as he sees it, be it good or bad.
It is such honesty that supporters have appreciated since Neil Warnock's arrival, seeing it come out in the side's performances since October and buying into what's happening at what feels like a rejuvenated club.
The 67-year-old was honest about his stance about staying on in South Wales – “I didn't think I'd be doing another season when I first came here, just that I'd be able to help the club move up the table and avoid the drop this time around,” he wrote in his programme notes this weekend – and honest about what it would require from the club's hierarchy to sign a new contract.
The manner of the manager has seen the club use him to launch season ticket sales, and in turn deals for the Birmingham game which brought a 20,000-plus crowd for effectively a meaningless match.
In all truth, Warnock wouldn't be shy in admitting this was hardly a contest to capture the imagination of the floating fan, the stay-away supporter who dropped by to see what the fuss was about; it was a game minus blood and thunder and open excitement, mainly because of the set-up of the point-snatching opponents.
But that allowed an honest appraisal of the team available to Warnock, which paves the way for some home-truths from the manager ahead of the key decisions in the coming weeks about who he can afford to keep on board for that crack at promotion he's got everyone excited about.
Warnock has been loathe to criticise too much in these three games in a row where points have been lost in the last ten minutes of matches, the last two seeing wins spurned in the final moments, this one when Lukas Jutkiewicz scrambled home with 89 minutes on the clock.
“It's pretty much the same group of players,” he has repeated, gently reminding that there have not been too many additions to the team he took over that were in the bottom three (though there was four Warnock signings who started here). It's as if the veteran has acknowledged that it's asking too much to ask any more of his current squad to be at the level he and the 20,000 would like them to be.
And so it will come the time for honesty as he looks at who can stay and who can go.
Having been assured his transfer fee budget, Warnock will now meet with club finance chiefs to thrash out a wage budget, already seemingly knowing who he wants this summer and the weekly packet they will demand. The basic sums will then see how much he has to trim to allow it all to happen.
It means that there is a truthfulness to Warnock when he says that he has players on trial for these final nine games of the Championship campaign that will end somewhere in midtable regardless.
Players have to be prepared for that and be prepared that there will be no sugar-coating of things. Take Craig Noone, for example. The winger was praised to the hilt for his return to form, but has quickly lost his place and, in losing his man in midweek when Blackburn pounced, has seemingly lost a little of his manager's confidence. As Cardiff struggled to find an extra zip to their game here against a Birmingham side not punished while the hosts were on top before and after Joe Ralls' penalty, he was kept on the bench. Undoubtedly talented, but honestly safe from a sale? No-one can be sure.
Anthony Pilkington was brought into the side, in arguably his best position as among a front three as Warnock tinkered to counter Birmingham's wing-back system, and was clearly eager to impress.
Yet he struggled to really show consistent quality, and you begin to wonder where he would fit and if anyone else – to paraphrase Warnock – would be better value.
Then there is Peter Whittingham, a class act but out of contract, out of the side and in all likelihood facing a pay cut and no promises of starts to stay. Honesty and romanticism don't always mix.
Rickie Lambert, with still one year left on the contract signed upon his high-profile arrival, is running out of time as he continues to recover from injury; he has made just seven starts in Warnock's 26-game tenure.
There are others, plenty of others, with Warnock clearly keen on having options within his budget and an interchangeable squad. The effort and honesty Warnock demands means that no player can expect to stay at high levels for too long a stretch and so he has to be able to turn to more than an XI.
It's not that Cardiff were poor here and the fact they are still able to reach 50 points without any worry about being dragged back in to relegation worry shouldn't be forgotten.
But now next season has come into focus, so has the need to improve and to learn to win games such as this, when teams come to aim for a point.
Warnock was adamant afterwards that such drops in levels because players can't give any more or are playing when they shouldn't – Aron Gunnarsson and even Kenneth Zohore here, tasting a bit of criticism after a spell of do-no-wrong praise – won't happen next year because of his summer strengthening.
Take a look at his last two promotions and it's obvious he wants to be able to call upon more than a trusted XI; 19 players started more than ten games when he took Sheffield United up in 2006, 20 players when he repeated the trick five years later with QPR.
Quite truthfully, there is not that number at Cardiff at the moment and players should be prepared for the need to show they can do more to fit into his wage calculations.
But then given Warnock's honesty, they no doubt already do.
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Re: ' NEIL WARNOCKS HONESTY '
Mon Mar 13, 2017 9:02 am
His honesty as also dispelled some of the stories floating around about our financial situation, yes its a mess of clubs own making but at least now because NW brought things out in open we fans should understand the situation better?. 
Re: ' NEIL WARNOCKS HONESTY '
Mon Mar 13, 2017 9:35 am
pembroke allan wrote:His honesty as also dispelled some of the stories floating around about our financial situation, yes its a mess of clubs own making but at least now because NW brought things out in open we fans should understand the situation better?.
I suspect we aren't the only team to have a challenging financial situation coming in to next season. Despite their big crowds, I find it hard to believe that Derby and Sheffield Wednesday can meet FFP without promotion. Norwich and Villa, despite having parachute payments will have to compete with 3 more teams relegated from the PL with even bigger incomes.
What is encouraging for us is that Huddersfield, Reading , Leeds and Brighton have built without paying stupid amounts for players and progressed with good managers. Let's hope that's us next season.
Re: ' NEIL WARNOCKS HONESTY '
Mon Mar 13, 2017 12:03 pm
bluebird58 wrote:pembroke allan wrote:His honesty as also dispelled some of the stories floating around about our financial situation, yes its a mess of clubs own making but at least now because NW brought things out in open we fans should understand the situation better?.
I suspect we aren't the only team to have a challenging financial situation coming in to next season. Despite their big crowds, I find it hard to believe that Derby and Sheffield Wednesday can meet FFP without promotion. Norwich and Villa, despite having parachute payments will have to compete with 3 more teams relegated from the PL with even bigger incomes.
What is encouraging for us is that Huddersfield, Reading , Leeds and Brighton have built without paying stupid amounts for players and progressed with good managers. Let's hope that's us next season.
Yes as i said these managers like mcclaren are going out fashion as expensive to employ and expensive tastes in playing budgets think we will be okay after NW as he said he'll be in process of choosing his successor.
Re: ' NEIL WARNOCKS HONESTY '
Mon Mar 13, 2017 12:31 pm
What we have seen here with the appointment of a new manager is something we see regularly throughout the leagues. A new manager comes in, an initial improvement in results and performances are seen before the club falls back a little and the temporary lift in fortunes starts to decline. I think we all know that at least half this team will need to be replaced with a bit of quality if we are to be playing in the top half of the table next season. The question is can Warnock get the quality here given the tight budget that is now essential to stick with if debts are to be cleared. There will be competition from clubs with more money than he will have, but hopefully he will have the contacts who can give him a bit of an advantage.
Re: ' NEIL WARNOCKS HONESTY '
Mon Mar 13, 2017 6:35 pm
Neil Warnock now 44th longest serving current manager in Football League.
Re: ' NEIL WARNOCKS HONESTY '
Mon Mar 13, 2017 6:37 pm
STEVE1956 wrote:Neil Warnock now 44th longest serving current manager in Football League.
wow