uRRRs blog Warnock – aaaggghhh!!!

Posted: February 27th 2010
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I don’t want Neil Warnock as QPR manager.

I really, really don’t want Neil Warnock as QPR manager.
I scour the messageboards. Had ‘Colin’ been a prime contender when the F1 takeover first happened...or before Dowie was appointed...or Sousa...or even Magilton...I guarantee there would have been uproar that a club (or certainly a set of supporters) that prides itself on having a certain style should even consider such an anti-manager.

Now, though, his seemingly imminent & inevitable appointment is being, if not roundly welcomed, then certainly accepted in a pragmatic manner.

“Warnock’ll sort us out...he won’t take any crap from interfering board members or prima donna players...knows this division like the back of his hand...great track record for securing promotions...we need a bit of old school...”

THIS is Flavio flippin’ Briatore’s legacy. He’s created such a mess, that sane, rational, characteristically football purist QPR fans are ready to welcome Neil bloody Warnock.

Our new look board have said more of the right things in two & a half days than Flav managed in two & a half years. About stability...about employing the best men for the key jobs then letting them get on with it...about pricing...about respecting the fans’ views...all anathema to our very own Italian playboy.

Perhaps they too think we’re in such a mess that only a Warnock-like character can “sort us out”.

Thing is though, much of what we hear of Warnock is spin, myth or both. Like Fry, Redknapp, Holloway and others, he’s a “larger than life” media-friendly quote machine, lauded for “speaking his mind.”

To me, he’s a right snide. Ian Holloway gave us a siege mentality when the club was on its knees and we needed it. But he did it with integrity and no little humility. Warnock’s “us against the world” is all barbed comments about refs, linos, fellow managers, oppo players – anyone but himself. Always someone else’s fault. The Blades got relegated ‘cos of cheating West Ham (Tevezgate) and cheating Liverpool (Rafa & his under strength team selection)...not because when they looked in the clear with six weeks of the season to go, Colin made a right balls up of it, to the extent that by the last day of the season, his misfiring team couldn’t even accept the gift of ‘only’ having to beat a truly rank Wigan side.

I get told on the messageboards that he’s the sort you hate when he’s on the other side, but love when he’s on your side. But that doesn’t always work. I could have stomached, say, Robbie Savage in an Rs shirt, but I hated it, HATED IT, when we brought in Vinnie Jones...and look what that shyster did to us.

But what’s annoying me most of all is the fact that Warnock’s recent record ain’t all that. Yes he got lower league promotions galore in the early-mid 90s, but it took him years to do it with his beloved Blades (always a BIG club by Championship standards), his failures arguably hidden by some timely cup runs. And when he did finally get his crack at the promised land, he screwed it up.

Yet we’d rather pay Palace’s administrators a seven figure sum to secure his services, than talk to the many managers with similar (or in some cases better) CVs who are currently available for free – Curbishley, Coppell, Jewell...

...and I haven’t even mentioned the ugly percentages football, the thug mentality at the heart of so many of his teams...and as for the disputes, Wikipedia lists over 30 ongoing run-ins he’s had with players, officials, supporters...virtually everyone in the bloody game...

So no, I don’t want Neil Warnock as QPR manager.

I am now kind of resigned to the fact. I won’t be burning my season ticket, or protesting. I won’t get on his back at the first hoofed ball or surprise defeat. I will continue to support my team wholeheartedly. But when he’s introduced to the crowd before his first home game, I won’t applaud – I’m afraid I’ll sit back with a ‘prove me wrong’ look on my face. I’ll be supporting my team, not its manager.

And I swear I’ll never sing “Neil Warnock’s blue & white army”.

uRRRs!