As a Crystal Palace fan, it could be argued that my opinion on Neil is far from impartial owing to our rather tumultuous recent history together. Despite this, I feel that the experience of having him at the helm of my football club for the final throes of Simon Jordan’s tenure has put me into the unique position amongst the majority of the football watching public of knowing how Mr Warnock tends to react when his back really is up against the wall.
Upon his arrival in South London he was full of energy and wit, verbally sparring with his “close friend” Simon Jordan in the press conference to announce his appointment, and instilling a new and refreshing battling spirit to a side that was crying out for someone to come in and shake it up following an unbearably dull spell under Peter Taylor.
He got players working for the shirt again and quickly got the fans on side by showing a desire to succeed whenever he spoke in public (something he tended to do quite a bit of). To add to that he also began to bring players in, such as Clint Hill, who, although not the most gifted technical footballer to ever grace the game, did demand that every one of his team mates gave their complete all whenever they were on the pitch, all of which, somewhat unsurprisingly began to pay dividends for our overall performance.
We flirted with promotion via the play-offs in his first season in charge and we were beginning to really believe that Warnock, who had declared that we were to be his last job in football, was the man to guide us to long-term glory.
That was until the Palace bubble burst in January 2010 with the news that the club had entered administration for the second time in under ten years. Suddenly, the team Warnock had nurtured were slapped with a ten point deduction and tossed out of the play-off hunt headfirst into a relegation dog-fight.
It was with this bombshell that the whole demeanour of Neil Warnock changed for the worse. Initially, he was defiant, declaring that the club would fight on and that his only thoughts were on the matter of keeping Crystal Palace in the Championship, but the departure of Simon Jordan appeared to act as a catalyst for his overall mood to darken beyond all recognition.
Having carried on in the role for a matter of weeks following the announcement of the clubs administration troubles, he had left for Queens Park Rangers, leaving a squad and set of supporters behind, who up until that point had been counting on him for inspiration and leadership in what was, without doubt our gravest moment of need.
It was a move which angered all of the clubs fans, and left us feeling that, despite all of Neil’s posturing and pontificating about how much he loves the game and all that goes with it, he took the easy route out when the opportunity presented itself, regardless of all the tales of loyalty and team spirit that he preached to his players during those final few weeks.
We did manage to survive that season, but no sooner had the dust settled following our last day survival before Warnock was raiding the side of all the players he felt could be of use to him in his new role at QPR. Shaun Derry and Clint Hill departed on free transfers whilst a drawn out pursuit of Darren Ambrose eventually ended in failure for Neil, despite his constant comments in the media stating how “desperate” Ambrose was to join QPR and that, “he had already been to Loftus Road to pick out a box for his family.” all rather unsavoury and petty in the grand scheme of things.
The season just gone has seen Warnock’s QPR side, captained by Shaun Derry and with Clint Hill as an ever-present dominating force in defence, sweep all before them in winning the division, no mean feat it must be said.
The trickery and inventiveness of Adel Tarrabt on one side and guile of another Palace old boy, Wayne Routledge on the other, providing the creativity to compliment the hard backbone already established in the side and lead the team to a memorable league triumph.
With all that being said, it has been another turbulent summer for Warnock, with stories of blocks on potential transfers and rumours everywhere you look of his replacement being readied in the shape of Marcello Lippi amongst others.
It would be foolish not to say that QPR are entering this season back with the big boys feeling somewhat underprepared. At the time of writing the club have only managed to bring in two new players in Jay Bothroyd and Kieron Dyer, both of whom have rather substantial question marks hovering over them to say the least, whilst stories of huge bids for Tarrabt appear to be sticking around for the long-haul regardless of whether or not there has actually been any movement on the transfer in the last few days.
Ultimately though, the side which Warnock assembled to get the club out of the Championship, as strong as it was, will need significant strengthening in numerous areas if they are going to have much chance of guaranteeing survival in the top flight past the 2011/12 season.
It’s not that the players Warnock already has at his disposal aren’t good at what they do; it is simply that what they do is play solid, winning Championship style football, which embodies all the traits Warnock knows best, and falls short of the free flowing comfort with which most Premier League sides stroke the ball around in the modern age.
There were spells in Warnock’s tenure at Palace in which we felt he got the team playing really good stuff, most notably when he employed Scott Sinclair, (now of promotion rivals Swansea City) and Victor Moses on opposite flanks, but all in all, the majority of the team’s success was due to hard work and endeavour, much in the same vein as his current QPR side.
In essence, the answer to the question of whether or not Neil Warnock can be a success in the Premier League lies in his ability to invest on two separate fronts. The first requires him to have the tactical nous and wherewithal to hand pick players capable of matching their new top flight counterparts whilst still blending them into a side which can face adversity together rather than individuals. The other aspect relies on the owners willingly giving him a sum of money which he feels is acceptable to secure safety in the Premier League, something which is looking more and more unlikely with each passing week.
Knowing Neil the way I do, I wouldn’t bank on him sticking around to see the conclusion of QPR’s fairy tale season, should his employers not tick all of his personal boxes.
