Neil Warnocks Funniest Football Stories Part 2!

I guess the question is, are you comparable with Pep Guardiola? I think what it is, I think it just shows two passionate managers really. I think everybody has their own. I couldn't do Pep's job because the type of player that Pep has, you know, they're all multi-millionaires and everything. I mean, his team, at the moment, over the last two years, are the best team I've ever seen in my lifetime. Manchester City, I have never seen anything like it. I was at Cardiff City, and we played Man City, and we're 0-0, I think, 25 minutes. We're playing really well, and I'm stood there on a lovely day, a typical football day, a little drizzle on that, and I'm thinking, wow, we're doing well here. And we go in at halftime, 3-0 down, and the third goal just before halftime, Silva scores it. And don't forget, I'm the manager of the home team, and he scores it from outside the box, and I'm going, what a fantastic goal that is in my mind, and I'm the manager, and the 3-0, and you couldn't fault any of my lads. They were just amazing, and they moved football on so much, and I really hope they win the Champions League, because it's one thing that he's been missing. Is it hard to get your players, I know they're all professional and that, but still, when you see you're coming up against, like, a great Man City team, as you say, the best team you've ever seen, is it hard to get your players up for that? No, it's not hard, but you've, I think they're up for games like that, but you've got to be so organised. Everyone has got, because if there's one weakness in your team, and really, with the teams that I've got, there's more than one weakness in at times. That's no disrespect to them. But if there's a weakness in a team, Manchester City find it. They find it, they're so good at moving the ball around, and things like, I mean, like I say, I've never seen football like it. But having said that, I think Pep respects me as well, are you with me? You know, when we played him over there, and I went in his office after, he was a bit annoyed, I think, at the time, because his daughters wanted pictures with me, not him. I love it. What's he like as a man? He's smashing, he's a lovely man. They all are, Jurgen is. You know, I think, I've had one or two run-ins with managers, and you'll have to come to one of my shows, I don't want to give you too much away, but it's nice to get one or two things off my chest. That I've finished. Maybe this is one you can't answer then, because Steve, you had a question about the... I was intrigued to know whether there were any managers that you properly locked horns with, because obviously in our, my biggest one was probably Fergie and Wenger, they had a bit of a thing going on. I've got stories about them, yeah. What he means is you're not going to give too much away, buy a ******* ticket. And Benitez. No, I've got a few stories. I mean, I get on with a lot, people think I don't get on with anybody, you know, the story, because it's better for people to think that, you know, I'm the Marmite man and all that lot. And I just go along with it, me, if I'm honest. What I try and do, wherever I've been, is try to give the ordinary fans an enjoyable afternoon. I want them to enjoy the football. I want them to see crosses, shots, saves, oohs and ahhs, and referees. I mean, I can't stop myself with referees, can I? You know, it's one of those things. My dad was a Class 1 ref. He used to say, the best referees are ones you don't see. I mean, now, you go in the referees room before the game, they look like male models, some of them. You know, and I'm thinking, oh my God, we've got him today. You know, but there are good referees. You know, Anthony Taylor lately, I think he's been absolutely fantastic, me. But then, you know, you see your Mike Dean. Yeah, I'm glad you said that. I was getting around the name. I mean, they said to me, you know, when he was retiring, they said, Neil, there's news today that Mike Dean's retired. I said, ten years too f***ing late. You know. You didn't get on with him. I didn't want to use the whole phrase. You're fine here, you're fine. Was it one that, like, if you saw you had Mike Dean reffing the game that day, it'd be like, you'd be f***ing gutted. Oh yeah, I knew we'd get nothing. I mean, once at Burnley, he gave us a penalty, and then talked to the linesman, and within five minutes, changed his mind, and then they scored a goal. The kid up front was in front of the goalie, on the goal line, interfering with the goalie. The head at Barnes it was, that's right. The head at the ball from six yards out, he's in front there, and he didn't disallow it at all. You just know, I just knew when I got Mike Dean that I'd get nothing, really. And it's the same with Craig Pawson. I've had Barneys William, with Chelsea, over the years I've been fine, I don't know how much, twice. You know, I once, the first game at Palace, Scott Dann did a foul and got booked, and about ten minutes later, John Terry did a worse foul, and got up, put his arm round Craig Pawson, and talking to John Terry, blah blah blah, and never even booked him. And I said something after, I said, well you saw John Terry's booking, now that was a lot worse a tackle than Scott Dann's, and yet he didn't get booked. If that was one of my lads, he'd get booked. I think it was fifteen grand I got done. They're saying that. Because I'm insinuating that Craig Pawson was, what's the word? Corrupt? No, that's on your website. Biased? No, there's another word for it. Influenced? Favouring? No, forget it. Your lads have no chance. I love the idea as well, that you were taking, you've got a bit of a reputation for taking players with you. Is it Paddy Kenny that you've, have you had Paddy Kenny at five clubs? Five, yeah. Probably, yeah, when I took him to Is he off the nightness? Is what? Is he off the nightness? I don't remember that. He was at Bradford Park Avenue, and I went to watch him, chunky little lad he was. But I loved him, he mouthed off, he shouted to his defenders and he'd come and he was brave as a lion. And I'd only watched about half an hour and I said, yeah, we'll have him. So we went and we signed him at Bury and he came over and I said, listen, I want you to have more experience, Paddy, than Bradford now so I'm going to send you on loan. So, where am I going, gaffer? He says, I said, you're going to Whitby, son. Whitby, where's that? I said, up top here, from here, from, you know, up above Scarborough, it's a lovely place. And I remember him about, he went for three months, which was the best thing he could do, because the man's game up there. But he rang me one, I think it was one December or January, when it was really cold. Gaffer, he says, any chance of me coming back? He said, it's the coldest place I've ever been to. But he'd come back and he was, you know, I mean, I've always had good goalies. I've always got good goalies. Going back to Notts County, I had Steve Cherry and I've had Francis at Huddersfield and loads of others, but I could never sign strikers. Oh, a bad with strikers. Bloody hell. You got half of it right then, because I was, everybody should know in football, they've heard about that much. You always look at your goal score and your goalkeeper, your first two players, and you improve those two, if you need to, as quickly as you possibly can. Perhaps a goalkeeper's easier to find, but the front man is not as easy. I mean, all goalies think they're strikers, by the way. I like to play out up front. They always want to go up front, don't they? David James, that one, he played up front. When I was at Scarborough, Kevin Blackwell, that's when I first signed Kevin, who worked with me as my assistant for many years. Kevin was a goalkeeper, and he'd come on board. When we got promoted, we went to Spain for a celebration night, really. We had a fabulous bus deck that they used to make in Scarborough. We'll take you down to Spain, so we went down there and we played the Spanish team. Well, one of the team had glasses as thick as that. They were like Benny Hill glasses. You won't remember Benny. They had glasses like this. He had it on a string. That was a striker in this game. So we weren't doing so well. We were trying like hell to score a striker. So I said to Paul Evans, it was, my old mate, I said to Paul, let's substitute the top goal scorer, Stuart Mell. He said, what are you going to do? What are you going to put up front? I said, I'm going to put Blackie up front, because he's a goalkeeper. I said, because he always says what a striker he is, doesn't he? We substituted Stuart Mell and put Blackie up front. Well, Stuart Mell would absolutely destroy it. A goalkeeper taking his place. So Blackie goes in and scored that trick. In 45 minutes, he scored that trick. Well, I've never heard it. Every time I see him now, for the last 25 years, he brings it up every time. Can you remember that substitution you made in Spain, Gaffer, and all that? But he did. He scored decent goals and all, actually. But they all think they gifted. Do you know when I've had eight promotions in that respect? And when I look at my teams, my teams were never the best teams. But they were probably the best dressing room. And when we've overcome hurdles... Do you know how important it is? You're proud, aren't you? When you look around the dressing room, you must be the same with your lads the last few years. When you look around that dressing room, you think, wow, I want to go in there. No, I'm not that type of manager like you are. No? No, no, no. I would have loved to be a guide for the manager. But today, all the new generation... I'm sorry to tell you, so comparing you and me as a new generation, it's more about tactics, about, you know, right angles. And before, when you grew up without right angles, without sports science and people giving that, it's more skiing. It's more eye contact. It's more going to the dinner, say the most stupid thing and laugh at the stupid thing and create this vibe that it's not about training, it's not about the 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 or this kind of stuff that today is a modern football that happens. And I'm not like that. I'm not like that because I grew up in a new generation and I would love to have that sense to the players. Like I can see them as a father or can see me like this, you know, this hacks or this... That when you shout them, it's because... Even laugh when you shout. And now, and right now, I mean, it's me, it's completely different. I'm sorry. I would love to be, most of the time, like... Well, you know, when I look at managers, all divisions, I still think successful ones are... You can have all the coaching and all the systems and 4-2-3-5-3- 2-2, you know, and all this lot. I still feel me that the successful ones are the best man managers. I still think man management is the main ingredient that you need to be successful. Because in my squads, I needed my players to go through a brick wall for me. You know, they had to. You know, and that's how my players are. Whereas, yours are slightly different because of the ability that they've got. But both, I think, both teams, your teams, our teams, they run, as you said before. They either run, I'm in trouble. Of course, I was luckier than you because I had Messi. And you didn't have him. I had an exceptional player that bricked the wall. It was easier for me. Not for you. But at the end, it's that. If you don't have that, if you don't have that... And you had the first three. You had Messi. Did you have him for the first three years? Yeah. I think, obviously, it were a weight one. Have I touched on this one yet? No. No? You told me before. Yes. No, and I'd want to lose a bit of weight and I went to see Tony Daley, who was our fitness coach at the time, and I said, I want to lose a bit of weight before the season starts. Right, we'll do this, we'll do that. So, I used to go on the bike before training, after training, just 20 minutes each day, a bit of a fat burner. And eventually, I'd lost a stone. And I'd lost about 4 or 5 percent body fat. So, I was down to about 50 percent. So, anyway, the season started and I went out of pain badder out. I just couldn't buy a save. And you go for it, it's like a strike and not being able to score sometimes. And I couldn't buy a save and Warnock got me in the office and he just went, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you, when I need you, that's what you know me there when I need you. Them important saves at them right moments, you're not there. I went, Gafford, you know what, since I've lost that weight, I've just not felt the same. He went, what weight? I'm like, well, I've lost a stone and my body fat's gone down 4 or 5 percent since last season. He went, what? I went, yeah, yeah, me and Tony have been doing it. He went, I'll tell you what, get in your car and on your way home, get to McDonald's and put that weight back on now. Couldn't get there quick enough. And did it help? Yeah, I think I saved one off the backside about a week later and then I would bang at it again. So over 1,600 is phenomenal. Can you remember your first game in charge, getting your chance? I can't remember who we played, but my first game actually was properly, it was Gainsborough Trinity, and I remember the chief, well, the guy who ran the league actually, Ken Marsden they call him, Northern Premier League, and he ran the league and everybody told me he picked the team that he got the managers in and I was a young manager and I remember he came up to me before the game, are you playing so-and-so? And I said, no, no. Well, the boardroom, they think you should play so-and-so, so-and-so. So I thought, well, I've got to start somewhere here. So I said, no, I'm not actually, Ken. I said, well, you'll have to see me after, won't you? And the kid, they didn't want me to play, scored two goals and we won. And when I come off the pitch, he was waiting for me and he said, Neil, we'll have to get that lad signed up now, he's not signed on proper contract. And I thought, this is 90 minutes late. But that was good for me, because I realised, if you don't do your own thing, even though you're panicking, you've no chance. So it was a good background for me, that. But you could have been cheeky and said, well, you didn't want to play in the first place. I told him, look, have a good 90 minutes, I'm letting you go after the game, regardless what happens. You watch him go away. I weren't that clever at that time, Alan. I would have said that now, but I don't think I'd have been, I weren't as clever at that time to think about that. I just looked at him and I thought, how stupid do you sound now? You know, I didn't have to say it. Did he ever come across as any of that nonsense with you, mate? No, but I'll tell you what, he's gripping listening now. I think he's just a, he was a fantastic, nothing like his image, you know, the tanned, you don't know about football, everybody thought this, that and the other, you know, just using his money, but he's so passionate and he's so knowledgeable and I have to say, he was brilliant for me. Managers need support, not when things are going well, when things aren't going well. I remember after getting beat two or three at home one day, thinking about my position and him coming in and saying, I said, what do you think? He said, you are the man, you're going to get us out of this and you're going to get on, and we did. His support was super, so you know, a lot of time for him. What was your first impressions though, Neil, when you first met him? Well, we first met him having a slanging match. He was in the Palace boardroom, I think I was at Shepherds United and we had a bit of a bust up in the boardroom and we remembered that, but he's like me, when I go out the room, it's gone, I forget, I don't, you know, you move on and he remembered that and he just asked me at a vulnerable time when I was going to retire all them years ago, when I left Shepherds United, he just says, come down to Palace and have a look and help me out, will you? Just have a look at what we need and then within three weeks I was in charge so it was a great time. I never thought about London and to go down to Palace and then QPR, two great clubs atmosphere wise, so Simon's, I've got a lot of time for him and his family, his dad's a great bloke as well, so, you know, it's I enjoy listening to the show.