Tuesday 10 April 2018 10:13, UK
Neil Warnock is not alone in thinking that the end-of-season awards are dished out too early.
The Cardiff boss was named EFL Championship Manager of the Season last week, but the announcement was sandwiched between two results that proved damaging to their hopes of finishing in the top two. And while Warnock is never one to downplay his own achievements, he was still in no doubt over who should have got the prize.
"I voted for Neil Harris," he told Sky Sports. "If Millwall win their next five or six games and won the play-offs and promotion, then there's only one winner in my opinion, even though it would be my biggest ever achievement if I got promotion.
"I don't think I've ever turned a club around as quickly and achieved a promotion, although I did go quite close at QPR. It was a very similar job there to the one I've done here."
The conversation takes a natural turn to the Championship Team of the Year. There was a mixture of disbelief and pride in Warnock's voice when he discussed the fact that not a single one of his players made it into the EFL Awards side. Disappointed at the lack of recognition, he equally appeared to think it highlighted the togetherness of his squad. This Cardiff side he has created are a unit and a collective, not a group of individuals.
"It shows how far we've come [that we're disappointed]," he said. "None of our players got into it and yet we're right up there. We've had some great performances this year from a number of individuals and as a team, that's been our main strength. It's a cracking season we've had."
But who, if anyone, should have been included from his side? There are two names, at least, that he feels should have been in. You'll be hard-pressed to find closer bonds between managers and players than those between Warnock, Junior Hoilett and Sol Bamba.
"You just have a relationship with some players," he said. "Junior and Sol stayed with me through the summer [of 2016] when I could have had other jobs but they didn't materialise. Then instead of going and signing for other clubs, they waited until I'd found a club, which was special. And it's worked out lovely.
"Sol has been phenomenal and so has Junior. It's rubbed off on the other players and when you've got that much faith in them, they repay you as a manager. When I went to QPR, Junior was training with the kids, and here he is now having the best season of his career.
"I've played for managers who said one thing and did another and players find you out like that. You've got to trust them and they've got to trust you. Trust is a big word for a manager. You expect certain standards and attitudes and they know if they lower those standards, I'll jump on them. It's a mutual thing, I've got respect for them and hopefully, they've got it for me. I think that's why it's gone so well here."
He doesn't stop there.
"There are so many players here who have surprised me," he continued. "Neil Etheridge in goal and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, they've both come from lower league clubs and done brilliantly. We were also very lucky to get Craig Bryson in to cover for Aron Gunnarsson's injury, and Loic Damour - who we took from the second division in France - has been superb for us. There have been so many unsung heroes."
Warnock is back in the spotlight again after Friday night's defeat at Wolves. A dramatic defeat and a post-match exchange with his opposite number Nuno would probably have a huge negative impact on most other managers, especially considering the gap to Fulham is now just two points, and they've got Aston Villa up next - live on Sky Sports Football on Tuesday night.
At the age of 69, however, Warnock has seen and done it all before. He has insisted all season there is no pressure on Cardiff, and he sticks by that even at this late and vital stage.
"The fans had no real expectations when I arrived," he said. "We were second from bottom and we've been trying to get their trust back as well by putting a team out that they can be proud of. I've said all along that if the fans didn't want me and if they started chanting and making comments against me, I'd be off tomorrow. I'm not in it for that now.
"When you're younger, you worry about the sack and getting abuse and things, but when you get to my age, you become less bothered about those things. It becomes more like a hobby and less like life or death. When I was younger, if my best player got injured, I wouldn't sleep at night! Now I just think someone else will come in and they'll be fantastic.
"The clubs we're surrounded by are under so much more pressure than ours. They've all got big budgets and players and there is huge expectation to reach the Premier League. If we were to lose every game now, it's still been a great season. I would have absolutely snapped your hand off at the play-offs before a ball was kicked.
"I love the league itself, the way the games come thick and fast and you can't be down for too long because you've got to play again the next minute."
And he will be relieved to have another game so quickly after Friday night at the Cardiff City Stadium. A victory over Villa will put them back on the cusp of promotion, which would be a record eighth of his career.
There were times earlier in the season where he implied that another crack at the Premier League wasn't for him, but as the possibility of another promotion looms closer, Warnock has clearly had a rethink. There are wrongs about his reputation at that level which he feels need to be righted.
"There were reasons the last couple of times I've been in the Premier League I didn't do well," he said. "We were never in the bottom three with QPR when I get the sack. I just got an agent ringing the new owner every five minutes talking about a new manager that's available, saying you need a proper manager and all that. He was very new to the game.
"At Sheffield United, my heart was killed within 48 hours of promotion when I got a letter through the post saying they'd keep me on the same contract in the Premier League. That didn't give me any lift or motivation, I can assure you!
"It's always difficult up there, but I wouldn't have any excuses. Whatever lack of money there is, it's such a great group. You don't know what's around the corner, but I'm going to enjoy it whatever it is."
And what if the form drops off and the thing waiting around the corner is the play-offs? Despite spending most of the season in the top two, Warnock insists there would be no disappointment if they were to drop below Fulham or Aston Villa. His record at Wembley is imperious.
"We'd have a good go," he said. "It all comes down to a couple of days and decisions and maybe even an injury. Anything can happen and I've always enjoyed the play-offs at Wembley. The only one I've lost was in Cardiff! Believe it or not. Thank god they're not at Cardiff again."
