Taken from Neil Warnock’s press conference ahead of Hull City (05/03/2012)

Neil Warnock on the Four Year Plan aired on BBC2 last night

Neil Warnock is asked about the rotating door of managers as witnessed in the Four Year Plan documentary at QPR. He admitted he didn’t like the policy, but added of the owners;

“It’s their club, they own the club these people, and if they want to sack the manager then, they’re quite entitled to do it.

“Flavio bought the club at a difficult period, and as you saw in the film, if he didn’t like someone, he got rid of them. And that’s his prerogative. “

Also seen in the Four Year Plan was Favio Briatore questioning the managers decisions and forcing him to make a substitute during a game.

“I don’t think that happens very often if I’m honest, but I think that a chairman can make a point to a manager after a game and – even before a game – he might say ‘I didn’t think you’d play him today’

“In his own way he can make comments, they do with me now. Not my chairman at the moment [laughs], but people always try, and I don’t mind that!

“After the game, people always ask ‘why didn’t you do this, why didn’t you substitute him, I thought he was rubbish today’. [That’s OK] in the boardroom, but not in a space for the media to hear. You’ve got to do that as a club, and keep certain things to yourself and that’s the way I’ve always dealt with it

“I don’t think there’s many chairman that’ll be ringing down demanding subs. I think the Four Year Plan was quite a unique documentary.”

Neil Warnock on young managers

“It’s not a good time to come in as a young manager, although Keith Curle must think it’s a piece of cake having played four and won four.

“It’s a difficult period for young managers now because there’s a lot of owners who demand success and there’s only going to be one or two winners each year.

“The fans as well, [the media] have caused the problems as well, because everybody’s experts now. You have programmes and phone-ins and the usual one ‘you’ve got to get rid of the manager, today was a disgrace’ [from people who haven’t been to the game, but heard about it second hand]

“They’re all bloody experts, you’ve got no chance

“But you can’t have everything. You can’t have the money that’s in the Premier League and complain when we’re getting stick. Likewise, the media has got a job to do as well so it’s very, very difficult.”

On joining Leeds United

Neil was asked whether the difficult situation he found at QPR made Leeds United easier to join;

“I’ve always liked challenges really. I’ve never really gone with my heart, I’ve always gone with my head […] or is it the other way around? I don’t know, anyhow… you know what I meant…

“It would have been easier to do different things in my career at certain stages, but I’ve done what I thought was right really. Even in the last week, I had opportunities to go to a couple of other clubs, but I just felt this was the right one.

“It just felt right. I didn’t feel as though I had anything to lose by coming in ’til the end of the season and seeing how we go, then reassessing it in the summer.

“I think Saturday showed it was the right thing to do. To get a response, not only from the players, but from the fans. It makes for a special place does Elland Road when it’s buzzing like that and it’s great to be on the touchline looking after a team like this.”

Is there a lot of work to be done at Elland Road?

“Yes. Very much so. But, you look at the place and it’s got everything, hasn’t it?

” They’ve done so well over the last few years, they’ve come up so quickly and sometimes you go quicker than you imagined.

“And now, to get to the next stage there has to be a lot of work. [Ken Bates] knows that and he has to support me when I ask for certain things over the next few months. He knows that I don’t want to be here long, and no disrespect, but he knows I want to do things immediately. Not in two or three years time.

“You can’t plan now for two or three years as a manager”

On play-off credentials

“In my own mind, I’m going to try and win every game and I think then, we’ll know in the next week or two, won’t we?

“We’ve got to win, we’ve got to beat all these teams. [We’ve got] to go to Hull away whose got probably the best defensive record in the country and then Middlesbrough who are on a high, then West Ham at home who win away more than they do at home.

“So, these three games are probably the most difficult three games. If we come out with no points, we can forget it, can’t we? If we come out with six or seven points, then I think we’ve got a great chance. That’s how I’m looking at it.”

On the squad Warnock inherited

“There was one player at QPR whose the best player I’ve ever had under me, that was Faurlin, and just looking at him, my first training session at QPR, I knew I could build the team around him, whereas here, there’s quite a lot of good players.

“Probably not [as good as Faurlin], but I think we’ve got exciting players and forwards, probably [the best] forwards that I’ve ever inherited here. I’ve always loved Becchio, Snodgrass, I think McCormack can fit in anywhere I want.

“When I went to QPR, we had eight loan players training, nobody really cared about the club. Can’t be having that, that’s why we were nearly relegated. You’ve got to have players that want to wear the shirt. You look around the dressing room Saturday, and yeah, there was disappointment in the dressing room, but everyone of those players gave everything for that game. That’s why the fans stayed behind to cheer them, even though we lost, because they saw what the players gave and that’s got to be a minimum requirement.

Neil Warnock on loan players

No more loan players then?

“As much as I can yeah, I think you’ve got to have that in the dressing room. Before pre-season, you’ve got to get people who care. No disrespect to loan players, you do get good loan players, but when the chips are down and you have to put your head in, loan players – quite rightly so – think about their own future.

“Once you’ve signed on that dotted line permanently, you care that little bit more.

“The loan system has to be used for the icing on the cake. You may have two or three injuries at short notice and you get someone in to help you out in that situation. I don’t believe in it otherwise.

Neil Warnock on Hull City  

Hull have got one of the best defensive records, you have one of the best attacking records.

“Yeah, well we’re changing that round now [laughs]. How many efforts on Saturday? I lost count! There must have been forty efforts! We couldn’t score from a yard on Saturday. I’m sure goals will be around the corner, but I haven’t got one yet, so I’m looking forward to seeing one.

“They are good tests coming up. From my point of view, the lads aren’t going to get a better chance to show me what they can do.

“As I said to them after the game ‘I know we’ve lost the game, but boy you must have enjoyed playing like that? You must have enjoyed playing in front of a crowd like that? Wait ’til you start winning and there’s 30,000 in, if that doesn’t whet your appetite there’s something wrong!'”

Neil Warnock on Nick Barmby

“Yeah, I think Nigel built a good squad. It was very clever, I’m not saying the cheap option, but it was the right option to put Nick in charge because he knows everybody and he’s coming to the end of his career where he’s not going to get regular games and I think he’s a good lad.

“I just felt the transition was very smooth, and you don’t change something drastically when you takeover if it doesn’t need changing. And I think he’s done really, really well and I do think they’ve got a great chance of getting in the play-offs.

“They’ve got goals with Stewart and Fryatt, and yet, they’ve got one of the best defences around so it’s a good recipe that.”

Neil Warnock on possible new signings

Will there be any new faces ahead of Hull City?

“I don’t think so.

“There might be the odd one, I’m still making enquiries but if the lads are available I’ll probably stick with what we’ve got. I think [Leigh] Bromby will definitely be out and Aidy [White] probably will be, although, when you’re playing quite well, nobody wants to be out, so they’ve both asked for another 24 hours. So, we probably will do.”

Neil Warnock on whether Danny Webber Can Play 90 Minutes

“I wouldn’t want to with Danny, I wouldn’t want to put too much pressure on him. He’s not played, basically all season. I’d like to stick with him – at the moment – for 45 minutes or under…”

[Interrupted, “he looked sharp?”]

“Yeah, he’s done well. He’s trained well since he came in last week and he’s got this thing about him that I’ve always loved. There’s another Watford season in him, he had a fantastic time there, and on Saturday he could have had a hattrick.

“I thought he fitted in well with Snodgrass and Becchio and McCormack, with the one-two’s and little flicks. I thought they responded well off each other.

Neil Warnock’s final thoughts

“At this moment in time, we’ve got to go for everything we can until we know we [can’t reach the play-offs] for definite. If we lost the next three games for example, then I would experiment with one or two things, with a view to next season. Until then, we’ll play the strongest team and have a go. If we’re not good enough, then we’ll know. They do keep surprising me and I hope they continue to do so.