Neil Warnock has wasted no time setting out his stall at Elland Road. Despite not officially taking charge until today, Neil couldn’t resist an input in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Doncaster Rovers, constantly on the phone to caretaker manager Neil Redfearn throughout the game, Warnock also gave the half-time team talk and issued tactical orders including a change of formation and Robert Snodgrass’ switch from the wing to a free-role in behind the strikers.

His early interviews show a man confident in his own abilities, but one who knows how important it is to manage expectations at Elland Road. Warnock was quick to point out the low-confidence levels and refused to build play-off hype by asserting Leeds United would be amongst the challengers, instead offering a rather ambiguous “never say never” response.

“So (there are) 14 games (to play), everybody’s trying to help everybody else aren’t they, because no-one’s running away with it, so you never say never do you?”

Warnock is seen by many as a manager who can get the best out of the players at his disposal, and he laid the groundwork for that with Luciano Becchio, pointing out that the midfield were playing too deep to offer any assistance to a striker who will win every header now he’s in charge. “Mark my words” he told Eddie Gray confidently.

Robert Snodgrass should also be given a lift under the new gaffer, as it’s clear from early interviews that he is considered to be the key player in this Leeds United side. Already our highest assist maker this season and the club’s second top-goalscorer (behind Ross McCormack), Snodgrass has consistently performed above and beyond most of his team-mates, and the freedom to roam will be a new challenge Robert Snodgrass will relish.

But getting the best out of Becchio and Snodgrass is only the start, Warnock has a lot of work to do if Leeds are to make a push for the play-offs this season. He’s under no illusions however and has already recognised the teams need for strengthening. In an interview today (Sunday 19th), he suggested that he already has someone in mind for his first signing, and that something may be completed before the Whites trip to troubled Portsmouth this weekend;

“We need two or even three players in if we can. Ideally, I’d love to get someone in by the weekend.”

Some fans will question whether he can get any kind of signing in with such financial limitations in place, but Warnock seems confident he can get funds out of Ken Bates, adding that;

“There’ll be times when I’ll have to tell [Ken Bates] what’s right for the club and he’ll have to listen.”

A largely tongue-in-cheek response from Warnock, no doubt, but having two characters with such enormous egos battling for attention under the same roof has led many to conclude that fireworks are inevitable. The Guardian for example described Neil Warnock’s decision to work for Ken Bates as “…a Faustian pact signed in darkest Hades.”

And the pair will be loving every second of it. Portrayed as an evil duo up there alongside the Kray twins, the Bates-Warnock combination could be exactly what Leeds United need to regain their status as the most hated club in English football – and that’s not a bad thing.

Neil Warnock has built a successful career out of creating siege mentalities wherever he goes, and with Leeds United, he has a club more comfortable with this approach than all else. Whilst some fans will take time to warm to the new manager due to his antics in the past, there has never been a club and manager more suited to one another than Leeds United and Neil Warnock.

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