Neil Warnock reveals what convinced him to become new Middlesbrough boss, after replacing Jonathan Woodgate earlier this week.
Boro currently sitting 21st in the Championship table after losing 3-0 at home to Swansea City in their first game since the season restarted last Saturday.
40 year old ex-footballer Woodgate was appointed last summer, but since then, his side have won a disappointing nine times.
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71 year old Warnock, who has been out of work since leaving Cardiff after more than three years last November, comes in as he looks to reach his goal of managing a total of 1,500 matches – though he is currently on 1,488.
Speaking in his press conference, he revealed what convinced him to take up the reins at the Riverside Stadium.
Via the Gazette Live, he said: “Really it was Steve, the chairman, who rang me if I could help out.
“I’ve always got on really well and liked him. He’s one of the best owners, and the club. And I’ve always enjoyed playing against them. I don’t think I’ve lost against them yet.
“I’d more or less retired in my own mind but I thought what an opportunity.”
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Warnock will be hoping to climb further away from the relegation zone in his first game in charge which is a big one in Stoke City away on Saturday.
Neil has said on more than one occasion since departing the Bluebirds that he would not go back into management.
Before then also admitting he would even manage a League Two if it meant he could finally meet his target of 1,500 matches managed.
Here’s everything Warnock has had to say previously about his future in management.
“This is my last job – there won’t be another job for me” is what he said after being appointed at Crystal Palace back in 2007.
At Queens Park Rangers: “As a manager, Loftus Road is always a place I loved because of the fantastic atmosphere there,” Warnock said on appointment in 2010.
“Looking from afar I believe this is the perfect time for me to come in, with the new structure and chairman in place. Together we can give the club the stability that it needs.”
On leaving QPR in 2012 he hinted that he would take some time out of football.
“I’ve been involved in the game a long time and I will be spending the immediate future with my family and friends before deciding my next career move,” he said.
Weeks later, he was appointed at Leeds: “I feel I have one big challenge left in me and believe Leeds is a club that should be in the Premier League.
“I want to be the man who is able to deliver this for a set of fans who never cease to amaze me with their numbers and loyalty.”
In 2014 he returned to Crystal Palace for four months, and then went back to QPR as caretaker manager, describing it as “a club that is special to my heart”.
Warnock finished the season in 2016 by keeping Rotherham United in the Championship.
“I don’t think there is anybody else who can touch me at this level. My record is as good as anybody,” he told BBC Radio Sheffield.
“I have got to show the lads what I want and why I have been successful and they have got to come on board and they have done.
“When I came here I said, ‘You know how old I am and you know how many games are left and I have not come here to get relegated.. They have taken it on board and they have seen that we can move mountains and it is possible to achieve the unachievable.”
He chose to depart Rotherham, moving to Cardiff City in October 2016, and declared: “I look at the club as a farewell club. I don’t think I’ll be leaving the club and going to another.
“When you get to my age you can’t really look beyond the next few months or weeks, whatever job you are in, not just football.”
When he left in November 2019, he said: “Today I am leaving my beloved Bluebirds after over three years of which have been some of the best days in my long football career.”
Since then he has been linked with Ipswich Town, Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest, and even a move to Scotland to manage Hearts.
Now that Neil Warnock reveals what convinced him to become new Middlesbrough boss, what do you make of it? Can Boro avoid the drop?
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