Neil Warnock's long career in the beautiful game has been well documented and well commented on down the years and after a journeyman playing spell, his move into management followed a similar path and across his 45 years in the dugout he has led 20 different clubs, including his short spell last year as interim gaffer of Aberdeen.
The 76 year old is still in the game now as a football advisor to Torquay United, and as a man known for a good soundbyte or two, he recently appeared on the Betway sponsored Seaman Says podcast and whilst he expected covered a wide ranging set of topics, naturally Manchester City and Pep Guardiola's 2024/25 struggles featured in the chat.
With some great successes in the game, as well as very notable struggles, whilst no one in their right mind would suggest that Warnock was on the same level as the 54 year old former Spanish international midfielder, he can certainly relate to City's problems, our (we hope temporary) fall from grace and Guardiola's newly found appreciation as a deer in the headlights where previously winning tactics now result in bore draws or media breaking defeats.
Warnock revealed that he actually had an interview scheduled with the gaffer later in the week, and obviously given his successes in the game and in wider European football, he was naturally a fan of his ethos and outlook on how the game should be played - being his own style being the polar opposite an far more old school - but he obviously could not resist a typical joke or two.
"Last year he said to Kyle Walker, “Would you ask Neil, would he come up here? I'd love to pick his brains.” I thought, “you what?" You’d love to pick my brains? He's the best manager in my time. So it's going to be great."
He also joked that the last time they met Pep's daughters were there and they only wanted photos of him and not their dad and he could not 'blame' them. But moving onto more serious matters, he felt that our struggles this season had definitely shown a different side to the gaffer, and a braver one at that, as many managers in his position with the injury situation (and off pitch issues) would have simply taken the easy option and walked knowing full well they would be back in a different job by the end of the week.
For Warnock, having been in that position before himself, he feels even more confident now that Guardiola will learn from that and will benefit from his bravery and come out the other side as an even better manager.
He also made the point that the second a gaffer turns on the players during bad spells, ultimately they have lost the plot and it is only a matter of time before they move on, and as we are all capable of thinking of managers who are quick to pass the buck when things do not go their way, the fact Pep has kept it squarely on his shoulders and spoken about the need to be better himself, that in turn will get more out of the squad as they redouble their efforts to get the basics right again.
It is certainly an engaging chat and clearly there's massive managerial respect from Warnock here, but it is interesting to get a knowledgeable take on the club from the outside as opposed to the usual pundits with their own agendas and biases.