Neil Warnock once shared ‘best way’ to succeed at Cardiff City ahead of Premier League promotion, two players changed the club

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Neil Warnock is the journeyman of managers, and the legendary gaffer simply knew how to succeed at Championship level, as he proved with Cardiff City in 2018.

Over the years, Warnock has managed to achieve promotion with the likes of Sheffield United and QPR, as well as Cardiff City against all the odds.

Sadly, he was unable to keep the Bluebirds in the Premier League and they went straight back down to the Championship the following season, but Cardiff fans adored the work Warnock put in at the club.

The fact is, as is often the case with Warnock, he didn’t just change things on the pitch for Cardiff, he altered the whole atmosphere and ethos around the club. Unfortunately, just seven years later, they are right back to square one.

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Neil Warnock transformed Cardiff City as a club, two signings helped massively

Warnock took over at Cardiff in October 2016, and after spending that season stabilising the club, he managed to take the Bluebirds up via a second-placed finish the following season, which took everyone by surprise.

Apart from Warnock himself, probably, that is. Speaking to The Guardian back in 2018 just before Cardiff’s promotion was confirmed, the second tier icon explained what he tried to do at the club upon his arrival.

Warnock cited his man-management skills as the key, saying, “it’s my only strength,” before adding that he came in with the intention of “sorting the whole club out.”

“I know it’s not my business but I made it my business because I wanted to get everybody together and that was the best way of doing it I felt,” he added.

That togetherness, and the feeling that someone cared about every person at the club is hugely important, and it’s an ethos that Warnock shared when it came to the players he brought into Cardiff, too.

He mentioned the idea of a “Neil Warnock player,” with Sol Bamba used as a prime example.

“He thought he was Beckenbauer, strutting around, passing the ball, dribbling – you name it. And that’s why he was looking for work when I came to see him, because no club wanted to take him on board because he was an accident waiting to happen, if you listen to the Leeds fans.

“Bamba is never going to be a [Virgil] Van Dijk with the ball and neither is [Sean] Morrison. But defensively they can become very good players.”

Those two formed a solid partnership at the back for Warnock during the promotion-winning campaign, with Bamba even playing every single game for the Bluebirds. It just goes to show how far a little trust can go for a player needing confidence.

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What is going wrong at Cardiff City now?

As things stand, Cardiff are languishing in 20th place in the Championship table, and they’re showing very little sign of life right now.

The only saving grace for Cardiff this season really is the fact that there are other teams in the relegation battle that are worse than them.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
19	Hull CityHull City	35	9	9	17	35	44	-9	36
20	Stoke CityStoke City	35	8	12	15	34	47	-13	36
21	CardiffCardiff	35	8	12	15	38	57	-19	36
22	LutonLuton	35	8	7	20	32	55	-23	31
23	PlymouthPlymouth	35	6	12	17	36	70	-34	30

They have a five-point cushion over Luton Town right now, but that could quickly change, especially with the two sides going head-to-head next week. Lose there, and Cardiff will be in big trouble.

Omer Riza, sadly, just doesn’t seem to have the players fighting for the shirt and for the club this season. His appointment was an odd one, having been caretaker manager for so long, and not even particularly showing any signal that he could be the one to turn things around at the club.

Callum Robinson aside, who is somehow gunning for the Championship Golden Boot, there are very few players of real quality at Cardiff right now. Whether that will change, given the financial state of the club, is very unlikely.

Whether it’s this season or next, it would appear Cardiff are doomed to relegation in the near future, barring a miracle. Maybe Neil Warnock should return after all?