Cardiff City v Middlesbrough - Warnock recalls fond Bluebirds memories ahead of return

Widely feted for his sterling restoration work at the Welsh club, it represents a real shame than home fans are not around to acclaim him for the job that he did with the Bluebirds, who were promoted under him in 2018.

Rekindling those scenes with his present club, one very similar in stature to Cardiff, is what motivated Warnock to return to management at the age of 71.

If he goes close to anything like his achievements in the Principlaity, then Warnock will become as popular as he did in Wales.

On his time at Cardiff, he said: “I was nearly finished in football when I went to Rotherham, but the circumstances there, which were fantastic, really got my enthusiasm back up.

“Then meeting Mehmet Dahlman, who was the chairman at Cardiff and one of the best guys I have ever met, I could not have done what I did down there without him.

“He was an amazing mentor, and managers always need people to talk to.

“The Cardiff crowd is almost like a Yorkshire crowd – they are all blood and guts, and that’s how I like it. It was a great move for me and I really enjoyed it.

“I don’t really think enough was made of the success we had there. To achieve promotion to the Premier League with that group of players was probably the biggest achievement I will ever have. It was great for me in that it was not just managing the team. When I took over at Cardiff, they were a broken club really.

“It was getting everything back singing off the same hymn sheet that made it probably the best job I’ve done really.

“Getting fans to believe again and support the board, and all get together, it was a great feeling.”

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