One last dance for the grandmaster of escapology
(Image via HTAFC)
Matt Shaw, Founder.
Twitter: @TTCMatt
WEEEEEEE’RRRE AT IT AGAAAAAAIN
LONG BALLS, JUST LIKE WE USED TO….
In fields when we were young
Starbuck’s, Boothy’s and Bullock’s.
We had it all, with Warnockball.
Came from the booze and the fags generation
And prayed for the mayhem to start
They said we were foolish but I saw the genius
In pulling defences apaaaart.
WEEEEEEE’RRRE AT IT AGAAAAAAIN
LONG BALLS, JUST LIKE WE USED TO….
In fields when we were young
Starbuck’s, Boothy’s and Bullock’s.
We had it all, with Warnockball.
So raise your glass, to the old man with class.
NEIL WARNOCK’S BARMY ARMY!
Tinnitus is a pest isn’t it. Ever since Monday I’ve had this repetitive ringing in my ear “NEIL WARNOCK’S BARMY ARMY” and as his grand arrival approaches, it becomes more audible “NEIL WARNOCK’S BARMY ARMY” over and over and over “NEIL WARNOCK’S BARMY ARMY”. Nostalgia induced tinnitus aside, I know. I’ve been a right miserable bugger on the podcast lately. My early season disappointment had turned to anger as Town’s decision making lurched from misjudgements to aberrations. The past several months has been at odds with everything that I would associate with Dean Hoyle’s Huddersfield Town where previously, financial stability with medium- and long-term planning allowed a stable club to grow and flourish. Of course, it’s no longer just Dean in the control tower and maybe that’s where the problems lay, but the impression the fans now have is one of chaos reigning in the boardroom and of several snap short-term decisions that seem to have sent the club into a death spiral towards League 1. The fans are angry or apathetic and have had little to no faith in those running, playing for, or managing the club. It smells like a relegation season. But after receiving Sharon’s blessing, perhaps there is a white knight riding in on an e-bike with an air freshener to clear the musky air around HD1?
The tinnitus continues “NEIL WARNOCK’S BARMY ARMY”. I’ve struggled lately to be patient, analytical and balanced, hence we pulled the podcast for 3 weeks. What we’d have had to say during that period would not have helped anybody. I’d have lost my head, as I did in the aftermath of the draw at Blackpool where I tweeted “Get that idiot gone”. I regret that. As much as I wasn’t a fan of Mark Fotheringham and felt that he should have gone after the defeat to Watford, calling him an idiot was unkind. Yes, it was the right decision to remove Mark Fotheringham from post, but Town’s former chief was a passionate and well-intentioned young coach who was desperate to just give us something to smile about. He’s not an idiot. However, the appointment didn’t work and was more than likely doomed from the start. I’ve commented on several podcast episodes lately where I believe that the clubs hierarchy failed to sense the trouble that we were in when Danny Schofield was stood down and that they made Fotheringham’s job even harder when not allowing him to immediately bring a coach in with him until during the world cup break. I know, it’s easy in hindsight, isn’t it, Matthew? But I did express that concern initially when ‘Fothers’ was appointed on the OO TO BE A podcast with Steven Chicken, I swear!
“NEIL WARNOCK’S BARMY ARMY” ad (t)infinitum. After Fothers was only able to win 5 out of 21 games and interim head coach Narcis ‘Chicho’ Pelach failed to illicit a response from Fotheringham’s removal the only thing ringing in the ears of Town fans was the death knell of their Championship status. The board knew that we needed a specialist, a fire fighter, someone experienced. So, they’ve turned to the Bear Grylls of Championship Survival, The Harry Houdini of the 2nd tier; Neil Warnock.
He's done this before, right?
Yes, The Grandmaster of escapology has been parachuted in to guide several teams away from choppy waters over the course of his 43-year managerial career:
The ‘Neil Warnock fan boi’ in me is delighted to see him return, albeit at 74 years of age. The vociferous arse kicker of 1995 has now been replaced by a more mellow Grandfather figure, but as times have changed and methods evolved, Warnock has still remained the king of man management and it feels fitting that his last dance (probably won’t be) is with a club that I’ve always felt he has unfinished business with. He of course almost returned in 2012 but for Ken Bates persuading him to take another job in the 2nd tier, but it’s better 28 years late than never and it felt inevitible that one day Dean Hoyle would turn to one of his old favourites that he adored as a fan.
“NEIL WARNOCK’S BARMY ARMY”. That sense of unfinished business comes from being a mystified and disappointed youngster when Neil Warnock left after the Wembley success of 1995. The man who had led us back to the 2nd tier wouldn’t manage us in a game there. Why!? What on earth happened? Well according to the man himself he fell out with the Huddersfield Town board over plans to open a HTAFC retail shop in the Town centre. Had the board acquiesced to Warnock’s request then who knows what zany, wonderful memories we’d have of the mid to late 90’s, I dare say that we might not have had to wait until 2017 for Premier League football, but that’s all speculation – WHAT OF NOW, MATTHEW! Well, I’ll tell you once the chants of “NEIL WARNOCK’S BARMY ARMY” have subsided again.
This will be Neil Warnock’s 7th attempt at an escape act. So far he has 5 successes and 1 failure and there are very familiar parallels with when the Prince of Persistence went in to Rotherham Utd in 2016. Similar to now, Rotherham were in the bottom 3 with 16 games remaining and the first game he would take charge of would be a home match against Birmingham City. Ooooh omens! I dug a little deeper to see what things were like at the New York Stadium.
“Rotherham were a mess when he came in. We were only 3 points off safety but were on our 3rd manager of the season (sound familiar?), we had some decent players but were rudderless. But he (Warnock) galvanised them from a team that were without a win in 7 to an 11-game unbeaten run to comfortable safety.” Says Matt Lax from The Rotherham podcast New York Talk.
“We expected a blood, guts and thunder type of style, and that’s exactly what we got. A style we and him are known for previously. We needed to get back to basics at the time and he was perfect for it. He and Kevin Blackwell who was his assistant at the time were a breath of fresh air and got what Rotherham were all about”.
Despite only getting 1 point from his first 3 games, Warnock got his message over fairly quickly. “He simplified what we were doing. Neil Redfearn tried to move to a style of play with attacking wingbacks, a change which was too much too soon. Under Warnock - defenders defend, attackers attack. The older pros like Matt Derbyshire, Richard Wood and Kirk Broadfoot thrived in particular”.
The question is, can the old master pick up a Huddersfield team that are mentally on the floor, creating nothing, struggling for goals and making numerous errors at the back? “If your players buy into him then absolutely! I had seen he has no Blackwell this time and I think I’m right in that his best days have been with him, so that is a question mark. But, his man management skills are likely still top notch and that is a big plus in a relegation battle” says Matt.
Final opinion, can Warnock rescue Huddersfield Town?
This feels like Neil Warnock’s toughest survival act yet. For me, this change has come at least 6 weeks too late. Town had a glorious opportunity to redress glaring deficiencies in the January transfer window but failed miserably, and somehow even contrived to make ourselves weaker by loaning out Sorba Thomas. The Town fans may have wanted the old boss to return to spread some magic to save his old club, but Town may require a Warlock and not a Warnock for that to become a reality, but there is hope and wait… That tinnitus is back again..
“NEIL WARNOCK’S BARMY ARMY”.
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