Neil Warnock comes out of retirement to join relegation threatened Huddersfield

Neil Warnock is a true journeyman manager, and recently added a nineteenth managerial stint to his resume as he came out of retirement in early February to take over Huddersfield Town, a team which he led for three years in 1993 and played for from 199-95. The Terriers find themselves sat 22^nd in the EFL Championship with just 31 points to their name after 34 matches. Just four points off safety with thirteen matches remaining, Warnock has a mountain to climb if he is to keep his newest team in English football’s second tier.

Warnock is an icon of British football, well known for his defining Yorkshire accent and scathing team talks which remain widely quoted years after their original delivery. Before his initial foray into management with non-league side Gainsborough Trinity in 1980, the Yorkshireman had a lengthy player career as a winger for clubs such as Burton Albion, Rotherham United and Scunthorpe United, scoring 36 career goals in 327 appearances.

His managerial career took him all over the UK, from Plymouth and Cardiff to Bury and Sheffield. He also has plenty of experience at the top, managing Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, and Sheffield United in the Premier League.

Warnock has developed a reputation similar to that of Big Sam Allardyce as a “fixer,” taking on the relegation threatened and scraping survival. His style of play at Middlesborough, his most recent managerial appointment, relied on a 4-3-3 formation, a strong defense, and a counter attacking focused offense.

Warnock has already faced two matches since moving up north to Huddersfield, achieving a 2-1 comeback win against Birmingham City and disastrous 4-0 drubbing away to Burnley. The six goals conceded may go against his reputation for enjoying a solid defence, though the first goal of his tenure, scored emphatically by Joe Hungbo constituted a Warnock counter for the ages, with the ball flying from Huddersfield goalie Nicholas Bilokapic to the back of their opponents net in just twelve seconds. The second goal, which turned out to be the winner, was scored in similar fashion, with Bilokapic blasting the ball down the left flank for Jaheim Headley, who took two touches and fired past John Ruddy to put Town in the driver’s seat.

Warnock has clearly wasted no time in instituting his definitive style of play in Huddersfield. Vincent Kompany’s Burnley side are one of the most formidable Championship teams in the league’s history, so it isn’t worth reading too deeply into that blip. Neil Warnock has come out of retirement to bless the struggling Huddersfield Town, and he is well on his way to defying relegation again. “F****** character.”