What Neil Warnock said when he was first appointed at Cardiff City - Vincent Tan played a blinder | OneFootball

Football League World looks into the archives at Neil Warnock's first words after being appointed as Cardiff City manager back in 2016

It would be fair to say that controversial Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan, as an arguable consequence of design in the first place, has seldom lucked out with managerial appointments in recent years.

The Bluebirds burned through both Erol Bulut and Omer Riza in the 2024/25 campaign before handing the caretaker job for the final three matches of the season to Aaron Ramsey, who was unable to pick up the pieces and preserve the club's Championship status as they suffered relegation to League One for the first time in a generation.

Indeed, since the start of 2021, Cardiff have had no fewer than seven permanent managers at the helm. During that time, perhaps only Neil Harris represented something of a success, having led Cardiff to a fifth-placed finish in his opening season, but he was relieved of his duties midway through the 2020/21 campaign.

If you assess the last decade, however, there is one notable outlier in the form of Neil Warnock. The Yorkshireman, who has achieved a record-breaking eight EFL promotions throughout a storied career in the dugout, delivered rare success in the Welsh capital and is still revered by the club's faithful supporters to this very day.

His time at Cardiff was the last real, sustained success the club enjoyed, so it's little wonder why much of his tenure remains fondly remembered.

But what did Warnock say after first taking the job back in 2016? Football League World takes a closer look...

Neil Warnock's first words after being appointed as Cardiff City manager

Warnock was appointed as Cardiff manager in October 2016 following the sacking of Paul Trollope, who left the Welsh side 23rd in the Championship after claiming just two wins from his opening 11 matches.

Trollope's dismissal paved the way for Warnock to return to management after choosing to walk away from Rotherham United in the wake of their dramatic second-tier survival the previous season, and he was enthused by the opportunity through a show of faith from chairman Mehmet Dalman during discussions over the role.

He also detailed his admiration for Cardiff supporters, who he dubbed "my kind of crowd", and those words particularly came to effect during his time in charge.

After being unveiled as Cardiff manager, Warnock said: "I enjoyed it at Rotherham last year and I've got seven promotions and, I can't tell a lie, I thought I was trying to get that eighth promotion.

"I decided to wait - I had talks with three or four clubs from the summer onwards and it never materialised and, although I was disappointed, I'm a big believer in fate and when this cropped up, I had one phone call from Mehmet and it was straight away.

"I always want to feel wanted and he told me straight away I was his number one target, the club's number one target, and that goes a long way I think.

"I've always liked it here. I've always liked getting off the bus. Everywhere I go I get stick, but at Cardiff, I get on quite well with the Cardiff lads.

"I'm sure the same people are there by the bus with their autograph books.

"I've always had good banter with the Cardiff people. They are my kind of crowd, blood and guts and all that, which I like.

"If I can get it right for them I know they will get behind me and that's what keeps me going at the moment.

"There's some mouth-watering games coming up too. When I looked at the fixture list, it was not one of trepidation, it was one of looking forward to it really because that's the way I am."

Neil Warnock was a rare Vincent Tan, Cardiff City managerial success story

Warnock spoke of his ambitions to secure that once-elusive eighth promotion, which were achieved the following season after guiding Cardiff to mid-table security in his first term in charge.

Despite competition from the likes of Fulham, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, all of whom had vastly superior budgets and, on paper, playing squads too, Cardiff romped to automatic promotion in the 2017/18 season by finishing in second place behind Nuno Espirito Santo's star-studded, heavily-bankrolled Wolverhampton Wanderers side, which boasted future superstars such as Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota at the time.

Rightly so, it remains one of the great second-tier success stories in recent history, and Warnock took immense credit for galvanising the squad and the city of Cardiff alike.

They were only narrowly relegated from the Premier League the following season but put up much more of a fight than almost anybody had dared to anticipate, finishing two points shy of 17th-placed Brighton and Hove Albion. It's worth noting just how much went against the Bluebirds that year too, such as the tragic passing of Emiliano Sala en-route to signing for City from Nantes in a club-record deal and myriad contentious refereeing decisions, namely Cesar Azpilicueta's infamous offside goal in the 2-1 home defeat to Chelsea.

The promotion season was about as good as it got under Warnock, who failed to really get Cardiff going the following season as they fell short of delivering on widely-held promotion expectations. Cardiff and Warnock ultimately parted company in November 2019 after a 1-0 home loss to rivals Bristol City left them 14th in the Championship table.

Warnock's time in the Welsh capital did not end on a high note, unfortunately, but his impact and legacy remain intact as a rare success in an otherwise-troubled recent history under Tan's ownership.