Warnock has committed his future to the club ahead of the takeover going through
Neil Warnock had many reasons to stay at Huddersfield Town after pulling off the incredible by keeping the club in the Championship. The response of the club’s supporters who chanted for him to stay, the enjoyment factor he was feeling after a surprise return from his latest retirement and then there was Dean Hoyle’s request for yet another big favour.
“Dean came to see me first of all and I have known Dean a long time. I came back for Dean really,” explained Warnock. “I thought he was going to ask me something else and he said: ‘Come on, Neil, please, why not’ I thought: ‘well, it’s not even going to be your problem, what are you on about.’ That’s how it was.
“Some of the lads came to see me and said ‘please gaffer, would you consider it’. It wasn’t a thing then as I had made up my mind, but it was just one thing after another. When they were chanting one more year, I picked the microphone up and said: ‘yeah, but I lose the first five games and it’s get him out of here – get another manager.’ I know that’s the life of football.”
Despite those requests it took something else to convince Warnock to not go back into a retirement he was enjoying, and that was the opportunity to play a big part in helping the club in a crucial part of their history.
With a takeover going through and new ownership and directors arriving, it’s going to be all change at the John Smith’s Stadium. What Warnock felt the club really needed was to at least have stability with the manager, knowing he could be the perfect man to help the new owner find his feet at the club and in the Championship.
“With Jake (Edwards) coming in and hopefully Kevin (M. Nagle) in the next few weeks, they have got enough on their plate. To have a stable manager means they have not got to do everything,” says Warnock.
“Because he will have to do everything long term. It just takes a little bit away from a massive job and you forget these people are moving house and families. I was told the two worst things in life are moving house and divorce. It’s nice for me to put something back into it.”
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The moment which proved Huddersfield Town was the right club for Kevin M. Nagle
The American businessman is close to being named new Terriers owner with his takeover deal close to completion
Kevin M. Nagle is widely expected to complete his takeover of Huddersfield Town imminently.
The American businessman’s buyout moved a giant step closer this week as the Terriers confirmed that he had passed the English Football League’s owners’ and directors’ test.
Newly-appointed chief executive Jake Edwards accepts that it has been a “frustratingly slow process” for Nagle and the club’s fan-base over the last few weeks but is optimistic the deal will “soon” be rubberstamped. It was also confirmed this week that veteran manager Neil Warnock will be staying on for the 2023-24 campaign.
And speaking about the owner-in-waiting, Warnock says one moment in particular will have shown Nagle that Town are the right club for him – the atmosphere he will have witnessed in the win over Reading on the final day of last season, with safety already assured.
“He saw the passion and the commitment and everything about the family, because it’s a family club,” Warnock said.
“(It’s) One of the last ones who are family-orientated. Wherever I go into the supermarkets, they can’t believe it’s me pushing a trolley around, but that’s how we are around here. We muck in and get on with it here.”
Indeed Nagle took to social media to praise the Huddersfield fans following that aforementioned win over the Royals to round off the 2022-23 season. He wrote: “Can’t say enough about the warm welcome I received from the Town fans. You can’t help but love them and the team. The 2-0 win was frosting on the cake. Thank you all!!”
