Neil Warnock says taking Cardiff City to the Premier League was the greatest achievement of his stellar managerial career.
Warnock, who was last in charge of Championship side Middlesbrough, announced his retirement from football on TV over the weekend. You can read more about that here.
It's a decision that brings an end to a remarkable 41-year career in management, with Warnock taking the hot-seat of 16 different clubs. The 73-year-old also holds the record for the highest number of promotions in English football, his eighth of which came in the capital back in 2018.
READ MORE: What became of Vincent Tan's Cardiff City managers during his 12 years at the Bluebirds helm
But reflecting upon those incredible years of wonderful highs, Warnock had little hesitation in dubbing his efforts for Cardiff as number one. When casting his mind back to when he first took over in 2016, Warnock told BBC Radio Wales he inherited a significant rebuilding job in the capital, with City facing up to the possibility of a disastrous relegation to League One.
"I have to say, I thought it was my biggest achievement really," he said. "I don't think anybody will mind me saying that when I took over I thought it was a heck of a mess. The whole club. On and off the field. I was determined to more or less build it up from nothing and get all the fans back.
"That was the first priority. Get all the fans back on side. Then help Vincent (Tan) achieve what he wanted. Really, I couldn't have done it without Mehmet Dalman, the chairman. He was as good a chairman as I've had. Still is a very good friend. Together, we more or less went about setting everything up. I told him what I felt was wrong and why we had to change things. We agreed with a lot and together it worked."
Warnock left the Bluebirds in 2019 after failing to prevent a relegation from the Premier League, but still enjoys a special bond with many fans. "There were no better places than the Cardiff City Stadium on match-day," he continued. "That crowd was buzzing, it used to send the hairs up on the back of my neck coming out there. I think what needed doing and, as I said, what we achieved was probably the best achievement I've done really."
Warnock is set to go over his career in front of a Cardiff's St David's Hall audience in September. where he will likely give more detail of his best memories in south Wales and beyond. Indeed, his connection to the club is still just as strong, and he's been following City's progress under latest boss Steve Morison closely.
"I was glad that they got out the mess they did earlier in the season. For a few weeks it looked a little precarious down at the bottom this season. But they've steadied the ship and now it'll be interesting for me to look from a distance at how they progress," he said.
Warnock has, of course, tried to retire before, only to return to answer an SOS call from a struggling club. He fully intends on this being for real this time, although he interestingly hasn't totally ruled out a return at some point.
"The answer to that is you don't actually know until it happens," he replied when asked if he might be tempted to return. "I have retired a few times now. But Sharon and I have got one or two things we want to do and one or two of my best mates aren't too well at the moment health wise.
"I'm very lucky that I've had good doctors at each club I've been at. I've had good people around me. But I had a couple of blood clots in my legs with the Covid. I think it just brought it home to me really. I'm always putting fires out and building clubs up, clubs that are probably at the bottom of where they should be."
Warnock will not only go down as one of Cardiff's greatest managers, but will also likely be in the nightmares of referees for years to come. "I haven't had one referee wish me all the best in the future. You can't believe that can you," he stated.
