Neil Warnock

Coaching Sessions

Quick movement in the final third

Attacking

Quick, intelligent play in the final third is essential if a team is going to create and convert goalscoring opportunities. I like to run this session because it coaches players in manipulating the ball, using a variety of turns and techniques. We look at combination play, movement, dribbling, as well as attacking and counter-attacking at speed.

Defensive team shape

Defending

The key with this session is to teach defenders when to mark the man and when to mark space, with the philosophy of ‘being in position when out of possession’.

High speed counter-attacks

Attacking

The counter-attack is an integral element of the modern game and teams can utilise this tactic to their advantage. This session specifically encourages attackers to make key penetrating movements that are all very realistic to a game situation.

The confrontation line

Formations & Tactics

This exclusive session is about counter-attacking in a 4-3-3 formation, with the use of a ‘confrontation line’. This virtual line gives players a unique positioning point to defend up to before releasing a counter-attack.

Biography

Currently in charge of Middlesbrough, Neil Warnock is one of the most experienced managers in English football and a member of the LMA’s 1000 Club hall of fame. In a 38-year career, the long list of clubs he has managed includes Notts County, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, QPR and Leeds United. He has achieved eight promotions, a record in English football, and three of these promotions have been to the Premier League. As a player, he was a winger for Chesterfield, Rotherham United, Hartlepool United, Scunthorpe, Aldershot, Barnsley, York City and Crewe Alexandra, but he retired at the age of 30 to move into coaching. His first managerial job was with non-league Gainsborough Trinity in 1980. He subsequently managed Burton Albion and Scarborough, winning promotion to the Football League with the latter in 1987. He achieved more notable success with Notts County, leading the ‘Magpies’ from the Third Division to the top flight in successive seasons. After a brief spell at Torquay, he moved to Huddersfield in 1993, winning promotion to the First Division through the play-offs in his second season. He enjoyed more play-off success with Plymouth Argyle, leading the club to the Second Division. In 1999 he was appointed manager of his boyhood club, Sheffield United. He took the ‘Blades’ to the semi-finals of both the League Cup and the FA Cup in 2003, and earned promotion to the Premier League as Championship runners-up in 2006. After a spell at Crystal Palace, he joined QPR in 2010, winning the Championship and promotion to the Premier League. In 2014 he briefly returned to top flight to manage Crystal Palace for a second time. He was appointed manager of Cardiff in 2016, rebuilding the team and taking the Welsh club to promotion to the Premier League. He was honoured with an LMA Special Achievement award in 2018, after becoming the first manager to win eight promotions in the professional leagues of English football.

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