QPR struck gold with perfect 2010 decision - It transformed the club | OneFootball

Neil Warnock is marmite to EFL fans - but in west London, he is adored

Neil Warnock has a mixed reputation among English Football League clubs, with the experienced manager boasting the most promotions in the English leagues.

The Yorkshireman has won a record eight promotions in English football, the most recent of which came with Cardiff City in the 2017/18 campaign.

From Gainsborough Trinity and Scarborough to Crystal Palace and Leeds United, Warnock has taken charge of 16 clubs and few figures in the EFL have ever been more vaunted, successful and polarising, too - though the man himself relishes the latter.

One club that he certainly adored at is Queens Park Rangers, where he took a struggling Championship side and returned them to the Premier League for the first time in 15 years.

Relegation fears allayed by Neil Warnock’s turnaround at QPR

Whilst Neil Warnock’s pedigree is largely based on his eight promotions in English football, the experienced manager has had his fair share of relegation battles.

With Crystal Palace handed a 10-point deduction after entering administration, Warnock decided to depart Selhurst Park in March 2010, joining London rivals QPR once compensation between the two clubs was sorted out.

Although the points deduction had taken Palace from play-off contention to midtable and into striking zone of the relegation spots, QPR were in a much worse league position.

Warnock arrived with the Hoops three points off the bottom three, with 14 games remaining in the Championship season.

But by the end of the campaign QPR were safe by some margin – ending the season 14th, just a place and two points off Palace despite eight positions separating the two sides at the time of Warnock’s appointment.

Warnock was as much a firefighter as he was a promotion specialist, having also gained a historic reputation for guiding teams away from the drop. That's exactly what he did at Cardiff too, but QPR were in real dire straits when he took charge and few could have envisaged the success which would soon be delivered.

Familiar faces and newfound star help Neil Warnock lead QPR to promotion

With Championship status secured, QPR gave Warnock a healthy budget to aim for promotion in the 2010/11 season.

As Warnock was known to do at many clubs across the EFL, he reunited with some of his trusted lieutenants at Loftus Road.

After beating the drop in the 2009-10 season, Warnock raided former club Crystal Palace to sign Shaun Derry and Clint Hill on free transfers. That same summer he dealt with another ex-employer to sign Paddy Kenny, with QPR paying Sheffield United £750,000 to reunite manager and goalkeeper.

Warnock and Kenny would go on to work together at five different clubs, firstly at Bury in the 90s, before spells at Sheffield United, QPR, Leeds United, and Rotherham.

Rob Hulse, who had also played under Warnock at Sheffield United, was drafted in from Derby County to bolster QPR’s frontline. QPR paid Derby £1,000,000 for the striker, with Warnock looking to base his squad on tried-and-tested players.

But it was not just familiar faces that Warnock relied upon to change QPR’s fortunes.

Just as he had done so at Crystal Palace with Victor Moses, Warnock identified a player that needed a specific style of management to get the most out of him.

That would be Adel Taarabt, the mercurial Moroccan on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. After successfully beating the drop, Warnock pushed for QPR to sign the midfielder permanently for £1,000,000, appointing Taarabt captain.

That paid off, as the number 10’s skilful performances produced 19 goals and a further 21 assists in 44 Championship appearances.

Warnock's relationship with the maverick maestro is historic; Taarabt was by no means the easiest personality to handle, as is well-documented, but the then-QPR boss had near-unbreakable patience in order to get the very best out of the magician.

Taarabt enjoyed arguably the finest individual campaign in the division's history and was named Championship player of the year for the 2010/11 season, also earning a spot in the Championship team of the year alongside teammate Kenny.

Overall, Warnock’s transfer business helped QPR go from a successful relegation battle in 2009/10 to Championship title winners in 2010/11.

Taarabt offered immense star quality, of course, and QPR simply would not have gained promotion were it not for his otherworldly exploits that year, but Warnock built the team around him in the first place and deserves huge credit for taking QPR to the Premier League so soon after they had been fighting to retain their second-tier status.

It's no wonder, then, why Warnock is still adored in QPR quarters to this very day.