Why sympathy might be in short supply for Marmite manager Neil Warnock

By Steve Stammers

Published 09:00 11/01/12

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By his own admission, Neil Warnock is something of a Marmite individual - you either love him or hate him.

So when news came through this week that he had been unceremoniously dumped as manager of Queens Park Rangers, there would have been a section of football's society where the sympathy would have been distinctly underwhelming.

"Never his fault whenever his teams lose," is the common assertion. "It is always down to someone else ... refereeing decisions, a bad tackle, and offside goal."

But cold, hard facts dictate that Warnock had a raw deal - not a sentence that many would have uttered a week ago. In 22 months he took Queens Park Rangers into the cash-rich Premier League and to a position of relative safety in the top echelon. Newly-teams have fared a lot worse in the first six months than Warnock's.

On the way they have won at Stoke and Wolves. By anyone's standards, decent away wins. They have also beaten Chelsea. And yet Warnock finds himself out of work - and it does beg the question: what did he do wrong that Owen Coyle, Roberto Martinez and Steve Kean are doing right ?

At Bolton, Coyle's men appear to have won just a handful of matches since their demolition by Stoke in the FA Cup semi-final. And yet never have his credentials been questioned. Not once has there been unrest among the fans.

At Wigan, it seems a fourth from bottom place is the extent of their ambition. They lost at Swindon in the FA Cup last Saturday and such a defeat against lower league opposition has cost many a manager his job in the past. Not even a whisper. It has been suggested that at Wigan, Martinez is in a comfort zone and that is why he rejected the opportunity to take over at Aston Villa. Villa means pressure - Wigan equates to survival. Maybe Martinez knows he is on to a good thing.

And Blackburn? There was a rumour that Kean is safe because the Venkys - the Indian owners of the club - did not realise there was relegation from the Premier League - and the consequent disappearance of £45million of television money. True, Kean's men have pulled out the occasional incredible result, as they did when they drew at Anfield and won at Old Trafford.

They remain anchored in the relegation zone but Kean still managed to negotiate a contract extension.

So as Warnock faces up to life on the dole, he must wonder what he has done wrong and the above trio have done right.

Maybe it is the Marmite factor.
 

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They know their football at Arsenal. No question. With 15 minutes to go and Leeds holding out at 0-0, a frustrated punter screamed at Arsene Wenger:"For something's sake, Wenger, send on Walcott!"

Actually, he had been on the pitch for nearly ten minutes. 

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