One manager felt major regret after turning down the offer to take over as Chelsea manager, with the club back on the hunt for a new coach
Former Premier League chief Neil Warnock once said turning down the Chelsea job “destroyed” him. His misstep was made to feel that much worse after he was sacked from his coaching position at the time not long after rejecting the gig in west London.
Warnock, 77, was impressing at the Notts County helm when he got the club promoted to England’s top flight in 1991. It was around that time he received a big-money offer from Chelsea, who are once again on the hunt after firing Liam Rosenior, but rebuffed their advances to remain at Meadow Lane.
In the end, Warnock rued the decision as he failed to keep County up and was later fired from his job in January 1993. And he described his remorse in what could have been the most significant appointment of his career.
“I’ve never been at a club where I thought we had got to go and try and win the league,” he said on Seaman Says, brought to you by Betway, last year. “I have won leagues, but I’ve never had a team where we’ve been favourite or everybody thought we should be doing this. I’ve always had to sort of build it. I’ve always gone into a club that’s rock bottom.
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“I know it sounds silly but I’m at Torquay now. I was in the top flight with Notts County. I took them up from the third division to the first, which is the Premier League now, in consecutive years.
“I turned Chelsea down, I turned Sunderland down and stayed put. And then they sacked me six months later, and it destroyed me. After what I’d done, I thought, ‘wow’.”
Warnock later went on to enjoy Premier League campaigns leading the likes of QPR, Sheffield United and Cardiff City. However, he’ll always wonder what might have been had he assumed control at Stamford Bridge when offered the chance.
Warnock’s stint with County ended more than 30 years ago and he’s since gone on to have another 17 coaching appointments in different capacities. So while the manner in which he exited the club may have “destroyed” his will at the time, it clearly didn’t kill it completely.
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The journeyman is currently working in an advisor capacity at Torquay United, who came out of administration last year. The club currently play in the National League South and are due to feature in the semi-finals of the play-offs on Saturday.
Earn promotion there and a couple more steps up could bring Warnock back into contact with former employers Notts County. And with that would come the chance for revenge more than three decades after the club dented his confidence with an unceremonious sacking.
