There was something permanent about Neil Warnock as he stood motionless on the sidelines in the gray drizzle of a South Wales Sunday afternoon.
Seasons come and go, empires come and go, civilizations collapse, but Warnock endures. His gritty, granitic features and slightly reptilian demeanor suggest he entered management directly from the sea sometime during the early Paleozoic Era.
Football’s version of carbon dating shows that this was the 1617th time he took the lead in professional football. The 74-year-old predates Ramadan breaks, the disappearing spray of referees, technical areas, the back-pass rule, even the introduction of playoffs and all-seater stadiums.
He wasn’t there at the start of football, but you feel he could be there when the last pins are cleared after the substitutes’ last warm-up in history. And chances are he will still succeed – making a difference by saving clubs like Huddersfield from the abyss.
There was more than a glint in Warnock’s eye when asked about this game and the possibility of returning to Cardiff and saving Huddersfield from a drop to League One, while simultaneously relegating the hosts.
Neil Warnock has pulled off another remarkable rescue by taking Huddersfield to the brink of safety
Their win at his former club Cardiff failed to bring down the opposition, but he looked delighted nonetheless
In his 19th job in professional football, Warnock is still the effervescent character he was twenty years ago
It was Cardiff who showed Warnock the door in November 2019, ending his 17th job in management. That was just over a year after he brought the Bluebirds to the Premier League. Job No. 18 was in Middlesbrough for a short period of time before taking on the current position of Terriers Responsible.
The personal glee of sending Cardiff down was denied to him by his former team’s midweek win at Rotherham, meaning Sunday was all about his own business, rather than ruining someone else’s.
Warnock kept a low profile for the most part as his vibrant team buzzed and buzzed with much more energy than the hosts. When substitute Joseph Hungbo was fouled and knocked the ball past Jak Alnwick just after the hour mark, Warnock barely flinched.
The Huddersfield fans behind goal, Warnock faithful who set their alarms for 5am Sunday, were a massive joyous explosion of relief, but their leader was a statue of stoic impenetrability. There was more animation in the cardboard Warnock masks worn by some of the supporters.
Eight minutes later there was the slightest hint of a smile, as Matty Pearson’s presence in Cardiff’s six-yard box forced Jack Simpson into the own goal that extended the lead.
Joseph Hungbo scored Huddersfield’s opener in a wet and gloomy Cardiff City Stadium
Captain Jonathan Hogg celebrated lavishly as Huddersfield took a giant leap toward survival
Warnock has worked wonders with a side that looked dead and buried when he arrived
The Warnock coaches jumped around on the sideline, but their leader’s jumping days are over. There was a slight shake of the head as Cardiff pulled a goal back, but then it was over and Warnock had led Huddersfield to within a point of safety for the Championship.
A home draw against Sheffield United on Thursday and Huddersfield survive. If not, they have insurance of a last day shooting at home in Reading.
When Warnock arrived at Huddersfield on 13 February they were 23rd and just a point off the bottom. Since then, he has taken 19 points from 14 games, including five wins, enough to take them off the dotted line with two games to go.
When it was over, Warnock beamed and walked towards the traveling fans past the goal in which they had scored twice.
There was Warnock’s famous double uppercut, delivered after a traditional long wind, and even ‘an ayatollah’ to the Cardiff fans who gave him warm applause despite their defeat.
‘There’s only one Neil Warnock’ chanted ecstatic Huddersfield fans, which is true, though he’s not the only seventies proving that escape acts can still be based on know-how and old-school messaging. Roy Hodgson, 75, has given the same at Crystal Palace.
Mixed with Warnock’s pride in his own players and his respect for his former club, routine references to points being denied to him by referee blunders were grumbles that will never be forgotten.
This is the stuff that brings him to the training ground on a cold Monday morning, a mixture of love and hate, pride and bitterness.
He said his players had made him proud since his arrival – explaining how the fixture list and their six-point deficit made it a daunting task
“We were six points behind with a horrific list of games, so these players really made me proud,” he said. “It’s not done yet and we still have to finish the job, but it just shows what you can do. The guys probably surprised themselves, but we have better players than the results we achieved.’
This may have been his last away game before retirement, but he never says never for long. Not while the phone is still ringing.
“I felt emotional when I came back and the reception I got from the Cardiff fans really got me going. I’m a little soft on watching movies these days. I cried at Forrest Gump.”
And the Warnock secret? ‘It’s not rocket science: praising and encouraging people for the work they do. That applies to running a football club or running a convenience store.’