"It's simple really. He took us back to basics and likes to play attractive football as well. People have a different perception of his style, but the football we're playing and the goals we're scoring speaks for itself." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...m-smiling.html

Reading these comments by Hogan Ephraim in the Telegraph tonight really brought home the fact that we are probably the first club Warnock has managed which plays such attractive free-flowing football (a far cry from the hoof-ball style he's been branded with).

Which comes down to two (perhaps obvious) factors:

Firstly, maybe for the first time in his career he actually has the backing to invest in the type of players he truly likes, even though in reality he's spent very prudently (a point that seems to be have been missed by most not associated with the club).

Secondly, by his own admission he says that 10 years ago he would never have signed a player like Taarabt, let alone build the whole team around.

So we now seem to be reaping the benefits of an older and much wiser Neil Warnock. You get the sense that in the twilight of his career there's a little less of that anger and bullishness and more of simply enjoying himself and instructing the players to do the same, as well as using all his years of experience and tactical nous of course. This also very much came across on on the Talksport show this afternoon. Out of all the guests they had on he was by far the most impressive in terms of knowledge and understanding of the game, not to mention that natural humour and wit.