Cardiff City have pointedly distanced themselves from Neil Warnock after their manager voiced his views on Brexit during a press conference.
Somewhat off-piste, Warnock said “to hell with the rest of the world” and that he “couldn’t wait to leave the European Union” after being asked about the difficulties of signing players during the January transfer window.
Asked whether Britain leaving the EU in March could harm his chances of bringing in players from abroad, Warnock gave the least surprising reply imaginable:
I think once the country knows what they’re doing, it will be straightforward (to make signings).
Any transfer window is difficult for me, not just this one. I don’t know why politicians don’t do what the country wants, if I’m honest.
They had a referendum and now we see different politicians and everyone else trying to put their foot in it. Why did we have a referendum in the first bloody place?
I can’t wait to get out of it, if I’m honest. I think we’ll be far better out of the bloody thing.
In every aspect. Football-wise as well, absolutely. To hell with the rest of the world.
Who’d have thought that Warnock, a man with history of lamenting the amount of forrens snatching English jobs from English managers, would adopt such a decidedly conservative political stance?
Unsurprisingly, Cardiff – a club who are owned by a Malaysian businessman, carry ‘Visit Malaysia’ adverts on their shirts and throughout their stadium, employ a lot of foreign staff and have a dressing room currently consisting of players from Spain, Denmark, Canada, Iceland, Gabon, the Ivory Coast and the Philippines – have been quick to distance themselves from Warnock’s views.
The Daily Echo received a statement from Cardiff that reads thus:
Comments made by our manager following Saturday’s fixture are representative of his personal political stance.
These comments do not reflect the political position of Cardiff City Football Club, nor its board of directors.
To hell with them, then. To hell with everybody.