Boothroyd has respect for Warnock

28 December 2010 10:09
Warnock brings QPR to The Ricoh Table topping QPR visit The Ricoh today for the lunchtime televised game and Coventry City will be determined to put in a far better shift than the woeful display served up on Boxing Day at Cardiff. QPR are managed by Neil Warnock, who is one of those Marmite managers, you either love him or loathe him, but the City boss gets on well with his opposite number. I actually get on very well with Neil,” said Boothroyd. “I know a lot of people don’t but I find him all right.  I think he’s a decent guy and the game is definitely better with him in it." “Before the whistle goes he talks a lot of sense; when the whistle goes and he’s on the touchline he becomes a different animal and some people get upset by his antics. He upsets referees and says things he shouldn’t, he’s probably kept the FA going with the fines he’s paid over the years,but that’s because he wants to win and I don’t have any problem with that; I respect him, I really do." “He’s a wily old dog is Neil. He knows what it takes to win and what it takes to get promotions, because I think he’s had six or seven in his time. Look what he did at Crystal Palace.Despite the state that they were in he turned it round and got them to the play-offs. I think they were a penalty kick away from getting to the final. “I crossed swords with him a few times at Sheffield United when his teams beat mine and I beat his and we all got promoted in 2006 so we know our way round the Championship.” QPR are 10 points clear of Coventry City and have game in hand over The Sky Blues and are riding high after a 4-0 thrashing of fellow promotion chasing Swansea. One of Rangers' stand out players is the Moroccan Adel Taarabt who, set the goal scored by Jamie Mackie’s opener , he won a penalty  which was converted by Heidar Helguson and then scored two goals of his own, which now gives him 11 goals for the season.  “Taarabt is a terrific player,” said Boothroyd, “but if we just prepare for him, we’ve got a problem.  We have to respect him but I don’t think that Jamie Mackie is a mug, I don’t think that Rob Hulse is a mug, I don’t think that Heidar Helguson is a mug. They’re good players, too, and they’ve got that quality all the way through the team.They are a very professional side. " "They’ve got a nice balance of experience, nous and nastiness, they’ve got pace and poise, they’ve got legs in the team and a terrific keeper as well. They’ve spent some money so they’ve got a big squad and they can change things around when they have to." "There’s no question that it’s going to be a very difficult game for us but I’m looking forward to it after a very disappointing performance at Cardiff on Boxing Day. We’ve got to respond very quickly and we’ve got to respond well, but one prerequisite for any team is honesty and we’ve got bundles of that, so what an opportunity to prove how good a team we can be when we do what we’re good at.” Coventry are still in sixth place in the Championship despite earning just one point in their last three games, but Boothroyd is confident his side will still be pushing for a top six finish come the end of the season. “We’re still in the mix,”said Boothroyd,  “there are no runaway leaders and it’s going right to the wire. There are ten or 12 sides that could get into the play-offs and maybe five or six that can win it.”

Source: FOOTYMAD