Leeds United manager Neil Warnock has offered to help the club's owners find his successor, after declaring that he is ready to step down from his position.
Warnock said he would step aside after Leeds' loss at home to Huddersfield Town on Saturday left the three-time English champions seven points below the play-off places in the second-tier Championship.
However, the 64-year-old has told owners GFH Capital, an equity investment firm based in Dubai, that he wants to play a role in the search for his replacement.
"I want them to get the best manager they can get to replace me and some of them might not be available until the summer," said Warnock, whose contract is due to expire in June.
"They're in a situation now where the club is geared for the Premier League.
"The new owners have come in (in December). It was the longest takeover I've ever known. I expected that to be finalised last August, so it has been a difficult eight or nine months for me. But they've come in and they're going to do things steady.
"It's not like they've got to chop and change everything now. I think two or three additions now with a very good squad, the whole club with the fans and everything, it's just geared now.
"I know they've (fans) heard it all before, but I think there's some optimism at the club. It's a great club and I can help them as well whether I'm here or not."
Asked if he was prepared to step aside immediately if a suitable candidate was found, Warnock said: "Goodness me, yes.
"I'm not naive. If we've not got a chance of getting in the play-offs they can do two things: they can ask me to stay on if they can't get the main man, because they might not be able to get him.
"I don't want them to panic and get anybody. I've seen some of the people putting their hat in the ring and quite honestly, I think the club should be patient."
Former Southampton manager Nigel Adkins is the bookmakers' favourite to replace Warnock, while Brighton and Hove Albion coach Gus Poyet and Paolo Di Canio, who recently parted company with Swindon Town, have also been linked with the job.
Source: AFP
