Neil Warnock gathers the leaders of his newly assembled Queens Park Rangers side into his office. Anointed players like Clint Hill and Shaun Derry had the experience, maturity and capabilities to lead any side towards promotion in 2011. Any one of them could be captain; except he had gathered the players to tell to them none of them will be gaining the captaincy. Instead, he had chosen Adel Taraabt.

The wizardly 21-year-old Moroccan with attitude issues was the chosen man. Despite the confusion and insanity they may have thought about at the time, that decision proved to be one of Warnock's greatest masterstrokes. Taraabt's ego was secured. It was license to reign hell upon his rivals. Nutmeg after nutmeg, Taraabt terrorised defenders and probably gave them nightmares.

The 2010-11 promotion winning QPR team will go down as Warnock's greatest achievement. His skill to create an environment which extracted the potency of the raw talent inside a self-centred player like Taraabt is nothing short than impressive. Even the greatest managers would have had trouble forming the necessary pieces to suit the Moroccan.

For all his old-fashion tactics and style, Warnock has been an ever-lasting presence in English football. With a football career spamming 50 years, and a managerial career spamming all the way back to 1980, Warnock is one of the last figures of the old generation. Some will happily wave goodbye to their old tormentor, others will reminisce. Eight promotions split across 15 clubs is the highest total of any manager in England. He is the conqueror of the English Football League.

Despite never making it as an established Premier League manager, he made the Football League his own. His latest promotion with Cardiff City over a year ago displayed his masterful abilities to transform a club's fortune. After Cardiff were relegated from the Premier League in 2014, they had tripped close to the drop zone in the second division. In 2016, Warnock rescued the Welsh side from 23rd to 12th. The following year he defeated all odds and usurped his way into promotion.

Last season was likely to be his final term in the Premier League, as he declared he will help to find a successor to his position. The additional tragic loss of Emiliano Sala increased the burden on Warnock as a manager, but also as a human being. "I've been in football management now 40 years, I think it's by far the most difficult week in my career, by an absolute mile," he said after the terrible incident occurred.

"It's traumatic. Even now, I can't get my head around the situation. When I look at Romina and the family, etc. I think it's such a difficult time. I keep looking at my own children and thinking what I would be doing now as well. So it's very traumatic. My sympathies are with them."

On retiring he stated: "I think nearly 24 hours a day in the last week, that would be true to say. Even as I sit here now, I think that would be [true]. There are more important things. It takes something like this to make you realise."

Tragedy and grief can consume people for months or years. A date cannot be attached for when someone will overcome it. Warnock's leadership to guide Cardiff through the difficult end to last season, and continue for an additional season, is a sign of the man that wants to leave one last mark on the game, before he departs forever. He entered the decade by building one of his supreme teams, but hopes he produces one more Warnock-esque season at the end of it with a ninth promotion.