Neil Warnock has revealed that managing Cardiff City has been the toughest job he has faced in his 39-year managerial career.

The 70-year-old will be marking three years at the helm with his side's match against West Brom tomorrow, during which time he has led the Bluebirds towards promotion and then seen them relegated from the top-flight.

The Welsh side are now starting to look comfortable in their surroundings after dropping down from the top-flight last term, and Warnock will be hoping his side can extend their unbeaten league run to seven matches with a positive result against Albion.

Warnock has endured some difficult spells during his entire managerial career to date but, speaking in his pre-match press conference, he issued a definitive response when questioned whether the Cardiff job has been his toughest in football so far.

"Yeah. Overall, with everything to deal with, not just football," Warnock told Wales Online.

"The toughest by far. I’ve come through it by only reading fans’ forums when we’ve won a game! As a manager you have beliefs and through adversity you get tested on whether you’re doing the right thing."

The former Sheffield United boss has credited the fan base with helping him through the last three years, while he also admitted he had doubts regarding his side earlier in the season but these have since been quashed.

"The only time since I’ve been at the club since I’ve doubted where we were going is probably five minutes to go at Reading this season. I looked round and it wasn’t one of my teams and I wondered if there would be a response and there was. A wonderful response from the next game," he added.

"I wouldn’t have wanted to stand on the touchline with performances like that, with the crowd unhappy. One of the pleasing things for me is making the crowd happy."

The Verdict

It is not too much of a surprise that Warnock has found the Cardiff job so tough given the obstacles his side have needed to overcome during his time at the club.

He needed to reinvigorate the club when he arrived back in 2016 and he eventually managed to prove he had achieved just that in the 2017/18 campaign when his side earned Premier League promotion.

Warnock endured an extremely difficult season at the club last term which saw his Cardiff side struggle on the pitch, while they also needed to contend with the tragic death of Emiliano Sala soon after his January move to the club. The testing season ultimately resulted in Cardiff dropping out of the top-flight after just one year.

It will be interesting to see how he is remembered by Cardiff fans when his time at the club comes to an end, and it seems likely that much of his legacy will depend on the Bluebirds' success this campaign.

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