Leeds United among 'top six sides in England' according to new boss Neil Warnock

The 63-year-old has signed an 18-month contract at Elland Road, with the objective simply to get the club back amongst the elite in the Premier League

20 Feb 2012 18:10:00

By Alex Richards

More On :  Leeds, Neil Warnock
Neil Warnock
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New Leeds United manager Neil Warnock has claimed that the Championship side are "one of the top half-dozen" clubs in England.

The 63-year-old also revealed that he is looking forward to guiding the team back to the Premier League after an absence of eight years.

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Warnock was sacked as manager of QPR in January, but has now put pen-to-paper on an 18-month contract at Elland Road

"The club itself must be one of the top half-a-dozen in the country," Warnock told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

"There’s no local rivals, it’s just a one club city. They’ve got every ingredient they need."

Warnock accepted the job offer from chairman Ken Bates some 20 years after turning down an offer, from the same man, to manager Chelsea.

"It was a shame really," Warnock said.  "I was just starting out in my career and I thought London, or going down below Watford – well, I didn’t think anyone lived or survived down there.

"I went twice and got stopped on the motorway for four hours on both occasions. I wasn’t really into that.

"Also, the lads at Notts County put a lot of pressure on me to stay and help them out because we’d got two promotions in two years, and I felt morally obliged to do so.

"I think Ken appreciated that, but he was surprised when I turned the offer down. Over the years a number of people told me how stupid I was but I always do stupid things.

"When I left Notts County I went to Torquay for 17 games and they were bottom of the league - I’m not a predictable person."

However, Warnock was unable to refuse Bates for a second time this week, and the new Leeds boss is looking to work with his chairman to to strengthen his new side’s push for a play-off place.

Leeds are currently just three points adrift of the top-six in the Championship and the former Crystal Palace man believes that with a slight improvement to his new squad, the opportunity of promotion is there this season.

"The chairman was supportive when I spoke to him. He knows I feel we need two or three players if we can get the right ones to supplement what we've already got," Warnock told the club's official website.

"One of the reasons for coming was because there's an opportunity there. The size of the club is geared for that situation. It's fair to say that the squad has to improve, but there are a lot of players here so they have to prove it at the same time. The challenge is there."

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