Is Neil Warnock’s comments about Wolverhampton Wanderers and Jorge Mendes a reflection of Cardiff’s Premier League struggles?
It’s fair to say Neil Warnock has a rather unpleasant history with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
As recently as April, the veteran gaffer called his Molineux counterpart Nuno Espirito Santo a ‘total disgrace’ after his Cardiff City side missed two late penalties to lose 1-0 at home to Wolves in a virtual Championship title decider.
Both Cardiff and Wolves ended the season in the division’s top two but the two newly promoted sides have enjoyed differing spells since their return to the Premier League.
While Nuno’s side have taken the division by storm, sitting just three points adrift of the Champions League places, Cardiff are bottom with two points from eight games.
And, in quotes reported by the Birmingham Mail, Warnock has aimed another barb at his Midland-based rivals.
“I don’t know where the club would go if I do leave,” Warnock said. “Unless Jorge Mendes brings a manager and five players in January and runs three clubs.”
Warnock is not the only critic to have questioned Wolves’ relationship with Mendes, the Portuguese super-agent who helped bring the likes of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Diogo Jota and Nuno himself to Molineux thanks to his close connection with Wolves’ Chinese owners, Fosun International.
But Cardiff did spend themselves over the summer and, with the likes of Josh Murphy and Bobby Reid struggling to justify their price-tags, maybe Warnock should look closer to home when criticising recruitment.
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