Ex-Leeds United defender Stephen Warnock has opened up on his time at the club.
Former Leeds United defender Stephen Warnock has told the Daily Express that he regrets not guiding the club back to the Premier League before his exit.
The Whites have undergone major changes in recent years, and whilst things appear to be going well under manager Marcelo Bielsa and current owner Andrea Radrizzani right now, fans will have memories of the time under Massimo Cellino.
The controversial Italian businessman arrived in 2014 and made all sorts of bizarre decisions, such as offloading Paddy Kenny due to a superstition over the number 17, and having the Elland Road pitch blessed by a priest.
Known as ‘The Manager Eater’ from his time with Cagliari in Italy, Cellino lived up to his nickname at Elland Road, offloading a number of managers in quick succession.
Brian McDermott, David Hockaday, Darko Milanic, Neil Redfearn, Uwe Rosler and Steve Evans were all sacked by Cellino, before he sold his stake in the club to Radrizzani to complete his exit following major fan backlash over his reign.
Cellino is at least out of sight now he’s back in Italy with Brescia, but he’s certainly still in the minds of former Leeds players who sat through his era at Elland Road.
One player who left Leeds under Cellino’s reign was left back Stephen Warnock, who was sold to Derby County in January 2015, and he has told the Daily Express that it was ’embarrassing’ under Cellino, with players even having to bring their own lunches to training.
Warnock, who has since retired, added that he has one major regret about his time with Leeds, and that’s that he didn’t help guide the club back to the Premier League during his time in West Yorkshire.
“I was at Leeds and we had the infamous Massimo Cellino come in,” said Warnock. “That just changed everything for the worst for me. When I went into the club it was in a bit of a difficult position but there was still a good feeling around the place. He came in and suddenly just wanted to turn over everything. We had to bring in packed lunches in. It was embarrassing. For a club of Leeds’ size. We used to pay for our meals at Leeds and he stopped at everything, even that! He wouldn’t hire a chef that we were paying for. He wouldn’t have one come in. He told us to bring our own lunches instead. It just comes to a point where you think ‘this is comical’. And that was a bad time at Leeds, when he was there. There’s a lot of things that went on behind the scenes that people don’t know about. Sometimes it does filter through to the players.”
“I loved it. It was brilliant. Such a big club and my biggest regret was not getting up into the Premier League with them. That’s what we all wanted to do. I was honoured to be captain there at such a big club and you realise more when you play for them how big it actually it. But the last three or four months I got to the point where I needed to leave. I never wanted to leave but I felt I had to and that was due to the owner,” he added.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
