The three things Neil Warnock can be proud of from his time as Leeds boss

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Neil Warnock spent around 14 months as Leeds United boss but was unable to deliver promotion.

When Neil Warnock was appointed at Leeds United in February 2012, it appeared that the Whites had made an excellent appointment given that he had taken both Sheffield United and QPR to the Premier League in the previous decade.

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However, his time at Elland Road will not be remembered fondly and he left in April 2013 when promotion was no longer on the radar, and relegation was not completely out of the question.

But can Warnock – who takes his Cardiff side to face Leeds this weekend – be proud of any of the things that happened during his time with the club? Here are three things that he can perhaps reflect positively upon…

FA Cup giant killing

Gareth Bale was swiftly becoming the star at Tottenham that tempted Real Madrid into paying a world record fee just a few months later when he was included in the Spurs side that travelled to Leeds for an FA Cup fourth round tie. The Whites ended up winning 2-1 with Luke Varney and Ross McCormack scoring before Clint Dempsey replied for the away side.

Had Leeds not beaten Manchester United in the same competition as a third tier side just a few years previously, the victory may be remembered even more fondly.

League Cup run

After beating Shrewsbury and Oxford United 4-0 and 3-0 respectively, Leeds were drawn against three top flight teams in a row. And while Chelsea would win comfortably in the quarter-final – though the Whites took the lead before being beaten 5-1 – Leeds did get the better of both Everton and Southampton.

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With the Tottenham victory that was to come later on in the season, Warnock would oversee three wins over Premier League teams, which is undoubtedly impressive.

Giving Sam Byram his chance

Sam Byram

No decision will surely give Warnock more satisfaction from his time at Leeds than his call to hand Sam Byram his first-team debut. After impressing for the youth teams, it was inevitable that Byram would get his chance, but Warnock showed a tremendous amount of faith in him. He would go on to make 44 league appearances that term following his debut on opening day of the campaign.