Neil Warnock accuses injury-plagued Derby of getting Cardiff’s Championship clash at Pride Park postponed on purpose
Veteran boss and his squad turned up at the ground despite 'safety concerns' and believes his side have been the victim of underhand tactics
NEIL WARNOCK has launched a scathing attack on Derby County and the local police after the “scandalous” decision to call off Cardiff’s match at Pride Park due to safety concerns.
The Rams announced this morning at 8.30am the bumper Championship promotion clash was off after heavy snowfall in the surrounding areas.
But Cardiff boss Warnock was furious at the postponement, and after turning up with his squad at the stadium, he spectacularly slammed the decision as a “disgrace” and believes it was down to underhand tactics.
Speaking to pitchside at Pride Park, he said: “I’m disappointed but not overly surprised.
“When I heard Gary’s remarks earlier in the week about ‘if we can get over our injury crisis for this game we should be alright’.
“We came up yesterday, and obviously the snow, but I think it’s a disgrace quite frankly.
“If you look at the game two weeks ago against Fulham here, and if you look on the website all the Derby fans are saying it was ten times worse.
“There were snow plows and as you can see there’s nothing here, the car parks are clear, all the shops are open… We’ve got some fans outside that have travelled, we’ve got some Derby fans outside that have come from miles away, and you see all the comments – I’m sorry, I can’t accept that it’s not safe.
SUNDER ARREST Sunderland suspend ex-Man United ace after drink drive arrest
“We’ve come from the countryside in the coach and the roads have been perfectly alright, so I just don’t know where they are coming from with all this and it leaves a sour taste for all the people that have travelled.
“Especially with Sheffield United getting there game on yesterday and snow drifts up here, I think it’s scandalous.
LATEST FOOTBALL NEWS
“We didn’t get word that it was in doubt, we got told at 8.15am that it was off for the surrounding areas, but we’ve come from the surrounding areas and it’s quite accessible and quite easy to get here.
“There’s nobody here and it’s not surprising. Everybody’s embarrassed and all the staff were embarrassed when we walked through the doors.
“It’s quite an embarrassing situation for everybody which makes it double worse.
“I thought we would have had a phone call from management or certain people but we’ve had nothing at all.”
It was the Derbyshire police force that decided to pull the plug over safety concerns.
And the authorities were also blasted by the seething Cardiff chief, who was aiming to lead his side to an eighth consecutive victory.
Warnock continued: “I haven’t got a clue, and whatever I say they will get the chief police officer to justify the reasons.
“But what I’m saying is to the ordinary guy in the street, all the Derby fans, they all think it’s an absolute stitch-up.
“There’s hardly any snow and I suppose in a way you can’t blame them… you wouldn’t want to play us would you?”
And after being “stitched-up”, Warnock has vowed to go to war with the Football League if they try to “punish” his promotion chasers with a fixture pile-up when re-arranging the game.
The veteran added: “Now the Football League will try and force us to play on the first available date, which will give us three tough away games, so we are going to have to fight tooth and nail against that.
“We shouldn’t be punished for something like this and I believe it’s a big travesty. The players are disappointed, you get disappointments in life and you have to get on with it.”
Between 2,000 and 3,000 travelling supporters were expected to make the trip from Wales to the Midlands.
Cardiff are currently seven points clear in the second automatic promotion spot, with a game in hand on third-placed Fulham and leaders Wolves, who they are six behind.
How to win £1MILLION with Sun Six
SUN SIX is the new predictor game where you can win £1million - just by correctly picking the results of six games.
Here is how to get your mitts on the million:
- Make your picks - predict the scores from these six games
- Enter your details - quickly sign up to Sun Bets so we can contact you
- Score £1m - Watch the scores roll in and you can win £1m
Top pundits IAN WRIGHT and DANNY HIGGINBOTHAM have made their picks for this week if you need a steer.
And remember, you can claim a free £30 bet with Sun Bets when you sign up put a tenner on this weekend's football .