Gaffer: The Trials and Tribulations of a Football Manager

Ever wondered how a transfer deal is done? What a manager says during his pre-match team-talk? What he screams from the techincal area? What goes on in training sesions, and on those long away trips? How a manager carefully builds a team, and what he does when the planning is disrupted by injuries? How he lifts a team after a crushing defeat, and keeps their feet on the ground after a resounding victory? How the man in charge handles the ever-present danger of getting sacked in the ultimate results business? In short, how one of today''s top professional footballer managers somehow copes with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, with having to live, breathe and sleep football 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? Then read The Gaffer.

In his 13-year playing career Neil Warnock played for Chesterfield, Rotherham United, Hartlepool United, Scunthorpe United, Aldershot, Barnsley, York City and Crewe Alexandra. In his nearly four decades as a manager he has taken charge of Gainsborough Trinity, Burton Albion, Scarborough, Notts County, Torquay United, Huddersfield Town, Plymouth Argyle, Bury, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, QPR, Leeds United, Rotherham United and Cardiff City. Warnock has enjoyed eight promotions during his managerial career, taking Sheffield United, QPR and - most recently - Cardiff City - into the Premier League.