As far as iconic former Football League managers go, Neil Warnock is right up there, even if his time at Leeds United wasn’t the most impressive of his career.
In the ever-growing list of Leeds United managers, Daniel Farke is the man in charge right now, and he’s gunning for a career third promotion from the Championship as manager.
But his hopes of achieving that have taken a huge hit in the last few weeks. Leeds United drew 2-2 against Swansea City over the weekend and now find themselves in 2nd place of the Championship table.
Sheffield United are in 1st and two points ahead whilst 3rd place Burnley are now level on points, and there’s newfound uncertainty over Farke’s future at Elland Road.
It’s been suggested that Leeds United News that Farke could leave Leeds United in the summer whether the club are promoted or not, given Farke’s somewhat inconsistent record with Leeds in the Championship and in the Premier League with Norwich City previously.
He could soon join the list of former Leeds United bosses, along with veteran Neil Warnock.
El Hadji Diouf reveals how Neil Warnock reacted when he asked to sign for Leeds United
As iconic as Warnock was some of the players who seemed to take with him everywhere: names like Paddy Kenny at QPR, Sheffield United, and then Leeds United, as well as some of Warnock’s talismen like Adel Taarabt at QPR. And as it goes, Taarabt played a part in what proved to be a very controversial Leeds United transfer at the time.
Leeds United signed El Hadji Diouf as a free agent in the summer of 2012. He and Warnock had had previous clashes after Diouf after the player had laughed in the face of Jamie Mackie who lay on the pitch with a broken leg during a game between QPR and Diouf’s Blackburn Rovers, with Warnock going on to call Diouf a ‘sewer rat’.
It may be no surprise then that Warnock laughed at Diouf when he asked him if he could join Leeds United in 2012. Diouf recalled in a previous interview with Independent: “Friends who play with him before, like Adel Taarabt and Armand Traoré, they tell me he is a good gaffer, he loves joking and working hard. So I say to him, ‘Why not I come and play for Leeds?’
“I know he thought it was a joke at first but that joke came true. People can hate you, but recognise your talent. He recognised my talent.”
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El Hadji Diouf’s record at Leeds United and what he’s up to these days
In one-and-a-bit seasons at Elland Road Diouf featured 52 times in all competitions and scored seven goals. But he left soon after the start of the 2013/14 season for Malaysia, joining Sabah FC where he finished out his playing career.
After yet more controversy in Malaysia, being branded ‘unprofessional’ by the club after a behind-the-scenes fall out, Diouf attempted a short-lived career in politics in his native Senegal, and was most recently in headlines for being named sporting director of Senegalese second tier side Guediawaye FC.
An interesting career only gets more interesting for the now 44-year-old, who we may yet see in more controversial headlines in the years to come.
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