By Terry Phillips
Yorkshiremen Neil Warnock and Mick McCarthy clash in Suffolk on Saturday – 42 years after they first met at Barnsley’s Oakwell stadium.
McCarthy was a teenage apprentice who cleaned Warnock’s boots at Barnsley and now the two men are managerial rivals in the Championship.
Cardiff City manager Warnock, who takes his team to play McCarthy’s Ipswich Town at Portman Road, says he quickly realised his boot boy in the mid-1970s was a strong character.
“Mick was the leader, he was like (former miners union leader) Arthur Scargill and being in Barnsley that was appropriate,” says Warnock. “We know each other really well. Mick used to clean my boots at Barnsley.
“He was the only 15-year-old I’ve seen who was 6ft 4in. All the other kids were midgets next to him.
“Not only was he bigger than the other lads, but he talked like a 50-year-old too!
“He still had respect and good manners — and made sure the other young lads never stepped out of line.
“If they did, Mick would sort them out. He was built like a brick you-know-what, all big and sturdy.”
Warnock was a winger when he met apprentice McCarthy, but now both are managers aiming to steer their teams to higher positions in the Championship table.
Ipswich are 16th, five points and six places ahead of Cardiff.
“Mick has had an extremely successful career and achieved most of his objectives,” said Warnock. “I’ve got a lot of respect and a lot of time for him.”
Warnock celebrated his 68th birthday this month, while McCarthy, a former Sunder, Wolves and Republic of Ireland manager, is aged 57.
Both remember their Barnsley days together well and McCarthy says: “At the time, he (Warnock) could have been anyone – I would have kicked him in training because he was a winger.
“I was an apprentice and cleaned his boots. He was coming to the end of his career. I was a blossoming, burgeoning young centre-back.
“I got in the reserve team with him and I thought he was great. He was good fun. He’s a Sheffield lad, a Yorkshire lad – and I just got on well with him. He was a character and he still is.”
McCarthy has described Warnock the manager as ‘a pain in the arse’ and explains: “Some managers have more to say than others and maybe their opinions are a bit more extreme.
“Neil is certainly one who likes shouting the odds. But he’s also a great character, someone who livens up a game. He’ll do anything to win and I respect that.”
Cardiff lie 22nd and, with five fixtures left in 2016, badly need a win to lift themselves towards safety.
Lee Peltier, available again after suspension, is likely to return at right-back, while City will hope Rickie Lambert is will be ready.
He missed the goalless draw against Brighton when he was unable to train two days before the match because of what Warnock described as a ‘sore’ leg.
Frederic Gounongbe played as the main striker against Brighton, but Cardiff rarely looked like scoring and Warnock may yet turn to Anthony Pilkington instead.
Ipswich, who haven’t won back-to-back games in 2016-17, slipped to 16th in the table after their 2-0 home defeat against Nottingham Forest. They had earned an impressive win at Sheffield Wednesday in their previous fixture.
“I thought we played some good stuff (v Forest),” said McCarthy. “We were just lacking in that final third. We’ve only scored 17 goals so that speaks for itself.
“We have had eight clean sheets, but we need to get the first goal if we can because that changes the game.”
Former Cardiff midfield player Tom Lawrence and fellow Wales international Jonny Williams are both likely to be in the Ipswich match day squad.
Cardiff City: B Amos, L Peltier, S Bamba, S Morrison (capt), J Bennett, K Harris, A Gunnarsson, J Ralls, P Whittingham, J Hoilett, R Lambert or F Gounongbe. Subs (from): F Gounongbe/R Lambert, B Wilson (gk), C Noone, M Connolly, M Chamakh, K Richardson, A Pilkington.
Ipswich Town: B Bialkowski, C Berra, A Webster, J Knudsen, L Chambers, T Lawrence, J Douglas, G Ward, C Skuse, D McGoldrick, L Varney. Subs: M Kenlock, K Bru, J Emmanuel, D Gerken, L Best, E Sears, J Williams.