HE has spent most of his managerial career being jeered by opposition supporters, but when Neil Warnock leads out his Middlesbrough side at Cardiff City this lunchtime, the tables will be turned. For once, Warnock will get a much better reception than the man in the home dug-out.

Mick McCarthy heads into today’s game with his position as Cardiff boss hanging by a thread after a run of seven successive defeats that represents the Bluebirds’ worst sequence of results since 1934. In each of the last two home games, McCarthy has had to listen to his own supporters calling for his head, and having presided over a 2-0 loss at Fulham in midweek, the former Sunderland manager will almost certainly be dismissed if things do not go to plan today.

Warnock, on the other hand, finds himself returning to the Cardiff City Stadium as a hero. Today’s game will be the 72-year-old’s first visit to Cardiff’s home ground with fans in attendance since he left the club in 2019, with his three-year spell in charge of the Bluebirds having seen him win promotion to the top-flight.

Warnock loved his time in South Wales, and was lauded by the Cardiff support in return. Today, that support gets a chance to thank him for his efforts.

“I’ve never had a chance to say goodbye to the Bluebirds,” said the Boro boss, whose promotion in the Welsh capital was the eighth of his managerial career. “I had a wonderful time there. I lived in a lovely place down by the sea and we had a fabulous time.

“I think everyone knows it was a miracle to get promotion with that squad. We had Fulham chasing us – they were the team that were going to beat us – but it was good to prove a few people wrong that year with a group of lads that was very similar to the one I’ve got here, very genuine. I’ll never forget my time there.”

Warnock and McCarthy have locked horns on countless occasions down the years, and the pair regularly praise each other’s efforts.

Warnock has sympathy for his fellow South Yorkshireman’s plight, although he admits that both he and McCarthy have been around the game long enough to know that a lengthy losing run is always going to lead to the threat of the sack.

“We all know the industry that we’re in,” he said. “We all know what’s coming around the corner. Usually, during a season, everyone has a bad spell at some stage and the fans turn.

“Mick’s been there, seen it all and done it all. It’s difficult circumstances for him at the minute, but he’s a good guy as well as a good manager and I’m sure he’ll just be concentrating on trying to spoil my day. That’s how we are. In management, you can only worry about your own team really.”

While Middlesbrough will attempt to turn what could well be a fractious atmosphere to their own advantage, McCarthy insists he cannot afford to get caught up in the external noise.

Boro have already seen off one opposition manager this season, however – Chris Hughton was sacked the morning after his Nottingham Forest side lost 2-0 to the Teessiders – and McCarthy knows what could be just around the corner if today’s game finishes in an away win.

"This is an exceptionally tough spot," said the Cardiff boss. "We have lost seven games on the trot and it would be bonkers for me to say anything else. We have got to get a result.

“If I can get a performance out of the lads, then we can win the game. If we don't, I will be on the end of another defeat and I'll be in trouble won't I?"