'I turned Chelsea down': Manager Leeds sacked says he could've got the Chelsea job once
19/02/2025 11:45
Chelsea have gone through their fair share of managers over the years.
The Blues have had some great gaffers in their time such as Jose Mourinho, while there's also been some more surprising names such as Graham Potter and Roberto Di Matteo.
Enzo Maresca is the current Chelsea boss, and he was hired off the back of a successful season in the second-tier.
Maresca has been questioned lately, but, overall, he's doing a fairly good job.
Meanwhile, Frank Lampard was also hired directly from the Championship too.
Chelsea aren't scared to dip into the second-tier to find their managers, and speaking on the Seaman Says Podcast, another EFL legend has claimed that he almost got the Chelsea job at one point.
Indeed, Neil Warnock says that he actually turned down the Chelsea job in the early 1990s when he was at Notts County.
Neil Warnock rejected Chelsea
Warnock spoke about his early managerial career.
The former Leeds manager says that he took Notts County up two years in a row, and, after that, he was offered the Chelsea job.
However, Warnock ultimately rejected Chelsea, while he also turned Sunderland down, only to be sacked six months later.
"I took Notts County up from the third division to the first, which is the Premier League now. In consecutive years, I turned Chelsea down. I turned Sunderland down and stayed put," Warnock said.
Then they sacked me six months later. It destroyed me up here, I thought. After what I’d done, I thought, wow."
Neil Warnock's Premier League record
Neil Warnock is undoubtedly a legend of football management.
Indeed, no manager has ever taken charge of more games in England than Warnock, and he's tasted promotion more often than any other manager in history.
However, unfortunately, Warnock doesn't exactly have the best record in the top flight.
Indeed, while Warnock seemingly thrives in the rough-and-tumble of the lower leagues, but he's struggled to get to grips with the top-flight.
| Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neil Warnock Premier League record | 112 | 27 | 23 | 62 |
Who knows? Perhaps Warnock would've managed to buck that trend at a club like Chelsea. After all, it would've been the biggest job of Warnock's career.
Warnock was once tipped to manage Rangers, but, ultimately, the biggest club Warnock would ever take charge of was probably Leeds United where he was sacked after just 18 months in charge.
