Stephen Warnock lasted two years at Leeds United during a tumultuous time for the club in which Massimo Cellino arrived and he has now given his verdict on his spell at Elland Road.
The 42-year-old moved to Yorkshire back in January 2013 and lasted two years before swapping Elland Road for Derby County in January 2015, having clocked up 67 appearances for Daniel Farke’s current side.
Warnock ended up captaining Leeds after the club pulled off somewhat of a coup to land a player that had won two England caps and played 67 times for Liverpool, a Champions League winner back in 2005.
But Warnock admits that after joining Leeds, his standards dropped given it was his first move into the Championship from the Premier League and even says Wayne Bridge suffered the same issue at Reading.
While he heaped praise on Leeds fans and the size of the club, Warnock says he could not produce his best form for The Whites. Here is what he told the Under The Cosh podcast this week:
Warnock admits he dropped his standards after joining Leeds
Warnock still impressed during his time at Elland Road after producing moments like his winner against Millwall to win 1-0 in 2013 shortly after joining, not many better ways to endear yourself to Leeds fans.
His goal in incredibly windy conditions during a 2-1 away win at Luke Ayling’s old side Yeovil Town. But he claims that he “dropped his standards” after moving to Leeds despite enjoying large parts of his spell.
“To be honest, it was brilliant at Leeds for a period. You talk about Villa being a massive club, Leeds are huge. The following they’ve got is phenomenal. I found it tough [playing against the likes of Yeovil].
“I felt sorry for myself to begin with. I hate being disrespectful, but if I made an overlap at Blackburn – Tugay picks me out. At Villa, Milner and Petrov. At Leeds, I was making runs and the ball wasn’t coming.
“I remember becoming a static full-back. To be honest, I probably dropped my standards thinking I could go down to the Championship and p— it, which you can’t. I struggled for a bit,” Warnock said on Leeds.
“I was thinking I’d go to Leeds, stay for six months, a year and go back to the Premier League, somebody will buy me. Wayne Bridge said exactly the same thing when he was at Reading. Just part and parcel of it.”
Warnock’s one big regret during his time at Leeds United
Speaking about his two-year spell back at Elland Road in 2018, Warnock admitted that his one regret at Leeds was that he could not captain The Whites to promotion back to the Premier League.
Speaking to The Express, Warnock said six years ago that he loved his time in a Leeds shirt and how much of an honour it was to captain the side even during a time of chaos in the board room under Cellino.
“I loved it. It was brilliant. Such a big club, my biggest regret was not getting up into the Premier League. I was honoured to be captain at such a big club. You realise when you play there how big it actually is.”