Warnock: Spurs should play the rest of their home matches at Wembley

Oh boy, Neil Warnock is NOT HAPPY. Just after his Cardiff side got pounded by Spurs 3-0 at the Cardiff City Stadium, Warnock took to the microphone in his post-match press conference to complain about Spurs’ new ground.

Apparently Warnock has a bee in his bonnet about the Premier League granting Spurs permission to play their home matches at Wembley while the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been going through delays, and is REALLY upset that they aren’t just forced to play the rest of their home matches there until the end of the season because IDK reasons or something.

“They have made so many cock-ups now with the timing, the Premier League should enforce it that they play at Wembley for the rest of the season. There should not be any chance of an advantage for our opponents really. It’s not our fault - we should have been playing Tottenham at their new stadium ourselves.

“So I think the Premier League should step in now and make them stay at Wembley for the rest of the season. They shouldn’t be able to play at their new stadium for six weeks or whatever it is. It undermines the integrity of the competition.”

I honestly have no idea what Warnock’s argument is here. Is he mad because he thinks that playing at Spurs’ home stadium would give them some sort of an advantage over their opponents? (Note to Neil: it’s true, it’s called home advantage and it’s a documented fact though it’s been declining over the past few decades.)

Warnock seems to be irritated that there might be knock-on effects from Spurs playing against Cardiff’s fellow relegation contenders. I’m not sure why he thinks Cardiff’s primary opponents might have a better chance of beating Spurs in their shiny new ground than in the cavernous, atmosphere-deficient national stadium. Heck, Spurs are 6-4 at in the league at Wembley this season, with losses to City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Wolves. I’d have to think that they might have at least a slightly better record than that if the new stadium had opened on time.

But even so, you’d think Warnock would WANT Spurs to take full points against clubs like Huddersfield, Fulham, and Burnley, since Cardiff have already played Spurs twice now and that would be a way to help his trash club to stay up.

No, I think Warnock’s just mad because Spurs got special treatment from the Premier League in extending their permission to use Wembley while the stadium got finished. You know, that state-of-the-art new stadium that is going to be one of the finest in Europe and that will draw more attention and prestige to the Premier League. Warnock is an old-school manager who thinks things should be done a certain way because that’s just the way things are done, probably.

And while he may have a small point about Spurs having two home grounds this season, one probably shared by other Premier League clubs, most of them are staying silent, because they’d like the league to offer the same benevolence to them when the time comes for THEM to build a new ground.

I get it, Neil. You’re cranky after getting curb-stomped by a club that has significantly more talent and resources than you do. Trust me, I know that feeling, I’ve been a Spurs fan for more than a decade. But the best way for Cardiff to avoid relegation this season would be to actually start playing good football. Maybe start with that before you open your mouth about another club.