‘They should have took me at Tottenham’: Warnock savours return to dugout at Torquay

The 77-year-old’s 21st managerial role could be a final act and even if it is brief he will sprinkle the sixth tier with quintessential quips and well-aimed digs

There is a specific, restless energy to Neil Warnock that defies the traditional laws of ageing and the modern conventions of football management. At 77, he still wakes up in the dead of night to obsess over the overlapping runs of a National League South full-back.

“When I was thinking about the system this morning at four o’clock, [I was like]: ‘What are you doing?’” he said, a smile cutting through the post-match gloom at Ebbsfleet. The setting was hardly Premier League-like – a crowd of 1,467 huddled under a gloomy sky – but for Warnock, the stakes of the dugout remain existential. Even if the reality of his years occasionally intrudes on his tactical scouting. “When you get to my age, you have to go to the toilet a few times [which is why he was awake] … but I’m enjoying every minute of this.”

Warnock’s return to the frontline with Torquay United feels less like a managerial appointment and more like the return of a beloved stage actor for one last showing. Having joined the Gulls as a football adviser in 2024 after the Bryn Consortium’s takeover, he stepped into the breach as caretaker on 1 March after Paul Wotton was sacked. It is his 21st managerial spell.

At Ebbsfleet, the air was thick with celebrity worship not usually reserved for managers in the National League South. The press box was full, with local reporters used to the quiet hum of the sixth tier alongside national outlets seeking a glimpse of Warnock.

“I still can’t quite believe it,” said Toby, 34, a lifelong Torquay fan before the match. “I have called in sick for this game. I will probably continue to do so. I usually make it to a couple of games a season but I want to enjoy this as long as it lasts. I think he can get us promoted. He’s only done it eight times before.”

That may be too tough a task, even for Warnock. Torquay, ravaged by injuries and sagging under the weight of recent relegation and administration, were dismantled 3-0. Warnock’s 3-5-2 system, designed to let his wingbacks fly forward, floundered against a relentless Ebbsfleet press.

On the touchline, the contrast in styles was stark. While Ebbsfleet’s manager, Josh Wright, gave constant instruction to his players, Warnock remained largely stoic. He saved his energy for the moments that mattered: the tactical tweak, the whispering aside to his coaching staff, and – inevitably – the officials. “What’s the difference, ref? What’s the difference?” he shouted after a foul went against his side 15 minutes in, referring to an earlier call that was waved away. “Your players dive!” shot back a helpful Ebbsfleet supporter.

The official heard more of an earful after Matt Worthington was sent off for a studs-up challenge in the second half. “I was asking who actually had the whistle,” Warnock said. “At the time, I thought it was red shirts that had the whistle.”

In an era in which managers speak in the bloodless dialect of expected goals and low blocks, Warnock speaks in the language of the pub storyteller: unfiltered, sentimental, full of anecdotes and the occasional well-aimed dig.

The Torquay job is, in many ways, the quintessential Warnock project, even if it is not for the long haul. It is a community club with a bruised identity that was a penalty shootout away from returning to the Football League in 2021. By 2025, they were staring into the abyss of administration. Warnock says he will probably be in the dugout for only two more matches but he wants to steady the ship before his permanent successor comes in.

“I do think the lads gave everything,” he said after the defeat. “They just weren’t good enough today. They were better than us on the day … I can’t fault the effort.

“It’s not so much about fitness. It’s a mental issue, really. The sadness that’s around at the minute. That’s just football, really. You’re down one minute and you’re up the next. I think you’ve just got to get on with it. They are a good group of lads, probably a bit too nice, but hey ho.”

While he refused to be dragged into the discussion as to whether this would be his final managerial role, the sense of a man savouring his final act is palpable. “I’m glad I’m not here for a long time, if I’m honest. I enjoy having a meal before the game and sitting and watching the manager shout a few times.”

But he could never resist a quintessential Warnock manager jab, a reminder that despite the 3-0 loss in the National League South, his self-belief remains entirely intact. “They should have took me at Tottenham, shouldn’t they? That’ll give you a headline.”