Outspoken English football manager says he 'feels sorry' for Scottish clubs due to lack of money

Neil Warnock also hailed the atmosphere at Ibrox, blasted the 'basic errors' in Scottish football and revealed his deep connection to one Scottish club

One of the best-known football managers in England has said he "feels a bit sorry" for Scottish clubs because of the relative lack of money in the game.

Neil Warnock, 77, has managed 16 different clubs from non-league to the Premier League – and also had a spell as interim boss at Aberdeen in 2024, with two wins from eight matches.

The financial disparity between English and Scottish football is huge, with even the bottom club in the English top flight picking up around £100million in TV income – whereas the entire Scottish Premiership shares around £30m a year.

Speaking to Midnite as part of its ‘Build Different Index’ launch, Warnock said: ”It’s hard to compare when you look at the money that we’ve got in England, and you do feel a bit sorry at times for the teams up there.”

But he's a massive fan of Scottish football, and hailed the atmosphere at Ibrox as one of the best in Britain – although he warned that new manager Derek McInnes is already under pressure.

Warnock said: ”You know, I’m sure Derek, having signed the players that he signed, thought it might go straightforward, but it was a difficult start. I know they won on Saturday, which will give them a bit of confidence now.

”But Ibrox, what a fabulous place to go. When I go up there, my mate’s a season-ticket holder up there, and I love going with him. They really look after us and the sponsors, and the atmosphere, it is a great atmosphere.

”I think they’re bound to be [under pressure]. In Scotland, like you said, there are only two clubs. So although the rest of the country aren’t too concerned, they’ve all got their own little pockets where their clubs are.

”Last year, you’ve got to say, Hearts were very unlucky not to win the league. Edinburgh is such a nice place and all, you know, and Hibernian have started quite well. So I know Malky Mackay is up there at Hibernian. He loves it up there. The thing about Scotland is they’re all very, very passionate about their own club.”

With Celtic getting off to a flyer this season, the veteran boss said his talk radio colleague Alan Brazil was feeling ”chirpy”.

”I work on talkSPORT with Alan Brazil, and he’s mad [for] Celtic. So if Rangers are struggling, he’s got a perk in his voice and he’s just skipping in. He’s like that up there. You know, Glasgow, wow, you’re either blue or green, and there’s nothing else up there. You’re born into that.

”It’s not like England, really. They all look after their own clubs, and they’re not bothered about the English, you know, I know my mate isn’t bothered about what happens down here. It’s all about up there and the league’s up there. Even the Highland League, I think, is a good league up there. I watched that when I was up there.”

He went on: ”But I enjoy it when I go up there. If I can, I’ll go to my local club, Greenock Morton, and I love going to the stadium there. I think me and my family have got bricks in the wall there, we’ve sponsored bricks in the wall.”

Warnock claimed there were ”basic errors” in the Premiership when he managed Aberdeen, although under him the Dons failed to win a single league match and his only victories were over Bonnyrigg Rose and Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup.

He said: ”My last game was the game against Derek McInnes at Kilmarnock in the Cup quarter-final, so I was glad to win that game. There were quite a lot more errors, basic errors, happening when I was around up there. But I wasn’t there long enough. I went up there and it wasn’t what I expected.”

He revealed he told Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack to replace him as soon as possible and his spell at the club lasted from February 5-March 9, 2024, with Jimmy Thelin appointed on April 16.

Warnock said: ”And so I thought it was only right that they got a manager in as soon as possible, you know, and that’s what I told them. But it just shows you, doesn’t it?”