Neil Warnock has admitted he would consider a shock return to management aged 76 to help rescue a crisis hit club.
Warnock officially retired from football in 2022, only to be tempted back into the dugout.
He returned to former club Huddersfield Town in February 2023, 30 years after last being in the role, with the veteran boss guiding the club to safety in the Championship.
After leaving the following September, Warnock then had short-lived spell as interim boss of Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen.
Despite retiring from management again, Warnock has remained involved in the game as a football advisor to National League South side Torquay United.
Warnock admitted to talkSPORT that he would be tempted to return to the dugout, when he was asked if he would accept the vacant manager’s job at Sheffield Wednesday.
Neil Warncok, 76, hinted he would come out of retirement to help crisis club Sheffield Wednesday
The Owls are without a manager after Danny Rohl left the club by mutual consent on Tuesday
‘Well, you’ve got to say yes,’ Warnock said.
‘At my age? Deary me, but you never say never in anything.
‘It is a good club, and it does need managing, really. I think they’ve not had the sustained success.
‘I mean, the crowds are unbelievable and they’ve maintained that, whatever division they’ve gone down to.
‘It’s sad to see some of the players leaving now because of their contractual situations, but it will bounce back, all good clubs bounce back.’
The crisis-hit Championship club confirmed the departure of manager Danny Rohl by mutual consent on Tuesday, less than two weeks before their opening match of the season.
First-team staff Sascha Lense, Chris Powell, Neil Thompson and Sal Bibbo have also left the club.
The Owls were placed under a third transfer embargo by the EFL in July, which prevents the club signing players for a fee in the summer window and the next two in 2026.
Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri is facing calls to sell the club with the club hit by transfer embargoes amid late payments of wages, while several first team squad members have left
The Owls are facing numerous issues ahead of the start of the Championship season
Sheffield City Council announced the closure of Hillsborough’s North Stand on Tuesday
The sanction followed players’ wages not being paid for the second successive month, with owner Dejphon Chansiri being urged to sell the club.
Sheffield Wednesday’s north stand of their Hillsborough ground was closed by the city council on Tuesday, citing concerns over its structural integrity.
A number of player departures has left the club with a small squad ahead of the new season, with their first match coming away against Leicester City on August 10.
Warnock’s suggestion to return to management to help the club seems unlikely, with reports Rohl’s former assistant Henrik Pedersen will take charge.
In 2013, Warnock had turned down the job amid fears of a fan revolt, due to his allegiance to Sheffield United as a devout fan of Wednesday’s steel city rivals.
Warnock had managed Sheffield United between 1999 and 2007, his longest spell at a club during his 43-year managerial career, and led them to the Premier League in 2006.
‘We both realised it was not to be,’ Warnock said at the time. ‘When Milan [Mandaric] phoned me originally, I did tell him it would be pretty much impossible to manage Sheffield Wednesday when I’m a Blade, but he asked me to have time to think about it.’
Warnock had managed Sheffield United from 1999 to 2007 and led the club to the Premier League
Warnock’s previous comments about the Owls in a 2002 interview with the Guardian had also played a factor in fan anger.
When asked if he would ever consider taking the role, Warnock responded ‘As long as the whole of my massive salary was paid within 28 days, then I would buy so many tosspots – although, come to think of it, their current squad would do – and f*** ’em up so badly.
‘Then I’d retire to Cornwall and spend the rest of my life laughing my head off.’
