Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
My son William is only nine but he's had four public schools so far, one in Cornwall, one when I was at Sheffield, one in Beckenham when I was at Palace.
After more than 30 years in the dugout I have come to realise there is a need at many clubs for someone who can act as a link between managers and owners.
I'm glad to see goal-line technology working; we should have had it for years. I do believe we will soon see managers being allowed one, or two, challenges.
The way that I am, most of my time as a manager has been putting fires out and I don't enjoy dealing with chairmen and owners but I know it's part of my job.
If you look at my past in the Premier League, without going into too many details, I don't think I had much of a chance at any of them, for different reasons.
Not that I am saying I will never manage again. I want to spend more time with my family and, since we live in Cornwall, that rules out most long-term options.
When I joined QPR in March 2010 we were rock bottom and heading for League One. We conceded too many and didn't score enough, which was a recipe for relegation.
I used to think you needed a passport to go south of Watford. But when I came to London the people were fantastic, so good, right down to earth, my kind of people.
When you're younger, you have three or four bad results and you worry about everything. You worry about injuries, because they always seem to be your best players.
I remember when I was younger I used to sing that Beatles song, 'When I'm 64', and think that's light years away for me - I was 18 when it came out. Now here I am.
I have spoken to refs after games, just to ask about something that had occurred during a game. It's always been off the record and I've never had a ref not answer.
But the art of management has not changed. The art of it is still 80 to 90 per cent man-management. It is just a matter of getting the best out of what you have got.
Most of the clubs I have had, they have been in a precarious situation when I have taken over and I have had to change it, even going back to Scarborough and all that.
I've been looking forward to going back to Huddersfield. I was manager when the club moved from Leeds Road to the new stadium and it contributed to us getting promotion.
If you are a manager with a new owner who has more ideas than knowledge, all you can do is get your head down and do your best, which is what Malky Mackay did at Cardiff.
But referees have to remember there is a reason managers are being nice to them - we're hoping that it just might make the difference when there is a borderline decision.
It is a fine line between communicating and being too chummy. My players, when I've been promoted, have been upset by top-flight refs being mates with opposition players.
People talk about flip charts, tactic boards and other rubbish like that. But the truth is that as a manager you just need to get the best out of the players at your disposal.
The report I remember most vividly from school is the one I destroyed before I got home, telling my parents I'd lost it. Three words stood out, and still do: 'Must try harder'.
People just do not realise what a football life can be. Since 1968 I've never had more than a few weeks out of work, when I left Sheffield United and I have not had a Christmas.
I tried to download a jazz album this week and ended up getting some tracks four times, some once, some three times; in total I ended up with 50 tracks. I don't know how I did it.
I was fined £20,000 for TV interview where I barely said anything. The FA brought an outside barrister in to do me. A big place like the FA, they don't have their own in-house lawyer?
Football is a relatively small industry and there are times, while you want to be honest, that it is best to pull a few punches. You never know, you might need to work with that person again.
Once, I used to have the local reporter on the team bus and I'd tell him everything, so when he wrote about the club he was informed, even if he couldn't print some things. Those days are long gone.
At Plymouth I wrote 'Neil Warnock's Wembley Way', a one-year diary, to show people what being a manager was like. I got lucky as the year ended with us winning promotion through the play-offs at Wembley.
When you're younger, you worry about the sack and getting abuse and things, but when you get to my age, you become less bothered about those things. It becomes more like a hobby and less like life or death.
I can't replicate how I feel when that whistle goes on nights like that, knowing you've won it, that people are going home smiling. You don't get that sat on my tractor in Plymouth or doing the shop in Tesco.
Who's been with me longest? Kevin Blackwell. I signed him as a goalkeeper at Scarborough in '86 and he's basically been with me my whole career. He's been my goalkeeper, reserve goalie, now my assistant manager.
Older readers will remember there used to be matches on Christmas Day. I remember leaving the fireside and the presents to watch matches on the day as a boy but such matches were rare by the time I began playing.
I love the way the Cardiff fans get behind their team, which is why I do that clenched fist action at the end of games. They get really up for the match, I can hear them and I just help offer my own support in return.
It's easier to sit at your desk and have a bun, but I've been really disciplined because I feel like I have to give myself a chance. You can't let yourself down on that. You have to be mentally sharp in this Premier League.
You need good staff with their own opinions - Mick Jones has been a great No 2 as he's not a yes-man - but at the end of the day the buck stops with you and the good managers are the ones who make more good decisions than bad.
As a manager I always trusted my players on Christmas Day. I did not see any point in dragging them into the training ground - a three-hour round-trip for some of them on icy roads - when they could relax with their families instead.
There's got to be a role for an experienced football person helping the manager; not being a threat to the manager, but helping and sorting out a lot of the hassle he has, you know? Letting him concentrate on managing the football side.
Ask anyone in the game: if you want a player from France or a French player, 99 per cent of the time, you will have to deal with Willie McKay or someone like him. If you want to get the job done, then you need the Willie McKays of this world.
The sack is a sad fact of life for football managers. I have been axed three times. The chairman at Notts County was on record as saying it's the worst thing they ever did. Within a couple of years they were one game from losing league status.
On the plus side, leaving Leeds meant I have been able to spend a lot of time with the family, enjoying a very rare summer off and my first Christmas without work worries since I was a teenager. I was also able to accept an offer to work with BT Sport.
I am finding I have to watch what I am doing otherwise I may as well be in full-time football again and, while I'm available if something interesting comes up to take me to the end of the season, I don't want a long-term commitment at this stage in my life.
However successful someone is in their field of business, and however well-meaning and hard-working, it is difficult to come into football and immediately work out how the industry works, who to trust, what to do. That is the sort of role I think I can fill.
For a lot of young managers, especially those who have not played at the top end of the game, there is also a financial need to work. Some of them could find employment in another field, but you can't beat making a living out of something you really enjoy doing.
I've been fortunate most of the seven promotions I've won have been with sides I built from zero, so it is doubly rewarding. There is nothing to match being in the dressing room celebrating promotion after a long season with a group of lads you have put together.
A few eyebrows have been raised at Adel Taarabt joining Milan. Having worked with Adel for two years, I am not as surprised as most people seem to be. He is a player of immense ability and, if he is handled right, and motivated himself, he can win games at any level.
My three-course meal would be: smoked salmon with capers and a few prawns on there as well. Then it would be a dover sole grilled on the bone with a portion of green beans. And if I wasn't dieting or looking after myself, my favourite pudding would be bread and butter pudding with custard, ice cream and clotted cream all together!
I would like to wish Harry Redknapp the best of luck filling my old seat in the dugout at Queen's Park Rangers. It was one of the achievements of my managerial career getting QPR back into the Premier League after a 15-year absence and I would be very sad to see them go back down after all the hard work the players, staff and myself put in.
In the intervening 48 Christmases I have always either been a player, having to watch what I eat and drink, or a manager, worrying about what my players are eating and drinking, plus who is going to cry off tomorrow, who is suspended, who is carrying an injury, and the million-and-one other questions that fill a manager's every waking moment.