Warnock: I thought about quitting club

Though not normally lacking in confidence, Warnock admitted: "I never, ever, in my wildest dreams, thought it could be this good."

Yet back in November, barely a month after replacing Peter Taylor, the job of managing Palace was proving more of a nightmare and Warnock has now revealed how he even questioned his future at the club.

He recalled: "After four weeks I said to Sharon, my wife, I don't know whether we've done the right thing. I didn't realise the job would be as difficult as it was proving to be.

"We were second from bottom of the league, didn't look like we could score a goal, didn't look as though we could defend and keep a clean sheet. Those first four weeks were the hardest I'd worked in 20 years, yet I really couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel."

Out of the frying pan of his beloved Sheffield United's controversial relegation from the Premier League - the wound caused by the Carlos Tevez affair has still not healed - it seemed as though Warnock had jumped into a fire at Palace.

But, in truth, running away was never an option because Warnock's family, though true Yorkshire folk, had fallen in love with life in London.

He said: "The people here, especially the Palace fans, were fantastic. Sharon had never been as happy. I couldn't believe how happy the kids were. Even the dog was happy."

Warnock has managed to turn Palace into winners by demanding that a team of southern softies embrace his northern work ethic.

That commitment to hard graft has brought remarkable rewards and the fans who at first simply demanded that Warnock save their side from sinking to League One now see Palace regaining a seat at the table of the football elite.

Warnock, well versed in pragmatism at the age of 59, said: "It wasn't rocket science, what I asked of the players. All I asked, as a minimum, was that the lads gave me 100 per cent, which I don't think was happening when I first came here.

"It was a difficult time for everybody because I am different to your average type of manager.

"You might get on the wrong end of a tongue lashing now and then, but if you play for me I think you'll enjoy it.

"That's because I still enjoy coming to work. I enjoy people training with a smile on their face."

Warnock's passion might get the better of him sometimes, just ask those referees deafened by one of his rants or the supporters of rival teams antagonised by his trademark touchline histrionics.

But that passion not only keeps him looking younger than his true age, it has inspired a new belief at Palace.

Take Warnock's gamble on playing 15-year-old John Bostock against Watford back in October. He said: "I'm getting to the end of my career and I'm probably not as bothered as younger managers about making mistakes. It has enabled me to give young kids a chance which probably 10 or 15 years ago I wouldn't have done. It's been exciting to see their faces when I've told them they're in the squad. It has also brought out the best in the senior pros, who have responded well to having these whippersnappers at their heels.

"I'd always wondered if it was possible to manage my way down south."

Judging by form, it certainly is.