Warnock Admits Sala Disappearance ‘Most Difficult Week’

Cardiff manager Neil Warnock admits the disappearance of Emiliano Sala has been the toughest thing he has had to deal with in football. Sala and pilot David Ibbotson are still listed as missing after their plane disappeared in the English Channel on January 21 as the Argentinian was returning to Cardiff having said goodbye to his former Nantes team-mates.

The search for the duo is ongoing but hopes are fading that there will be a positive outcome to the situation.

A cloud has descended on the Welsh club since news of the disappearance broke and Warnock was speaking for the first time since the accident ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Arsenal.

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The 70-year-old tactician has seen most things in football during a colourful career managing many clubs, but he told a press conference on Monday afternoon that nothing comes close to the current state of affairs. “You think 24 hours a day about whether to carry on,” he said. “It’s impossible to sleep. I’ve been in football management for 40 years and it’s been by far the most difficult week in my career, by an absolute mile. “It’s been a traumatic week and even now I can’t get my head around the situation. It’s probably hit me harder than anyone else as I’ve met the lad and talked to him for the last six to eight weeks.”

There will be tributes paid to the two missing men at the Emirates Stadium and Warnock feels that, while the emotion is still very much raw, it is important to get back on the pitch. “Football is important but, when a tragedy like this happens, I think from the players’ point of view they need some sort of distraction now because it’s so doom and gloom and sorrowful, the place is so sombre all the way around the club,” he added. “You need some sort of a game to get firing again.”