NEIL WARNOCK once told Djed Spence to go home and take a long hard look at himself.
As a 20-year-old full-back at Middlesbrough, he had a reputation inside the club for having an attitude problem.
When Warnock took charge in 2020 — during Covid — the veteran boss told him if he wanted to make it to the top, he had to change his ways.
So after seeing Spence win promotion to the Prem with Nottingham Forest, lift the Europa League at Tottenham and now get picked for England by Thomas Tuchel, Warnock is pleased he came round to his way of thinking.
The pair have shared some amusing exchanges on social media — and Warnock, 76, is delighted to see his former star succeed.
He said: “I took him to one side and said, ‘Djed, you’re not going to like me talking to you like this but it’s a shame because there’s two ways you can go.
“You can end up in non-league or go right to the top. You must make adjustments in your life. You’re going to have to change a little bit.
“I told him, ‘What you’ve got to do, son, is go home and look in the mirror and tell yourself where you want to go — only you can choose’.”
Spence, now 25, was sent on a season-long loan to Forest in September 2021 which ended with promotion to the Premier League.
Tottenham bought him in the summer of 2022 for £15million — but boss Antonio Conte washed his hands of the signing, saying it was an “investment” by the club.
And Warnock revealed: “I’ve heard that he had some problems attitude-wise when he first went there.
“He managed to get into the team but then got bombed out completely — getting sent out on loans.
“It was last summer that he went back to Tottenham a completely different boy!”
Spence had been loaned to Rennes and Leeds — where boss Daniel Farke sent him back to Spurs, questioning his attitude and discipline.
But after a spell in Italy with Genoa, Spence’s career has now taken a massive upward trajectory.
And Warnock said: “People close to Spurs say he came back working his socks off and had really matured. Ange Postecoglou didn’t pick him at times but he didn’t let his head drop, worked hard and his attitude was superb.
“One-on-one, Djed’s as good as anyone in the Premier League. He’s quick, nobody will get past him once his head’s right in that respect.
“So I hope he maintains that because he is just one hell of a player.
“He’s got so much ability underneath and lungs like you’ve never seen. He really can run all day.
“The boy is quick and has all the attributes.
“I think you’ve got to play him in a five at the back because being a wing-back is his strength.
“He can get up to the other end of the pitch and get back all day long, no problem. When I had him back at Middlesbrough he was almost like a hovercraft — his feet didn’t touch the floor. He just shot across the surface.”
Spence has had a few social media digs over the last few years at his former Boro manager.
When he won promotion with Forest, the wing-back posed in a photo holding a big fat cigar with the Championship play-off trophy.
And Spence posted it on social media with the caption: “Oh, where’s my Manners! Welcome to Twitter @warnockofficial.”
Warnock, after the first post, replied: “Well done Djed. I did say you were Premier League or non-league, glad you listened and took my advice on board. Now go and enjoy your success.”
But he added: “Those cigars won’t do you any good though, son.”
Warnock told SunSport: “He must have thought they were funny — but I just thought, ‘It really proves the point that I made to him’.”
The legendary gaffer — who won a record eight promotions during his career — has managed a lot of players in a similar position to Spence at Boro.
And Warnock has seen some go on to be a success at the top and others slip into the part-time levels, or out of the game altogether.
He explained: “My main one was Victor Moses when I had him at Crystal Palace.
“I had to say to him one night before playing Cardiff, ‘Victor, I’ve just had enough now. You’ve got to show me you can change.
“‘You’ve got everything and I’m trying my hardest but I need you to do the mucky bits — the dirty bits in the game that you don’t do’.
“And that night at Cardiff, he was superb and he ended up going to Chelsea, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League — and the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria.
“I texted him while he was at the tournament and said, ‘Remember Cardiff?’.
“And within five minutes, Victor replied, ‘I’ll never forget it, gaffer, thank you very much’.
“That was one who went the right way — but you don’t get it all right.
“I’ve had a couple of others that have ended up getting arrested. One pinched a BMW off somebody. You can’t win them all.”
Tickets are available to watch Neil Warnock, with Simon Jordan, at the London Palladium on September 18 and can be booked at Fane.
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