Ever wondered how a transfer deal is done? What a manager says during his pre-match team-talk? What he screams from the techincal area? What goes on in training sesions, and on those long away trips? How a manager carefully builds a team, and what he does when the planning is disrupted by injuries? How he lifts a team after a crushing defeat, and keeps their feet on the ground after a resounding victory? How the man in charge handles the ever-present danger of getting sacked in the ultimate results business? In short, how one of today's top professional footballer managers somehow copes with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, with having to live, breathe and sleep football 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? Then read The Gaffer.

Renowned for his outspoken, colourful character, Neil Warnock here exclusively tells the story of his life in football. Warnock began his career as a player in 1967, and over the next eleven years played with a number of clubs including Scunthorpe United and Barnsley as a winger. In 1980 he took on his first managerial role with Northern Premier League side Gainsborough Trinity, and has since managed a number of clubs, including Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Bury and, of course, Sheffield United. Perhaps the Blades' most famous fan, Warnock's relationship with Sheffield United is legendary. Having been appointed in 1999, he became the sixth longest-serving manager in league football. In 2003, Warnock saw United to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the League Cup as well as the final of the First Division play-off. He cemented his place in the Blades' history books by leading them back to the Premiership in April 2006, after twelve years in the First Division. He finally parted company with Sheffield United in May 2007. Neil Warnock tells his story with his trademark humour and passion, offering a fascinating insight into the journey of a football manager from the Northern Premier League to the Premier League.