Former Leeds United manager finds new job as he takes up fresh challenge outside England

Former Leeds United boss Neil Warnock has been appointed manager of Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen. Warnock had been out of work since leaving Huddersfield Town back in September, but the lure of a new challenge north of the border has seen him accept his 20th different managerial job in the game.

Warnock, who takes over from the sacked Barry Robson, has penned a deal until the end of the season, when the club expect to make a permanent decision regarding the hot seat at Pittodrie. He joins up with Aberdeen with immediate effect and will be in the dugout on Tuesday night when the Dons take on Rangers at Ibrox.

Despite managing for over 40 years, Warnock has never worked in Scotland but he'll be keen to make a swift impact as the club strive to claim a top six spot before the league splits.

He'll be joined at Aberdeen by Ronnie Jepson, his long-standing assistant manager, who has been with him at various clubs over the years, including Leeds.

“I’m really looking forward to the challenge here at Aberdeen," Warnock told the Aberdeen club website. “I’ve made no secret of the fact I’ve always wanted to manage in Scotland so when I spoke to Dave [Cormack] and Alan [Burrows] and they asked me to help out it just felt like the right opportunity.

“By all accounts there is a good group of lads here and it’s my job now to get the best out of them. Aberdeen is a big club with clear ambition and I’m hoping that during my time here the supporters will get behind the team and I can put a smile on their faces.”

Chairman Cormack added: “From the moment we first spoke with Neil his enthusiasm for managing Aberdeen was infectious.

“He has had an incredible career in management, not only in terms of volume of games and winning promotions, but also of coming into clubs at short notice and making an immediate impact.

“We look forward to Neil, Ronnie and the team pushing hard in the remaining four months of the campaign as we still have a huge amount to play for both in the SPFL Premiership and the Scottish Cup."