Sacking Hecky was absolutely the correct decision. Unfortunately, there was no way that Hecky was going to transform Leeds United into promotion contenders, and you have to wonder what Radz and his team were thinking when they hired him. Barnsley were no doubt rubbing their hands in glee when they saw Leeds come knocking with a cheque for £500k flapping in the chilly Yorkshire air. The players never believed in Hecky, and why would they? Leeds had brought in a manager from a club battling relegation, below them on the table and a team Leeds had dominated on their own patch. Oh, and the new manager (also with L-Plates) had publicly stated his dislike for Leeds. Yeah, this appointment was always going to fail. There has been a lot of talk about players struggling to cope with the weight of expectation that comes with representing a global brand like Leeds United. Well, the exact same applies to the manager. Radz needs to hire a manager who has genuine BMT, who will relish the pressure and the challenge that is Leeds United. When you look back at the managers Leeds have employed since dropping out of the Prem you can only but shake your head in total disbelief. To think that previous owners actually felt that people like Hockaday, Warnock and Wise were worthy of the honour of walking in The Don's footsteps makes you wonder if these owners were just plain stupid or evil and malicious (or both). Getting the right manager in is extremely critical now more than ever. The Prem money has ballooned to an unbelievable high, and a club like Leeds can't afford to continue falling behind anymore. The financial gap for Championship regulars is so huge that it's fast getting to the stage where the cost of building a promotion winning squad is going to cost £100m. This is the nightmare scenario that Leeds are heading towards as the club continues to flounder outside the Prem. Leeds mustn't waste any more time on hiring managers who aren't capable of building a solid squad. The club needs to hire a proven manager, someone the dressing room will look up to and follow. Here's a good reason why. Tommy came in last season as a bright young manager with a point to prove. There is no doubt he is talented, and his team flew out of the blocks, putting in some genuinely fine performances. It proved that the players at Leeds were very good at Championship level, and that they could make an impact. Then Tommy's "training wheels" came off, a big problem when you hire a manager with L-Plates on his back. Don't get me wrong, I was a big fan of Tommy's and believed that once he'd been hired he needed support, but I knew he was going to fail when he buckled under the first hint of pressure. After the tough losses at Millwall and Cardiff, Tommy proceeded to lose his dressing room. It was clear that there was uncertainty amongst the players as results began to head south. The cause? Tommy totally mishandled two players, and here I have to say that I feel a lot of Leeds fans were complicit. Firstly, Wiedwald got dropped after having his first bad game, dashing the player's confidence completely. The problem with dropping Felix was that there was only "Shaky Hands" Lonergan available to step in at that time, and to justify the change Tommy needed Lonergan to shine. Unfortunately, Lonners proved to be terrible, chucking in goals for fun. Now Tommy had a major issue, because he had no choice but to recall Felix, shot confidence and all. It also meant that both his senior keepers were mentally fcuked. Here's the kicker - I have no doubt that this started the slide amongst the squad, because the manager had just shown he wasn't willing to help a player through a bad patch, but would rather chuck him under the bus without blinking. Tommy buckled badly, and he partly caved in thanks to fan pressure to drop Felix. The fans' dislike of Felix was in the main misguided, with people believing it was his fault that the useless Green had left the club. Truth is, Green didn't want to fight for his place, and in a total contradiction of his demands that he be guaranteed a First Team place, left for Huddersfield and obscurity. Felix deserves better from Leeds fans. Secondly, Klich also felt the ire of Tommy after he slipped out on the right touchline at Cardiff, a slip that led to a goal. However, look at the bigger picture in that game and you will see that Phillips had a stinker and should have prevented the Klich-error goal had he not been ambling back at a leisurely pace. Klich got dropped as well, and then loaned out to Utrecht. Again, Tommy sent a negative message to his players, and it cost him. Tommy's panicked actions and dreadful decision making prove that Leeds need a "proper" manager, someone with pedigree who can handle big club pressure, who understands how to thrive in an environment like Elland Road. There will no doubt be a stack of CVs landing on Radz's desk, and on social media Leeds fans will be touting their favourites. Someone like Mick McCarthy will definitely be talked about by fans, mainly because "he's Yorkshire" and he "has a soft spot for Leeds". Nope, that's not a good enough reason to hire Big Mick, a tired dinosaur who is incapable of building a team that can adapt to modern football. Also, Leeds don't need another "bright young thing" who is learning on the job, that's what League Two is for. This is where Radz needs to be careful and not to listen to popular opinion. He needs to push the boat out and get in a top class manager, it's the only way Leeds will have a chance at promotion. The players at Leeds are good enough, we've seen that in some quality performances. The consistency hasn't been there because the players didn't have a manager THEY believed in. The frustration amongst the players was evident on the pitch as they had to come to terms with the fact that a talented squad had fallen so far below their own expectations, fuelled by poor managerial appointments. The time to fix this, now!! This next appointment is critical, more than can ever be imagined. No promotion this coming season and Leeds will be stuck in the Championship forever unless the club is bankrolled by a billionaire a la Abramovich. The cost of continued failure is huge now, and Radz needs to get this manager issue sorted, pronto. PS. Wolves hired a manager with no Championship experience and his team ran away with the title. Reason? He came from a big club where he managed under immense pressure. He understood what was needed to set up a team that could dominate, and he convinced the owner to invest in top quality players. Don't write off a manager who hasn't been in the Championship before, as long as he is a top class manager.
Billy we looked decent against poor teams early doors and were battered week after week after that. Stop deluding yourself this entire team is poor and not one of them will ever play for us in a promotion winning team. The league table never lies at seasons end.
Chippy, I see you're still trundling out the tired Mr Meldrew act. Come on son, time to pension it off and start contributing, because I know you have the talent.
No act. I see nothing that says the current squad will ever mount a challenge no matter who is the head coach. I am crediting you with enough intelligence to know that wishing it wasn’t so will make a difference.
Me neither apart from the bit about weildwald. It was blatantly obvious the first time he came under any pressure just how **** he was. I think part of the frustration that built up in our players was knowing that if the opposition put a ball into our box it almost certainly going to result in a mistake from biscuit fingers. Just shows that rads is going to have to spend on quality rather than spunking peanuts on no hopers like weildwald. Like anything in this world you get what you pay for. Big close season for rads and his posse mess this one up and he could be the one on his way next.
Kinnear been in Argentina this week speaking to Bielsa and Almeyda, dont believe the Bruce thing because hes under contract unless Villa gave him permission. If its Bielsa we should be getting a new keeper in Gunn on loan from City plus a couple more and expect to raid Spurs too with some talent
Howya Billy, good comments. The only thing I'll say, is your very last comment. Wolves invested a lot more money into the players, squad than we did.
Great post Billy. Always admire your positivity same as that of our old friend Boggers. Some day we will get the managerial appointment right and I sincerely hope imaround to see it. I’ve seen enough ****
Good to see Boggers name in print again. Gotta keep him alive on here. I'm sure he would have been really upbeat about all this speculation. RIP, matey.
All very noble comments but you don’t make a suggestion as to who you would want, who we could afford and whether they would come here.
yep, I think it’s best if Radz and his team just do their thing without another opinion ... I genuinely have no favourite, just as long as it’s a darn good manager the players will respect and follow, then we’ll see the true potential of this squad Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So we are not going to sign any decent players then.but if we do it will be to replace the load of ****e we signed last season.
hey Shaks, yes I agree, which is why I said Nuno convinced the Wolves owner to support him ... thing is, when a proper manager is hired you tend to see owners back him because they believe he will deliver ... Radz was never going to entrust Hecky with £50m in transfer money, which makes his appointment so baffling ... maybe now is the time to get your Irish mukka Martin O’Neill in, whadya say Shaks? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
don’t agree that the players we have are total garbage, because we saw in flashes how brilliant they can be ... it’s all about consistency, and once the players lost belief it was always going to be bad ... you could see on a match day that there was no confidence in the team, and that’s down to the manager ... was Saiz, for example, really going to hang onto Hecky’s every word when you consider the excellent coaches he would have worked with as he learnt his trade? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
