No, what are they? I've seen a few people on here saying that AOB might know or have something against the club that they won't want to get in the public, but haven't heard anything else
Thing about the hoofing and playing style is that Grayson's gone on the record several times and said he's asked the players to show for it in midfield and play from the back. I don't doubt that's what he's been trying to instill in them in training. But Lees, Kisnorbo, Naylor, O'Brien and others, while they're intelligent defenders at times, aren't intelligent footballers overall. And that's what you get when you're on a low budget. I think it's harsh to say he's poor tactically. Average maybe. I still think we have a decent mixed style of playing. It looks massively better when the players can be arsed to press.
Think we are still paying AOB.so we can sell him in a couple of weeks.To stop paying him would give him a free.
this is why i said 'I like his apparent free flowing style he wants to achieve though rather than boring football. I do think he is doing a fantastic job and has done during his time here but i've stuck to my guns right from the summer, if he doesnt get us promoted, i would be sacking him and bringing in someone else.
mY VIEW WILL NOT CHANGE he is without doubt been a sucess with little or no money to spend yet we improve every season .What we need is consistency and continuation no more chopping and changing its not a coincidence that Man u and Arsenal always do well and the sooner some of us realise this and get of his back the better for me
I was going to reply with the exact same comment, the players on the pitch have shown that they do have the ability and I am sorry to say Grayson either does not have the respect of the dressing room or the motivational side needed. Overall he is an up and coming decent manager with a lot of good attributes but one who still has an awful long way to go. The majority of his transfer dealings have been hit and miss, mainly in defence and I have to question Graysons own belief in the players he signs. If Grayson knew Clayton was going to be as good as he has turned out to be then why was he not offered a very long contract, why do we sign the likes of Forssell when his wages could have been used somewhere else. On a positive note we are still in a playoff position, Reading was an awful result on the back of Watford, I think every Leeds fan believed 4 to 6 points for the taking and we have only 1 and two tricky away matches to Barnsley and Derby. If we come away pointless from the next two I do believe rightly or wrongly that Grayson will be sacked.
As you rightly say, we are still in a playoff position. Two questions though 1 What chance realistically do you think we have of staying there considering we play an average of one decent game in four. The rest are made up of rubbish performances with the odd last minute goal thrown in to steal undeserved points 2 Do you really believe, if, we make the play offs, we would have a chance in hell of winning them even if we could find someone we could beat over a two legged semi
At the start of the season we had a thread asking where we would finish, I said middle of the table IF we signed a decent keeper (at the time we hadn't signed Lonergan). This was also before we sold Gradel, I do believe we are punching above our weight at the moment and sadly no I do not believe we can stay as high as we are. I honestly believe the 5 teams above us are better over the course of a season, Blackpool and Reading have both taken maximum points from Elland Road and they are sitting pretty right behind us and I expect Leicester to get it right so it will be a major battle to cling in there. I will reserve total judgement until after the transfer window has come and gone, will we see any departures that would cripple us, will we see anyone coming in apart from the obvious of the two loan players Keough and Pugh? We have too many average squad players and not enough shining stars, we haven't got many cemented in positions who are on the team sheet week in and week out and when it looks like we might have one they disappoint with a couple of very poor games. We all said Snodgrass should be dropped at the start of the season and Clayton was superb, then when Snodgrass hits some fine form the likes of Clayton put in a couple of below par performances. Like I said in another thread, has Grayson got what it takes to motivate the team week in and week out.
Ristac, I believe that we do have the first team to be challenging, maybe not the squad but the first team is good enough. The consistency is no where near as high as it needs to be and it could be a motivation thing. Im really sick of people saying 'well grayson doesnt have the budget so we cant expect him to do finish in play-offs or autos'. Thats crap and i do expect him to do well and thats just a way of turning it from a grayson thing to a bates thing. He doesnt make changes when its obvious to me or anyone else to make them (and hes a professional manager and paid to do this), his substitutions for me are pre-decided before the game like against reading even, he had in his mind that vayrynen was gonna come on for brown before the game, same with keogh, he knew he was gonna bring him on for McCormack before the game started (because obviously he cant bring becchio off) I have put a lot of negative about grayson lately but i still do have the faith in him and dont believe he should be sacked but his negatives are really shining through to me lately.
We don't mate and the sooner you believe that the sooner you will come to terms with the fact we are not going to get promoted with the team as it is. We have too many average squad players, we need a new LB as White is not up to it defending, we need a new CB as Lees is not ready and Kisnorbo has lost it, we need a new LM to replace Gradel and we need a top CM who is first down on the team sheet without fail and it is between Howson and Clayton to play alongside them and if McCormack and Becchio can't play together we need to let one leave and bring in someone new (if we are a 4-4-2 team) if a 4-5-1 then one of them needs to start scoring and quick.
Alrite, lets go there, when everyone is fit ----------------Lonergan--------------- Connolly/Lichaj-----Rep----Lees----White/Pugh Snoddy-------Clayton----Howson----Rep ----------Keogh------McCormack------- rep - means replacement Thats what i think needs to be done to make that team good enough for the second half of the season, it shoulda been done in the summer but wasnt. i think white is good enough to play in the championship but no higher but needs a suitable player in front of him if he is to play, otherwise, play Pugh. I think we should re-sing Lichaj for RB and that would be more than good enough. A CB is a must but a LM would be nice. In all honesty, there are more players that could make that first team in a championship team (and lichaj isnt a must more a want) but im more thinking, if we strengthen our first team then our squad naturally gets stronger as well. Which is only 3 signings and i dont see why we cant get 3 signings. That would push us on nicely for play-offs or even autos still with teams above us failing regularly. I dont think we can get wound up after every defeat but we do need to look to strengthen sensibly
If you believe Bates will sign Keough, Pugh and three other GOOD signings think again... Back to the original comment though, the first team squad as it stands isn't good enough to get us promoted. Howson and Clayton have too many off days between them, we need someone to play CM week in week out at a level higher than is being done at the moment
Bates has said he wants promotion, he has said there is money available, if he is lying (which is possible) then it will be obvious but if he really wants promotion, he should be able to do that. It just annoys me that West Ham can attract Kevin Nolan and we cant even attract the likes of Puncheon. Remember, this will be Grayson's last season if he doesn't get promoted, he really should be looking hard for January, they dont necessarily have to be expensive signings remember. And back to the original, both Howson and Clayton are good enough for a promotion team just not consistent, which could be down to motivation, regardless, i would like to see us sign McGugan for 1mil (apparently thats what he is going for)
