Doukara & Antenucci got good runs, with good scoring returns too. I've no idea why home-grown crap players have been played in front of Doukara & to a lesser extent, Antenucci. Bianchi was excellent in midfield, although not admired by all. Sloth get an occasional game, but usually out of postion (sound familiar?). Adryan got a good run, but did nowt. Silvestri & Bellusci impressed in goal/defence. Berardi rightly lost his chance with the 2 red cards. Benedicic has been injured virtually all season. No idea why the decision wasn't taken to send him home. Del Fabro & Montenegro haven't had any game time to speak of. Must be a good reason for that, eh, Redders? So that accounts for 11 of them. Sharp, Cooper, & Taylor bring the total up to 14, but I'm bugered if I can remember who the 15th was (and no hangover to blame this morning either!).
We could have continued with the Cellino dross all season and been in the exact same position and fans would have screamed why not give The youngsters a try, they can't be any worse, good time to give them experience... What are we complaining about, Cook and Mowatt? Is anyone doubting Taylor and Byram being included? Del Fabro over who? Cooper or Bamba both new signings. As for Antenucci and Doukara I have seen as many moan about them as praise, it is all opinion, me personally I think they are both below average and although I am not a Sharp fan there were loads of fans excited by his arrival. Again I agree Redfearn has got it wrong but no worse than McD, Hockaday and Darko and not to the extent some on here are making it out to be. I guess that is what happens when you refuse to accept the real reason for our mess is all down to Cellino
Oh dear. happy pills run out again? Purple patch - was Redfearn really responsible for the purple patch? He never managed it at any other time in the season. Coincidence that we only had the purple patch when Thompson was here? And 5 defeats in a row since he left? Agree £50k situation is ridiculous. I'm actually glad he failed to get it. He should have been fined the £50k if he got it, for failing to use the game time properly for preparing for next season & trying out some of the stiffs. Loans Benedicic will return. Never had a chance with injury. Adryan had his chance - feck him. Del Fabro took the only opportunity offered to him against Sunderland & did well. Re-sign or sign? Difficult decision. Montenegro didn't really have an opportunity. Was it 9 mins in total this season? Re-sign or sign? Difficult decision. Bamba would be a great asset, but perhaps too expensive for us. N'Goyi is worth the risk, I think, but only based on 1 game. Don't think Redders agrees - he's only dropped him straight away! Cani is Habib Habbibou mk 2. 'Nuff said. Finally, why is Cellino getting all the blame for the signings? Thought we had a Director of Football employed for that?
That makes sense when I am happier with Redfearn than you are and I can see that although he isn't up to the task there are a set of circumstances that have not helped him, I just don't don't believe he is as bad as most others on here, so when did your's run out It was the only one we have had all season, if it had been me saying this you would have said I was being negative, did Redfearn sack Thompson, I know you are far too intelligent to even suggest Cellino had nothing to do with it. So you agree a stupid thing for Cellino to do in offering such a clause? Hey I am not saying the loans are good or bad, just very obvious that they were only ever going to be signed if we won promotion because their agreed price would be far less than what they would fetch as a PL player. I know you believe I am being too cynical in regards to Cellino but I believe I am calling it right, they will all return. Cellino never appointed the Director and he never gave him say over who comes in or out rather than the coach then? Cellino never had the final say, it was all Salerno, come on...
Does it matter if Redfearn was solely responsible for the purple patch? He asked for Thompson to be brought in and together the two of them got us out of the mess we were in. Had Darko or Hockaday or whatever other second rate coach Cellino wanted to bring in been in charge, I have no doubt we would've been relegated because this squad is pathetic. Sometimes management teams work better than a single manager - I've used the Clough/Taylor example before, which is perfect proof of this. The £50k situation was ridiculous, but do you honestly think he should have been fined if he reached it just because he hasn't tried out the youngsters and reserves? Do me a favour; he knows he's not going to be kept on and he knows that £50k would be huge for his family. Yes it's annoying that he won't utilise his full squad, but he sees them everyday: maybe they're just not good enough. Also he's a human being, if you were in a job that you knew you were getting sacked from but there was an opportunity for a £50k bonus before you left, you'd do everything you could to get the bonus. Just because it's football doesn't make him any less human. As for the loans, agree with most. Del Fabro played okay against Sunderland's reserve team in a cup game. N'Goyi was average, but very short of match fitness to be fair to him. Montenegro should've been given more of a chance, but he's been ignored by 3 (? can't remember when he signed in relation to Hockaday's sacking) successive managers - maybe something's missing? Bamba would be a good signing but one we're unlikely to make due to Cellino's 'over 30' policy. Cellino's getting blamed for the signings because he made it clear from the beginning that he has the final say on them. Coaches can offer potential players, the DoF can scout the players and begin negotiations, but Cellino is the man who rubber stamps the signings. No player can be brought in if he doesn't give them his approval. If he does so without watching them play or checking the stats or interviewing them for character analysis, that's his problem.
I personally think this was a revolt brought about by whoever leads the men staying in their hotel in Leeds to point out that they have no faith in the coach to lead them anywhere and it wouldn't surprise me if he Redders is sacked this week to be replaced by yetr another new coach lets hope its Mike Warburton for me who has worked wonders on a shoe string and will be respected by all
Ristac, with respects, Redfearn has recently stated the Diamond is our best formation, the change of formation was the formation that dragged us away from relegation zone, but when we were safe he didn't change back, did he. Yet during a recent game he subbed Antenucci and brought on Sharp and Morison and reverted to the Diamond, doesn't really make sense, does it? http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co....2-the-ideal-formation-says-redfearn-1-7215443 He's also stated that Leeds United have hit their limits, yet he won't give many of the players he doesn't want to pick a decent run in team, but he'll play a striker who, up untill the charlton game hadn't scored for us in 2 years, he'll keep playing a midfield that get ploughed through nearly every game, then claim them to be best in league, doesn't really make sense, does it? http://www.leeds.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=396665 Now, who's round is it?.....
Mark Warburton is a good manager, but he's leaving Brentford because their chairman is planning on instigating a continental operating style similar to ours - he didn't want to work under a regime where he had no say on transfers. Silly suggestion, really. Also, he never worked on a shoe string budget - he never had huge amounts, but he spent £1m each on Macleod and Odubajo, and signed Hogan, Jota, Gray, Judge and O'Connell for undisclosed fees - Hogan was rumoured to be for £750k, Jota for £1.5m, and Gray for at least six figures (can't find anything more). Not sure on Judge and O'Connell, but I would imagine they were both for six figures again, at the very least. Far more than we've spent in a long time, before this season anyway, and we had the McCormack money to finance the majority of our deals - Warburton only sold one first team player, Forshaw. Donaldson left on a free so he doesn't count.
True, maybe I should say the continentals. Austin and Monte aren't getting their game but they aren't whinging about it. If you cast your mind back over the most successful times in Leeds Utds history, how many Italians were involved with those times. I also think the lack of English doesn't help, although TBH I don't know how good their English is.
Actually he stated that 4-4-2 would be the ideal formation in this league. A flat, traditional 4-4-2 is very different to a midfield diamond. The diamond is based around a lack of width, which we have. Redfearn wants to play a 4-4-2 with wingers, which we don't have. At no point in the article does he say the diamond is our best formation. He said it did well for a spell, but ran out of legs. Why would he change it back when we were on a good run? Redfearn makes a lot of mistakes and he's not a perfect coach by any means but you're clutching at straws with this one. Blame his lack of substitutions, his reliance on the youth players and his stubborn persistence with Morison if you need reasons, but don't resort to twisting his words to fit your narrative.
Hey'up Ristac, Cellino said promotion in 2 years, not 1, I doubt he brought the 15 players in just for 1 season. Cellino was limited by what he could spend because of the up and coming embargo, he balanced it out by getting rid of the journeymen and deadwood, which, if I remember rightly most were in agreement with. Had Cellino spent millions on players then we would've been in it right up to our necks and copped a multi million quid fine. Cellino can't spend millions while we're still under an embargo. People should remember we had an embargo on it's way, and are still in it, before moaning and calling his signings cheap imports. Cellino did what he did under difficult circumstances to help get the club back on it's feet financially, which, if I remember rightly most were in agreement with. The difficult circumstances were left behind by GFH.
If Cellino knew that he couldn't bring in players of the quality necessary to get us promoted, he shouldn't've signed them at all. It's inexcusable. Transfer embargo or not, signing second rate players just to fill the squad is pointless. I would rather us have signed three or four quality players who would really improve the squad, and relied on the youth team (which we've done anyway) rather than signing fifteen just to see how many of them would work out. It would be more prudent to add a quality player or two every window and build up a great squad than sign loads of average players in one go, then replace them all with more average players in the next window.
Hey'up Kiwi, The 4-4-2 and the diamond is pretty much the same thing with 4 midfielders. The diamond can also be made up of a 4-4-1-1 formation. When we played 4-4-2, or the diamond if you like, Redders instructed Bianchi to play further back, and Adryan was the playmaker just behind the 2 strikers with two other midfielders just behind him, I think that's what Redders was referring too. Nice to see you looked at Wiki though..... I'm happy to meet you in middle on that one, which means it's your round.... I'm sure you're well aware by now Kiwi that I don't try and twist words to fit my narrative, theres no point in it, much prefer to admit I was wrong in saying something rather than pull the wool over others eyes.....I'll have that 2nd pint now....
Hey'up Kiwi.....again... Cellino brought in players who he thought could do the job. Had he not brought any players in, due to the limit on the amount he could spend, then we'd still have the journeymen and deadwood at the club; that would give some even more reason to blame Cellino for not bringing any players in at all. The point is, Cellino was limited on what he could spend and he did it by way of buying some players and getting some on loan. Do you think the 3 or 4 quality players you mentioned would have cost the club more than 5 million, including wages, that Cellino apparently spent on bringing 15 in? The fact you called'em second rate players is a matter of personal perception, I think most of'em, that aren't injured have a lot of potential and are good enough for the team next season, as we have seen with many of'em.
Your round as you are incorrect, he actually said 4-4-2 As I see you have been picked up on about this by Kiwi as I scroll further down 4-4-2 in the mould of how we played in the good old days with Speed and Strachan is nothing like a diamond formation, you really are clutching now I still stand by the opinion that the players we signed are mostly second rate, previous seasons fans have gone mental at signing more than a couple of loan players, because Cellino says we have the option to buy it suddenly makes it all okay? Watch this space, when all the loans go back the only platform we shall have is that of the academy lads and we don't have Cellino to thank for them, it will be down to Mr Redfearn.
I just don't think there's any point in replacing substandard players with yet more substandard players, only for the majority of fans to consider them better based purely on their nationality. Three or four quality players may have cost more than £5m, but let's not forget he had £11m from the McCormack sale and offloaded a lot of players. As you say, it's all a matter of personal perception, but the only players I think have really improved what we had before are Silvestri and Bamba, and that's because Kenny was dire and Lees and Pearce weren't much better. The rest are either no better than what we had before, very poor, or haven't had a chance - and you can blame Redders all day for that, but the fact is they've been ignored by three managers - maybe they're just not that good. Only exceptions are Benedicic and N'Goyi, who have both been injured, though Benedicic should've been sent back the moment it became clear he's out for the season and N'Goyi probably shouldn't've been signed if he only came back to fitness four weeks before the end of the season.
Hey'up Kiwi, Cellino didn't have 11 mill from the McContract sale. Generally speaking, Cellino, or Leeds would receive a final and part payment of the 10.75 mill transfer fee if Fulham got promoted straight back to the prem, we can safely say that payment won't be paid, what percentage the final payment would've been I can't say. From the amount actually received, GFH would take their share, which I'm presuming at the time to be 25%, then there'd be other payments else where before Leeds could state how much they actually received themselves. Part of other payments could also include McContracts percentage if it was part of the deal or previous contract. A lot of people, even today are still saying no ones seen anything of the 11 mill Leeds got for McContract, but they don't seem to know the details of the deal or GFH's share etc before Leeds receive what's left. On the subject of buying the ground back, last year Cellino made inquiries about buying the ground back and how much it would cost, he later revealed it was put on hold because of the problems with GFH, who at the time I believe weren't putting any money into club, or trying not too. GFH's share value would've skyrocketed had Cellino bought the ground back, I think Cellino knew this and they'd be a lot harder to get rid of.
I get that the deal is structured, as almost all deals are these days, but we did spend money (I'm not 100% on any of the prices, but they seem to be the most common ones mentioned for each player) - Silvestri for £400k, Bellusci for £1.6m, Sharp for £600k (buying out his contract, apparently), Berardi for £250k, Bianchi for £500k, Ajose for £150k, Doukara for £1.5m, Cooper for £600k, Sloth for £600k, Antenucci for £400k, not to mention all the loan fees we probably had to pay too. Let's just assume that these signings were made without touching the money from the McCormack and Smith sales - I make that £6.6m without considering loan fees or player wages. With the extra money generated from those sales, even if we only received £2/3 million up front, we'd have close to £10m to play around with. Now we obviously had money to play around with on wages, seeing as there's 10 signings there - why didn't we purchase two or three quality players for £2/3m instead of 10 average ones? How many of those players have been an upgrade on what we had before? Silvestri's better than Kenny, but so is Stuart Taylor. The defenders are marginally better, but still weren't great until Bamba/Steve Thompson taught them how to defend (which they've now seemingly forgotten, Bamba included) Bianchi is virtually an Italian Michael Tonge, and none of the strikers are worthy replacements for McCormack and Smith. Neither Ajose nor Sloth, to be fair, have been given a worthy chance. We had money to spend - not loads, I grant you, but it hasn't been spent wisely. How many of those signings do you honestly see playing in the Premiership?
