Self sustaining? I think you might find that we are still losing £..8mill a month and the debt is increasing and Elanora sports are in for about £10mill of debt on a creditor basis. With interest at 15%we are a long way from meeting ffp.
I think the main issue is that we have no natural wide players - Adryan is an attacking midfielder, Doukara is a striker and from what I can tell, Montenegro has played up front for the majority of his career. Yes, they may be able to play wide, but it begs the question why were no natural wingers signed to begin with? As Ristac said, it seems like Cellino is/was adamant on us playing the diamond formation which we've proven does not work for us. I completely agree about Antenucci starting ahead of Morison (although I still maintain he was rightly dropped when he was for poor form, but should've been reinstated weeks ago) but again, as Ristac says, it appears Redfearn's had his hands tied re Antenucci's game time. I don't know any more about it than the next man, but it wouldn't surprise me if Redfearn was told to drop him in December/January because he was getting dangerously close to that contract-extending total.
Apparently Adryan has played as a wide winger (maybe from RM or LM) but it was said he started out as a winger, Monty is a striker and a winger, but Striker is his main position, Duke apparently has also played as a winger before too (again could be RM) Irrespective, I think Redders has had the opportunities to try certain players in wing positions with the players we have while shouting he needed wide players, but he didn't. Bringing in 2 natural wide wingers would mean dropping two of his midfield.......mmmmm. Regarding Antenucci, this is where it can be become arguable, confusing at same time still being able to point the finger at Redders (no I'm not fuelling my dislike of Redders)... Redders claimed he had full autonomy in regards to picking the players, as per the clause in his contract, therefore he should be his own man. If Redders is/was acting under the instructions of Umbers, then Redders should leave now because that makes him Umbers puppet and was acting with detriment to team and other players, plus it totally contradicts Redders previous claims. "As Ristac said, it seems like Cellino is/was adamant on us playing the diamond formation which we've proven does not work for us." Again this is an arguable one, the diamond worked well during Redders temp role and in the Blackpool and first Derby game as well as in the draws we had.
I'm sick of having players who have played a particular role though - if we need wingers, sign some sodding wingers. It's bad enough having two full backs there! Just because a player has played in position it doesn't make him any good there - Pearce played left back for us before, and he was awful. No, I'm sorry but I'm sick of the 'oh but this player can play there!' excuse. Even if we were going to use the diamond all season some natural wide players should have been signed, if only as an alternative option. No excuses. No other team in the football league would be so short sighted as to leave their squad devoid of any talent in two positions. As for two natural wide wingers joining the squad meaning dropping two of his midfield - not really, it just means Byram reverts to his natural position (ridding us of needing to play Wootton out of position) and Taylor comes back into LB - at the expense of Berardi, another player playing outside of his natural position (albeit one he's still fairly comfortable in). If Cellino had signed players to fit in a balanced squad instead of playing Football Manager with the team we wouldn't've had this issue. I'm sure Redfearn does choose the players, but since the chairman/Cellino noticed Antenucci was getting dangerously close to his contract-extension goal tally, he's barely got in the team, there was talk of him being farmed off on loan to Norwich and then in the past week we hear Redfearn's being pressured not to pick him. He may have been given initial control but then warned about picking Antenucci for risk of losing his job. Who knows, but the whole situation is pretty suspicious to me. Re the diamond - admittedly I was rash in saying we've proven it doesn't work. It did work temporarily, but we'd been found out. We were slow, predictable and the lack of width was killing us. Yes we still got the odd win against a very poor side (Blackpool) and played fairly well vs Derby, but they were standout performances rather than the consistent theme. My point was that Cellino signed players who worked in that formation, thus limiting us dramatically when it eventually proved ineffective. A good squad has players to adapt to different formations and tactics to work against different opposition. I'm not a fan of Liverpool, but they're one of the best examples I can think of - Rodgers constantly changes the formation and tactics based on the opposition, and if it's proving ineffective he has the nous to change things around. This is Redfearn's responsibility and he is far too reactive as opposed to being proactive, but he really hasn't been helped by the unbalanced nature of the squad. If he's to play every player in the squad in their primary position, his only options are the diamond and possibly a 5-3-2.
I agree Kiwi, if we need natural wingers we should bring'em in, the point I was trying to make is, while Redders was harping on about needing wingers, he never tried it out with the players we have, he never experimented to see if it would work for us, he stuck with what he felt safe with. The fact Redders has been harping on about bringing natural wingers in looks to me like a virtual admission that we have problems in midfield. He has Taylor and Byram playing RM and LM and doing the wingers roles, but neither are natural wingers, even Berardi has been pushing further down line and getting a lot of crosses in. We tend to play by putting more crosses in than threading the ball through for strikers and other attacking mids to run on too, we lack that tactic. If you look at the highlights, you'll see Blackburn were doing a lot of passes through our mids and defenders, that's been the case with a lot of teams we've played in past, we need to start doing more of the on the ground through balls and opening up opposition defences, that's where someone like Adryan comes in because the likes of Cook, Mowatt, Murphy and Austin seem to lack that tactical know how. I agree in regards to Rodgers and changing formation and tactics, and rotating players when it comes to the type of opposition we play but Redders isn't the type to do that because he neither has the know how, experience or tactical nous to recognise when it needs to happen. In regards to the Antenucci saga, Redders has full autonomy to pick the players, he should've exercised his right as coach to pick Antenucci above Morison, if Redders bowed down to Umbers then the autonomy clause has no meaning or significance and Redders made himself a puppet by choice; as it happens it's come back to haunt him in a roundabout way by way of Thommo being suspended. IMO, for us to have any chance of a promotion push next season, then we need two strikers and big big improvements / changes from the midfield forward.
A proper club manager has a network of scouts and coaches, the work load is shared, some of them might get to see the opposition or have seen them previously and know how they play. He gets to pick his own players and signings. I repeat Redfearn has come from the Academy straight into a head coach role without the same support and network given to a proper manager. We have to Wiki our signings, Redfearn has to see them on the training pitch, overcome a language barrier and do a lot more for himself. I didnt want Redfearn in charge but some of this criticism is bordering obsession and unfair in my opinion. Does anyone know that Adryan and co have not been tried out wide in training and proven to be awful? Umbers will be under instructions from Cellino, he (Umbers) would not have known about the 12 goal clause, seriously, Redfearn hoping for a new contract and you expect him to ignore big boss man....
Salerno gone? Yay!! Now hopefully Cellino follows quickly, with Redders hot on his heels Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Of course we have problems in midfield - we have no natural width! He has tried out wingers with the players we have, that's why we're currently playing two full backs there? Sticking with what he felt safe with would've been staying with the diamond all season even though it had stopped working. Yes, Redfearn stumbled upon the 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 (whatever you want to call it) formation in the cup, but he was bold enough to utilise it in the league based off a decent 45 minutes against a (struggling one, at that) Premier League reserve team. I don't particularly want Redfearn here long term, as I do agree that he lacks the experience and tactical nous necessary to win us promotion, but I don't think he's anywhere near as bad as you make him out to be. The squad we have is unbalanced and that stops with Cellino - if he's going to sign the players, he has to give the managers a decent, balanced squad with a variety of options and not force them to utilise a specific formation: if he wants to do that, he may as well be picking the team too. As for Redders making himself a puppet by choice - I commend you if you would really rather walk away than bow down to the pressure and desist picking a particular player, but the fact of the matter is Redfearn has a job. If he goes against what his boss says, he will be fired. If he leaves on bad terms, he may not even get his academy role back. He's a human being, and he's doing whatever it takes to stay in his job, which I think any one of us would do in the same circumstances. It's all well and good having an autonomy clause, being fired and then filing for unfair dismissal, but Umbers/Cellino would just give the LMA some other lame excuse for sacking him so Redders would still be in a pickle. I don't think Redfearn is the answer, and he has a hell of a lot to learn in every aspect of the job, but some of the things he's getting stick for border on ridiculous.
Sorry, I don't buy this. Autonomy clause or not wouldn't stop Redfearn being sacked if that's what Cellino wants. He is only on a contract to the end of the season with only a few games left. He needs to go for broke to keep his job. He definitely needs a more balanced squad. He also manage / coach very differently without the worry of how many games he gets.
So Phil Hay is reporting that Salerno is no longer in Leeds so it would appear the rumours are correct and further Adryan is on his bike shortly
Apparently he's not gone yet ..... http://www.insidefutbol.com/2015/04...or-nicola-salerno-pondering-position/200271/?
I wouldn't miss him, his transfers haven't exactly been that great, anyone could pick 17 available players and get at least a couple right. Some of our so called dead wood players have featured more than some of the signings this season.
Not sure Ristac, but I think it goes something like this, it's possible Salerno told Cellino he was resigning or thinking of resigning, apparently Cellino asked Salerno to stay and they'd have a chat when Cellino returns, but, at the moment it seems Salerno hasn't resigned.
