Correct! Took over side who'd lost Gradel and Howson without any replacement. Sold our remaining best player Snodgrass and spent less than we received this summer. Yet there's an expectation we should be improving. You couldn't make it up
Wrong took over a side that had lost Gradel at the very start of the season and replaced Howson with Delph. Replaced Snoddy with Varney, I can dig out Warnocks comments on Varney but it would only depress us more, oh and he wasted £800k on a right back who he plays at LB wages on Drury and Gray and even Hall now and he is the same manager who got shot of the only wide player we had left Lloyd Sam. I am not saying I condone any of what Bates has done in the past, he has put us in the sorry state that we are in now but Warnock has received far more backing than Grayson ever did, Warnock now has nowhere to hide, the sorry performances are down to the team he built.
It was Grayson who brought Delph in and he went back injured anyway, so that's no help to Warnock's cause. Lloyd Sam was very average, keeping him wouldn't have made any difference to our chances of our supposed aim of promotion. Yes i heard the comments about Varney being Snoddy's replacement, but as a manager you've got to defend your club even if you don't actually agree with the policies. Warnock probably reailised there was no way an adequate replacement for Snodgrass could be found with our funds, so put an end to the speculation about who we'd bring in and try and give Varney confidence (although it obviously hasn't worked). "United manager Simon Grayson has described the impending sale of club captain Jonny Howson as the right decision for all parties." Do you really believe Grayson really thought this inside. No, he was sticking up for the club and keeping Bates onside as he wanted to stay in his job. In reality he'd have been just as angry as the fans were at the sale. I agree Peltier shouldn't be playing LB, i felt so sorry for him against Boro. White or Drury are both capable there. I won't comment on the signing of Gray and Hall, because to be honest they both indicate how desperate our situation was. Paynter went out, Gray came in. A slight improved option for the bench until Somma returned. It was obvious we needed a class winger over the summer, but these cost decent money, something weren't willing to spend under Bates. So we end up signing a League 2 winger in October on loan <erm> He was obviously first choice, just like when Mika Vayrynen and Mikael Forssell were both signed in September and people criticised the manager
Which of Warnocks signings are equal to or better than average? Sam was average yes, an average wide left player, we replace him with an average CM who doesn't enjoy being asked to play out wide it doesn't come natural to them and it makes an average player look poorer than he is.
They are doing something wrong in training, thats the managers fault. The players seem rusty whenever they try play proper football, struggling to create space and move off the ball, and getting overwhelmed whenever they have to move the ball around in a congested space. Every loss we've had lately and even wins, we are losing possession in the middle so easily when teams close us down and give us no passing options, and its because they have such an easy time of it with our stiff, rigid players not making space or drawing opposition players out or even moving off the ball. Our players have become easy to mark. They even look lost for ideas and rusty when defending against short, sharp, fluid passing. Bottom of the table barnsley who hadn't won in about 1000 games made us look ****e yesterday, cutting us open and not letting us play, and its because they were allowed to do it all by players who looked un focused and out of practice. Warnock needs his marching orders
Well Thomas had the class and overall with him in the team (despite his fitness issues) we looked much better. If no wide player can be signed though he's going to have to play Hall on the wing regularly, because the only other options are Varney and White and both certainly shouldn't be considered for the wing.
But my point is when Warnock took over he did have money limited amount I know nut he did have options. Aluko went to Hull on a free transfer so it wasn't all about money. We already had Brown and Pugh, admitted I don't rate Pugh but Warnock then signs 3 very similar players in Green, Norris, Austin and first match of the season Green goes and plays out wide right. Why did Warnock not use some of the £800k on Peltier on a wide player, why did he not keep Sam until a replacement was found. Okay he had hoped for better things with Varney but we are in another transfer window and we sign Tonge and Barkley two central players, we sign Tate to replace Lee's and Warnock has come out and said his priority is another striker, how does that make Becchio, McCormack and Somma feel ignoring Diouf. Warnock said he took Portsmouths best player in Pearce, well Ward and Halford are doing much better, the man has made too many mistakes, I wanted him at the club I admit I was wrong, Warnock has shown he is unable to adopt to modern football trying to play a style that no longer works and most importanly he has built a team that cannot play to that style. I wanted Grayson to stay feeling he was the best man for the job at the time, when he went I welcomed Warnock, I also wanted Macca to stay, I rarely call for a manager to be replaced but more than any previous I am dismayed at Warnocks signings, tactics, team selection and formation.
" Aluko went to Hull on a free transfer so it wasn't all about money." Do we know if we could afford the wages though? Hull are one of many clubs I'd rank above Leeds in terms of resources (when we were under Bates). "3 very similar players in Green, Norris, Austin and first match of the season Green goes and plays out wide right." Agree with the similar players comment, however playing a central midfield slightly wide is nothing new in a 442 (Becchio and McCormack were upfront). Grayson used to do it with Johnson at LM. Grayson's being doing it this season with Huddersfield, Norwood and Southern central, Clayton out wide. Yesterday he had newly loaned player Neil Danns with Clayton and Norwood also starting with just one winger (Scannell). "Why did Warnock not use some of the £800k on Peltier on a wide player" Maybe if we didn't have cash flow issues (an assumption), we'd have signed Joel Ward for £400k and Peltier wouldn't have even signed for the club? "Warnock has come out and said his priority is another striker" I agree, that is a stupid statement and he's got his priorities wrong. "Warnock said he took Portsmouths best player in Pearce" Warnock's exaggerated statements do him no favours to be fair. Other examples include Paddy Kenny being one of the best keepers in the country and Drury being the best LB at this level. Regarding the actual signing of Pearce, it looked decent in theory. He's a good age, and was/is on an upward sloping career, Bournemouth to Portsmouth to Leeds. Far better than the usual rejects we were used to in the defence. Agree though it hasn't really worked out at this present time. "I wanted Grayson to stay feeling he was the best man for the job at the time" I also wanted him to stay, what he did at Blackpool was good, his achievements at Leeds were fantastic, he signed some top players, loved Leeds and was a good young manager who planned for the future. Signing of Clayton, as an example. Also gave Lees and White an extended run in the team. The summer of 2011 was a disaster, which was all down to Bates, yet we still did remarkably well considering under Grayson and were actually in the playoffs for an extended period. The injury to Howson (and later sale) and even Keogh's loan expiring meant it was going to be very difficult to sustain. Pathetic from Bates to sack him and just wanted to deflect the blame, where Bates is the one who should be accountable for the teams failings. I didn't expect any improvement whatsoever under Warnock. He won the league with QPR, but had the highest wage budget, he was never going to get anywhere near that at Leeds. He won promotion at Sheff Utd, but that took him around 6 years to achieve, he stated he was only coming to Leeds for 18 months, so to think he was going to achieve it with us in Bates' mind was deluded on his behalf.
His priority is another striker because two of the current ones have for sale signs stuck on their foreheads and the only reason well still have them in February will be if no acceptable offer is received. If that happens of course the pr will be that gfh fended off several advances
Something.that sums warnocks tactics up he told chris dawson not to pass the ball just to get it in the box!!!!!
Dawson? Warnock told Chris Dawson something? Am I being a bit thick in reading your post cos I don't get it.
Sums up what the players are showing, that they are overlooked basic ball retention and possession in training
Chris dawson is very much a foitballing midfielder pass n move similar to wilshere, warnock told him to stop passing in unnecessarily and just lump it in the box!!!!
http://www.leeds.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=296347 Dawson Leeds youngster - Which then makes you worried about what we are teaching the emerging starlets. https://twitter.com/Chris_dawson7 few questions about it..
Right, so it was nothing to do with the Barnsley game. Get it now. Agree in one manner, disagree in another. If he just said hoof it in irrespective if someone is there, then there is a problem. If Dawson was dallying oin the ball and had the chance to get it in a tthe right time but always chose not to, then he is delaying things and allowing the oppo the chance to cover. For example, many would like to see a winger who "gets to the byline". It's the wrong place. The best place to get a cross in - and this is proven through stats on goals scored and through the trajectory of the ball and the different places you can put it - is from about the corner of the box up to 10 yards away from there (ie closer to the halfway line). Getting to the byline means you only have two options - pull it back to the penalty spot or loft it past the GK to the far post. Both options generally mean you have taken so long that there are plenty of defenders already covering. But if he is unable to explain why he wants people to do things in certain ways, I can understand it comes across as "just hoof it". The inability to explain it may also have led to our hoofball tactics. It has bene proven that a fast attack, one that consists of 5 or less passes, leads to 80% of goals being scored. The key is to move the ball very quickly upfield. That is very different to hoofball down a central defenders throat though - it requires vision and accurate passing from the ball-player and movement and positional sense from the others, not hoofing it. This is standard "Winning Formula" tactics by Charles Hughes. It works. But not if you don't explain it properly. And if Warnock can't he needs to get out. Swansea play this way, so do all other successful clubs, except Barca.
You don't really want to be putting your mobile number on twitter mate, any number of nutters via the web will be texting you about PPI claims and the latest accident you never had.
