Baby Shack, do... do... do Baby Shack. With a little concern hanging over Phillips fitness talk has been of solving this problem. Shackleton was named as a possibility What do we think of Baby Shack? How has he done in the games he has featured in this season? What were your hopes for him? Is he the future? Is it time to move on? Berardi returns to training Gaetano Berardi has returned to first team teaming this week, and should be ready for selection later this month. The 32yo former Swiss International tore his ACL as his team mates secured promotion to the Premier League. Although out of contract, The Leeds hierarchy awarded Berardi with a twelve month commitment until he was back on his feet. How will he fare in the Premiership? Jonathon Woodgate. Woodgate led Bournemouth, as caretaker manager, into the quarter finals of the FA cup last night defeating a Premier league side to do it. What are peoples memories of Woodgate from is time at Leeds? Do you remember the outstanding player he was? Will his time at Leeds always be darkened by events involving Lee Bowyer and himself? Was hi playing career wasted compared to what it could have been? Podcasts. I have started listening to the official Leeds podcast recently and find it quite interesting.The four people involved- Emma from LUTV, Jermaine Beckford, Patrick Bamford and Matt Lewis- are easy to listen to and the banter between them is while far from hilarious is not cringeworthy either. The insight into the players from Beckford & Bamford is worth a listen on its own. Whether it is due to our current success or people having more time on their hands due to lockdown there seems to be a new Leeds United fan podcast popping up everyday. Do you guys listen to them? Are they worth a listen? Please leave your recommendations below? I personally highly recommend the Square Ball podcast and the Phil Hay podcast. The Square ball guys are very funny and very knowledgeable, one of the guys wrote "100 years of Leeds United" a history of the club which came out for the centenary last year. Well worth a listen.
Morning all Podcasts are great especially for walking the dog and I do 2 footy pods which are the Ornstein and Chapman Podcast which has 2 episodes each week with episode 2 based upon the business of football. The other one is the Phil Hay show. Always loved Woodgate but he had 2 flaws. Firstly he was injury prone which held him back from being the best CB in the world. Secondly he was an idiot and easily led astray. However I have no reason to think he isnt able to manage a football team. He is fully qualified and taken all his badges and has coached U21s and managed to get himself part of the first team set up at Boro. Due to lack of funds as the parachute money had been wasted by a number of so called top managers, Steve Gibson asked Woody to take over as manager. He had no money and any players sold meant the cash went to pay bills. He tried his best but from being part of the coaching team, to being oart of the first team coaching team to being made manager, when last week you were head of Bantz and messing around, never works out. He had a poisoned chalice at Boro so never got a fair crack. He is in temporary charge at Bournemouth and I hope he succeeds. Lets face it whatever the club have paid him he has already paid them back by beating a Prem team and getting into the quarter finals of the FA Cup. Big money for that. Being Understudy to Kalvin Phillips is a tough ask because Kalvin is a bit unique, so nobody can do it like Kalvin. Thats not to say nobody can do it better than Kalvin, but they would need to read the game and anticipate where the danger is going to come from, snuff it out, take the ball and set the team back on the attack. Ben White, Klich, Koch, Struijk have all failed to get near the standard. Shacksneeds to show he is able to fit into this first team and if he fails I fear he may be sold in the Summer. He has been part of the Bielsa set up now since the start and we haven't found a hole for him yet. Come on Shacks grab your chance, because in the Summer you know we will bring in one top player who can play at DM and AM which means 2 positions fewer for you to fill.
Woodgate was sold a lame duck when given the job at Middleborough. Will be interesting to see what he can do as a manager now he has come good players at his disposal. Unless Uncle Harry gets Fat Frank the job Woodgate has made a good argument for the Bournemouth job so far. He had so many of the tools to have become one of the greatest centre backs ever but, as Doc rightly says, his glass legs and hollow head were always against him.
Morning all Woody not the sharpest knife in the drawer apparently. Isn't there a great story about him going to the airport for a European Game and O'Leary asking if he had his passport and Woody said "yes, it is at home in the safe so I don't lose it"?
Agree with doc, woodgate was potentially the best c/h in the world. He was always actually a sicknote. One of his team mates told me he was never off the treatment table for his hamstring, even as a teenager. As a manager? He was considered to be not a bad lad but easily led and hung out with the ‘wrong crowd’ when younger. As a manager? Well at boro, he wanted to play football with a side built for Pulis ball - so a bit naive on all sides to think that was a quick fix. Who knows whether he’ll cut it elsewhere.
On a serious note as there are plenty of stories about potential signings, and there going to be plenty more before next season starts. Big names mentioned but I wonder what/who will arrive. The players who come must have a certain mental make up and physical attributes. They would need to be fully aware of what will happen to their lifestyle in terms of body shape, body weight, diet, recovery, time training, less days off and longer days. On top of that having to change their game to suit the team dynamic and not their own perception. Bielsa has managed some of the best players in the world and had rave reviews from many many of them. However he has also had some reviews from a few top players who hated him and his way of coaching. So Im hoping that any player we sign is fully buying into the Bielsa regime and way of doing things. If you are a top player and like the glamour and trappings of being a superstar, go sign for Scumchester Rovers or Chelski, but if you are a very good player and want to become one of the best in the World, then get on the Leeds bus.
Baby shack? Downside of all this versatility business is I’m not sure what his best position is. I think his mobility makes him useful as a sub later in games, but hasn’t yet been able to assert influence as a starter. Not helped by ongoing injuries. I like him but Jury still out for me.
You are absolutely correct with the above. The universe of players with talent + a side before self mentality + the capacity to meet an unusually gruelling fitness regime... is relatively small. People shouldn’t believe Bielsa is as universally popular in the dressing room as is often made out either. He’s a social misfit with some unusual personality traits. We all love the results, not everyone loves the methods behind them.
On yesterdays thread some if us were talking about Academy players making it. Already today Shacks has been mentioned and will he make it, well yesterday another one of our Academy players signed for Ebsfleet Utd. Dom Poleon yet another player many had high hopes for and he was in the same group as Sam Byram (Whatever happened to him) poleon is a mate of Kalvin Phillips as they played together although Dom is a couple of years older than Kalvin. Zac Thompson was also in that group. So there are many names going through academies but a hell of a lot of waste too. Poleon was under the Bates regime and GFH then Cellino so never got the full academy experience due to Lucy and Redders being sacked and the TA site being mothballed. I believe that the club are back to paying selected families to look after sime academy players who are away from their homes or indeed countries, because Bates was the twat that stopped this and actually wanted to charge parents for coaching their kids in the Academy
Not sure about Shackleton, always on the fringes and never seems to make the cut. When given his opportunities - see Hull and Crawley this season he doesn't take them. Think he's a good back up and understudy for Ayling but looking at how Drameh is playing I doubt he's too far behind. Only ever going to get into CM due to injuries and we're going to be buying in this area in the summer so his only hope for us is RB. I could see us keeping him as a utility player, loaning next season or selling depending on price/potential buyers. If Berardi comes back when we have some injuries I think he'd do well as a CB and a good back up but is not going to be first choice as long as Cooper, Struijk and Phillips stay fit. I think he'd do a job if needed as did well at CB against Arsenal in the cup and can always rely on him to get stuck in. Not much to say on Woodgate but thought he was a good player from what I remember of him. Podcast wise I listen to The Phil Hay Show, LS11 and The Square Ball which are all worth a listen.
Funny you mention byram, he cropped up in chat the other day and I had to google him. He’s at norwich - played a few times in the Prem but picked up recurring hamstring injury.
For a career fullback with zero pace berardi has done surprising well as centre back cover for us as long as it’s back 4 not back 3. But premier league centre back? Really? Would anyone feel confident? Given the injuries we have in that position i guess it’s an extra safety net in the very short term. Love his commitment and nice gesture to extend his contract when injured out of contract... but better for everybody to put him out to grass surely?
If we got to the point where we couldn't finish any higher or lower in the League and decided to give Berardi a farewell run out in the premier League for sentimental reasons I would be just about ok with it. If he has to play for any other reason I would be very worried.
Agreed... 10 minute run out to say goodbye. Coming on for one of the u23s who should be playing as a priority. He can kamikaze a knee high tackle 5 seconds late and try and pick up a red for old times sake. Not sure how a sentimental farewell for the fans works when their aren’t any, but hey!
Knee high? It was the shoulder high ones when he first arrived that made me realise he had a red card in him
Be good to see a farewell from Forshaw, Roberts, Pablo, Alioski, Kiko and Berardi, but obviously once we cannot drop a place in the league because every place is worth £1m
