9-3 up in Paris Eire...if Leeds and Ireland both get beat today I might have to cross over to the dark side.
It’s times like these I really miss Boggers. I know he would find positives in our current setup. I’d love to see what he’d have found
Exactly, at that period in time a decent coach would have won everything with the money being spent. O’Leary spent and spent and spent and still won sweet FA
Makes no difference. When TC is sacked, his successor will likely be another hockadayesque coach from An obscure league we’ve never heard of. Replacement need to be a manager who has a proven success of winning promotions from the Championship. We know how likely that is
And that's why Radz has Orta and TC, because he is scared stiff of that kind of thing happening to him. The legacy of the past it still there to haunt us
And it was pretty much around that time that people stopped liking David O'Leary. He put his name to another book, you see, this one titled Leeds United on Trial. It was seen, both inside and outside the club, as a risible attempt to cash-in on the court case involving Woodgate and Bowyer, relating to a vicious assault on an Asian student. Even Ridsdale condemned it and, soon after, sacked his resolutely unapologetic manager. By the time he left Leeds, O'Leary had spent stg£100m on players. Two years later, the club would be relegated with debts of stg£80m. Naturally, Ridsdale and O'Leary have pretty polarised versions of the last, decadent days of Leeds as a major force. Reckless O'Leary, not unreasonably, argues that the chairman's fiscal recklessness tipped the club into free-fall. Now, Ridsdale claims that -- if you search deep enough -- O'Leary's fingerprints can be found on much of the wreckage too. He writes specifically of the signing of Rio Ferdinand from West Ham United for stg£18m, accusing O'Leary of hiring Hauge -- best-known for his involvement in the George Graham bung scandal -- without either the chairman's knowledge or board approval. Hauge's involvement in the Ferdinand transfer would subsequently cost Leeds 10pc commission on the deal worth £1.8m. Ridsdale writes: "If Leeds United were raped by Hauge, then our arms were pinned down by the manager's mandate. We contemplated not paying, but were told the deal would be off. Why would O'Leary give exclusivity to Hauge without informing the chairman? I cannot provide a satisfactory answer. "I'm not saying O'Leary did anything illegal, but we had a certain method of conducting transfers at Leeds United." Ridsdale claims that O'Leary signed a form effectively empowering Hauge to activate the transfer six months before the Ferdinand deal actually happened. "David hired him without my knowledge," he writes. "And without board approval. He acted unilaterally." The former chairman also paints a damning picture of O'Leary's role in the collapse of team-spirit at Leeds after the assault trial, claiming that 10 players "either directly or indirectly" indicated their intention to leave the club if there was not a change of manager. "From my chairman's office, I could almost hear the team's respect breaking up," writes Ridsdale. "O'Leary denied there was a dressing-room revolt. But the manager's book was the cause and effect of the crisis that sent the club over the edge." He accuses O'Leary of squandering "a golden opportunity" for Leeds United. It is hard-hitting and, let's be honest, unshakably self-serving stuff from the public face of one of the most spectacular collapses witnessed in English football history. Indeed, many will see it as little more than the vengeful swipe of an embittered man. Yet, the timing of Ridsdale's book clearly damages O'Leary. It re-heats the perception of a one-time model pro who, in management, found himself drawn to the very places that he found so repugnant as a player. By the time he finished with Villa in 2006, O'Leary had become the subject of vicious parody in the game. His favoured description of his players as an "honest bunch of lads" was recycled with withering repetition by supporters and satirists alike as a kind of bluffer's denouement. He was slaughtered for poor man-management and unenlightened tactic. All the impetus of his early years with Leeds had effectively been air-brushed from his CV. Clearly, an inference of curious business dealings won't preclude O'Leary from the chase to succeed Steve Staunton. After all, Terry Venables and the afore-mentioned Graham are also listed in the betting. But Ridsdale's book seems to call into question O'Leary's judgement on just about every level of leadership required in a football manager. It may be malicious, it may be gratuitous, it may even -- above all -- be unfair. But, for Dave O'Leary, it has surely gone to press with ruinous timing
please log in to view this image Lee Sobot@LeeSobotYEP 3m3 minutes ago An honest Thomas Christiansen on his future: "If it's their decision that they want to find somebody better then I cannot do anything about that. This is their decision and I will then go away but with the head high that I have done the best for the team and the club." please log in to view this image
But many are complaining we're not spending enough at moment, cos we're spending it all on the U23's. It's been proven many times over that spending doesn't always win trophy's. O'Leary had us in top 5 of prem every season, and had us in Europe..............where are we now since he left.
