By the end of the season he may have pissed off our better players such that they want to leave - leaving any new manager trying to replace them with little (or no) money from Bates. There's still enough games left for a decent motivator to rescue our season. If we stick with Larry I can't see us getting any more than 3 or 4 points between now and the end of January (I'd like to be wrong). I'm not a great fan of Brown but he appears to get his teams grafting. Coppell, initially did great things and then the wheels fell off - no idea why. Gradi, he's 70 now!!! Poyet, probably too late to find out what Gus could've achieved. McAllister, now we're out of League 1 and need to play "proper" football possibly worth a punt but I've no idea what his motivational/management skills are like as he never seems to get too animated.
The only time to judge whether we're better than last season is when the season has finished. Yes we were 2nd this time last year, the January transfer window came & went & we plummetted. If after the coming transfer window we're weaker than last season then God help us, we'll end up nearer the bottom than the top. If however we can add a couple of quality additions the starting eleven (not just squad players, we've got enough of those, mediocre players who fill in when there's an injury/suspension) then we may well have a better 2nd half to the season than last year & finish in a play off spot. Then, whatever happens, we can safely say it's an improvement, & therefore a better team. Would personally like to see Kilgallon return, & Lichaj if fit. Somma will be back hopefully sooner rather than later, as will Howson. Just trying to look at it from a glass half full perspective for a change, it's far too depressing not to, and as it stands we're only a point off 6th....it could be worse.
The squad hasn't improved at all. It's worse. We've still got all the dead beats like Paynter etc. from last season, except they're now further down the pecking order, with dead beats like Forsell taking their valued positions in the squad. So we've got an ever expending list of reserves and players who have been allowed to pull on the white shirt and run out onto the Elland Road pitch, but no increase in quality. Our strongest XI from this season compared with last seasons: Longeran Schmeichel Connolly Connolly Lees O'Brien Kisnorbo Bruce McCartney White Clayton Kilkenny Brown Johnson Howson Howson Snodgrass Snodgrass Becchio Becchio Pugh Gradel There's no improvement in quality and the loss of Gradel makes us worse.
What matters is where we are at the end of the season. How can you compare those back 5's (if you put White in the correct spot) and not say this season is an inprovement! Also Clayton is 5x better than Kilkenny and it's pointless directly comparing Gradel and Pugh as they are different kinds of players. Larry needs to be at least given until the end of the season and if we make the play-offs he should stay. If he were to go the only decent candidate I can think of is Dougie Freedman. Can't believe some people are suggesting Brown and Coppell!!!
First of all it's a matter of opinion what our strongest XI is, personally I'd have Keogh over Becchio, who on current form is half the player he was last season, & there's even a case for playing McCormack on the left & pushing Pugh to left back, leaving our starting XI (if Howson fit) looking like: Lonergan. Better than. Kasper Connelly. Connelly Lees. Better than. O'Brien Kisnorbo. Better than. Bruce Pugh. Better than. McCartney Snodgrass. Snodgrass Brown. Better than. Johnson (everyone wanted him out) Howson. Howson Clayton. Better than. Kilkenny McCormack. Gradel Keogh. Better than. Becchio The starting XI looks stronger this season. Obviously Gradel's been a massive loss & hasn't been replaced at all. Basically we're still not a good team, that's not changed since last season, too inconsistent, too many games where we inexplicably look lethargic & disinterested, & in that respect we're possibly worse than last season, but I think the personnel have improved. We're just fortunate most other teams in this division are as inconsistent as us. To me it all points to the players having less respect for Grayson, & that he's on his way to losing the dressing room completely.
Spot on Simon, how anyone can say Bruce & O'Brien are a better CB pairing than Lees & Kisnorbo (even if he has lost a yard of pace) is beyond me. There's a reason why Bruce is now plying his trade in the third tier. And Clayton is a vast improvement on Kilkenny, as is Lonnergan over Kasper. Should Grayson walk or be sacked I'd also like us to go for Dougie Freedman.
We played a 5 man midfield most of last season, Kilkenny, Howson, Johnson, Snodgrass, Gradel... If we play a 5 man midfield with a full squad the changes would be Brown, Pugh, Clayton over Kilkenny, Johnson and Gradel. On a comparison it depends who you put up against who. Gradel over Pugh every day of the week by a mile not just performance his goals as well which would have been handy now they have dried up. Brown better than Kilkenny and Clayton better than Johnson but only just. I agree Clayton has the makings of being great but he isn't consistant enough yet. Was O'Brien playing better last season than either Lees or Kisnorbo is this season? Was Lichaj playing better than those playing now and was Becchio playing better last season? Are the teams around us challenging better than they were last season?? We are missing Gradels goals and those of an impact substitue as Somma proved to be so many times last season. We have only conceded 3 goals in 3 games, we have only scored 1 I like Keough but he isn't the answer, he doesn't score enough and nobody can possibly argue he creates enough goals either. We are a team full of average squad players, I personally would be sad to see Clayton or Lees go because of what they might be and Snodgrass, the remaining 8 are all easily replaceable - When I look at it this way I have to question has Grayson built the foundations for a prmotion winning team?
Guys, I think we're looking at this all wrong. It's not about individuals, it's about the team! Compared to last season, it's less reliable, less flexible, less motivated - less everything, in fact. There has to be a reason for that, and I'm afraid we have to look towards the management of the team, the blame of which lies ultimately with Grayson (whether it's directly his fault or not). You can have the best 11 players in the world available to you, but if you can't manage them correctly, you've had it. I remember the story of Jack Charlton asking Sir Alf why he had picked him for the '66 team when there were better centre halves to choose from. The telling reply was 'I pick the best team, not the best individuals'. Says it all to me - we need someone to forge a team for us.
And sadly, you can't forge a promotion-standard team from the players we've got. I don't think anyone could. They'd need shedloads of luck.
