Mentally knackered, of course they are. Austin has been physically knackered for weeks though through being pushed too hard by Leeds and Jamaica. He's also been playing injured. Playing in the state he has, I'm not surprised he's got a serious injury. And mental fatigue, that is a fair assessment. No support from understandably disillusioned fans, distracted from the field by takeover talks, wondering if they'll even have a place after the takeover, unsure about the future. All on top of being pushed too hard because we've got a shallow, small squad and there's only one person at fault for that.
They say that 12 hours stress is more fatiguing than 12 hours hard labour. I think that there's a bit of truth in this & it might explain quite a lot about the players being knackered. I've also read in many, many footbal biographies that pre-match nervous tension is to be avoided as it drains energy before the match has even started! I personally think that the players are under more pressure than any other Leeds team has ever been. The reason? Warnock was brought in for 1 year specifically to get promotion. Every player has known what is expected of him, and I think the stress/nervous tension aspects have taken a great toll on a number of players. This theory coincidentally fits in with our greatest performances - in the league cup against Premier League teams when there was low expectation. The pressure was off the players, and with no stress, they were able to go out & express themselves in the way they've always been expected to. These pressures are now building significantly now that the wheels are starting to come off bigstyle. Bottom line? It takes a special kind of player to play for Leeds United, and we clearly don't have enough of them. (Every last man jack would probably be excellent at any other club in this league but us).
I agree. Oh for a Billy Bremner. That makes me think of the one positive in this - you don't need to replace 15 players to get the right, tough mental attitude. One or two true leaders is all it takes. The first great Leeds team did not have 11 (mind you , it did have quite a few, but then it was a great team). So thats the positive, only need one or two. Finding em, though.................
Morning all. Can't help feeling we'll see a lot of faces returning over the next week or two. Ross, Poleon, Zac Thompson to name but three. Add in a possible new face or two, & I have the naive belief (cup half full principal) that we'll turn the tide. Nice to start this by tonking the 'Wall at their place, especially in front of the cameras.
One thing, as we are doing cup half full stuff, a Warnock team has more chance v 'Wall than a Grayson team, look what happened to Hudders recently I know I will be reminded of that comment by our grunting friends on here, if the tonking happens the other way round. (and no, I am not anti Grayson or pro Warnock, particularly, both have the same problem in my opinion, a club - for whatever reason - that could not back them to the degree the fans expect. Just think Grayson did not know how to play Millwall).
To be fair, Huddersfield have a terrible record at Millwall anyway. At least Grayson has managed to beat Barnsley and Derby with Huddersfield, 2 sides he never beat whilst at Leeds.
He's doing pretty well. Always thought we were a bit powder puff playing Millwall under SG, thats all. First time I went to Millwall (never again, got stuck on a train with some "things" in Millwall colours who could barely talk - just grunted at each other as they gnawed on a few limbs they had torn off someone earlier, as I made sure my Leeds shirt was well hidden) I still have a nightmare of how they out muscled us in midfield with Howson in particular playing like it was Eton v Harrow not The bloody Somme. I know we got tonked despite (Becchio?) scoring first And I'm trying to be positive - so we'll probably go down 7-0
Well Grayson's results down there were the 1-0 defeat in the playoff 1st leg, should have been a good enough result due to our impressive sequence of consecutive wins at Elland Road. The 2-1 defeat when Kisnorbo scored, our first league defeat in the promotion winning season. Finally the 3-2 defeat when we were in need of points to try and grab that final playoff spot. So i understand what you are pointing out, but i liken Millwall to Stoke in the Premier League, **** team but never an easy away game.
exactly, so as warnocks team is also **** we must be in with a great chance................... I think.............
