Morning all. I trust I find you all in black this morning. 2-1 loss to the bottom team, albeit as a result of 2 penalties. So what will Ken do? I presume a new manager will be on his way soon, & the sooner the better. It sounded awful on the radio. How was it for those of you unlucky enough to go? What changes will we see for Saturday other than hopefully a new Manager? Apart from it being a novel & contentious decision, any other reason why Redders took our top scorer off?
Morning Boggers, alrite fella Was at training last night, so missed everything. Got back at 11pm, expecting a clean sheet and 3 or 4 goals against the bottom deam in the division, with half there squad out, only to come away with nothing. LOOK AT OUR BACK 4 AND KEEPER. Lonnergan - Surely one of the best keeps in the division Smith - Surely one of the better right backs in the division Pugh or White Both would probably get into any play off team in the Championship Lees - One of the best central defenders in the Championship O'Dea - shoot the ****a Where is it going wrong. Surely we are MAJORLY underperforming
The Redfearn gamble has proved a massive error, but of course Bates will blame Redders and say its his own fault for not taking his chance. What chance? Redders never ever had a chance did he? How could Bates not know what we already knew - Redfearn simply hasn't got what it takes to be a manager!! Yes, he may be a decent coach, working on technical stuff on the training ground, but once again I say this as I said about Grayson - he lacks the INTELLIGENCE to be a good manager. As for what happens next, well who knows with Bates. The cretin is capable of anything right now. This nonsense of giving Redfearn FOUR games "to prove himself" at this stage of the season is simply incredible. The new manager should have been in place immediately after the fluke result at Bristol City. Instead we have pissed away a valuable six points we should have banked easily, and will probably bottle it against a Donny team who will see this as a great opportunity to get three points at Elland Road, and they will be up for it and flying. This ridiculous behaviour by Bates has proved one thing at least, he clearly does not have any understanding of football and is surrounded by a bunch of nodding dogs who add no value to Leeds United at all. This "chairman" needs to go and the sooner the better, he is now definitely holding this great club back.
The gamble has failed and we have to be honest, the season is over. We cannot sign anyone else, any possible new manager has to turn around these under achievers and gain at least 8 points on a pack we are chasing. I say 8 as our goal difference is worth a point and the two we are chasing have games in hand. Add to that the fact Hull and Boro are also ahead of us we just haven't the team, investment or a manager in place to do this. Realistically it would mean winning 6 consecutive games and then it wouldn't be assured, we just haven't got that in us. I have mentioned somewhere else that Wolves expect to name a new manager within 48 hours, watch Bates cry that they snatched our number one target...
Until last night, I thought auto would be a stretch but top 6 was more than dooabl ('coz my cup is always at least half full). However, a loss to the bottom team, albeit as a result of 2 penalties, & all of a sudden my cup is as dry as the desert. Whoever Bates brings in, & I'm sure someone will come in before Saturday, will need to hit the ground running & freshen things up a bit. I know it goes against the grain, but I'd start with sending O'Dea back to Celtic & bringing in AOB to partner Lees. I'd partner Clayton & Brown in the centre of midfield (coz Delph may have picked up a knock). I'd start off with Becchio & Ross up front, but I'd try & find a place for Nunez. If I couldn't I'd settle for Townsend on one wing & Snoddy on the other, & tell Sam & Rogers to keep warm. Something dramatic has to change. I like the sound of comments from the team that they are trying to pass the ball around, rather than play hoofball. But we still need to win. It doesn't matter how pretty the footy is.
I would send back all the loan signings, delph included, keep Smith if we do have the option to buy/keep. We need to start building for next season, give Thompson a run in midfield, use players who will be pulling on a shirt at the start of next season and I agree Boggers, that probably means AOB for now. After our next two games Doncaster and Portsmouth we have 4 games where even those with three quarter full cups will have to admit, we are not going to win them all if any.... Southampton, Boro, Hull and W Ham. Boro and Hull we are away for both, considering we are also chasing them and they have a game in hand each it is simply depressing. I honestly believe if we finish 11th now we will have done well, hard matches ahead, Leicester and Derby 3 points behind us, what a sad and sorry season this has turned out to be.
Boggs You could change the whole team on last nights performance, AOB came on and was completely out of touch with the game, Becchio could not hold the ball up or lay it off, Snoddy was poor. To be honest I could go through the whole team, and this against the bottom team in the division.
Cheers Podders. Not happy reading. Didn't also think much of Redders post match interview. & I think whoever above suggested sending the loanees back & giving up on the rest of the season may have a point. Not sure Delph wants to go back, & not sure we can send O'Dea back. But time for a new manager to come in & shake things up a bit. Forsell will go at the end of the season. 2 from AOB, Bruce, Kisnorbo, & Bromby will be retained to support Lees. Unless he starts featuring AND scoring, both of which for the moment appear to be unlikely, Paynter will go at season end. Somma should be loaned out at the start of next season to give him game time. Parker's current loan spell & his physical state when he returns will decide whether or not he has a future. Thompson should start as he will benefit more than another loan spell. Are Varynun & Brown both going to stay? If so, how do you fit both of them in assuming Clayton remains a long term successor to Howson? Will Rogers ever get his ar$e in gear to at least get a place on the bench? Who else & what else has to change for us to get something out of this season?
Morning guys, Have to say I'm not feeling my usual optimistic self after that result. Yes it was down to 2 penalties, but my pessimism has taken over so much that I now see that as one of the excuses Bates will trot out when he calls the press conference to announce Redfearn as full time manager... 6 points adrift of 5th and 6th and both have a game in hand, things aren't looking great for that push on the playoffs. I have to agree with ristac, sod it and start preparing for next season. Get a new manager in, let him experiment with tactics and give game time to the guys who will be here next season. Try to get some team chemistry going. If we build around the core of Lonners, Lees, Clayton, Rosco that has to be the way forward for next season surely? Yes Snoddy, if we keep him, likewise Smith if we can buy / keep him.
It's actually difficult to tell the difference between the deadwood & the first XI, all starting to blend together, one minute AOB's deadwood, then he's nearly back in the team. The way we're performing it won't be long before the likes of Paynter, Bruce, Connolly are called upon. Becchio, Pugh, White the new deadwood? As Billystatue said in another thread, it's DiCanio time! We're unlikely to get an experienced manager like Warnock, McCarthy, Antic etc as we won't pay their wages so we might as well have a complete shake up. Trouble is DiCanio would probably last less than Brian Clough's 44 days! We truly are The Damned United.
Morning LiE. Don't think DiCanio yet has the experience to take on a club the size of ours. Warnock or McCarthy for me. Both have the experience & both have a good track record of getting us out this league. When everyone's fit, including Kisnorbo & Soma, we have more than enough ability to get us out this league, especially as we now have a crop of youngsters also coming through at long last. What we need is a manager with experience of managing at a high level AND having a track record of being able to get teams out of this league. Despite last night, we're probably not that far off. We just need a manager to fit all the pieces into the right place & get the side performing again.
I'm not entirely sure the talent coming through from the academy is all that good in all honesty. They are just a cheap option when we have no one better. They are far from terrible, but I wouldn't have said good enough to take us forward and especially not without a few more quality experienced players. And by experienced I mean late 20s at the oldest.
I think its coming though Marko. We've just got to nurture it & develop it slowly. Injuries & fitness issues aside, we've seen the rise of Ben Parker, Aidy White, Howson (before he bu$$ered off to Norwich), Lees, one or two others. The future if we can get the right manager is looking promising. Its just this season isn't now looking too clever.
Why not indeed Kissa. That's the kind of thing I think we should be doing right now. Get some of the younger players who will arguably breaking through next year to have some first team game time. Compound that with the pre season and we'd hit the ground running, rather than waiting for the younger players to adapt. Thompson seemed to slot straight in and do well, but I don't think that will be the case with every young player. I know Gimpel has ruled out first team action this season, but it's a shame for the same reason. Though realistically it'd have to be a rotation of Lees / Gimpel in that situation for me, as I don't think he'd be strong enough to provide Lees the partner he needs at this stage.
I wouldn't be too surprised to read Gimpel & Poleon going out on loan early next season as part of their overall development. Send them to a L2 or L1 side for some game time to see how they're progressing.
Expect a rapid free-fall down the league! Stop talking about signings etc... (We've never made any, certainly not any worthwhile ones, no fault of Grayson's. No money no decent signings is how it works...) Our only chance is if Bates dies, poste haste. Not very likely, as he will stay alive just to spite us.. So we will finish about 13th-15th. Another year wasted, with fewer and fewer quality players left at the club. Once Snoddy goes, (which he will, being one of the few cash cows left) We'll be completely fooked! No we have to accept Leeds United Football Club, will never move forward whilst Ken Bates is in charge! (Die u bar-steward die) Any supposed Leeds fan still trying to back him deserves to receive spinal injuries in a car crash imo as well...Because basically if you back MasterBates then your not a real Leeds fan atall...
Leedsy, I don't have the capacity to check & see who you really are or under what guise you've posted before. But just go away.
Bit harsh on the Bates backers but I totally see your point. Boggers Leedsy has been posting a while, just not often.
