McDermott - so far so good?

[isrodger]

Hopefully the blind faith love in with McDermott has died down and we can look at him more objectively. He has made a reasonable start, no more or less impressive than Warnock or Grayson in some respects. His track record is probably inferior to theirs, but I can understand why people warm to him, he appears more calm & personable.

The one real positive for me is in part, what he hasn't done. Largely he hasn't brought in short term options ( hunt apart). He appears to genuinely have a three year plan, and although it's early days, he has had the courage to stick to it so far. It will be interesting if he brings in Bechio, don't get me wrong I really like Bechio, however I am not sure his acquisition would be in line with BMc "strategy" and he might be more of a knee jerk to appease the fans and address a short term issue.The second positive for me, is his willingness to bring the youngsters into the fold. Let's hope it pays dividends & critically they have the talent to succeed.

In terms of his signings Smith in my view, is very much a long shot, if nothing else he does give us an option we haven't had since the days of Flo & Kandol. Maybe he is the type of player that should be sitting on every bench, as a plan c, if all else fails. Wooton looks great acquisition - a much better long term option than his original target in my view. In terms of the other two, Hunt & Murphey, I questioned them at the time & was shot down at the time by the usual suspects! Murphey for me had all the makings of a good signing, and was instrumental in any feel good factor in summer. The question mark about his acquisition is/was, given we have finite resource and glut of central midfield players, would not the funds have been better employed elsewhere. This situation is magnified with the emergence of Mowatt, To his credit BMc had already identified his potential; why then sign a player who looks likely to have to make way for him 6 months down the line?
As regards Hunt, irrespective of his age (which is an issue), I felt he was too like Varney/McCormack when we needed a hybrid of Bechio/Beckford up top. Again the standard line of "good signing and McDermott knows him from the past came out" - my response to that is, with my limited knowledge gleamed from his goalscoring record and reading the Reading forums etc, I felt he was past his best, which was probably not even good enough for us at his peak. Why then was our manager, who worked with him first hand, unable to recognise he wasn't the answer, particularly as he didn't see fit to offer him a contract in excess of 12 months at Reading.

Tactically largely I have been impressed with our away displays, but I feel we are set up too negatively at home. With the exception of Byram, there is no doubt Diof is our most talented player, we have to utilise him or discard him. Equally McCormack has been wasted in midfield when we are crying out for goals. More recently our midfield has looked wasteful to say the least. In their defence I am not sure they are comfortable in their roles and may be somewhat confused by the system.

Calls for his head in my view are ridiculous, we have a mid table squad, and he has been resourced as mid table outfit. I can probably think of half a dozen managers in this division who have arguably got better track records than him. However to coin a phrase from the financial sector - "past performance may not be indicative of future results". At the time I favoured Poyet's more animated style, however McDermott may just be the right man for job at this moment in time, particularly given the degree of diplomacy that needs to exist in dealing with the boardroom.

The jury's very much out for me, if relative success has to be measured by a league position 8th place for me would be success. A lower half finish will doubtless raise question marks about his future, with his position likely to be heavily influenced by the availability of alternative candidates at the time.

[Mellor]

Larry's start was good (sorted the defence out before he regressed). Warnock's was rank bad and he never recovered from a dour performance against a broken Pompey side. Safety first when 3 points required.

No idea why anyone would want to sack BM. He made a great start - saved us from relegation in all probability. His signings didn't play v Bournemouth though, which is a little worrying, other than Hunt who may not score but works his socks off for the team. Without him we did less well. As an aside, we created chances v Bournemouth which was an improvement.

BM has made fundamental mistakes for me, obviously I could be talking complete tosh here as a bloke on the terrace with no 'badges' but he has wasted Ross. I'm no great fan of our 'best' player but if he plays he has to play up front. Treating him as the new Alan Smith and playing him in midfield left us playing with 10 men at times. And Rudy, captain, played at the heart of midfield. He has neither the pace or passing ability for me. Crunching tackles after losing the ball may excite the Kop but infuriate me. Now playing right side - interesting!

Warnock left BM the squad equivalent of a grey business suit. He's doing ok with what he's got, although he could do better (see above). Signings for signings sake just play to those who enjoy rumour threads/Ridsdale's approach so I'm happy that he has the strength of character to hold his nerve - the only player I would take back is Milner. Rest took the kings shilling IMO.

But he was dismissed by Reading. I never wanted a manager who had been dismissed. I wonder if caution/unwillingness to spend (to excite) was behind his dismissal? On the face of it he had done a cracking job although he was indecisive in the market I think whilst in the Prem.

For me he was the best of the 'available' managers when appointed and now needs time to deliver. I see him as a bottom end Prem manager at best. That means we still have to find 'the one'. A real replacement for Don (impossible I guess) or Wilko. A likeable chap with his heart in the right place. He deserves time and our full support.

[Deleted User 2299]

It depends wheatear i believe he was fully aware of the budget he had at the start of the Summer. At the start he came across as if he had far more funds than the million he spent and his positive mood did seem to turn into frustration the longer summer went on.
BM had all summer to put together his team, to take a look at what we already had and bring in new ones he felt Leeds needed.
The biggest asset i thought he would bring to the table was his ability to spot talent due to his highly regarded days as a scout. He made it clear he wanted a CB, we all knew we needed wingers, yet he went out and spent all of the budget on Murphy. Mowatt was here at the time, didn't BM believe he could play that role? It wasn't like Mowatt and Dawson weren't being talked about as hot new prospects, so I'm confused why all the budget went on Murphy.
Hunt and Smith again both leave me feeling my hopes that BM scouting skills would bring in exciting players, dashed. Wooten i believe might turn into a decent CB.
I'm also a little confused in the loan market why he says he wants a goal scorer but wont be rushed in signing anyone for the sake of it. I think most of us agree that a fair point, but there are and have been players out there! sure he might like a goal scorer, but also wingers, midfielders and a CB? so maybe he should feel it's easier for him than most managers, because of the wide range of players we need at Leeds. Birmingham wanted a striker and found one, we need a wide range of players and so far found no one.

I do question going into a campaign with no wingers. I worry teams will soon suss the limited way we can mix our formation and we end up very predicable, also some teams struggle against teams with wingers so we cant take advantage of that.

So do I blame BM? No, although it sounds like I do - I firmly point my finger of blame towards GFH. I believe BM was told he would have far more money than what he actually received, so Murphy would have been one of a few high profile signings. I also have a gutt feeling this maybe based on selling Sam when he was fit again and they under-estimated how long this would take, if I'm right about the promise of money when having no money, must mean that there is money coming from somewhere.

With little to no support from GFH the only difference a good manager will make from a bad one in my view, is if we stay up or go down.

[SiMamu]

Since McDermott took over, it seems we've got worse. At the start of his reign, we were playing good football and things looked bright, starting with: Kenny, Byram, Lees, Pearce, Warnock, Green, Austin, Tonge, Diouf, McCormack, Varney. But since then, we've resorted to a more hoofball defensive approach, no longer playing it out to the full backs. Were we simply playing well because of the honeymoon period and players wanted to prove themselves to McDermott? Or is it a problem with the tactics and starting lineup were using? Why have we gone backwards?

[johnh]

We started the season fairly well. We looked as though we had a team which was going to be difficult to beat. This has fallen apart and now we look a poor outfit. We seem to lack confidence, are demotivated, or both. This is where BMcD has to earn his corn and sort things out. He can't rely on the loan market as the chances of getting the three players we need are slim. He can't buy anyone until January so he has to sort out the problems with the current squad. I also don't think that there is any serious money available to him anyway. I think mid-table
is the best we can hope for this season. Lets hope that the investor 'on the horizon' is not just more spin by GFH. Depressing.
By the way, Millwall who beat us 2 - 0 got hammered 5 - 2 by Bournemouth.

[DaveH]

I think a guy who understands the game very well & understands players but there is something really fishy going on behind the scenes, the owners saying there is money available and for Brian to go and identify players but as yet he has not done this and I do not understand why, which leaves me totally confused.

If GFH are spinning this story and he is not getting the backing the owners say is there and loans do not come in this side of Christmas and no money available in January, I can honestly see him walking.

GFH have totally miss managed the 'on the pitch' issues. Someone needs to get a grip now or we wont be mid table after Christmas we will be looking over our shoulders and getting ready to play Bradford next season!!

[SiMamu]

It feels like McDermott's intimidated by the big guns of the league because they have 'better' players and has stopped trying to make us the best passing team in the league, but a team set up to he hard to beat nicking goals here and there. We're Leeds United, we might not be the best team but we're the best club. We can become defensive in the Premier League when we really will be playing players leagues apart, we looked good last season towards the end of last season when we played without fear and played to win.

[dlw10]

I am getting nervous about the whole situation we find ourselves in - something is wrong but I don't have a clue what it is. We are now in the wierd sutuation that the only player we have who is going out there and playing with any skill and vision and a positive attitude is the young lad Mowatt who has only a handful of games behind him! The rest look frightened of their own shadows and i think John is right - we totally lack confidence, that is tranlating in half hearted passes, shots, movement, everything while Mowatt is looking like Messi among a team of Sunday League players. It's wierd.

[SiMamu]

I am getting nervous about the whole situation we find ourselves in - something is wrong but I don't have a clue what it is. We are now in the wierd sutuation that the only player we have who is going out there and playing with any skill and vision and a positive attitude is the young lad Mowatt who has only a handful of games behind him! The rest look frightened of their own shadows and i think John is right - we totally lack confidence, that is tranlating in half hearted passes, shots, movement, everything while Mowatt is looking like Messi among a team of Sunday League players. It's wierd.

So, basically, how Byram looked, in comparison to his teammates, last season.

[Nic]

I agree that it does seem that BMD has come here with a 3 year plan and buying players that fit in with that. Trying to bring in Becchio may seem like desperation, but how many managers with long term plans get given the sack because of short term poor results? Don't forget how BMD was sacked after a poor run after winning "manager of the month", so I'm sure that is in the back of his mind.

In regards to his signings, we are a championship club having come up from league 1, talking about where we are now rather than long term past, with new owners who maybe had money, but not silly money. His signings would be limited, what with the existing deadwood taking space until Summer 2014, hence the 3 year plan. Smith gives us options we didn't have and I hope he develops well, which is what he was brought in for. Murphy was probably got partly as a statement that as a club we can buy million pound players, but there was a lot of expectation heaped on his shoulders due to his price tag. As to Hunt, if you look at Varney/McCormack in past seasons they haven't always been on fire, so maybe initial aims was to offload one but Hunt has most likely deteriorated a lot since BMD last managed him.

Calling for his head IS far too premature, but fans seem to have little patience and a lot of boardrooms do. Yes, it would be great if we could have made the play-offs this season, but bringing youngsters though and buying players to develop to become a team vying for the championship champions that can get back up into the PL with a good chance of staying there is preferable.