Detailed Leeds article on TWTD

[daib0]

Hey guys. I thought you'd be interested in this analysis of Leeds offered on the Ipswich 'Those were the days' forum (TWTD). LUFC Talk is the forum recommendation at the end too ..





In the first of a series of pre-season reports, HarryFromBath assesses the mood around the Championship clubs by delving into their forums. Middlesbrough, Leeds, and Sheffield Wednesday are under the spotlight in today’s notes.
Leeds United – Chaos Theory

“Being a laughing stock makes a change from being hated”. While events are progressing smoothly at the Riverside, this is anything but the case down at Elland Road, where former Cagliari owner Massimo Cellino has taken ownership.

“He’s superstitious about the colour purple, and the number 17 shirt is now retired”. Not just his beliefs, but Cellino’s comments, for example comparing coaches to watermelons – “You only know how good it is once you open it” – have given supporters plenty to think about.

“We all know Cellino is as mad as a box of frogs, but we all genuinely believe that he wants to succeed and make Leeds great again”, “I get the feeling that he’s desperate to succeed at Leeds and will do all in his power to achieve that”, “He has inherited a mess which he seems intent on sorting out.”

Cellino divides opinion sharply. He has his supporters: “We have an owner who understands football, having left behind an owner who didn’t have a clue. We have been a soft touch for too long and should make progress if Cellino gets the finances under control.”

“Cellino talks about humility. Underneath the bravado, guitar playing and sound bites, he is humble enough to acknowledge that LUFC is a challenge. He needs to prove to himself and the fans that he is a good owner, and a bloke with something to prove is just dandy.”


With equal weight, he has his critics: “This tit is a perfect replica of the idiot who destroyed Hearts in the not too distant past. Fifty bleeding years I have given this club support, but will never attend a game again while that moron owns the club. To say we are a laughing stock is being nice.”

“I think he has shown himself to be divisive, reckless, nepotistic and egotistical. He has done very little since coming to make me think that his way of doing things will be a marked improvement from previous regimes.”

“Cellino is running a vanity project and attempting to be a manager at a Championship club. We don’t have a European model with an experienced sporting director. What we have is a millionaire owner taking a hands-on role managing our first team with no direct experience in the game.”

“There are two main opinions regarding Cellino amongst fans. There are those who think things can’t get any worse and are prepared to back him whatever path he takes, and there are those who see a dictator with a very high opinion of himself, at the centre of everything and taking the club down the wrong path.”

“Words fail me”, “Please say this is a joke”. Many fans were happy to give the Italian owner the benefit of the doubt, but he alienated many neutrals and left them stunned by the appointment of the 56-year-old ex-Forest Green Rovers manager as first team coach last month.

“And so it is that the worst management team in the history of the club is confirmed. Now let’s sit back and watch the train wreck begin”, “He seems to have gone for the cheapest option, and it will be us fans that suffer the most“, “We might need someone with non-league experience after all.”


“I just can’t understand this appointment at all. He isn’t young, so we can’t say that he is promising, and yet he has no other credentials”, ”Hockaday, accept you’re out of your depth. To even apply was disrespectful to Leeds United – the arrogance of the man.”

“Hockaday will be running the training sessions, and he has a long track record of working with youth players”, “Forest Green were difficult to play against and hard to break down”, “I think he’s here for his no-nonsense approach. He’ll whip the squad into the fittest team in the league.”

A small number of supporters have looked for positives, but the consensus is that he is cheap - a £150,000 salary has been mentioned several times – and dispensable. “I still can’t believe the guy’s our manager/head coach. I still find it hilarious.”

No Expectations

“I’d say that 15th (last season’s finishing position) is achievable this season no problem”, “Who the hell wants 15th place? Surely to God we deserve better than this”, “I think the players we have now will achieve at least 15th place if they try their hardest, unlike last year.”

“This squad does not fill me with a lot of positivity for next season. I think we’ll finish below 14th, which isn’t good enough.” There has been no talk even of play-offs given how events have panned out since the end of the season. “If the season started now, we would be relegated.”

Ross McCormack

“Eleven million? Bloody hell. We would have been mad to turn it down really. Nice bit of business, Mr Cellino”, “We got great money for him”, “I hope Ross scored 29 goals for Fulham this year and they finish 15th in the league.”

The loss of last season’s top scorer to Fulham has been softened by what is widely seen as a very good transfer fee for a player who many felt had emotionally disconnected from the club when former boss Brian McDermott was sacked and immediately reinstated in January.


McCormack’s comments following the transfer have provoked a caustic reaction with Leeds fans. “It’s no longer the Leeds United I fell in love with,” was greeted with raised eyebrows, but his remark that “Fulham was where I wanted to be” was “worthy of Tommy Trinder”.

Wider Transfer Dealings

“With McCormack missing, we need another forward who is a proven goalscorer. Apart from that, the stand-out issue is that we are missing any attacking width either from out-and-out wingers, or inside forwards who start wide.”

With loan signings Jimmy Kebe having returned to Crystal Palace and Cameron Stewart now on our books, many Whites are concerned by the team’s lack of a wide threat. They also want to see the defence strengthened with a good centre-back.

Apart from McCormack, the squad has been thinned by departing veterans not being retained, including strikers Luke Varney and El Hadji Diouf, and midfielders Michael Brown and ex-ITFC loan signing Paul Green.

The Whites are using their knowledge of the Italian market and moving to strengthen their squad with great confidence. Marco Silvestri, a 23-year-old keeper from Chievo, and 25-year-old Tomasso Bianchi a midfielder from Sassuolo, have arrived on four-year deals.

Souleymane Doukara, a 22-year-old Franco-Senegalese striker, has joined on a season’s loan from Catania, and on Saturday, the news that Gaetano Berardi, a 25-year-old Swiss international full-back from Sampdoria, had signed a two-year deal (subject to clearance) was welcomed.

“If we get Jonathan Rossini, that’s a big void filled”. Many Leeds fans are feverishly scouring Italian football databases to broaden their knowledge, and the 25-year-old Swiss born Sassuolo centre-back – linked with the club - would be a welcome addition if a deal can be struck.


Message Boards

The busiest Middlesbrough forum is One Boro. There are a good number of Leeds message boards. LUFC Talk offers an informed and accurate flavour of current opinion, and the busiest Owls forum is Owlstalk.

original: http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news ... -Wednesday


All the best guys!

[Aces]

This paragraph made me laugh the most, in fact it brought a tear to my eye.

With loan signings Jimmy Kebe having returned to Crystal Palace and Cameron Stewart now on our books, many Whites are concerned by the team’s lack of a wide threat. They also want to see the defence strengthened with a good centre-back.

Stewart and Kebe a wide threat, I'm laughing so much, I'm crying, stop it, I can't read anymore.