rigger wrote:
I'm with you, mate, but for different reasons ...
I've never liked six-yard box poachers: they're just goal-hangers and if you play with one, you have to structure the whole team to feed him. If they have an off-day, the team has an off day.
Lineker wasn't all that for England - it was Beardsley and Waddle who made him.
Beckford needed four or five chances before he scored, same as Andy Cole before him.
McCormack is cut from the same cloth but more inconsistent than either. His goals came in gluts with four in one match followed by none in the next four.
I just have an aversion to this kind of player. I would rather share 20 goals between the rest of the team than put all our eggs in one basket - it makes us predictable and easier to beat. Variety isn't just the spice of life: it's the lifeblood of a football team.
McCormack was only real a -'six yard box poacher' alongside Keogh, if anything, when partnered with Becchio or Smith, he was the primary creator, doing a lot more than just poaching - more the Rooney, than the Van Nistelrooy.
1964white wrote:I know I'm in a minority but I never took to McCormack, can't stand the little squirt, the way he use to strut around like he was Mr Big use to make me squirm as he lapped up the adulation from his adoring fans. Glad he has gone with much of last years squad tbh, always said we'd achieve nowt with a spine of Kenny, Pearce, Austin & McCormack in our team. McCormack manipulated his own salary last autumn when a move to Boro' was mooted, that personal windfall obviously had financial implications on the state of our club as a whole. Didn't take Cellino long to realise too !
Can't wait for our games v Fulham, prepare yourself for some stick you big mouth 5 minute wonder, some fans may still love you but you'll never receive the Beckford type hero worship imo !!
If McCormack hadn't been given that new contract, we wouldn't have been able to get £11m for him as he'd only have had a year left on his contract, decreasing his value.
"A man with new ideas is a madman. Until his ideas triumph."
1964white wrote:I know I'm in a minority but I never took to McCormack, can't stand the little squirt, the way he use to strut around like he was Mr Big use to make me squirm as he lapped up the adulation from his adoring fans. Glad he has gone with much of last years squad tbh, always said we'd achieve nowt with a spine of Kenny, Pearce, Austin & McCormack in our team. McCormack manipulated his own salary last autumn when a move to Boro' was mooted, that personal windfall obviously had financial implications on the state of our club as a whole. Didn't take Cellino long to realise too !
Can't wait for our games v Fulham, prepare yourself for some stick you big mouth 5 minute wonder, some fans may still love you but you'll never receive the Beckford type hero worship imo !!
Very harsh mate! I liked McCormack, if it wasn't for his goals last season, we may not have had MC because we would've been in League 1. I totally agree with you that he won't be held up in the same regard as JB but I will forever be grateful for his contribution last season. We got £11 million for him, and absolute steal from the purse strings of Fulham. As RM said, he had 4 years left on his contract so Fulham had to pay the maximum for him. I'm convinced that MC sold him because he was our prized asset and knew he could get quite a bit for him which would enable him to have something to work from (which I don't mind by the way). When he comes back I can only assume that it's going to be a mixed reception but I for one, will be applauding him.
I respect your opinion mate.......McCormack reminds me of a lead singer of a rock band.
Ross wasn't really a team player, it seemed he wanted to do everything....take all the free-kicks, corners, penalties, it was like putting all your eggs in one basket. You could only play one formation effectively with McCormack in the team & that was 4-4-2, he wasn't big or strong enough to play up top on his own, he also lacked pace so when he played alongside Smith or previously with Becchio we had the one of the most pedestrian strike-forces in the championship.
As you say we attained way over what he was really worth when he signed for Fulham so we now move on to a much healthier future i feel with players who are prepared to play as a team !!
Btw my pals i travel to home & away matches love Ross so no doubt they'll keep my emotions in check
As I do yours mate. That's the beauty of this forum, we all have different opinions from time to time but that's what makes it different to any other form of 'footballing discussions/debates' that you see on the net, particularly the BBC!
As for for your last comment..
I certainly won't begrudge anybody that boos RM when he returns to ER. We're Leeds fans and we'll do what we want!!
I don't boo players present & past, I may join in a bit of banter though
rigger wrote:
I'm with you, mate, but for different reasons ...
I've never liked six-yard box poachers: they're just goal-hangers and if you play with one, you have to structure the whole team to feed him. If they have an off-day, the team has an off day.
Lineker wasn't all that for England - it was Beardsley and Waddle who made him.
Beckford needed four or five chances before he scored, same as Andy Cole before him.
McCormack is cut from the same cloth but more inconsistent than either. His goals came in gluts with four in one match followed by none in the next four.
I just have an aversion to this kind of player. I would rather share 20 goals between the rest of the team than put all our eggs in one basket - it makes us predictable and easier to beat. Variety isn't just the spice of life: it's the lifeblood of a football team.
McCormack was only real a -'six yard box poacher' alongside Keogh, if anything, when partnered with Becchio or Smith, he was the primary creator, doing a lot more than just poaching - more the Rooney, than the Van Nistelrooy.
1964white wrote:I know I'm in a minority but I never took to McCormack, can't stand the little squirt, the way he use to strut around like he was Mr Big use to make me squirm as he lapped up the adulation from his adoring fans. Glad he has gone with much of last years squad tbh, always said we'd achieve nowt with a spine of Kenny, Pearce, Austin & McCormack in our team. McCormack manipulated his own salary last autumn when a move to Boro' was mooted, that personal windfall obviously had financial implications on the state of our club as a whole. Didn't take Cellino long to realise too !
Can't wait for our games v Fulham, prepare yourself for some stick you big mouth 5 minute wonder, some fans may still love you but you'll never receive the Beckford type hero worship imo !!
If McCormack hadn't been given that new contract, we wouldn't have been able to get £11m for him as he'd only have had a year left on his contract, decreasing his value.
I don't see anything that controversial in that McCormack interview, or anything we didn't already know. It always makes me laugh how people can turn on players like McCormack as soon as they leave and downplay their contribution. McCormack created and scored more goals than anyone last season. Without his contribution we may have been in league 1. This was not a team where those 30 goals would have been spread around the team if McCormack hadn't been playing, there was no real goal threat from the rest of the team and the first few games of this year showed that. He was given a new contract last year and without it we wouldn't have received a vastly inflated fee for him this year. McCormack done well when he was here and his legacy was the transfer fee for him we bought 15 players from and still have plenty of change from it. I wish him well, both parties are happy, and we all should be able to move on amicably.
Money greedy, badge kissing captain, who was given a better contract, but wanted another one and when he didn't get it, he put in a transfer, because he'd had a great season and knew he could get more money elsewhere. Greedy, greedy, money grabbing self interested money grabber. Great to get £11m for a £2.5m player, thanks to his one great season, I know he had other decent seasons, hence why he was worth £2.5m. Hopefully he won't ever have another season like last year and I think our team, will be more of a team without him.
We are Leeds, we have to believe our new players are good enough, encourage and support them and help them grow in to a team to be reckoned with. MoT
So the 15 players we have brought in from around the world are all here for the love of Leeds United? I think you will find they will all be here primarily for the money also. If say for example Adryan or Doukara have a great season this year, you can be sure their agents will be on to the club next summer demanding a new contract or a move just like McCormack. That's modern football Aces. Signing Ross McCormack from Cardiff was probably the best move in the transfer market Leeds made in the last ten years. Signed for 250k and sold for 11 million and he had a couple of great seasons for us inbetween. I really feel your hatred for someone like McCormack who we benefited so much from is a bit misplaced and unwarranted.
I don't hate anyone, you are talking nonsense. I know most sign for the money I would be the same. If you think it's ok for our captain to put in for a transfer, after not long being given an improved contract, but then wanting it improved again, then you have serious issues over what's right and wrong behaviour.
We are Leeds, we have to believe our new players are good enough, encourage and support them and help them grow in to a team to be reckoned with. MoT
Quiet weekend with the International break and the papers needed some fill with a nothing story. Ross feeling sorry for himself for been in a relegation position and out of the Scotland squad.
McCormack a victim of his own big ego. Thought he could engineer himself a move to a Premier League club for a cut down fee. No EPL club would meet the valuation so he ended up at Fulham. Cellino gave Ross a lesson in that no player is bigger than the club. Ross should worry more about getting Fulham up the league and gaining favour with their fans instead of looking for sympathy from our fans. My favourite tweet on the matter was 'Billy Bremner signed contracts without reading them while Ross left because the canteen was closed. Make your own mind up. £££'
It highlights the difference between modern players and real legends.
Ross is 28 now. He has only had 3 good seasons. 2 out of 4 at Leeds. He did well last season because B Mac built the team to his benefit. He probably thinks he was irreplaceable. I would take Billy Sharp over Ross any time. It was great business for Leeds and the squad looks much better now. If Ross really wanted to retire at Leeds he could have honoured the contract he had instead of demanding a new one. No one put a gun to his head and forced him to sign for Fulham. We've moved on now and I think for the better. Time for Ross to do the same.
"29 goal striker in new contract request shocker" There is a lot worse behaviour in modern football than this. You guys can continue to dream of the days of Billy Bremner and judge everyone by those standards, but honour and loyalty left football a long time ago.This wasn't all McCormack looking to leave, the one person who was desperate for McCormack to leave more than anyone was Massimo Cellino, and understandably so as he had the opportunity to rake in £11m for him. Would you have preferred if McCormack hadn't asked to leave and he was still here? If that was the case you can be sure we wouldn't have brought in 15 players since. I'm going to leave it there but I think it is a bit simplistic for some of you to try to turn McCormack into some sort of pantomime villain and try to downgrade and cast a slur on the contribution he made to this club as a player and the huge cash injection we benefitted from when he left. Football in 2014 is a ruthless, dirty business and our owner is as capable of playing that game as well as anyone. It does not operate on the same moral code any of us ordinary decent citizens live our lives by. Let's not pretend to be outraged by Ross McCormack. We done more than alright out of the whole situation too, so let's not be too hypocritical and move on.
Am I the only one who actually believes McCormack didn't want to go? But the fact of the matter is that he HAD to go, no one can turn down a sale at TWICE the market value, but Ross' complaint is how it happened.
He wasn't happy with the new regime and found the changes a bit too much to cope with. His adopted Uncle Brian had left, and then he had to learn to make sandwiches and use the washing machine, emotional and physical challenges he hadn't bargained for.
Have you ever been in the situation where you work for a firm and really love it but then the firm is taken over and the new owners change things to such an extent you no longer recognise the place? You look back with affection but loathe the present up to the point you know you have to leave. In Ross' case he was aware that there were a number of clubs chasing his signature, and Premier League clubs at that, but he was told he was going to Fulham or going nowhere. He couldn't stay and he wasn't given a choice of who his next employer would be, not a nice situation to be in and I understand why he feels bitter, but he doesn't have a 'proper' job and his wage isn't proper either, so in this situation it should be accepted that lack of choice is compensated by money. It's your chosen career path Ross, nobody forced you into being a footballer, you chose to do it yourself and now you must follow the rules.
McCormack's sale to Fulham was the best piece of transfer business this club has done in over a decade and most certainly the right decision for Leeds United, so hats off to Cellino and mild sympathy for Ross. However, his outburst must prompt the question of how the Fulham fans view his comments. I'm reading between the lines and what I'm reading is this; "I didn't want to leave Leeds but I had to go, but seriously guys, FULHAM??? Are you having a laugh"???
