McDermott - so far so good?

[Deleted User 1076]

McDermott is in the same boat as the previous managers. One cash signing and a couple of frees. Too many players not getting in the squad costing money. This season will be a write off and we really need to accept that.

[Costy]

McDermott is in the same boat as the previous managers. One cash signing and a couple of frees. Too many players not getting in the squad costing money. This season will be a write off and we really need to accept that.

I'd go along with that. I didn't expect promotion anyway, so if we finish somewhere mid table and the young players, namely Lees, Byram, Wooton, Murphy, Poleon, Mowatt and maybe Dawson get plenty of games, in some cases a second season, under their belt, making them more experienced and a good deal stronger and better next season, then I can live with that. Even if it does make for a pretty long, boring year! We should also see quite a few players released who aren't really needed or wanted but are costing a pretty penny, and you would expect McDermott to reinvest that money wisely. It's optimistic but it's better than moaning after every game about our lack of quality and lack of promotion prospects; for me those things were a given before the season started. I know there are those who say 'we're falling further back, what about those with parachute payments' etc but I don't think one more season in the doldrums will make too much difference - I will be worried though if by this stage next season we're still as poor as we are now.

[Mellor]

McDermott is in the same boat as the previous managers. One cash signing and a couple of frees. Too many players not getting in the squad costing money. This season will be a write off and we really need to accept that.

I accept that promotion is a long shot, I fear relegation is not out of the question but I refuse to accept that 11 blokes running around like they've never played together is acceptable, it isn't and never should be. What was the point of altering the pitch size at TA - the pitch at ER looks like an alien place these days!

To recruit 4 players and leave 3 in the dressing room is odd - 3 are young but not too young to play. Hunt? Anyone's guess.

Reasonable to miss out on promo. Unreasonable to play like schoolboys. Something isn't right and the something is not Bates/Warnock/a.n.other scapegoat. There is no feelgood factor - BM is leader and should generate that. Players like Ross waste time making excuses on twitter. There doesn't appear to be an edge at the club. The players don't look especially fit (could they defend high up the pitch/closing down etc) although BM like every other Lufc manager said he would sort that having inherited an unfit bunch. I could go on. Truth is excuses and rationalisation hack me off. These guys are paid well to do a job.

If one thing sums up Lufc it's throw ins. No team in world football is as sedantry as Lufc at throw ins. You can nip to the toilet if the ball goes out of play. I fear BM may be too nice and the Billy big boots in the squad have too much say. I see regression on the pitch. George Graham would get clean sheets out of these players. Something isn't right just now IMO.

Waiting until next season to improve is no good. We should be improving. May as well have kept Larry.

[Costy]

Waiting until next season to improve is no good. We should be improving. May as well have kept Larry.

I'm sure nobody is 'waiting' to improve. By 'should', you mean 'I want us to be' improving now. It doesn't just happen overnight, especially with young players, which we actually have quite a few of in the squad. I'm confident performance levels will gradually get better throughout the season from what we've been seeing recently. I think part of the problem is that we got some favourable results earlier in the season that we were actually a bit fortunate to get, making it seems as though performance levels have dropped massively, when in actual fact we haven't really been very good right from the start.
Aston Villa are a good example to cite of what I see happening for us; they blooded youth last season, it was a gamble and they were poor for most of it, but they survived, improved and are having a decent season now with more experienced players and a few additions.

I certainly agree with you though that certain players performances are downright unacceptable, namely Mcormack and Austin. We are well within our rights as fans to expect better from these senior players than what they've been giving, and we could do with McDermott earning his corn now by coaxing better things out of them.

[Mellor]

Waiting until next season to improve is no good. We should be improving. May as well have kept Larry.

I'm sure nobody is 'waiting' to improve. By 'should', you mean 'I want us to be' improving now. It doesn't just happen overnight, especially with young players, which we actually have quite a few of in the squad. I'm confident performance levels will gradually get better throughout the season from what we've been seeing recently. I think part of the problem is that we got some favourable results earlier in the season that we were actually a bit fortunate to get, making it seems as though performance levels have dropped massively, when in actual fact we haven't really been very good right from the start.
Aston Villa are a good example to cite of what I see happening for us; they blooded youth last season, it was a gamble and they were poor for most of it, but they survived, improved and are having a decent season now with more experienced players and a few additions.

I certainly agree with you though that certain players performances are downright unacceptable, namely Mcormack and Austin. We are well within our rights as fans to expect better from these senior players than what they've been giving, and we could do with McDermott earning his corn now by coaxing better things out of them.

I don't expect a lot but I do expect them to be fit, to play as a team, to compete. Class costs money. Organisation costs only effort. Time for BM to tie the back 4 together and drill them George Graham stylee. BM should have turned the Ross to Boro thing into a 'no one is bigger than the club' moment. He did the opposite. There will be unhappy lads in the dressing room as a result. Captain Rudy - mistake. Pass him the ball and it ain't coming back. Better players will surely see that?

My dream has always been a young side of largely home grown talent growing together and playing football at pace (preferably on the break cos I'm cautious and break away goals make me purr). I'm in no rush. If BM tells me that's what he's about I'm happy but this 'finding a way' nonsense reeks of indecision and worries the heck out of me. BM should know his best team/formation. The back 5 in particular should be nailed down.

I'm angry just now cos what's happening on the pitch is unacceptable. Week after week, game after game we leak soft goals, fail to shoot/shoot into row Z, put high crosses into little fellas, invariably 'hit the first man' with crosses/corners/free kicks, mess up on throw ins and generally stroll about the pitch. For me things are deteriorating and it's getting serious.

[Deleted User 2]

McDermott is in the same boat as the previous managers. One cash signing and a couple of frees. Too many players not getting in the squad costing money. This season will be a write off and we really need to accept that.

I accept that promotion is a long shot, I fear relegation is not out of the question but I refuse to accept that 11 blokes running around like they've never played together is acceptable, it isn't and never should be. What was the point of altering the pitch size at TA - the pitch at ER looks like an alien place these days!

To recruit 4 players and leave 3 in the dressing room is odd - 3 are young but not too young to play. Hunt? Anyone's guess.

Reasonable to miss out on promo. Unreasonable to play like schoolboys. Something isn't right and the something is not Bates/Warnock/a.n.other scapegoat. There is no feelgood factor - BM is leader and should generate that. Players like Ross waste time making excuses on twitter. There doesn't appear to be an edge at the club. The players don't look especially fit (could they defend high up the pitch/closing down etc) although BM like every other Lufc manager said he would sort that having inherited an unfit bunch. I could go on. Truth is excuses and rationalisation hack me off. These guys are paid well to do a job.

If one thing sums up Lufc it's throw ins. No team in world football is as sedantry as Lufc at throw ins. You can nip to the toilet if the ball goes out of play. I fear BM may be too nice and the Billy big boots in the squad have too much say. I see regression on the pitch. George Graham would get clean sheets out of these players. Something isn't right just now IMO.

Waiting until next season to improve is no good. We should be improving. May as well have kept Larry.

Good post, agree with most of that. There are signs of progress and I think tactically McDermott is a great progress on the last two managers, there is usually a decent gameplan, there is creativity and there is the willingness to be proactive rather than reactive. But something is lacking, that is allowing these players to play so much below their level so often - is it the manager's motivation skills?

One thing that is starting to bug me about him recently is his common mentioning of Reading in his answers to questions or explanations to how we go about things. "At Reading we once went X games without a win". "I lost these players at Reading". We used to do this, we used to do that. It was somewhat understandable in the beginning, and of course that took up most of his working career, but there's only so much he can explain by appealing to precedents there.

[Pecky10]

But something is lacking, that is allowing these players to play so much below their level so often - is it the manager's motivation skills?

I've wondered myself as to the problem but feel it must lie with the players themselves. It's not just up to the manager to get players performing, they have to have a long hard look at themselves at the moment as well. We're talking about players not passing the ball accurately to one another, it doesn't get much more basic. Yes, maybe the club could or should have invested in better players but we're not getting beat just by QPR with their better players, we're getting beaten because of basic errors against teams we should be beating with the players we have; it's not good enough.

The Secret Footballer article made for chilling reading: players dictating who the manager is and how they go about their job to fit around their social habits. I'd like to think there's no element of that at Leeds but you do wonder. I've said in the past that I'd have had them in training at 9am the day after a game where they've under performed but not all players take kindly to that approach and actually then play worse because they're sulking. We have to trust that BMc, whatever his approach, will get them out of the slump they're in.

I've noticed that since the Derby match, most of them have been ever so quiet on Twitter, maybe that's a sign that they do recognise that they need to knuckle down and simply aren't giving their all; maybe having a couple of days off this week will have got their hunger back, I really hope so.

[NottinghamWhite]

I wonder is McD is looking back and thinking the offer from Boro for Ross wasn't such a bad offer after all.

[dlw10]

McDermott is in the same boat as the previous managers. One cash signing and a couple of frees. Too many players not getting in the squad costing money. This season will be a write off and we really need to accept that.

I accept that promotion is a long shot, I fear relegation is not out of the question but I refuse to accept that 11 blokes running around like they've never played together is acceptable, it isn't and never should be. What was the point of altering the pitch size at TA - the pitch at ER looks like an alien place these days!

To recruit 4 players and leave 3 in the dressing room is odd - 3 are young but not too young to play. Hunt? Anyone's guess.

Reasonable to miss out on promo. Unreasonable to play like schoolboys. Something isn't right and the something is not Bates/Warnock/a.n.other scapegoat. There is no feelgood factor - BM is leader and should generate that. Players like Ross waste time making excuses on twitter. There doesn't appear to be an edge at the club. The players don't look especially fit (could they defend high up the pitch/closing down etc) although BM like every other Lufc manager said he would sort that having inherited an unfit bunch. I could go on. Truth is excuses and rationalisation hack me off. These guys are paid well to do a job.

If one thing sums up Lufc it's throw ins. No team in world football is as sedantry as Lufc at throw ins. You can nip to the toilet if the ball goes out of play. I fear BM may be too nice and the Billy big boots in the squad have too much say. I see regression on the pitch. George Graham would get clean sheets out of these players. Something isn't right just now IMO.

Waiting until next season to improve is no good. We should be improving. May as well have kept Larry.

I've only just seen this - but it is spot on. Much of this isn't new though and we saw it last season too. Since we only have 4 new players I suppose the conclusion is that the players are actually never going to be good enough. Every now and again when they all play at their best we can just about compete but most of the time we just fail to compete. It is the inconsistency that kills us - the players seem to be able to convince us they are good enough by having a good game every now and again but none of them can do it every game - or as might be expected, in almost every game. It really can't help that we have so many players picking up a darn good waye for never playing either - Brown, Norris, White, Drury, are all on top wages but we've hardly seen them, what does that do for morale! Don't know what the answer is to that if we can't get rid!
One thing is for sure, we are currently light years away from a team that can compete at this level.....and yet we did for a few games early in the season!!!!

[isrodger]

Not sure where to post this - but I wonder what odds you could get on Malky MacKay being our next manager.

In the crazy world of football I would definitely have a bulls eye if his odds were grester than say 40/1!