Who’s Writing the Leeds United Transfer Target List?

Article by e-Leeds United's Jeremy Taylor

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So who’s actually pulling the strings at Elland Road? Obviously Massimo Cellino is the boss, in every sense. He stated right at the beginning that he didn’t need a manager as he manages the club; what he needed was a coach.

The first in a series of statements that seemingly paved the way for the departure of Brian McDermott, and that seemed irrespective of the fact Cellino went on to watch McDermott preside over a horrifically bad run of results and performances.

The latest outburst was directed toward the fact that, in the eyes of Cellino, McDermott went AWOL at a time when matters needed addressing. Whatever the truth behind this, it again clearly demonstrates that Cellino isn’t one for quietly addressing issues behind closed doors. Phil Hay and Co. must be licking their lips at what lies ahead for them in terms of real, engaging journalistic material.

The question that remains though is who will be making team decisions? The easy answer is whoever replaces McDermott, assuming he will be replaced. However, a worrying revelation from Cellino was that he instructed McDermott to alter the position of Luke Murphy. The fact that this led to him scoring his first brace for Leeds United is bye the bye. It sets a worrying precedent when a club president / owner starts delving into tactics and team selections.

Benito Carbone has now arrived at Elland Road under the guise of ‘technical advisor’ and this has been greeted by most as a good appointment. As a player Carbone was superb; a skillful, flamboyant footballer and real crowd pleaser.

But, what of his managerial record? Delving into this doesn’t reveal a great deal other than he was rather successful with a lower division Italian club called Saint-Christophe Vallée d’Aoste and is now rated highly as a promising young manager, having since turned down multiple offers from Italy to pursue his dream of managing in England.

It’s not difficult to join the dots and see that he will almost certainly be handed the reigns temporarily once McDermott finally gets the bullet. What happens after probably depends on both how highly Cellino rates him and how he performs in the role of first team ‘coach’ in the opening games of the coming season, should he be given the opportunity.

Back to the original question though and who is calling the shots in terms of transfers? It’s natural to assume that we’ll be seeing one or two imports from Cellino’s stable in Cagliari, something that any ‘coach’ will simply have to work with.

But what of domestic transfers? We’re heavily linked with the now free agent Tommy Rowe, a player much fancied by McDermott. But who’ll be actually signing him if he was to come to Leeds? Does this mean Cellino also rates him or is this story simply a media fabrication based around the fact that he’s available and Leeds were previously interested.

Will Cellino be drawing up his own list or will he be working with Carbone? What knowledge do they have of the Championship, given this is where our likely targets will be coming from?

Lots of questions – but could it be any other way with Leeds United.

Still, before these questions are answered, the one thing all Leeds fans are waiting for is the colour of Massimo’s money. We all understand that there’s a financial quagmire at Elland Road that is being sorted out. But, sooner or later Massimo will have to write some cheques for footballers and this will be the real moment of change. Will we sign someone for thousands or millions? Who knows, but we’ll have to sign someone.

While Leeds fans are no strangers to uncertainty, this time round it’s different. There seems to be a passive optimism around the place; a feeling blended together from relief, belief and faith. One thing’s for sure though. Unlike his predecessors, Massimo Cellino simply will not tolerate bad footballers or bad football. For whatever his faults, and there are certainly more of them yet to be revealed, we know that a decent standard of football is now compulsory at Elland Road; and not just from the opposition. And any ‘coach’ that fails to deliver this will be delivered a P45 quicker than he can order a pollo Milanese.

The future may well be exciting, but it will undoubtedly be interesting.

@jezaldinho

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