Leeds: When does a bad patch turn into a crisis?

Article by Gwyn Hughes

If Leeds fans thought that things were bad after the cup defeat at lowly but lively Rochdale last week, they must also be prepared to add Sheffield to the growing list of dark places that will be forever embedded in our consciousness. Such was the scale of this defeat it will take a very long while before Wednesday fans will stop mentioning this infamous match that occurred on 11 January, 2014. Indeed it will be written in their history books as the biggest win over Leeds United. The memory of our 6-1 win over The Owls back in 1992, 22 years almost to the day, has well and truly been wiped away after yesterday's 6-0 loss.

Long term followers of Leeds United will already know what I mean by the above heading. We've been there many times in the past and we have usually corrected long runs of defeats by being able to brush it away as a temporary blip, preferring to believe that good times are just around the corner and these things just happen for a reason. We somehow find that famous Leeds spirit and passion, exemplified by the army of fans that follow the club (witnessed even with yesterday's mauling) that we demand from the players with every game they play. Leeds got hammered royally by Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday yesterday with as abject a performance as, well their last two games actually, when no Leeds player showed any sign of showing what they can really do. With the performance I saw I wouldn't have been confident of them winning against a non-league team but then I am reminded of them losing against Harrogate Town in mid-week. This latest disaster of a performance was devoid of passion and there is no chance of me highlighting any positives from a 6-0 drubbing from a team just above the relegation places. When asked by a reporter if there were any positives from the game, Brian McDermott correctly replied "Are you serious?"

It has been slowly dawning on me that Leeds may have got things horribly wrong as far back as last summer. I see most of the other clubs (and I mean nearly all) in the Championship progress and seemingly have worked out how to do well in this division. They seem to have a better quality of player than we have, with the exception of Ross McCormack and Alex Mowatt. I thought we had bought wisely, acquiring the services of seasoned campaigners, such as Noel Hunt, and promising youngsters Matt Smith and Luke Murphy, and adding Scott Wootton and Marius Zaliukas later on. The Warnock players, such as Varney and Austin were starting to improve under McDermott and I was hopeful of some good things this season. To date they have not set our club alight and I can't help but think that there were other players we could have bought who I'm sure would have done a better job. In this present transfer window we have missed out on Nahki Wells and Ashley Barnes, which is clanging the worry bell slightly. We'll never know if what I've said is true, and perhaps those players I've mentioned will somehow repay the club and its fans the consistent, good displays that they owe us. Is it the pressure? How many times have we seen quality players join Leeds United and failed to live up to their expectations? Are you sick and tired of seeing our ex-players doing well at other clubs? How come Steve Morison and Sam Vokes are knocking in the goals now for Millwall and Burnley respectively?

All the good vibes that emerged from the first few months of the season have evaporated into a cloud of farts, as the players seem to have run out of energy as well ideas on how to win a football match. It was shocking to see our players just ambling along the pitch, being second to the ball, lacking the bite and intensity needed to compete, as if they were playing a practice match at the end of an arduous season. Somebody at the club had better tell the players that the season isn't over.

The hardest part is yet to come and I fear that the present squad will not have the stomach for a satisfactory finish this season. I don't think Brian McDermott has ever had a more difficult time as this, even during lean spells at Reading. The difference must be, again, the pressure that is heaped on managers of Leeds United. He is a good manager and has proved it but there is massive expectation at Leeds, as there always is, and with the prospect of serious money being available the prospective owners must be thinking if they can still trust McDermott's judgment. His latest signings were anonymous against Wednesday, with Jimmy Kebe being substituted shaking his head as he walked off the pitch. During the game the players were at sixes and sevens, tackling each other at times and leaving acres of space at the back making it even easier for Wednesday to score their goals. Never has a professional football team deserved to be labelled as a pub team. I've played in better teams than what I saw yesterday!

The question every Leeds United fan must be asking now is how can Brian McDermott lift his sorry side for the remaining matches of the season? His team were beaten by a side consisting of players that most of us have never heard of, and probably recruited from clubs from lower divisions of this country and foreign locales. I don't intend to belittle these Wednesday players, and certainly will not dismiss them so easily from now on, but they totally made the Leeds players look feeble and amateurish. What I'm struggling with is that I've seen other clubs perform against us who seem to know the basics of football better than us. We look like an experimental side at times, with no plan or direction, and as of yesterday no idea how to win a football match. The future for Leeds is as uncertain as ever despite the promise of further funding. I think everyone would agree that a controlling midfield presence is desperately needed and one that can teach the others how to pass the ball about and keep possession for more than 10 seconds. The current defence are virtual imposters to the one we had in the first half of the season. It needs an immediate overhaul and some ruthless action from the manager. To be honest I haven't been that impressed with most of their performances before Christmas anyway. I felt that we've been lucky a lot of the games we played, but somehow managed to pick up points to keep us in a decent position in the league. But we just don't have an edge like other teams seem to have. Thank Christ that we didn't sell Ross McCormack last summer or we would be in serious trouble. If Brian McDermott doesn't find a way for Leeds to improve soon then I fear we will be back to League 1.

I know it's early still but I for one am not going to delude myself in believing that we will get a play off place this season. Massive re-building has to be done at Leeds before we can start dreaming of getting into the Premiership. It's foolhardy to think otherwise.

About those positives? Maybe this latest humiliation will galvanise an immediate surge in new signings that will turn our season around. Let's hope the manager can get it right the second time of asking.

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