Not the January that Leeds hoped for

 Article by Gwyn Hughes

It is worryingly quiet at Elland Road these days. At the end of 2012, fans were told that the month of January would be the time when everything that the club lacked would be put right; funds for new players, new owners in place, new hope, Premiership here we come. The club would be in a better position, on the field and in the corporate world, ready to commence battle to get to the Premiership. But that's not what we have, and it's the 26th of January already.

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There has been wall of silence from the club about what exactly is happening, which has resulted in fans grasping at rumours which have linked us with every possible player that is available. We then see these players signing contracts with other clubs, which traditionally they should never have considered because Leeds are a bigger club. It's about time we realise that we are not one anymore, and a glorious history of achievement should cease to be the standard bearer. Fans are beginning to seriously ask themselves where is this club of ours really going? There have been too many cock-ups involving the club in recent years which quite frankly have been more than a little embarrassing. Long term fans are labelling the club as a joke and question whether we have the right people in charge. The bounty of what January promised to be is rapidly turning out to be the dust bowl of empty and unfulfilled promises.

We have in total two players in this month and they are a long way from producing the kind of displays that would convince the fans that they can help us get to the Premiership. We have been told that whatever the situation with the take-over, the manager will be getting the funds to splash out in the current transfer window. Well, I'm afraid there hasn't been as much as a trickle coming out of this supposed transfer budget. The fact that one target was lost because the current owners refused to stump up money in the region of £500,000 to get him seems bizarre and a little worrying. Ashley Barnes has now signed for Burnley, clearly a better option for him, and a statement from his new club that he is wanted. Furthermore, it also seems to suggest that the owners do not back Brian McDermott. What do they know that we don't? No wonder that there is little positive news coming from the club especially if the owners are planning to sell the club to a consortium that have their eye on a different manager.

I hope that's not going to happen, but surely managers are vulnerable to being dismissed if their team are on a losing streak as Leeds are at the moment. It would be a shame if Brian didn't get the chance to manage Leeds with enough of his own signings, which clearly will take a lot longer if the owners are refusing to sanction piddly amounts of money (in the football world that is) to the players that he wants. If there is a pot to spend on players why haven't we seen other players holding the Leeds shirt to the cameras this month? Something is afoot and I'm not comfortable with it.

To cap the month off we now are at risk of losing our best player and recently appointed captain. What is it about the captain's job at Leeds? It seems it is the green flag for other clubs to try and prize them away. He's only had it for a week! Obviously West Ham want to grab Ross in the confusion that surrounds the club at the moment, and are hoping that they can nab him before a new consortium gets its act together and issue a rosey picture for Leeds United.

The lengthy silence from the club only serves to increase the angry clamour from the fans. Every day I check if there's any positive developments, and each day I read the same news recycled and no progress! Leaving the fans to speculate rather than inform them of what's going on makes things worse in my opinion. Unless that the consortium have found another partner, and a stupendously wealthy one at that, which has forced the club to a serious lock-down on information. Or this Massimo Cellino wants in on the consortium at the eleventh hour and the Football League now have to check him out before giving their approval for the take-over. This would explain why things are dragging on. I suppose we'll find out eventually. Meanwhile the club have to find a winning formula starting on Tuesday night against Ipswich, to not only avoid sinking down the league like a stone, but also save their manager from the sack.

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