Amidst the Chaos, Can Cellino Succeed at Leeds United?

Article by e-Leeds Correspondent Gwyn Hughes

The events of Friday night was something I rarely see and despite the razzamatazz of the Sky Sports presentation of Transfer Deadline Day, Leeds went the whole hog and transferred not only the manager to the dole queue (temporarily I'm sure) but also replaced the owners in the form of the much maligned Massimo Cellino. And this all happened without a single word of confirmation from the club. As I write this I still don't know if Cellino is the new owner. But apparently he has acted for the club by making so many changes in such a short space of time, we have to assume that he owns the club now. In fact news of sackings and replacements (even Cagliari players were rumoured to have signed for the club) made fans think that there was no-one left of the old regime (allegedly) to issue out such necessary pronouncements. Imagine prospective buyers of your house coming in and starting to tell you how to run your house, go into your cupboards, start cooking tea, and sit down and watch their TV shows. Well, that's what happened at Leeds this week. By all accounts the Italian contingent behaved like they had already owned the club and trying to boss the staff about. Of course Brian McDermott didn't have any of it which marked his card I feel. I'm sure that this confusion of events so bamboozled GFH that they forgot to let the rest of the world know what the heck what was going on.

It was all down to twitter followers and journalists to inform the shocked Leeds fans of what might be going on at Elland Road. Sky Sports did their best to influence proceedings, even getting Ross McCormack on the telephone, to ask him covertly whether he was off to another club. I watched in disbelief as the news of his and my club's future fluctuated with every tweet and speculative story on Sky Sports. Leeds do not do things by half! To lose Brian McDermott in such a way was utter disgraceful and, unprecedented in all my years as a football fan. It remains to be seen whether this will either send Leeds down a division or propel them to the Premiership, but either way it will be a bumpy ride for Leeds fans. And of course the pundits are all predicting that it will end up in tears. But what if, by some strange twist of fate, that Cellino taking charge starts the catalyst of significant change in the fortunes of Leeds United.

Cellino's history is not stellar, in fact he is a maverick in every sense of the word, but in a strange sort of way I am still excited about what will happen within Elland Road. It is part of the DNA of a Leeds fan to expect and endure all sorts of differing fortunes, but through it all it has made the typical Leeds United fan a durable, resilient being, able to create a strong enough shell to withstand any shit that flies his way. In short, Leeds fans are survivors and I know with extreme certainty that we will survive the seismic developments that has just occurred at our club.

But can Cellino deliver? He has the money and I hope that he will spend it as madly as we have perceived his personality. Perhaps, just perhaps his arrival will shake the tree of staleness that has shrouded the club since their troubles started over 10 years ago. Too long we have put up with average ambition at best, just hanging in with a chance of promotion when we all really know that we have not been good enough. This self-deception may well have run its course with the promise of a wealthy owner ready to give whoever he thinks will manage the club with the kind of money that Simon Grayson and Neil Warnock could dream of. I hope that in the next few days, when the dust has finally settled, that we will find that Mr. Cellino has a master plan all this time and is itching to get rid of his millions.

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