Leeds: What On Earth Are We Going To Do?

Article by Alex Schroeter

Think back to those glorious days of mid-December, we were in the play-offs; the takeover of Sports Capital seemed to be all but done and life was looking pretty good as a Leeds fan. Fast forward to the end of January and we are now eight games without a win, fans are becoming increasingly frustrated while the situation regarding the ownership is quite frankly a nightmare...oh and we have no manager!

With no more transfers seeming likely at the end of this January transfer window, our distinctly average squad, apart from a select few, is lingering in our usual home of mid-table mediocrity, although embarrassing performances against Sheffield Wednesday and Rochdale would suggest that we may be lucky to still be in the Football League. Amongst this whole takeover debacle, there have been the occasional murmurs of potential incomings – Daniele Cacia of Hellas Verona, Andrea Tabanelli of Cagliari and even Julio Cesar of QPR - with many depending on the takeover of Massimo Cellino.

Even the signings we have made so far, have not exactly been ‘pulling up trees’, with Jimmy Kebe had an absolute shocker against Ipswich, although Stewart has shown flashes of quality which could come in useful if we are to reach those promised lands of ‘we nearly made the play-offs’. Additionally, when you look at the serious promotion contenders, they have brought in genuine quality with that rare commodity at Elland Road, called MONEY! Nottingham Forest, for example, have brought in Premier League players such as Danny Fox, while bringing in Kevin Gomis and Rafik Djebbour from OGC Nice and Olympiakos, which are good European teams. That is the level of player we need to be bringing in if we are to compete with the millions spent by our rivals.

With the Sports Capital bid failing, Cagliari owner Massimo Cellino has swooped in and his takeover hasn’t exactly brought relief or positive expectations. Having already built up the kind of reputation which brings nicknames like “The Manager Eater”, we are quite rightly concerned, taking just seconds to sack Brian McDermott who, despite a recent run of poor form, has become very popular with the fans and has made the very best of what had been made available to him, in terms of both players and funds. There are growing reports that Cellino has former Middlesbrough defender, Gianluca Festa in mind to replace McDermott, with other reports also suggesting that Cellino wanted Festa in the dugout for the game against Ipswich. I cannot help but feel a bit sceptical of Signor Cellino and I would also have rather kept McDermott with no funding, such is the job that can do, as proved during his time with Reading. Instead of Festa, another Italian by the name of Zola would be my idea of a manager who can take us forward.

Quite frankly, our form is dismal. A humiliating FA Cup defeat at the hands of Rochdale, then there was that 6-0 pummelling at Hillsbrough, where we would have done better if we hadn’t have turned up. These help form the last eight games we have played, and failed to win but there have been improvements in the last couple of games which show we can still play football. In most scenarios, this plummet down the table would often bring serious doubts over the manager, but the fans always had faith in his abilities and we were instead more concerned with whatever on God’s green earth was happening in regard to the ownership of the club. With the takeover of Cellino, the concerns have far from dispersed as he has already seriously irritated the fans with the sacking of Brian, and if he is intent on redeeming himself, well, promotion would be a start.

Whatever is going to happen (your guess is as good as mine to be honest), the team and manager are the ones who are ultimately the ones who are going to help us achieve promotion and as long as the money comes from the Italian, we are going to have to deal with his antics, up to a point of course. To be fair, we’re not going to be the only club with a nutty, temperamental owner are we?

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