Has Massimo Cellino lost his mind?

Article by e-Leeds United Correspondent Jeremy Taylor

Click here to follow e-Leeds United on Twitter here!

The Leeds United fan base is still in a state of disbelief at the apparently imminent appointment of Dave Hockaday as head coach of Leeds United (an appointment that may have been confirmed by the time this is published).

Immediate reaction is sheer shock. Followed by confusion, frustration and ultimately nausea (ranging from mild to severe depending on how deep the passion runs). All that as fans repeatedly check the calendar to ensure it’s not April 1st.

The overwhelming question is simply ‘Why?’

Why appoint a manager who has achieved nothing, and not only that but he’s achieved it in the lower echelons of English Football.

His first season in charge ended in the club being relegated but they were given a reprieve because of Salisbury's financial irregularities.

They stayed up on goal difference in his second campaign before registering successive 10th-placed finishes.

He departed the New Lawn side in October of last year having lost seven of his last eight matches.

This record at Forest Green is poor by anyone’s standard and if he can’t hack it in the Conference then how is he going to cope in the Elland Road pressure cooker? As Phil Hay said, it’s a post that has eaten bigger names that him.

Why? Why?

Why would Massimo Cellino take such an enormous gamble? Not only with the club and squad but with his reputation and his own money on the line. He is now the primary benefactor should Leeds United achieve promotion to the Premier League. It beggars belief that he would do anything to jeopardise this potential windfall by getting what is a monumentally important decision so wrong.

It’s easy to understand why he doesn’t want to appoint an expensive name given the financial mess he’s taken on, but surely there were other options that ticked multiple boxes. Boxes like ‘experience’, ‘track record’, ‘reputable’, ‘clear evidence of suitable footballing ethos’. Why couldn’t these boxes be added to the list of criteria that seemingly only actually contained the words ‘cheap as chips’.

One image that the Leeds United faithful would bite Gianluca Festa’s hand off right now.

It’s extremely difficult to put any kind of positive spin on this decision, but “give the guy a chance” is certainly a fair perspective. It’s not impossible to imagine a scenario whereby we collect maximum points from our opening three games, at which point opinion’s would undoubtedly soften. Still, expecting anyone to dare to be this optimistic is a huge ask at this stage.

What’s missing here, besides any shred of sense or logic, is an explanation from Massimo Cellino. There has to be something he knows that others don’t. But what could it be? What is it about Dave Hockaday that has managed to escape every other chairman and club owner in British football other than Massimo Cellino? Who are his advisers? What is it about this guy that has elevated him above the other names? Why is £500,000 such an unpalatable amount of money to spend on the right coach, assuming Dolan is the right coach, when you consider that a similar figure would be handed over for an average footballer that may or may not have an impact on the team.

There’s a piece of the jigsaw missing, only that piece is the entire picture.

He needs to come out and say what has led him to such an unprecedented decision to appoint someone with such a bad management record. It would have been easier to understand had he had no record at all. At least he’d have been an unknown entity.

The truth is sure to come out sooner rather than later though, as Cellino certainly isn’t afraid to tell the world what he thinks.

Perhaps it’s all some sort of smokescreen aimed at calling someone’s bluff?

Clutching at straws.

That’s all anyone can do right now. That and stare in disbelief and the mounting roster of media articles appearing by the hour. The question is will they all republish once the word ‘imminent’ is removed from the headline?

@jezaldinho

© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football