Mac’s got cash for new blood

YEP 2/10/13
by Phil Hay
Leeds United chairman Salah Nooruddin reiterated his support for Brian McDermott last night after the club drew a line under their costly sequence of league defeats.
In an interview with the YEP, Nooruddin said McDermott was “the right guy to take this club forward” following a spell of results which exposed United’s manager to public criticism for the first time.
Leeds suffered a third straight loss at Millwall on Saturday – a fourth Championship defeat in five games – and both McDermott and Nooruddin were critical of the performance, the latter taking to Twitter to argue that “the current squad should have won today.”
United’s form dropped them from the Championship’s play-off places to the bottom half of the table in the space of two weeks but McDermott’s squad restored calm at Elland Road last night, earning a 2-1 win over Bournemouth through a 79th-minute goal from Dominic Poleon.
Nooruddin said: “We had a very good start to the season and it turned around a little bit but that’s the nature of football. “We’re going through a transitional process and that’s especially true of Brian. He’s settling in with his players and testing them here and there so it’s too early to judge anything. Let’s wait and see what happens.
“When we brought him in we were very happy about that and we believe he’s the right guy to take this club forward. I think it’s been proven on and off the field here.
“He’s done a good job and he’s trying to rebalance the squad. He takes account of the owners’ interests, the club’s interests and the players’ interests. So far we are very happy.”
McDermott’s squad was unchanged yesterday despite Nooruddin insisting that the 52-year-old had been given permission to sign “one or two players” on an emergency loan basis.
United’s manager is prioritising a striker and a winger and revealed on Monday that he had enquired about both Norwich City’s Luciano Becchio and 
Arsenal’s German youngster, Serge Gnabry.
Gnabry is unavailable having edged himself towards the front of Arsenal’s plans and Norwich appear unwilling to sanction Becchio’s return to Elland Road unless Leeds commit to both a permanent transfer in January and a temporary deal which sees them take on a large share of his salary in the meantime.
At least one other Championship club have enquired about the Argentinian along with a number of foreign clubs and there is little expectation of United advancing talks with Norwich quickly.
But Nooruddin said: “Brian has a mandate to look for a couple of players. We’ve said that openly. If he’s successful in obtaining one or two then all the better. We’re backing him and supporting him.”
Poleon earned Leeds welcome respite last night by stepping off the bench and killing off a resilient Bournemouth side.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 31st minute when goalkeeper Ryan Allsop incurred a penalty and a red card for a foul on Noel Hunt but replacement Darryl Flahavan saved McCormack’s spot-kick, forcing Leeds into a second-half onslaught.
McCormack broke the deadlock on 52 minutes but Poleon was called upon to rescue a win after Lewis Grabban equalised 17 minutes from time.
McDermott said: “The only thing that mattered was the result, nothing else. That wasn’t an easy game to play. We showed guts when they got back to 1-1.
“I won’t kid you, I went through the mill because it was important to get the win. We’ve got it and we’ll be better because of it.”

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