Warnock remains optimistic as Leeds close in on wanted men
By Richard Sutcliffe
NEIL WARNOCK is delighted that Leeds United do not have another Championship game before the end of the January transfer window as the club look this week to step up their attempts to strengthen.
The Elland Road chief has managed to make just one signing – Everton loanee Ross Barkley – since the turn of the year despite having enquired about a host of potential targets.
United, who beat Bristol City 1-0 on Saturday in a scrappy encounter to remain five points adrift of the play-off spots, were linked with Norwich City’s Steve Morison and former Portsmouth striker Aruna Dindane over the weekend.
Warnock is remaining tight-lipped over the identity of the players he wants, but claims Leeds not being in league action until February 2 – when leaders Cardiff City come to West Yorkshire – can only be a positive.
He said: “I am delighted that the league game with Middlesbrough (scheduled for next Saturday but postponed due to both clubs being involved in the FA Cup fourth round) is off as we won’t have another league game until the window shuts.
“Shaun (Harvey, Leeds chief executive) has made a lot of calls and I know he is speaking to people on Monday. He just needs that to kick into place.
“We just need a little bit of luck with a club accepting our offer and the player wanting to come.
“Hopefully, it will be someone that can play against Tottenham (in Sunday’s FA Cup tie) and Cardiff and look forward to it in an arena like this. We just have to cross our fingers.
“I know Shaun is working as hard as he can behind the scenes. A couple of the clubs we are speaking to won’t consider the player we are after until they get someone else in.
“That is the situation in January. Clubs are loathe to lose their better players if they don’t have replacements.
“I am looking at a few positions where we think it is necessary. Get three players in and, with the situation we are in, I think we should look forward with optimism.”
Ross McCormack’s 66th-minute winner against Sean O’Driscoll’s Robins was enough to seal a sixth straight home win for United in the Championship.
Coming on the back of last week’s Cup replay triumph over Birmingham City at St Andrews, Warnock believes Leeds have “put to bed” the chastening defeat to Barnsley nine days ago that led to a section of the club’s 5,000 strong travelling support at Oakwell calling for a change of manager.
The Leeds chief continued: “The win over Bristol City was a massive one. We got a battering last week against Barnsley but I can’t fault how the lads have responded.
“The players knew this was the first chance for a lot of our fans to see us since then. There were 1,500 of them at Birmingham in midweek, but the vast majority coming along against Bristol City had not seen us since Barnsley.
“I thought we put that to bed in the second half and I don’t see there being any problem in the future.
“It won’t be a problem in the next couple of games (against Spurs and Cardiff) as they will come to create a fabulous atmosphere.
“How many teams have won six on the trot? Not many. We have bounced back all season long. The most difficult thing about management is getting a drubbing.
“We got thrashed by Watford (6-1 in early November) and that was probably the worst 90 minutes of my career.
“It took me a little bit of getting over. But what do you do? Do you listen to them and chuck it in? Or do you organise yourself and think, ‘Let’s go again’?
“That is what you do as a manager and that is what I will do as long as I am here. We want to win games and get up the table.”
United’s win over the struggling Robins was watched by 18,146, the lowest crowd for a weekend game at Elland Road since the club’s return to the Championship in 2010.
A sizeable number registered their displeasure during the first half when a couple of late efforts on goal by the home side were met by ironic cheers. The half-time whistle was then greeted by a smattering of boos.
Warnock said: “It is easy to criticise. But in the second half, when the fans relaxed and got behind us, I felt the players relaxed. First half, it was almost like they were expecting a mistake or a goal by Bristol City. I could sense that on the touchline. But the lads reacted in the right way. They got hold of the ball.
“I said to them at half-time, ‘It is a brave player who gets hold of the ball’. That is what we did. We wanted the ball.
“You can’t please everyone, even when you have six wins. They would rather play like Real Madrid and lose.
“But the Championship is a hard league and you are playing against different opposition every week.
“The most difficult games are when you play against Bristol City, who will get some points now Sean’s gone in.
“So, to come away with the points and knowing where we are in the league while we try to strengthen, the glass should be half-full, not half-empty.
“Personally, I don’t think many teams will get six home wins on the trot. I am delighted.
“We have got to look at our form away from home and I have my own ideas about what we will do, but we’re not away from home for three weeks so I will keep that to myself.”