New boss happy with club’s reassurances
YEP 13/4/13
The new Leeds United manager says he will have money to spend in the summer, But he won’t say just how much as Phil Hay reports.
Brian McDermott insisted today that discussions with Leeds United chief executive Shaun Harvey and a representative of club owner GFH Capital had satisfied him about the stability of the Elland Road club.
United’s new manager – appointed on a three-year contract yesterday – admitted he had come to Yorkshire on “a lot of goodwill” amid concerns about the ownership and financial strength of Leeds but claimed a “good vibe” during negotiations persuaded him to replace the sacked Neil Warnock.
The 52-year-old has taken up his post at a time of uncertainty at Elland Road, with Leeds fighting relegation and consumed by talk of another buy-out of a club purchased by GFH Capital as recently as December.
GFH Capital has been in negotiations with Yorkshire businessman Steve Parkin about the sale of a 51 per cent stake – a deal which appears increasingly unlikely to proceed – and the Dubai-based firm appears ready to sell a controlling interest in Leeds less than four months after buying out chairman Ken Bates.
United director and GFH Capital deputy chief executive David Haigh met with McDermott prior to his appointment yesterday and joined both Harvey and the former Reading manager at a press conference at Elland Road.
The lack of off-field clarity threatened to hamper Leeds search for a new boss following the sacking of Warnock on Easter Monday but McDermott – a coach with a high stock after winning the Championship title at Reading last season – accepted their offer after listening to Harvey and GFH Capital outline the plan for the months ahead.
McDermott told the YEP: “I got a good vibe. Having spoken to Shaun, he gave me reassurances. I’ve spoken to one of the owners and he’s also given me reassurances that they want to take the club forward with me as manager. That was important to hear.
“There’s an awful lot for the owners to gain if the club are successful. That’s a key point. They’ve got an awful lot to gain if they back the football side to the best of their ability.
“I’ve come here on a lot of goodwill but I had a lot of assurance. I wouldn’t have come to a club where that wasn’t the case. You need to have a chance.”
McDermott refused to touch heavily on the topic of his transfer budget this summer and beyond, focusing his attention on today’s game against Sheffield Wednesday after deciding to take charge of the game exactly 24 hours after his appointment.
But Leeds have been stalked for several years by accusations that their managers suffer from insufficient financial support, a complaint aired by Warnock at periods of his 13-month reign.
Asked how much money he expected to see, McDermott – formerly chief scout at Reading – said: “We discussed it 10 days ago. They said there would be money in the summer. But that question will be answered in the summer.
“Transfer policy is one thing we need to get right here. Recruitment is key. Gwyn Williams (United’s technical director) is here. I’ve known Gwyn for many years. When I used to turn up at a game, he was always there.
“Then I’d get to another game and Gwyn would arrive. He does his graft and works hard and I’m sure the scouts at Leeds work really hard. But we need to look at that and how we recruit.”
McDermott refused to comment on how much improvement the current squad would need with Leeds 17th in the Championship table and fighting to avoid relegation in their final five matches.
Only five senior players are out of contract this summer, with African striker Habib Habibou also nearing the end of his loan from Belgian club Zulte Waregem. Leeds are not expected to take up an option to sign him permanently.
McDermott, who made his first appearance at Thorp Arch yesterday morning, said: “It’s unfair for me to even comment on the squad. I’ve got to have a good look at them in the next four weeks. Then we’ll re-adjust and take stock in the summer.
“If they’d won the last two games then they’d have been right in amongst the play-offs and that’s how fine the margins are in this league. There’s nothing in the Championship whatsoever and we found that out at Reading last season.
“You put a run of results together, you can get yourself in the top six very comfortably. If they’d won the last two games then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
“Would I be sat here? Probably not.
“But I felt really comfortable in the dressing room yesterday, looking at the players and being around the training ground. It’s what I do. There was an awful lot of respect at the training ground and that was tangible. You could sense it.”
McDermott will be joined at Leeds by Nigel Gibbs, his assistant at Reading but he appeared to rule out the possibility of others joining his backroom team in the short term.
Yannis Anastasiou, his first team coach at Reading, also left the Madejski Stadium after McDermott’s dismissal and but sports scientist Karl Halabi and goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo have remained with the Premier League side.
McDermott said: “Nigel’s come with me but there’ll be no-one else joining at this stage.
“I know Neil Redfearn well as we did our pro-licence together.
“I also met Richard Naylor for the first time yesterday and he seems like a really good guy. A solid individual and a Leeds man. We’ve got good staff here already.”
McDermott’s target in the eyes of the public will be promotion to the Premier League, be it next season or at some stage of his three-year deal.
“But he refused to put himself under immediate pressure, saying: “If you ask me the question about timescales, I’ve no idea. I can only live in the moment and work day-to-day.
“I can’t tell you what will happen in a year’s time or two years’ time. All I can do is live in the moment and be as good as I can.”
Brian McDermott insisted today that discussions with Leeds United chief executive Shaun Harvey and a representative of club owner GFH Capital had satisfied him about the stability of the Elland Road club.
United’s new manager – appointed on a three-year contract yesterday – admitted he had come to Yorkshire on “a lot of goodwill” amid concerns about the ownership and financial strength of Leeds but claimed a “good vibe” during negotiations persuaded him to replace the sacked Neil Warnock.
The 52-year-old has taken up his post at a time of uncertainty at Elland Road, with Leeds fighting relegation and consumed by talk of another buy-out of a club purchased by GFH Capital as recently as December.
GFH Capital has been in negotiations with Yorkshire businessman Steve Parkin about the sale of a 51 per cent stake – a deal which appears increasingly unlikely to proceed – and the Dubai-based firm appears ready to sell a controlling interest in Leeds less than four months after buying out chairman Ken Bates.
United director and GFH Capital deputy chief executive David Haigh met with McDermott prior to his appointment yesterday and joined both Harvey and the former Reading manager at a press conference at Elland Road.
The lack of off-field clarity threatened to hamper Leeds search for a new boss following the sacking of Warnock on Easter Monday but McDermott – a coach with a high stock after winning the Championship title at Reading last season – accepted their offer after listening to Harvey and GFH Capital outline the plan for the months ahead.
McDermott told the YEP: “I got a good vibe. Having spoken to Shaun, he gave me reassurances. I’ve spoken to one of the owners and he’s also given me reassurances that they want to take the club forward with me as manager. That was important to hear.
“There’s an awful lot for the owners to gain if the club are successful. That’s a key point. They’ve got an awful lot to gain if they back the football side to the best of their ability.
“I’ve come here on a lot of goodwill but I had a lot of assurance. I wouldn’t have come to a club where that wasn’t the case. You need to have a chance.”
McDermott refused to touch heavily on the topic of his transfer budget this summer and beyond, focusing his attention on today’s game against Sheffield Wednesday after deciding to take charge of the game exactly 24 hours after his appointment.
But Leeds have been stalked for several years by accusations that their managers suffer from insufficient financial support, a complaint aired by Warnock at periods of his 13-month reign.
Asked how much money he expected to see, McDermott – formerly chief scout at Reading – said: “We discussed it 10 days ago. They said there would be money in the summer. But that question will be answered in the summer.
“Transfer policy is one thing we need to get right here. Recruitment is key. Gwyn Williams (United’s technical director) is here. I’ve known Gwyn for many years. When I used to turn up at a game, he was always there.
“Then I’d get to another game and Gwyn would arrive. He does his graft and works hard and I’m sure the scouts at Leeds work really hard. But we need to look at that and how we recruit.”
McDermott refused to comment on how much improvement the current squad would need with Leeds 17th in the Championship table and fighting to avoid relegation in their final five matches.
Only five senior players are out of contract this summer, with African striker Habib Habibou also nearing the end of his loan from Belgian club Zulte Waregem. Leeds are not expected to take up an option to sign him permanently.
McDermott, who made his first appearance at Thorp Arch yesterday morning, said: “It’s unfair for me to even comment on the squad. I’ve got to have a good look at them in the next four weeks. Then we’ll re-adjust and take stock in the summer.
“If they’d won the last two games then they’d have been right in amongst the play-offs and that’s how fine the margins are in this league. There’s nothing in the Championship whatsoever and we found that out at Reading last season.
“You put a run of results together, you can get yourself in the top six very comfortably. If they’d won the last two games then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
“Would I be sat here? Probably not.
“But I felt really comfortable in the dressing room yesterday, looking at the players and being around the training ground. It’s what I do. There was an awful lot of respect at the training ground and that was tangible. You could sense it.”
McDermott will be joined at Leeds by Nigel Gibbs, his assistant at Reading but he appeared to rule out the possibility of others joining his backroom team in the short term.
Yannis Anastasiou, his first team coach at Reading, also left the Madejski Stadium after McDermott’s dismissal and but sports scientist Karl Halabi and goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo have remained with the Premier League side.
McDermott said: “Nigel’s come with me but there’ll be no-one else joining at this stage.
“I know Neil Redfearn well as we did our pro-licence together.
“I also met Richard Naylor for the first time yesterday and he seems like a really good guy. A solid individual and a Leeds man. We’ve got good staff here already.”
McDermott’s target in the eyes of the public will be promotion to the Premier League, be it next season or at some stage of his three-year deal.
“But he refused to put himself under immediate pressure, saying: “If you ask me the question about timescales, I’ve no idea. I can only live in the moment and work day-to-day.
“I can’t tell you what will happen in a year’s time or two years’ time. All I can do is live in the moment and be as good as I can.”