Boss McDermott’s positive about his pre-season plans
YEP 20/5/13
There are some for whom the football season never truly ends. In a summer when Brian McDermott admitted that Leeds United “need a break”, as many as five of his squad will engage in international duty in countries across the world.
McDermott watched with satisfaction last week as Tom Lees and Sam Byram were selected by England for tournaments abroad, and he knew before the domestic season finished that Rodolph Austin – a player who more than any other might have benefitted from prolonged downtime – would appear as many as three times for Jamaica in the first two weeks of June.
FIFA’s latest round of World Cup qualifiers are arranged for the start of next month and Ross McCormack, the Leeds striker, is expected to be part of the Scotland contingent who fly to Zagreb to face Croatia on June 7. Midfielder Paul Green is also preparing for four Republic of Ireland matches after earning a place in Eire’s provisional squad.
Byram’s selection for the Under-20 World Cup in Turkey is also provisional but he is highly likely to make the final cut when England youth coach Peter Taylor disappoints 14 of the 35 players he chose on Friday. Byram and Lees, who is due to take part in the European Under-21 Championship in Israel, will be out of the country for a matter of weeks while McDermott readies himself for the first day of pre-season training.
United’s manager has set June 27, a date which falls five weeks on Thursday, for the start of training at Thorp Arch but he will give careful thought to the handling of the players tied up by international football.
All five of those concerned are part of his plans for the 2013-14 season, though Austin will start the new campaign with a two-match ban following his dismissal against Brighton last month.
McDermott said: “We’re proud for all of the players who’ve been selected, they’ll be proud to represent their countries, and it’s good for the club to have the players recognised. We’ll make sure all our internationals have the right amount of rest when they return.”
The new Championship season will kick off earlier than usual, beginning on August 3, and the Football League is planning to announce its fixture list on Wednesday, June 19.
McDermott has completed a short holiday taken after the final weekend of the 2012-13 term and is looking to make inroads into the list of transfer targets he left behind with the board at Elland Road.
United’s boss has not spoken in detail about the scale of his plans to alter his squad, saying only that he has presented chief executive Shaun Harvey and technical director Gwyn Williams with the names of “six or seven” players who he hoped to speak to.
McDermott’s work this summer, like that of his predecessor Neil Warnock, depends heavily on United’s ability to fund his first-team vision.
The fortnight since the end of the season has seen more speculation about the club’s owner, GFH Capital, than it has about potential signings, with intriguing revelations arising from the accounts of GFH Capital’s parent company, Gulf Finance House. Gulf Finance House’s financial results for the first three months of 2013 showed an overall profit of around £1million and stated that GFH Capital’s stake in the club – previously a 100 per cent shareholding – had dropped to 86.67 per cent.
GFH Capital has since confirmed that, on top of a 10 per cent share sold to Bahrain’s International Investment Bank in March, a further 3.33 per cent had been passed to unnamed directors on United’s six-man board. It insisted that Ken Bates – the man who sold Leeds in December – was not a recipient.
GFH Capital has fought against scepticism about its financial clout and suitability as owner by reducing season-ticket prices for next season – reductions which have led to sales of more than 11,000 – and naming McDermott as manager after sacking Warnock on April 1.
The Dubai-based private equity firm will see its support of McDermott in the transfer market closely monitored following the 52-year-old’s insistence that “recruitment is very important for us” this summer.
McDermott met with United directors Hisham Alrayes and Salah Nooruddin last week to discuss his plans and said: “We spoke about a number of things to progress the club, including player acquisitions, philosophies and upgrading the training ground. “They were very, very supportive.
“I have to say, it was very positive and very encouraging.”
There are some for whom the football season never truly ends. In a summer when Brian McDermott admitted that Leeds United “need a break”, as many as five of his squad will engage in international duty in countries across the world.
McDermott watched with satisfaction last week as Tom Lees and Sam Byram were selected by England for tournaments abroad, and he knew before the domestic season finished that Rodolph Austin – a player who more than any other might have benefitted from prolonged downtime – would appear as many as three times for Jamaica in the first two weeks of June.
FIFA’s latest round of World Cup qualifiers are arranged for the start of next month and Ross McCormack, the Leeds striker, is expected to be part of the Scotland contingent who fly to Zagreb to face Croatia on June 7. Midfielder Paul Green is also preparing for four Republic of Ireland matches after earning a place in Eire’s provisional squad.
Byram’s selection for the Under-20 World Cup in Turkey is also provisional but he is highly likely to make the final cut when England youth coach Peter Taylor disappoints 14 of the 35 players he chose on Friday. Byram and Lees, who is due to take part in the European Under-21 Championship in Israel, will be out of the country for a matter of weeks while McDermott readies himself for the first day of pre-season training.
United’s manager has set June 27, a date which falls five weeks on Thursday, for the start of training at Thorp Arch but he will give careful thought to the handling of the players tied up by international football.
All five of those concerned are part of his plans for the 2013-14 season, though Austin will start the new campaign with a two-match ban following his dismissal against Brighton last month.
McDermott said: “We’re proud for all of the players who’ve been selected, they’ll be proud to represent their countries, and it’s good for the club to have the players recognised. We’ll make sure all our internationals have the right amount of rest when they return.”
The new Championship season will kick off earlier than usual, beginning on August 3, and the Football League is planning to announce its fixture list on Wednesday, June 19.
McDermott has completed a short holiday taken after the final weekend of the 2012-13 term and is looking to make inroads into the list of transfer targets he left behind with the board at Elland Road.
United’s boss has not spoken in detail about the scale of his plans to alter his squad, saying only that he has presented chief executive Shaun Harvey and technical director Gwyn Williams with the names of “six or seven” players who he hoped to speak to.
McDermott’s work this summer, like that of his predecessor Neil Warnock, depends heavily on United’s ability to fund his first-team vision.
The fortnight since the end of the season has seen more speculation about the club’s owner, GFH Capital, than it has about potential signings, with intriguing revelations arising from the accounts of GFH Capital’s parent company, Gulf Finance House. Gulf Finance House’s financial results for the first three months of 2013 showed an overall profit of around £1million and stated that GFH Capital’s stake in the club – previously a 100 per cent shareholding – had dropped to 86.67 per cent.
GFH Capital has since confirmed that, on top of a 10 per cent share sold to Bahrain’s International Investment Bank in March, a further 3.33 per cent had been passed to unnamed directors on United’s six-man board. It insisted that Ken Bates – the man who sold Leeds in December – was not a recipient.
GFH Capital has fought against scepticism about its financial clout and suitability as owner by reducing season-ticket prices for next season – reductions which have led to sales of more than 11,000 – and naming McDermott as manager after sacking Warnock on April 1.
The Dubai-based private equity firm will see its support of McDermott in the transfer market closely monitored following the 52-year-old’s insistence that “recruitment is very important for us” this summer.
McDermott met with United directors Hisham Alrayes and Salah Nooruddin last week to discuss his plans and said: “We spoke about a number of things to progress the club, including player acquisitions, philosophies and upgrading the training ground. “They were very, very supportive.
“I have to say, it was very positive and very encouraging.”