Chapter and verse on what went wrong under Warnock’s tenure - Lorimer
YEP 13/6/13
by Peter Lorimer
Neil Warnock’s a manager who likes to speak his mind so I suppose it’s no surprise that his new book is making waves.
Leeds United were always going to feature heavily in it and his views on his reign at Elland Road were unlikely to be anything other than mixed. It was a tough time for everyone, not least him.
To see Neil’s tenure in context you need to think back to the time when he was first appointed as manager. He fitted the bill in most respects and from the club’s point of view he was a calculated gamble.
Given how uncertain things were, he seemed tailor-made in a lot of respects.
Firstly he had a track record which suggested that he would do well with Leeds in the Championship. Secondly he had a dead-certain idea of what he wanted to do – a fixed goal if you like.
He’d won seven promotions and he wanted an eighth. But on top of all of that he was the type of manager who you expected to cope in a period of transition.
I honestly don’t remember many people telling me at the outset that his appointment was a mistake.
I’ve said before that in some ways I feel sympathy for him. He was in charge in the middle of a takeover and stuck in a situation where one person was trying to sell the club and other people were trying to buy it.
Clubs struggle to operate perfectly in that atmosphere and the focus on the playing squad and the football side of things inevitably suffers. As manager, I very much doubt that he felt like the centre of attention.
Neil made a good number of signings – 14 or 15, something like that – but I don’t doubt that with more money and more freedom in the transfer market he’d have brought in different players.
Yet if we’re judging the results and performances objectively then it has to be said that many of them weren’t good enough and the performance of the team is ultimately the manager’s responsibility. It was him who built that team. I don’t think anyone can consider themselves blameless for what went on last season.
I still feel that the crucial moment for Neil was losing Luciano Becchio. By January it was perfectly obvious that his relationship with Luciano was very strained and from speaking to him I know he’d reached the conclusion that Luciano had to go. But the problem there was that Becchio was our top scorer, someone who scored more goals than the rest of our forward line put together.
Steve Morison came in to replace him but he was carrying an injury at the time and never quite found his form.
When the goals dry up, chasing the play-offs becomes impossible and we were sliding down the table by the last month of the season. I think it was in the best interests of everyone when Neil and the club decided to go their separate ways.
In truth, I’m a bit disappointed at some of Neil’s comments in his book. I read criticism of Gwyn Williams, our technical director, and I felt it was an unfair swipe. Gwyn works very hard behind the scenes, travelling up and down the country, going to games and looking for players. He’s hardly ever home. He’s also involved in arranging contracts for the academy kids, several of whom have agreed professional deals recently.
I also think it’s a bit much for anyone to be having a go at our academy, especially because the staff there seem to be doing a great job at the moment. I’m not saying the atmosphere wasn’t difficult during Neil’s time as manager but you have to remember how much uncertainty there was. No-one knew how the ownership of the club was going to work out or whether their jobs were safe. It’s an awkward scenario to deal with.
What we’ve got now with Brian McDermott is someone who’s planning long term. That’s not an attack on Neil because the club never asked him to think about the long term. They asked him to come in and win a quick-fire promotion. It didn’t happen and when you see what’s in Neil’s book, you get the feeling that a fresh start was the right move for all concerned – Neil included.
by Peter Lorimer
Neil Warnock’s a manager who likes to speak his mind so I suppose it’s no surprise that his new book is making waves.
Leeds United were always going to feature heavily in it and his views on his reign at Elland Road were unlikely to be anything other than mixed. It was a tough time for everyone, not least him.
To see Neil’s tenure in context you need to think back to the time when he was first appointed as manager. He fitted the bill in most respects and from the club’s point of view he was a calculated gamble.
Given how uncertain things were, he seemed tailor-made in a lot of respects.
Firstly he had a track record which suggested that he would do well with Leeds in the Championship. Secondly he had a dead-certain idea of what he wanted to do – a fixed goal if you like.
He’d won seven promotions and he wanted an eighth. But on top of all of that he was the type of manager who you expected to cope in a period of transition.
I honestly don’t remember many people telling me at the outset that his appointment was a mistake.
I’ve said before that in some ways I feel sympathy for him. He was in charge in the middle of a takeover and stuck in a situation where one person was trying to sell the club and other people were trying to buy it.
Clubs struggle to operate perfectly in that atmosphere and the focus on the playing squad and the football side of things inevitably suffers. As manager, I very much doubt that he felt like the centre of attention.
Neil made a good number of signings – 14 or 15, something like that – but I don’t doubt that with more money and more freedom in the transfer market he’d have brought in different players.
Yet if we’re judging the results and performances objectively then it has to be said that many of them weren’t good enough and the performance of the team is ultimately the manager’s responsibility. It was him who built that team. I don’t think anyone can consider themselves blameless for what went on last season.
I still feel that the crucial moment for Neil was losing Luciano Becchio. By January it was perfectly obvious that his relationship with Luciano was very strained and from speaking to him I know he’d reached the conclusion that Luciano had to go. But the problem there was that Becchio was our top scorer, someone who scored more goals than the rest of our forward line put together.
Steve Morison came in to replace him but he was carrying an injury at the time and never quite found his form.
When the goals dry up, chasing the play-offs becomes impossible and we were sliding down the table by the last month of the season. I think it was in the best interests of everyone when Neil and the club decided to go their separate ways.
In truth, I’m a bit disappointed at some of Neil’s comments in his book. I read criticism of Gwyn Williams, our technical director, and I felt it was an unfair swipe. Gwyn works very hard behind the scenes, travelling up and down the country, going to games and looking for players. He’s hardly ever home. He’s also involved in arranging contracts for the academy kids, several of whom have agreed professional deals recently.
I also think it’s a bit much for anyone to be having a go at our academy, especially because the staff there seem to be doing a great job at the moment. I’m not saying the atmosphere wasn’t difficult during Neil’s time as manager but you have to remember how much uncertainty there was. No-one knew how the ownership of the club was going to work out or whether their jobs were safe. It’s an awkward scenario to deal with.
What we’ve got now with Brian McDermott is someone who’s planning long term. That’s not an attack on Neil because the club never asked him to think about the long term. They asked him to come in and win a quick-fire promotion. It didn’t happen and when you see what’s in Neil’s book, you get the feeling that a fresh start was the right move for all concerned – Neil included.