Chairman's Transparency Heaps Increasing Pressure On Brian McDermott
Yeboah Constrictor 29/9/13
For those amongst us who have been living in a cave over the past week, Leeds lost to Newcastle during the week in the Capital One Cup. No-one expected us to get anything and whilst the performance wasn't brilliant, we weren't completely outfoxed by a decent Premier League team. However, Leeds chairman, Salah Nooruddin took to Twitter to voice his disappointment with the performance saying that the 'Leeds fans deserve better', pretty harsh on the team when you consider the oppostion.
Fast forward to Saturday and Leeds had lost to a Millwall team who had experienced something of an upturn in form. The second half was truly awful from Leeds as Woolford and Malone sealed a win for the Lions. Post match, Brian McDermott wasn't impressed and rightly so, we were truly abysmal, however, he wasn't the only one who was upset. Once again, Nooruddin took to Twitter to voice his concern.
We'll come back to the first statement later and focus on the bit about the current squad. Leeds' record at The Den is sketchy at best and it is always one of our tougher trips during the season with all the baggage in the stands which goes with the tie. The 'current squad' which is sat in the lower reaches of mid-table obscurity is largely the same as the squad which finished in mid table last season. The additions made aren't exactly stand out; Wootton, Murphy (despite his price tag) and Smith are all relatively young players who are unproven at this level and Hunt is more of a squad player than a stand out signing. The 'current squad' is also without last season's top goalscorer and the player of the year is yet to reach full fitness. Nooruddin's tweet is unlikely to endear himself to the players and some of the less intelligent members soak this kind of thing up like a sponge. Yesterday, when scrolling through various comments, I saw a poster asking for McDermott to be sacked and Gus Poyet instated as manager to lead the 'promotion charge'. How exactly he expects McDermott to lead a charge with the current squad is beyond me.
This leads me neatly on to the next point. Last week, we were told to expect a new striker by Saturday and we still haven't got one in. Now, Nooruddin has told us that we are looking for both a striker and a winger. Whilst I acknowledge a bit of width wouldn't go amiss, I disagree with the constant public drone of the owners regarding a new striker. A striker with confidence is one that will score goals for you and the constant speculation can't help but undermine the players McDermott has at his disposal in attack forwards. Also, by putting this out there now, Nooruddin has made a rod for GFH's back if no new signings are made soon and fans will quickly turn on the management, especially with the news (well it was in the Daily Star if that counts!) that fan favourite Becchio wants a return to Leeds.
When Bates was evil overlord at LS11, we all said that transparency was one of the things that we wanted from the new chairman. No longer did we want to put up with 'Agent X wanted too much money' or my favourite, 'a number of players weren't able to be released from international duty'. However, now I feel we have gone too far the other way and the current transparency can't help the squad or McDermott as they look to pick up their form after five defeats in six. In my opinion, it's not McDermott or the squad who need to deliver, but the ownership, who have promised us a two year plan, but seemingly have a 'short term' mantra that Neil Warnock would be proud of.
For those amongst us who have been living in a cave over the past week, Leeds lost to Newcastle during the week in the Capital One Cup. No-one expected us to get anything and whilst the performance wasn't brilliant, we weren't completely outfoxed by a decent Premier League team. However, Leeds chairman, Salah Nooruddin took to Twitter to voice his disappointment with the performance saying that the 'Leeds fans deserve better', pretty harsh on the team when you consider the oppostion.
Fast forward to Saturday and Leeds had lost to a Millwall team who had experienced something of an upturn in form. The second half was truly awful from Leeds as Woolford and Malone sealed a win for the Lions. Post match, Brian McDermott wasn't impressed and rightly so, we were truly abysmal, however, he wasn't the only one who was upset. Once again, Nooruddin took to Twitter to voice his concern.
We'll come back to the first statement later and focus on the bit about the current squad. Leeds' record at The Den is sketchy at best and it is always one of our tougher trips during the season with all the baggage in the stands which goes with the tie. The 'current squad' which is sat in the lower reaches of mid-table obscurity is largely the same as the squad which finished in mid table last season. The additions made aren't exactly stand out; Wootton, Murphy (despite his price tag) and Smith are all relatively young players who are unproven at this level and Hunt is more of a squad player than a stand out signing. The 'current squad' is also without last season's top goalscorer and the player of the year is yet to reach full fitness. Nooruddin's tweet is unlikely to endear himself to the players and some of the less intelligent members soak this kind of thing up like a sponge. Yesterday, when scrolling through various comments, I saw a poster asking for McDermott to be sacked and Gus Poyet instated as manager to lead the 'promotion charge'. How exactly he expects McDermott to lead a charge with the current squad is beyond me.
This leads me neatly on to the next point. Last week, we were told to expect a new striker by Saturday and we still haven't got one in. Now, Nooruddin has told us that we are looking for both a striker and a winger. Whilst I acknowledge a bit of width wouldn't go amiss, I disagree with the constant public drone of the owners regarding a new striker. A striker with confidence is one that will score goals for you and the constant speculation can't help but undermine the players McDermott has at his disposal in attack forwards. Also, by putting this out there now, Nooruddin has made a rod for GFH's back if no new signings are made soon and fans will quickly turn on the management, especially with the news (well it was in the Daily Star if that counts!) that fan favourite Becchio wants a return to Leeds.
When Bates was evil overlord at LS11, we all said that transparency was one of the things that we wanted from the new chairman. No longer did we want to put up with 'Agent X wanted too much money' or my favourite, 'a number of players weren't able to be released from international duty'. However, now I feel we have gone too far the other way and the current transparency can't help the squad or McDermott as they look to pick up their form after five defeats in six. In my opinion, it's not McDermott or the squad who need to deliver, but the ownership, who have promised us a two year plan, but seemingly have a 'short term' mantra that Neil Warnock would be proud of.