Leeds United: Players hold key to McDermott’s plans
YEP 21/11/13
Whites boss Brian McDermott has drawn up a plan of action for the run-up to the Christmas period. Phil Hay reports.
In touch at Christmas was Brian McDermott’s order and the next five weeks will determine whether Leeds United give him scope to further his reputation as a manager who finishes each season more spectacularly than he starts it.
McDermott was drawn into discussing the taboo subject of promotion before the international break, abandoning his usual caution and saying that a Championship position “there or thereabouts” at the turn of the year would open the door in the second half of the term.
His players responded to that quiet prompting by beating Yeovil Town and Charlton Athletic, reaching their two-week interlude a point behind the play-offs. McDermott thinks that most observers will see United’s form – 23 points from 15 games – as “not bad” or “relatively okay”, no better than that. But only three clubs have put clear water between themselves and his squad.
“You’ve got a couple of teams above us, Watford, Reading, Nottingham Forest maybe, who everyone thinks have started well,” McDermott said. “Ask people how we’ve done and they’ll probably say ‘not bad’. They’ll tell you that we’ve been relatively okay so far.
“They might be right but we’re only a point or so behind three or four of the teams ahead so were not in bad shape. The last period before the international break was good for us.
“We’re winning games and scoring goals and I still don’t think that as a team or a squad we’ve played as well as we can. But perhaps we’re starting to get going now. And that’s good because this is a busy period coming up.”
The run-up to Christmas is busy in a relative sense. It is nothing like the month between this season’s first and second international breaks when Leeds played seven times in 21 days and five times away from home. A gain of six points from that congested spell gave McDermott his first taste of criticism and scepticism.
United have six matches ahead of them before their Boxing Day visit to Blackpool, a televised fixture on the west coast, and a glut of combative games in the pipeline, starting with Saturday’s meeting with Middlesbrough. That fixture precedes a visit to Blackburn Rovers – United expect to confirm a sell-out of 6,800 tickets for that trip – and home games against Watford and Wigan Athletic.
The Championship rankings at the end of December are often a benchmark for the table on the final day of the season. The division’s top two on January 1 last term was unchanged on May 4 and three of the four teams in play-off places successfully defended them. Only Middlesbrough lost their way during a customary collapse under former boss Tony Mowbray.
McDermott’s managerial record is different to Mowbray’s, created by a Reading squad who consistently grew in strength from January onwards. But neither of the teams who competed for promotion under him began the New Year hopelessly out of touch.
“The run to Christmas can be tough and it’s very busy but I wouldn’t say it’s crucial,” McDermott said.
“Crucial to what? Your results over 46 games are crucial and having a good Christmas doesn’t mean you can afford a bad Easter or vice versa. There’s no such thing as a period where you don’t need results.
“We’re on a bit of run at the moment, three wins from four, and we’re scoring goals which as I said myself was a problem for us at the start of the season. That was a priority and we dealt with it and I prefer not to look beyond the priorities.”
Last season was something of a freak, allowing Leicester City to slip into the play-offs on 68 points. Leicester lost 16 times over the course of 46 games, a tally of defeat which alongside 11 draws would have cast them off into mid-table in a typical campaign.
United themselves have been one way or the other since August, winning seven times, losing six and drawing only twice.
McDermott accused his team of being too “gung-ho” after they lost at Huddersfield Town last month but their most recent win at Charlton Athletic was no less open, settled eventually by two goals from Ross McCormack in the last 20 minutes.
“We play to win,” McDermott said, “and I don’t think there’s any other way.
“I’ve spoken a lot about managing games and doing the right things at the right times but I don’t want the players to be cautious. Quite the opposite. From the start I’ve said ‘get on the ball’. If mistakes are made then I’ll live with that.
“Draws aren’t bad results in the Championship but playing for them usually goes against you. It doesn’t work. It’s not how we are and it’s not how I want us to be. And at the end of the day, winning games is what kicks you on in this league.”
Middlesbrough have discovered that in the past two and a half years, twice racing towards the top of the Championship before falling away badly after Christmas. Boro gave Mowbray another chance in the summer but sacked him on October 21 after failing to gather any fresh momentum.
A short period under caretaker Mark Venus was followed by the appointment of Aitor Karanka, whose first game as head coach is at Elland Road this weekend.
Karanka – a former assistant to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea – is finalising his backroom team and should make additions to it in the next 48 hours.
McDermott admitted yesterday that he was unfamiliar with Karanka’s style but made the point that there are “only so many formations or systems you can use.”
Karanka appeared to echo that sentiment, saying: “The best way of playing is when supporters go home having seen their team win. “I laugh at the comment ‘football has to be played the right way’ because the right way is to win.
“Yes, we want it to be attractive, we want it to be all the things you want it to be but it’s very rare to get everything you want.”
Whites boss Brian McDermott has drawn up a plan of action for the run-up to the Christmas period. Phil Hay reports.
In touch at Christmas was Brian McDermott’s order and the next five weeks will determine whether Leeds United give him scope to further his reputation as a manager who finishes each season more spectacularly than he starts it.
McDermott was drawn into discussing the taboo subject of promotion before the international break, abandoning his usual caution and saying that a Championship position “there or thereabouts” at the turn of the year would open the door in the second half of the term.
His players responded to that quiet prompting by beating Yeovil Town and Charlton Athletic, reaching their two-week interlude a point behind the play-offs. McDermott thinks that most observers will see United’s form – 23 points from 15 games – as “not bad” or “relatively okay”, no better than that. But only three clubs have put clear water between themselves and his squad.
“You’ve got a couple of teams above us, Watford, Reading, Nottingham Forest maybe, who everyone thinks have started well,” McDermott said. “Ask people how we’ve done and they’ll probably say ‘not bad’. They’ll tell you that we’ve been relatively okay so far.
“They might be right but we’re only a point or so behind three or four of the teams ahead so were not in bad shape. The last period before the international break was good for us.
“We’re winning games and scoring goals and I still don’t think that as a team or a squad we’ve played as well as we can. But perhaps we’re starting to get going now. And that’s good because this is a busy period coming up.”
The run-up to Christmas is busy in a relative sense. It is nothing like the month between this season’s first and second international breaks when Leeds played seven times in 21 days and five times away from home. A gain of six points from that congested spell gave McDermott his first taste of criticism and scepticism.
United have six matches ahead of them before their Boxing Day visit to Blackpool, a televised fixture on the west coast, and a glut of combative games in the pipeline, starting with Saturday’s meeting with Middlesbrough. That fixture precedes a visit to Blackburn Rovers – United expect to confirm a sell-out of 6,800 tickets for that trip – and home games against Watford and Wigan Athletic.
The Championship rankings at the end of December are often a benchmark for the table on the final day of the season. The division’s top two on January 1 last term was unchanged on May 4 and three of the four teams in play-off places successfully defended them. Only Middlesbrough lost their way during a customary collapse under former boss Tony Mowbray.
McDermott’s managerial record is different to Mowbray’s, created by a Reading squad who consistently grew in strength from January onwards. But neither of the teams who competed for promotion under him began the New Year hopelessly out of touch.
“The run to Christmas can be tough and it’s very busy but I wouldn’t say it’s crucial,” McDermott said.
“Crucial to what? Your results over 46 games are crucial and having a good Christmas doesn’t mean you can afford a bad Easter or vice versa. There’s no such thing as a period where you don’t need results.
“We’re on a bit of run at the moment, three wins from four, and we’re scoring goals which as I said myself was a problem for us at the start of the season. That was a priority and we dealt with it and I prefer not to look beyond the priorities.”
Last season was something of a freak, allowing Leicester City to slip into the play-offs on 68 points. Leicester lost 16 times over the course of 46 games, a tally of defeat which alongside 11 draws would have cast them off into mid-table in a typical campaign.
United themselves have been one way or the other since August, winning seven times, losing six and drawing only twice.
McDermott accused his team of being too “gung-ho” after they lost at Huddersfield Town last month but their most recent win at Charlton Athletic was no less open, settled eventually by two goals from Ross McCormack in the last 20 minutes.
“We play to win,” McDermott said, “and I don’t think there’s any other way.
“I’ve spoken a lot about managing games and doing the right things at the right times but I don’t want the players to be cautious. Quite the opposite. From the start I’ve said ‘get on the ball’. If mistakes are made then I’ll live with that.
“Draws aren’t bad results in the Championship but playing for them usually goes against you. It doesn’t work. It’s not how we are and it’s not how I want us to be. And at the end of the day, winning games is what kicks you on in this league.”
Middlesbrough have discovered that in the past two and a half years, twice racing towards the top of the Championship before falling away badly after Christmas. Boro gave Mowbray another chance in the summer but sacked him on October 21 after failing to gather any fresh momentum.
A short period under caretaker Mark Venus was followed by the appointment of Aitor Karanka, whose first game as head coach is at Elland Road this weekend.
Karanka – a former assistant to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea – is finalising his backroom team and should make additions to it in the next 48 hours.
McDermott admitted yesterday that he was unfamiliar with Karanka’s style but made the point that there are “only so many formations or systems you can use.”
Karanka appeared to echo that sentiment, saying: “The best way of playing is when supporters go home having seen their team win. “I laugh at the comment ‘football has to be played the right way’ because the right way is to win.
“Yes, we want it to be attractive, we want it to be all the things you want it to be but it’s very rare to get everything you want.”
