Brian McDermott looking for the best for Leeds United – with or without him
There’s a video clip doing the rounds today – it could easily be entitled “Strife of Brian”, but this is no Pythonesque spoof. This is tragedy, pure and simple – it’s got all the necessary ingredients. We have an embattled hero, dark and inimical forces grappling away in the background, mystery and intrigue – and most of all, the grim prospect of a very unhappy ending. And all in a mere 2 minutes and 38 seconds. For all its brevity, no-one could fail to be moved by the passion and courage, the honesty and unselfishness that shine through in this isolated bubble of truth and openness in the gathering murk surrounding Elland Road. The hero is, of course, Brian McDermott and he has earned that title by his struggles to carry on in circumstances that would have seen a lesser man give up and head for the hills.
In this blog’s opinion, McDermott has also earned the respect, trust and unstinting support of everyone out here who would claim to be a Leeds United fan. Brian has stuck his head above the parapet with the contents of that interview, not in his own best interests, but in those of the club – which he clearly equates with the fans. He stands out in these dark and dismal times as the one real ray of light – along with maybe one or two of the playing staff. His anger, his passion and his determination to see right done by Leeds United and its legions of supporters are an apt counterpoint to the anodyne platitudes which are all we occasionally get from the suits behind the scenes, those grey little men who argue about pounds and pence while the club slides ever backwards. It would be hard to imagine more of a contrast than the one which distinguishes Hero Brian from the corporate clowns humiliating us as they squabble behind the scenes.
I saw a tweet today which sums up perfectly the Strife of Brian. It invited us to imagine the situation of a man facing a tennis match against a Grand Slam champion, but having to face this virtuoso without a racquet – and with his hands tied behind his back. This is how hamstrung our Brian has been, for pretty much all of his tenure as Leeds United boss. Just as we’ve been made promises and have been let down, so has he – and when he is let down it’s more than just a personal disappointment – it’s his professional reputation on the line. Matters appear to have come to a head in these last few days, as we approach the final week of a transfer window where so much was promised, so much was expected. Brian talked of getting business done early – but he’s been betrayed in his trust. It was all lies, yet again. The carpet has been yanked from beneath his feet, and ours.
It seems odd then, that – with so many deserving targets for their anger and disappointment to be justly poured out – some Leeds fans are actually choosing to have a go at the man who represents our best hope of forcing some kind of breakthrough in this tiresomely endless impasse. Some fans are absolutely calling for Brian’s head, citing tactics, transfer policy, substitutions – even his gloriously bald pate. They portray him as an egg or as a thumb, and they seem to think it’s funny. Yet this is the man who is speaking out and calling for an end to all the uncertainty, all the fruitless quibbling in the boardroom, all the selfish machinations between opposing interests – and he’s doing it with dignity and professionalism. Brian wants it sorted, and for us to start moving onwards and upwards – and isn’t that what we all want, all of us helpless and impotent bystanders out here? Plenty of managers would refrain from comment, knowing that being too outspoken would land them a swift P45. Plenty more would walk, leaving us to suffer without any leadership. Still others would seek to follow a party line, cravenly hoping they’d backed the right horse. But not Brian. He’s stuck his neck out, to lay his head defiantly on the block. He seems to be half-resigned to being a casualty of whatever change might finally occur – but he’s saying it’s not about his own interests. He’s asking for a swift resolution to the takeover saga, for the club and for the fans. Greater love hath no man…
For those who are preoccupied with details of his team selections, or substitutions, or certain of his transfer acquisitions, I would say – forget it. We know nothing of his working conditions and the promises made and broken, except for the broad hints in that direction contained in this alarmingly frank and angry interview. It’s impossible for us to judge the man – he’s been trying to build a house without tools, and with bricks of straw. All we can say of him is that he’s there for us, the fans, and for the club we all love. How can we currently ask more of him than that? For the moment, tactics, substitutions and transfers are irrelevant. Football is irrelevant. The season is a dead duck – it’s the very future of our club which is at issue here. That’s what McDermott is telling us, and we need to listen. In a crisis on stormy seas, the last thing you do is tip your friends overboard – and right now, Brian is the only friend we have.
Against Huddersfield at the weekend, all of the Leeds fans should be bellowing their support for this man. We should be sending the clearest possible message to all the factions currently wrangling over our club; we should be making sure that they’re aware we have heard Brian’s message loud and clear and that we have taken it to heart.
In any conflict, it’s of the first importance to know your enemy. We should be utterly clear on this – Brian McDermott is not the enemy here. He speaks for us, because he cares and because he has the courage and resolve – along with the insider’s knowledge – to speak with the voice of a man who knows that what’s happening is not good for the club. We have Brian to thank for the fact that we now know that too. Let’s not be blind enough, naïve enough, to ignore it. We must show our support for Brian McDermott, loud and proud – because quite frankly, he’s the only chance we’ve got.
Life, Leeds United, the Universe & Everything 
Well said. No further justification required.
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Rob,
He isn’t the messiah hes a very naughty boy!
Kebe, Stewart, Murphy, Smith, Hunt, Zailukas, Ruddy as captain, the formation at Rochdale and Sheffield. Those weren’t the fault of owners but Brian and him alone.
He must be given a chance to get it right (so i don’t support his sacking) but his record so far doesn’t suggest a sudden turnaround.
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I take your points, but I’ll say again – all the tactical, selection and other football issues are simply irrelevant at the moment. We can’t judge the man football-wise until he’s had the chance to operate as he’d wish. In the meantime, he’s doing a storming job of saying what the suits don’t want him to say, and he’s doing it for the fans. If he leads us out of these dark and troubled times – he IS the bloody Messiah.
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Cellino is a Roman, and you can pick your Judas! – I’m leaving it there before I get totally religiously incorrect!!
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Agree with you Mr Monte fisto.
We need to hope either Haigh group or Farnan group succeeds. If not McDermott is out on his ear.
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Well said, I hope others are listening and understanding. Top man is our Brian and with proper support from the suits he will lead us back to where we belong. Unfortunately, if the Italian gets in he will be for the chop and he knows it.
MOT
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Brian is our Messiah – he will deliver us from this hell that we Leeds fans are forced to endure – MOWB (Marching On With Brian)!!!
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Well spoken, it’s about time we all stood up and backed the manager, it’s really sad that a great club like LEEDS is in total disarray and was taken over by the poorest arabs in the world. MOT
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Lest we all forget; McDermott turned down N. Ireland because he felt he owed us his loyalty since we trusted him by hiring him in the first place.
So, to the gentleman above, if management would stop acting like infants and had supported us the way Arsenal’s or Man City’s management does, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Do we really think that any either of those managers are that much better then he is? What are they, magicians? No, they have players…pure and simple.
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Spot on
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Spot on Rob. All those with the future of LUFC at heart and I include BM in that needs to stick together to get us through yet another non-footballing crisis. When BM took the job he thought he was honoured. Bet he’s changed his mind now!
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Lets cut Brian some slack, save the complaints for the shysters and skint Arabs who are pulling the club into the ground.
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Brians win ratio as Leeds manager is 44%, compared to in the 30’s under Colin Wanker. For a man that has had broken promises, be told he cant have a player in Ashley Barnes etc etc, I would point out a couple things to anybody that thinks we would be better off without him: 1/ He kept us up last season when many a manager wouldn’t have imo, and three fucking years in League 1 was plenty enough ta. 2/ He managed to keep the best striker we have had at Leeds since JFH and obviously him being in charge at Leeds was a big part in Rosscoe staying i would bet. managed to motivated him to score 19 goals, and persuade Mowatt to sign a new deal along with Byram. I could imagine Brian travelling to the games with the fans and having a couple of jars, if he wasnt manager, I think he knows what it means to be Leeds, can you imagine any other manager going up to fans and paying for a round of drinks to the travelling fans pre season? Leave him alone and get on the backs of that tory twat Haigh instead. Rant over. Great article Rob, I salute you
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Before this bad run Brian could be seen most Sundays in pubs around our town centre watching footy on Sky just as though he is one of the lads, he has time for all Leeds fans and that’s why at the moment he looks as pissed off as the rest of us
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Thank you Rob for a voice of sanity and reason. We all understood, I had hoped, that Brian was a long term appointment and needed time to rebuild this club. I believe it is imperative that whoever “owns” our club in the near future allows him to get on with the job he has started.
Unfortunately a large swathe of our less erudite fans seem only to understand the last result and seem to have no comprehension of the machinations behind the scenes. Is it peculiar to Leeds or do all teams have a plethora of morons who only seem interested in screaming hate and vitriol at a particular player (and sometimes all the team!) ? This isn’t a modern phenomenon either; they were at it even when we were at the top (all those years ago now).
But it is symptomatic of modern times that people believe the answer to any problem at any club is to change the manager. None of them are being given time to build a team.
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Well said Tom
MOWB
(I like that)
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I have to open by getting Kebe off my chest – spineless, not interested and as was shouted last night “bone idle”. There is simply no excuse for no heart and/or effort, can only imagine BMcD left him on to avoid a barrage of substitution boo’s etc.
Now the most important bit, the future of the club is being dictated by a group who have just re-structured a significant debt and so will be looking to maximise any financial recovery. They are completely disregarding their major revenue stream, we the fans. I appreciate business confidentaility etc but the complete radio silence illustrates to me that they basically dont give a monkies about us. Football has become completely irrelevant and as a consequence I do fear for the future of the club, not in the longer term but adverse impacts which could quickly arise as any remaining morals vanish to be replaced by legal advisors……do not under-estimate the beckoning reality of the “A” word again.
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Absolutely spot on Rob – he knows and acknowledges that he got it wrong at Rochdale and Wednesday; more importantly you believe it hurt him and that he wants to put it right. Also given the restraints in the market, Murphy, Zaliukas and Smith have been good additions. He recognised his mistake with Rudy and did something about it – how many Managers would have the guts to do that mid-season ? He’s not the problem – let’s get behind him. MOT
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I don’t know how you manage to dress yourself in the morning, Rob, when you come out with such ridiculous nonsense.
The problem is you’re not one mad fan, there’s loads who think the same as you and they’re as big a part of the problem as anything.
How pathetic do you have to be to support a manager just because he bought a round of drinks?
McDermott couldn’t have done a worse job if he’d tried. It’s incredible how bad he’s been.
It doesn’t surprise me that you’ve written this muck, though, because you see Grayson as a hero and he was the same.
At least fans like you can be dismissed as total crackpots, however much they number. The fans that really annoy me are the ones like The Count who can see how bad he is but then turn around and say they don’t want him sacked!
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Clive, you misunderstand me I think he has made some big big mistakes but
1 – He knows he has and hopefully won’t make them again, 2 – He is working in almost impossible conditions, perhaps if in the summer he had been able to bring in the players he wanted we would be in a different place now. 3 – I fundamentally belive that he wants to succeed here & cares (something Colin never did) 4 – I can’t think of ANYONE who could do much better in the circumstances. To me we need to sort out the farce at the top give him a chance and see what happens then. If in 12 months we see nothing then sack him. How many managers do we need to sack before people realise it those at the top who cause the problem.
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Aren’t you overlooking some facts? Like: Grayson got us out of division 3, and, the players BM inherited are crap? They really are, you know. BM has twice patched us up after other teams found us out. It’s a reflection of how bad those players are. How, exactly, could anyone get more from the squad?
As for the signings: Zaliukas, free, low wages, former captain of hearts, 2 bad performances when BM tried a new formation – one similar to that played by almost every top flight club in the world. We’ve got to be able to learn to play like that. Smith, Murphy, Stewart, Wootton, promising young players. One free, one that won’t cost much, one who cost a million at a time BM was told he had more money to spend, and one that cost little and whose price will increase only if he does well. Kebe, an experienced promotion winner with a couple of good years left. Hunt, crap, but he also cost nothing and if you sign a load of players in a short time one or two won’t work out. I know you’ll say that Stewart and Kebe are crap but I ay they aren’t yet match fit.
I’ve criticised BM too, particularly over substitutions, but when he has brought players on they haven’t changed much. Who could have done better than BM and how would they have done it?
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I blame the crap Zalikuas was surrounded with at Rochdale and the Wendies for his performance. Colin is right when he says he built the niucleus of the squad – Kenny, Pearce, Peltier, Austin – all crap. You only need half the team to be unable to follow instructions for things to go to pieces. Only the players and BM know who’s crap and who was just despairing.
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Now this ‘deal’ seems to have fallen through, and therefore no money coming into the club, is it just me expecting to see Ross & Sam heading for the ER exit signs come Friday evening
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And Rob, are you suggesting the board have put a gun to his head and demanding he picks his team out of a hat?
How can anyone be a football fan and say that tactics and team selection are irrelevant?
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Sorry to be a pedant Brad – he turned down the Republic of Ireland to stay at Leeds. Other than that, I agree with everything you – and others supportive of a manager in an awful situation – say!
Another top post.
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Great comments on a good article as usual Rob.
What I don’t understand though is, if we have 2 consortium’s of British businessmen interested in investing in LUFC, WHY THE F#@K don’t they combine forces, pay the Arabs their money and get on with getting us back where we belong. Twice the investment would get us there quicker and they would ALL see their investment grow.
TOO SIMPLISTIC???
It bloody we’ll makes sense to me
MOT MOWB
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Do you understand the Law of Contract……..???
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This is utterly correct, we must vociferously support the gaffer, whilst Brian can be criticised albeit harshly for the odd tactic or formation, it’s not as if he has much to choose from, so he’s had to make do, and he did up until Rochdale, but where he has succeeded is in his honesty with us, he hasn’t done a Colin or dare I say a Larry in just towing the line and burying his head in the sand, he has come out and spoke that rare thing we all seek…the truth!
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What do you mean he’s spoken the truth, ropey?
He hasn’t said anything and how do you know what he says is the truth anyway?
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All I know is I’m already getting texts from town fans “looking forward” to 3pts , and who amongst us can argue that won’t happen? , Leeds have now lost the ‘fear factor’ , every club in this division comes to ER with the view they have a chance , they all know that if they pressure us from the off they’ll probably get a result , how has that happened? We all have a veiw on that , how do we change that?
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And if you think changing the manager is the answer then you’re wrong
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Why?
McDermott hasn’t done a single thing right. You can’t keep someone in a job when they can’t do the job.
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I think, to be fair, as long as it’s only the likes of you who thinks that Brian “can’t do the job”, there’s not a lot to be concerned over. It’d be a lot more worrying if it was someone who knew what he was talking about, saying this.
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Just seen Tractor boys goal from last night, Jimmy Kebe please go back to the Palace you f**king lightweight, embarrassing
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Agree with the Count on this one,BMs signing have been average at best and tactics have been bizarre. Didn’t we beat the wendies last season with a worse team? No one can argue that he is a top,top bloke but that doesn’t make him a “top,top coach”. I really like him and would love him to succeed at Leeds,but i can’t see it happening. There have been far too many howlers on his part. The club may be in crisis at the moment but what happens ON the pitch is more important. If gfh put Leeds into administration or should the FL deem there to be skullduggery afoot,then a points deduction will be inevitable. The Leicester game has been hailed as a fighting performance from the team,but it also begs the question of why can’t they fight every week? I answer to another comment on here referring to dissenters as morons, why should we put up with lousy third rate fayre. I myself have been vocal in criticisms at ER during the past 10yrs, the craineys,ricketts,nicholls etc of this world weren’t fit to wear the shirt. Why should we tolerate rubbish?
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Agree Mick, dissent when voiced correctly is a good thing. I do say stick with BMcD at least till the summer & see what happen then.
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Agree with the Count on this one,BMs signing have been average at best and tactics have been bizarre. Didn’t we beat the wendies last season with a worse team? No one can argue that he is a top,top bloke but that doesn’t make him a “top,top coach”. I really like him and would love him to succeed at Leeds,but i can’t see it happening. There have been far too many howlers on his part. The club may be in crisis at the moment but what happens ON the pitch is more important. If gfh put Leeds into administration or should the FL deem there to be skullduggery afoot,then a points deduction will be inevitable. The Leicester game has been hailed as a fighting performance from the team,but it also begs the question of why can’t they fight every week? In answer to another comment on here referring to dissenters as morons, why should we put up with lousy third rate fare? I myself have been vocal in criticisms at ER during the past 10yrs, the craineys,ricketts,nicholls etc of this world weren’t fit to wear the shirt. Why should we tolerate rubbish?
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Oops,sent 2 comments by mistake. I’d corrected spelling mistakes and thought the first comment cancelled. Nevermind. On a different subject,is Patrick Kisnorbo on Corrie now? I’m sure i’ve just seen him in gails house. I don’t watch it you understand,it’s her.
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I can write pages and pages about what a bad job he has done.
Tell me one thing he has done right.
Are 8 games without a win including 5 straight defeats and a 6-0 defeat not something to be concerned over?
Are strange tactics and team selections that are forever changing not something to be concerned over?
Is signing 2 players for a million each who can’t get in a team on a bad run not something to be concerned over?
Is only being able to beat teams in poor form not something to be concerned over?
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agree with Clive ,BMD has been terrible( I like his personality) but what acock up he’s made.1st & foremost Austin, anyone picking him doesn’t k now too much,& I’m not one of the many jumping on the band wagon,30 mins I could see he wasn’t a player and said so and then he makes him capt!.Wootton I’d seen on tv for Man. u. I could see he will never be a player, buys him for 1 mill.Lets White & Taylor out& plays Pugh?messed about Diouf & Poleon,2 quality players while playing Varney .Has left Byram out. Zaliukus,Hunt,Kebe, S tewart ooh .dear.When he came we( by luck I might add) had just got agood back4 byram, lees, peltier, white,messed that up almost messedLees up in a3 at back mix up.been responsible for the 2 worst performances I’ve seen in 50 yrs.None of that has anything to do with take over squabbles ,I actually wanted him to succeed, unlike when Warnock came but lets face it ,if a good manager had come in spent the millions better and we were top 3 the other mess wouldn’t be happening.There is a bright side though I like Lees,Byram,White,(l.b.),Taylor ,Peltier,Mowatt,Poleon, Diouf,Smith(,Murphy has something abetter manager will get out), & of course Ross they just need the right set up. I’M A Leeds fan &Labour man like you Rob enjoy your writing but we disagree on this ,but opinions is what it’s all about Hey,we just all want our club to be on the up.
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If Cellinos people have already been shown around the stadium then it looks like its a done deal and Brian and others will be sacked over the next few days. Theres also a rumour that Cellino spoke to BM and told him to his face that hes not in his plans…. This for me is the stuff of nightmares. A club full of Italians I as a fan know nothing about. Where will my bond be with this latin speaking club, how can I feel empathy with it ??
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Agree Rob. Most successful clubs have stuck by their managers in bad times. McD hasn’t even had a season yet; and no money plus empty promises it seems. Whisky-breath had several seasons and got lucky when someone discovered Peter Schmeichel for him. This isn’t the time to change the manager regardless of what has happened recently.
And Clive – you are perfectly entitled to your opinion but don’t assume that as a majority (it seems) of Leeds fans don’t agree with you about sacking McDermott; that we are idiots. Please credit us some football nous. We should not be dismissed because we disagree with you about what we all want to achieve for our club.
Just remember as you reflect on your stance that as the soldiers marched down the street and the father remarked proudly from the gathered throng on the pavements, ‘Look! Everyone’s out of step except our Johnny!’
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Patrick mate this is one of the biggest mistakes in football. Its not that most successful clubs have stuck by their managers but that most long standing managers have been successful. If a manager loses 50 games on the trot simply sticking with him won’t make the team win. Imagine keeping Kevin Blackwell for 20 years (shudder) and you see what i mean
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Ok simple question , and no I won’t accept that we’ve just been found out!! Why , just before xmas was the same team (under Brian mcdermott) 5th in the league and everything in the garden coming up roses (bar a few Jan window signings) and now near the end of Jan we are all discussing his merits ? , I have no desire to fall out with anyone on this site , rather just trying to figure out why everyone thinks this has happened since xmas ? My own view is because this bloody take over crap has affected everyone associated with Leeds utd , including US
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Why do you like his personality?
He has no charisma, tells lies and says things people want to hear, treats people badly and blames anyone but himself.
He’s actually a lot like Tony Blair, I bet Rob was fooled by him, too.
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Sometimes I’m busy moderating away. Sometimes I think, sod it – I’ll give ’em enough rope to hang themselves. This is one of those days when I allow the gobshite tendency full rein to demonstrate just what they’re all about. Thanks, Clive.
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Anyway, that’s enough from Clive…
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We’ve never had a charismatic manager at Leeds and we’re none the worse for it. I DO hope our host isn’t including me in the “gobshite bracket” purely because i don’t rate BM as a manager?
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It takes a Paul or a Clive to elicit the word “gobshite” on this urbane blog.
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Although “passive-aggressive” and “self-righteous” might come under consideration…
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Clive- Please quantify all those allegations from your post at 21.25pm. He picks the team but cannot be blamed if the players don’t play well, and I think he genuinely feels the pain we do when we lose, so he has passion, charisma- Why does he need that he is a football manager not a fucking contestant on Strictly Dancing. As far as Im aware he has been truthful in post match assesments, none more so than the one on lutv with Eddie Gray where he wants the whole takeover saga concluded, so the same as us there then. He says things people want to hear, but obviously not what you want to hear eh? He cannot take the blame for something he has not done, if anybody should take the blame, and it doesnt take no Miss Marple to see that the clubs board have not honoured the promises that were made to him regarding players etc. Marching On Together, not Marching on Divided
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Well said tom ,,
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A master stroke Rob, I like your style !!!. They don’t appear to have a response to that (or did you decide to really teach them a lesson and send them to bed early???). Keep the brilliant articles coming they make more sense than anything coming out of the mouths of Haigh & Co.
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Most kind 🙂
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You have to feel sorry for McDermott, but he looks and sounds like a beaten man already and all of this negativity is making the Leeds players even worse than they already are.
The low-in-confidence Leeds players need to put in a super-human effort to beat Huddersfield in their cup final and more players have to grow a pair of balls to do that, instead of relying on Brown and McCormack.
Kebe is clearly not fit and is low-in-confidence and should join the list of Leeds players on the “Can’t Hack It List” at Elland Road.
I am sure that Zaliukas, Hunt, Norris and Varney and many others will all keep him company.
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I work in the mining industry in Australia. In the last 20 years we’ve been taken over by three huge multinational conglomerates. On each occasion, just about all the workforce has spnt the period until it’s all done, going through the motions, not sure whether new big chiefs will view them as important or even necessary, will we be gone as “synergies” are found etc?I find the current limbo at the club very understandable, and I am right behind Brian.
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Exactly. Let’s stop and consider what this turmoil does to the fine-tuning of a squad. At top level, even a marginal falling-away in performance is pretty much a guaranteed loss. You simply can’t afford to have extraneous factors affecting the group. I believe that this, as much as anything, is what’s pissing Brian off.
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No offence Rob mate,but phrases like “fine tuning a squad” are rather inappropriate when referring to the current batch. The phrase- silk purse and sows ear spring to mind.If they had anything about them both the squad and the manager would use this situation and develope a seige mentality. Strife ought to galvanize sports people. Can anyone voicing support for BM honestly say that they are happy with his signings so far? Or indeed can anyone say they are happy that there are warnock signings at the club still, who should have been moved on in the summer? If that team had shown the same fighting spirit in two or three games as they did against the Foxes then we would be in a play-off position and therefore a viable option for a buyer. Rob,after the wendies game you answered a comment i left by saying “we beat ourselves” if that is the case then who is ultimately responsible? We all knew they were going to come at us,but BM chose to play a system the players weren’t up to. The first rule of any “cup final” like a yorkshire derby is stop them scoring,not hand it over to them on a plate. Now i don’t care how much piety and remorse Ross McCormack and other players show,it’s the manager who is to blame. He brings players in,he picks the side and he decides the system. This Italian bloke sounds a right bastard mind.
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Yes, we beat ourselves at the Wendies. The players didn’t try a leg as far as I could see, they looked torpid and useless. The manager can pick the team, set the tactics etc etc – the one thing he can’t do is put in the physical effort demanded to win a game of football. I maintain that all of this is irrelevant at the moment. Brian McDermott is a lone voice of sanity as the LUFC situation crumbles into madness around him. 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 means sod-all beside all of that. The whole club is at stake now, following on from statements this afternoon that would seem to have confirmed everyone’s worst fears.
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Agree entirely, the players will be fed up now, no question.
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Rob – this is not only your finest article yet but clearly the most important ever. I understand everyone elses passion for the current Leeds team and where Brian has or hasn’t been able to improve it, however, this is all for another day. Get behind what Rob is saying and support the strongest voice we have – Brian McDermott is our best chance of getting this mess sorted. He is no Messiah, just an outstanding human being who has grown to love Leeds and its legendary family of supporters. He gets us!!! So we need to get behind him now more than ever. GO BRIAN – WE ARE WITH YOU FOR THE LONG HAUL!!!
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Cheers Dave – not sure about finest ever, I didn’t slag the scum off even once!! It WAS my 400th though, in little over a year. On and on!
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Brian is the best thing to happen to Leeds for years. How can a manager operate in the conditions he has to endure. How do you get the best out of players, when some think they’re leaving for for others coming in, but that doesn’t happen. No manager could do better than Brian is doing. He really is the messiah.
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having aload of Italians will be great if we play like Watford last year,whats put on here by Clive are facts he prob has gone to bed after seeing that people are so nieve I remember all the same support for Warnock
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Rob, great blog with good debate (even though it’s a sad subject to have to debate – AGAIN FFS!!!!!!)
John Palmer just read the YEP article about how Cellini has had his ‘new’ manager watching the training & wanted him in the dugout on Tuesday.
Just for a moment put aside your views of Brians performance so far, no one can operate under those circumstances it’s a disgrace.
Buy the club first then decide who you want to manage it, this behaviour only undermines the existing team.
If a normal company was run as badly as Leeds the city regulators and analysts would have the top guys out in days not weeks.
To me I want Haighs lot to do the deal as I genuinely think they will have the best interests of Leeds at heart.
With the Italian who knows but judging him by his actions so far I am very worried about getting another Bates but with the money to lose by shutting us down if he doesn’t get his way
GFH have proven they are utterly incapable of running the club so something has to happen soon which doesn’t involve them!
SHAMBLES we lurch from disgrace to disgrace.
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“passive agressive” self righteous” moi? Where did that come from? I thought everyone who posts comments or writes blogs thinks they’re right?
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I used self-righteous in the sense of “surely, he’s not having a go at ME??”, rather than “I think I’m always right”. Nobody is immune from criticism on this blog and self-evidently, I cop for more than anyone because it’s my stuff.
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Ha ha,i wasn’t taking offence,i just wondered about the “passive aggresive” bit though.
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Whilst Watford did well they are still in the Championship this year like us. It would be near impossible to bed in Italians at this stage of the season, thats assuming they all joined by 11pm tomorrow, more likely to see a flying pig.
And for the record I am not Naive or nieve, BMCD has had/will get far more support than Colin Wanker ever did/will.
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Brian mcdermott is as good a manager as we are gonna get at this moment in time , with all the takeover nonsense !(why always us) . Nobody could do a better job with the constraints he is having to work under. Yes no doubt he’s made tactical mistakes but name a manager who hasn’t . He cares about what happens to our club , you can see the pain in his face when we lose . He has the bottle to applaud the fans after the recent embarrassing defeats and doesnt just disappear down the tunnel . Kebe and stewart not up to speed yet but stewart did look better second half v ipswich . They need a run of games , then fans can judge them. To hear fans booing them when they are trying to play ? Ridiculous ! They need to build confidence and gel with their team mates it doesn’t happen overnight . We are in this together , no point in biting off our noses to spite our faces . Stick with it and just hope the circus of gfh and co can cobble up some agreement to move us forward and give brian what he needs. It’s funny how when he first came to the club he was a brilliant appointment , people couldn’t believe we had managed to appoint him but because we are in a bad run , they want rid. Pathetic have some faith in the man or fuck off and watch man city….. Andy L… M.O.T
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Ok we lost against Rochdale, but the 0-6 drubbing was aided by Smith’s dismissal as McD attempted to remedy the mistake he made with formation in the fiirst half. If McD gets the backing he will come good. Oh, far from being a bandwagon-jumper, I am a Leeds United fan since 1972… before the cup win, I might ad. I blame Johnny Giles for that.
May I take the lazy way out and copy the following from the Lee Chapman’s Sofa blog? It’s quite succinct.
“Right lets do some facts. McDermott’s league game record at Elland Road is Won 13, Drew 6, Lost 13, a win % over 40. Neil “Colin W****r” Warnock left us with a league win % of 31.5! Stick that up your unthinking nose all those suggesting we were better off keeping the Canklow foot doctor! Of our squad of 35, McDermott has been allowed to bring in 8 (one of which has already left), 3 out of contract footballers (thus no transfer fee and very little wages), 3 loans, one of which is only for 93 days so he can’t play for us in the last 4 games of the season, and 2, yes just two, proper signings, both of which you lot have nay on destroyed the confidence of because they can actually pass the ball! Of the remainder over 10 of them are Warnock signings of no use to us, no loyalty to the club and sitting on their over 30 years old plus backsides being idiots (Varney is just the tip of that “self before side” attitude). Of our few decent players avialable to McDermott only one isn’t under 22 and that person is subject to extensive PL transfer speculation (even if he isn’t good enough for that division).
People who blither on about the £2m spent since May might want to reflect that on average we have spent less under GFH-C ownership per transfer window than under Bates!”
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The club will still be in one piece by monday and Ross will still be here,rest assured gfh want their money back at least. That is why what happens on the pitch is vitally important. A team of triers will get bodies through the turnstiles and a place in the top six.
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I hope everybody that wanted Brian out is happy now, prepare for a relegation dog fight
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