Kewell Reports...

The BBC is reporting the same.

"The Australian international has told the struggling Premiership club he will wait until the current campaign is over before deciding whether to sign a new contract."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/leeds_united/2838829.stm

 

done deal, we just have to wait till the end of the year for his decision

 

Does anyone think that he really means it or is he just trying to drive up the cost for a new salary?

 

This isn't good:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=260472&cc=5901

 

Is ESPN reliable for footie news?

 

if i were him i would quit football and just have lots of babies with his girl

 

kewell would probably injure himself doing that.

 

Living in America it's the most reliable site I know. This article seems to be more encouraging.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=260564&cc=5901

Does anyone have any other sites that may be advertised for in England that are good EPL sites?

 

Leeds United is in big-time trouble. When your chairman is quoted telling fans "remember the memories", it is very likely that the end is near. I think that you will be following the path of Sheffield Wednesday . . . the transfers, lack of team cohesiveness and complete inability to get even gifted players motivated does not bode well for next season. Ridsdale is not planning on replacing Fowler or Dacourt. Who is going to score goals if Kewell doesn't sign? DWI Bakke? Michael Bridges?

Viduka is just punching the clock.

Alan Smith is completely unpredictable. And your defense is a shambles with Dubarry and Matteo constantly injured.

Batty just earns big $$$ and doesn't even get a chance.

Ian Harte is a shadow of himself (which still makes him a pretty "big" player) and needs lots of defensive cover.

Danny Mills isn't going to want to stay too long if the team keeps up this way. You just better hope one of the bigger teams doesn't come sniffing around Paul Robinson or Jamie Milner or Ridsdale will sell them too.

I would be looking over my shoulder next season. Especially when you consider the quality of the teams coming up next term - Portsmouth is going to be like Man City was this year. Leicester is a solid, if unspectacular team. And Wolves/Sheffield United/Reading/etc are all pretty decent - they would all give WBA/Bolton/Sunderland/West Ham a hard time today, let alone after they strengthen their squads. Leeds, Birmingham FC and Aston Villa will all need to square themselves away in the close season if they don't want to implode in the manner of Sunderland when 03/04 gets started.

 

Troll. Among other things.

Get out, jerkoff.

 

http://www.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=136709&Title=Ridsdale:+Don't+forget+the+good+times

I wouldn't have said anything if it weren't for this article from Planetfootball. What this tells you is that Ridsdale has not learned his lesson. Period. He still is convinced that he has done everything correctly. But if Leeds had the money problems that they have, why was Ridsdale spouting off about Leeds not being a selling club last year? He made it sound as if he wanted his players to think that there wasn't a bigger club in England. Your chairman doesn't seem to have a decent plan in place for turning things around - unless his plan is to balance the books by cutting expenses and hovering at mid-table for a couple of years.

He has sold most of his players of value already. If Kewell does not sign, that will leave Viduka virtually on his own as a valuable commodity. They could probably get a bit for Mills or Robinson, but this market will make it difficult. They must not sell Milner, but even he will be hard to hold onto if more selling goes on. Smith is Leeds through and through, too. The fans would probably tear up Ellend Road before they let him go. But with debts of £38million and another season without European football . . . it is going to be difficult to sustain the current wage bill.

It would be one thing if your team was consolidating like Everton did at the end of last season (and there is still time for that to happen). And there are many other teams that will be vulnerable next year (such as Fulham, Birmingham, Aston Villa and whichever of the four current relegation zone teams squeaks through). But Leeds needs to tighten up at the back (your back line is simply a shell of itself) AND score more goals so that you can swing the momentum the other way.

 

You are right that one year does not a Wednesday make - the problem with Leeds is not on the field as much as it is: a) the momentum, b) the chairman, c) the locker room/lack of team cohesion (players attitudes), d) money problems and e) the frustration of the coaches with all of the above. The team simply can't focus on just playing. And none of these things are going to go away overnight.

Liverpool cannot miss out on Europe after having won the "worthless" cup. Even if we were playing for a place, Charlton and Tottenham are not getting stronger as the season goes on. I do think that Liverpool has some troubles, mind you, but I think that we will be in at least a "UEFA Cup position" (5 or 6) and possibly we will pip Everton for a Champions League berth.

But the main difference between our two teams is the money issue. Leeds' debt problems are seriously going to hamstring them.

Also, supposing Liverpool did need to raise some cash, there is still a market in France for Traore, Diouf and Diao (maybe even Cheyrou) if we needed to turn them around. We could also afford to let go of a forward, as Neil Mellor is probably ready to at least be forward #4. And though we would need cover, we could sell Didi to any number of teams for a pretty good fee.

Also, Liverpool has done a good job of buying valuable (though not admittedly not superstar) players on the cheap. For every Biscan, there has been a Hyppia or a Danny Murphy. That is a talent that doesn't just stop overnight (although some might argue that the this year's signings were all flops - I don't think Diouf is going to end up being a failure in the end). We are also extremely young. Gerrard, Murphy, Owen, Heskey, Traore, Riise, Diouf, Baros and Kirkland are all young players who still are likely to improve - even though they are already well-established in the first team.

Leeds has pretty much shot their wad as far as selling players goes. Bowyer, Woodgate, Ferdinand, Fowler, Dacourt (I suppose he could still be recalled) . . . and if Kewell doesn't re-sign, he is not going to fetch nearly as much money with his contract about to expire. Viduka is the only truly world-class player after Kewell. And the few signings Venebles was able to make - Barmby and Okon - are not going to turn the tables. The team is getting old fast. Radabe, Lucic, Matteo, Okon, Barmby, Kelly, Harte . . . have all hit their peak already. They are not likely to improve. Robinson, Duberry and Smith may yet improve - but have not shown themselves to be true impact players who can consistently raise their level of play and take a match over by themselves.

That is why Leeds and Liverpool are in different situations.

 

No one has ever faulted the effort or work-rate of any of these players (to the contrary). Owen has had moments of ineffectiveness, Heskey is some-what limited by his lack of balance and technical level and Diouf is still not the best decision-maker. But that is a far cry from showing up with extra weight and still managing to disappear for large chunks of the match.

With his size and ability and the weakness of a number of the defenses in the premiership (man city, birmingham, wba, west ham, etc) Viduka should not be satisfied with his performance this year. Michael Owen has still scored pretty well considering he has been off form and the tactics have left him isolated a lot of the time.

Heskey simply isn't in Viduka's class, but he is still a valuable player (one of my favorites).

 

Congratulations. You've shown definitively that you know nothing about Leeds and are here to shoot your mouth off.

Robinson not a true impact player? And Duberry as a young player who could improve? Why not throw Radebe and Batty onto that list of yours too? Hey, I also hear that we have this young kid named Billy Bremner - you could put him on there too.

You know nothing. You're a troll. Leave.

 

You're a jerk. I thought Duberry was 25, but he is 27. That still makes him 4 or 5 years younger than Batty or Radabe.

I made lots of other points in my last two posts that flesh out why Leeds is in trouble. Why don't you dismiss those too? Don't you think that Leeds' problems are not on the playing field as much as off the field?

Oh, and the only reason I was in here to begin with was because of a link on Big Soccer Live. I didn't just barge in hoping to argue with ya'll. I just can't understand why Leeds fans haven't forced Ridsdale out before now. Even the success that your team had under O'Leary was bought at a very high price.

You are right that Robinson is an impact player, but a goalkeeper is limited in his ability to win a game for the team (unless his name is Kahn). Especially if the backline is very poor. This is something Liverpool fans know a lot about from the mid-90's. Surely you understand what I mean by that?

 

Call me a jerk all you want, but I didn't barge onto the Liverpool list to denigrate most of your team's players. When you do that, you're asking for an angry response.

Or have you already forgotten about your first post in this thread?

I don't watch enough Liverpool to make determinations about all their players, so I don't make them. Because you obviously don't watch enough Leeds to make determinations about our players, you should do the same.

 

You are right. The tone of my first post was out of line. But I think a lot of the things I said in the later posts are true.

And I still wonder where your team's offense is going to come from if Kewell leaves.

 

Watch Viduka on the field. Is he working hard, making tons of runs, tracking back, fighting for the ball? How does he prepare for games - is he in shape?

I don't argue that Owen hasn't been playing up to his potential this season. This has not been a great year for Owen - though he still has a chance for 20 senior goals. But his struggles are certainly not due to a lack of EFFORT. Also, don't forget that St. Mike is seventh in the EPL in goals scored (11) - and that only one of the players above him played in the World Cup - a pretty exhausting tournament. And that guy got thrown out after the first game (Thierry Henry). Almost all of the England players have struggled with their form this season.

I am not the first person by a long shot who is being critical of Viduka's commitment this season. I have even seen a number of Leeds fans questioning the Duke's commitment at times.

Hopefully reports like this one will be just the beginning of better news: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=260564&cc=5901)

I would hate to see ManU sign Kewell away and sell Giggs!

Perhaps I am blowing the Viduka thing out of proportion, but many people in the press and on these boards have commented about his girth and the appearance of a lack of motivation.