Reid Sacked... Arabian Cash Injection...

While I don't want Leeds to go down, I fear that the damage may have already been done....

 

I hope you don't mind me chipping in, but as yet (11:40 GMT), Peter Reid hasn't officially been sacked, although it says he's facing the chop on the BBC website. In the state your esteemed club is in, I'm not sure you can avoid more trouble if you appoint Jesus Christ as manager, with a coaching staff of Mohammed, Vishnu (as goalkeeper/coach) and Buddha. Even then, Mark Viduka will fall out with all of them and sulk.

Even if/when Reid does go, who in their right mind would want to take over a club that's in such a state ?. I'm starting to worry for the very existance of Leeds United, as those debts will have to be paid sometime. I should be thankful that your team is doing a valiant job of keeping Blackburn off the table, but it's not nice to see a team with so many problems.

 

I was thinking exactly the same thing. I remember when they sacked Venables because of their getting knocked out of a possible european place by Sheffield United in the cup. Quite frankly these people are living in a fantasy world and they need to get some realism back if they're going to survive at all.

Having said that it seems typical of the way that football is going now. Reid was kicked out by Sunderland due to under performance - they went down anyway, obviously....

Leeds thought Venables wasn't doing that well at the time and got rid of him. I bet they wish they had him back now.

This job is a poisoned chalice if ever there was one.

What's the betting they end up with Hoddle.

 

Hoddle........hmmmm that would be entertaining for Man Utd fans !. By sacking Reid, they'd only have to spend more money in severance pay and compensation should a manager employed elsewhere be targeted. I hear from BBC Radio 5 that Reid was in a hotel discussing severance pay instead of being at the training ground. It is probably inevitable that Reid was out after Saturday.

Never mind, at least you can count on the loyalty of players like Mark Viduka .

 

To be fair, Venables was sacked not because of we lost to the Blades, but because our Premiership status was in peril.

 

Indeed - imagine being only 5 points ABOVE the relegation zone - that would be terrible, wouldn't it...

 

OK, I apologise for that. I hate him as well, the footballing J-Lo.

As for Terry Vegetables, he was terrible for you, as he helped guide your team, which had better players like Kewell to a relegation dogfight. If you had a competant manager after O'Leary you may have been in a slightly better position. El Tel was a 'big name' appointment that went wrong in my opinion.

 

Oh, come on DS - be fair....

Viduka is about the only player that was left there...

I can't be bothered to google a list of the players that were 'Ridsdaled' away when El Tel was there but I remember Ferdinand, Woodgate, Bowyer, Keane, Dacourt, Fowler as going at about that time.

Are you seriously saying that that isn't going to make a difference to a teams performance on the pitch???

It's not just a case of simply losing the players - it's also a question of team morale. How's a manager going to motivate his players when that sort of thing is going on?

I have to say the ones I feel sorry for in all this are the poor bloody Leeds supporters and bearing in mind who I support that's saying quite a bit.

 

I don't know, he still managed to buy Barmby for a small fee, so there was a little tiddly bit of cash at that time. El Tel is a rubbish manager anyway who nearly bankrupted Portsmouth and Crystal Palace, and should never have been hired.

If they wanted to sort it out, perhaps Paul Hart should have been contacted. As Forest manager, he steered the team away from debt, and possibly administration, brought on some excellent young players, and ditched the cack the inept David Platt brought in. He also turned Forest into a credible team for play-off contention in these difficult circumstances. Although he may have not been available, it was a manager of that kind of quality that was needed. Instead, they hired some expensive, over rated has-been who lacks the qualities turn a 'club in crisis' around.

It would have been very difficult, and may have taked a very long time, but under a manager in the Hart mould, Leeds' future would have been slightly better.

 

I tend to think we may be going to find out what Hart or someone similar can do at Leeds.

But I also have to point out that El Tel's record is similar to many others who have been managing for a period. If you've only been managing for a few years and you're still managing your record thus far is probably pretty good for the simple reason that, otherwise, you're not still managing - you've been given the elbow and no-one else will hire you.

El Tel has been successful sometimes and also unsuccessful at other times and that's simply a function of how long he's been doing the job, i.e. long enough to have had some failures.

To be honest I tend to think that El Tel's treatment by Leeds board was pretty shabby, having been promised explicitly by Ridsdale that they wouldn't sell certain players they then did a complete u-turn and did precisely that.

Anyway, probably the greatest manager ever was a failure at Leeds - Brian Clough lasted only 44 days if memory serves.

 

Fair point there. The blame does indeed lie mainly with ridsdale and co. talking nonsense (to put it politely) about how bad the mess they made was. Venables was misinformed about the depth of trouble Leeds were in.

 

I'm personally glad to see Reid go.

I can sympathize with the hardships he had to deal with, but it's better that he goes NOW, then after he has alienated and transfered the last few decent players we have left. He'd get canned either, way. Have no doubts about it. Kicking Viduka out of the team isn't going to save Leeds United.

Who knows how much of a pain in the ass players can be off the pitch. But when you have a defense as horrific as ours, WHY IN GOD'S NAME do let Danny Mills, an England international, go to Middlesborough?! Could NOTHING be done to smooth things over?! Now Reid is gone, and so is MIlls for the rest of the season...and for what? Imagine if the same happened to Viduka. Who would be next, Robinson? Do the math- Robinson and Viduka are the only reasons we stayed up last year!


The ship is going down. This is no time to bring the whip down on the few people left that might bail us out of this mess. We need someone to make the players care enough about the club and the fans to play.

Tough love isn't going to work anymore, because Leeds players know they can always go somewhere else. They can go to a club who's managment doesn't dick them around constantly, or panic and sell off half the team for discount prices, dooming them to relegation battles for the next decade.

 

What do you think will happen with Smiffy if you go down? Do you think he'll go for a move or stick it out at Leeds?

Actually, he's another one I feel a bit sorry for - the lad's Leeds through and through..

 

He's said in multiple interviews that even if Leeds go sown he's staying, and that Leeds is the only club he wants to play for his entire career.Good to hear, but I wish I could believe him.

Viduka's the same. He's got three years left on his contract and swears he'll stick it out, but I think he'll be gone in January.

 

I think ultimately Smith may leave if he believes the fee will help Leeds stay afloat, and his England chances are improved. It's a shame that he may feel he has to leave, as he does seem to be a real fan of the club. I wouldn't mind him at Blackburn, even if he's a lunatic at times.

Viduka on the other hand, will want to leave quicker than a dog on a rocket. He doesn't give a sh_t about Leeds, and probably sees Janurary/summer as his last chance to get a fat pay cheque at another club. Mind you, who'd fancy take him, his agent and his massive ego on ?.

 

Smithy IS a huge fan of the club. He was born and bred in Leeds, trained at Leeds, and said when he broke into the first team that it was a dream come true. He's a firecracker, but a good player. I think you're right, though. If he leaves, it will be because it's in the best interests of the club. If we don't go extinct, though, he'll be back later, like Batty.

As much as Viduka is a primodonna, he's a great striker when he decides to be. His goals were the main reason we stayed up last year, when he got 11 in Reid's 8 games in charge at the end. When he scored the winner against Arsenal, I jumped up, ran outside, and let out a whoop of excitement (or, more rightly, a sustained yell ). We need him right now, though, as long as we can keep him. Which probably won't be long. Smithy is good, but inconsistent even when he's in a groove. When Viduka's dialed in, nothing can stop him. How are we going to fill the hole he'll leave? Sakho, Lennon? Milner? Who knows.

I mustn't forget Robinson either. He should've won club player of the year last year instead of Viduka. His performances last year were absolutely stellar, and why he was still backup to James on the England squad I can't fathom. This year he's made a few mistakes, but is still a great keeper. He turned down Arsenal last year, but I think if another club come calling soon he won't be with us either. Radebe's retiring, our French loaners are going back across the Channel, and we'll be down in the first division languishing, trying in vain to get back up, like Coventry.

 

I agree. The financial situation was clearly not Reid's fault. But, Viduka and Mills were two of the best three players Leeds has left, with Smith. I like Gary Kelly, but he is no where as talented as Danny Mills. Letting Mills go on loan was a rash move and is really hurting the team.

 

Well 10 million might just be enough to get a few quality players in. Rivaldo will be free at the end of the season. I think he would fit in great at Leeds servicing the strikers.

 

Err...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leeds_united/3266505.stm