Grim Times Up North - Briefing Notes for the Leeds United Game Written by HarryfromBath on Thursday, 28th Mar 2013 09:27 HarryfromBath assesses the mood in the opposition camp ahead of Saturday's game by delving into their forums. Marooned in No Man’s Land “That’s the season overâ€, “Promotion hopes have gone down the drain. Even a point would not have been good enough today. To be fair, we do not deserve to be promoted. There are better sides in the division than us. We would have come straight downâ€. Wading through Leeds forums makes for grim reading. Leeds fans' lingering hopes of making the play-offs were quashed by two poor home results before the international break, a draw against Posh, and a defeat against Huddersfield. “One point in two winnable home games is shockingâ€, “A disappointing end to a disappointing seasonâ€, “The rest of this season is pretty much redundantâ€. The quality of play has hurt as much as the results. “This is no surprise, is it? It has been dire from early on this seasonâ€, “Another inept performance to add to the other 30 this seasonâ€, “To lose at home to Huddersfield is nothing short of disgracefulâ€. “To be honest, I am not that bothered about the play-offs now. Okay, if we got in them fine but then again how confident would you be with that looking at the teams we may have to play? I am not a pessimist, and always believe things can happen and will do till the end. Being a realist, I think it's over and we - as we have done for a long time now - have to start againâ€. Gulf Finance House “I have got to admit that us morons fell for the worst takeover ever. The longest drawn out bulls**t I have ever seen. All our fans dressed up as Sheikhs. We lived in hope of a decent team, even three players who could have made a difference in the January window, but we never really got them.†“GFH don’t have the doshâ€. There is resentment at this season’s stagnation and lack of investment from the club’s new owners. “Let’s get this sad, sorry waste of time period out of the way, rid ourselves of Bates and Warnock, and turn the page on a new chapter of LUFCâ€. The recent announcement that GFH were selling a stake in the company to raise finance was met with this typical reply: “None of this surprises me really. Remember last May and June when all the rumours were flying around about who the takeover bidders were? “People talking about the world’s third richest man, how we were going to be the next Man City. Then after months and months of nothing it started to become apparent who these people actually were. It turns out we didn't get oil rich Arabs. We got the only Arabs in the Middle East that don't own any sand!!!†We Need to Talk About Colin Neil Warnock’s name is an anagram of ‘Colin W***er’. He is loathed by many Leeds supporters and is widely called Colin. His contract finishes in June, and there is no expectation of him staying. The squad are drifting and distracted until a successor to Warnock is announced, both starting and ending games quietly. “Warnock does not careâ€, “Warnock has one eye on retirement and his head isn’t fully in the game. That is being transferred to players. Absolutely pathetic. He needs to leave nowâ€. “The last time we scored in the league in the first half was Forest away (on December 27th)â€, “The number of points we have thrown away in the last ten minutes is unrealâ€, “No fire in their bellies. The LUFC shirt means nothing to a lot of these playersâ€. “Everything is geared for the club to move forwardâ€. This quote from Warnock’s website was met with derision. â€Is this true? He says this on the official site, or is he saying this because it’s easy on the fans ears?“. “I tend to think he says what the fans want to hear and the way he has been and talk of stepping aside and with his whole body language , he can't wait to get out can he?!â€. The Absence of Quality “You know your tactics are f*cked when you need to analyse a photo (taken high up) for 20 seconds to work out firstly what your formation is, and secondly which end is the defenceâ€, “Well, that’s the way we play these days – just hoof, hoof, hoofâ€, “We are sh*te, and it hurts like heck to admit itâ€. There were waves of this criticism. “Quality, quality is so lackingâ€, “Name a good Warnock signing?â€, “The quality man for man of our team – that’s the big problemâ€, “We are lumbered with a load of poor signings. We are no further forward in 12 months of Warnockâ€. “Most of the team are like stiffs. Fluid movement is virtually zero, rather it is a response to huff and puff footballâ€. This lack of quality was consistently mentioned, as was the lack of belief. Against Huddersfield, “Confidence slipped away gradually as the game went onâ€. “There are a lot of quite old players in the teamâ€. Warnock employed a strategy of signing older experienced players to quickly achieve promotion, and many similar comments suggest that this short term approach has not worked. “The sooner he f*cks off back to his farm (and gets trampled by herds of other bovine tw*ts), the better!†The Tactical Overview in One Sentence Although they would welcome some width in midfield, Leeds supporters have no great issues with the shape of the team, but they are deeply dissatisfied with the overall quality of their squad. Defence “Where is the depth in quality at the back? There is noneâ€. Captain Lee Peltier joined from the Foxes in August. “Not a leader at all – an average centre-backâ€, “How he’s played so much is beyond my knowledgeâ€. Peltier “can’t head a ball†and “got done a few times by a striker simply shifting the ball a bit. Shockingâ€, “His passing and distribution is poorâ€. He was however credited as being “the only defender with any paceâ€. Twenty-two-year-old youth product Tom Lees is also not rated: “I don’t see it in him. There were occasions (against Huddersfield) when he had time on the ball, but Hoof!†In contrast, former Villa and Blackburn left-back Stephen Warnock was “our best player –practically doing the work of ten men by himself†against Posh. “He tries hard†and “hasn’t done too bad so farâ€. Youth graduate Sam Byram is one of the few players viewed with real optimism. He “found it hard against Zaha†against Palace, but “stuck to his taskâ€. However, the 19-year-old was “anonymous†in the game against Posh three days later, “suffering from playing constantlyâ€. Midfield Warnock has been slated both for the quality of his midfield signings and their suitability for his style of play. “We do have a poor midfield. It is aggressive enough and probably has the right attitude most of the time, but…â€, “Colin sticks with the same old ‘past it’ midfield selection. They don’t dominate!†“The lack of quality is scary. Becchio left because he wasn’t getting the service that the likes of Snodgrass or Gradel gave him. We have not had a natural winger all seasonâ€. Their lack of width is criticised, with Warnock’s judgement of his players blamed for this problem. “Varney , Norris , Green, Tonge have not done much have they? Why, oh why did (Warnock) make sure we had a few half decent wingers in the team)? He did think Aidy White was a winger and had Varney (a striker) on the left wing so maybe that was us sorted on the wingsâ€. Jamaican international Rodolph Austin joined Leeds in July from SV Brann. “He will make a good midfielder when fit. He can play box to box, do the dirty defensive work and drive forward. He isn’t afraid to have a shotâ€. He was widely seen as Man of the Match in the defeat to Huddersfield. “Oh dear!â€. Austin however can be inconsistent, and found the going tough against Palace. “He needs to consider sacking Jamaica as it seems to set him back when he gets back. His performances sufferâ€. Jamaica have been at home to Panama and away to Costa Rica over the international break. Former Sheffield United midfielder Michael Tonge is “a lightweight with too many wayward hit and hope passesâ€. He is “usually only able to pass 3 yards to a team mateâ€. He “found it hard going†against Posh and “looked f***edâ€. He does “try and get things goingâ€. Aidy White scored against Huddersfield having come on from the bench. The 21-year-old left-sided youth product can play in midfield or defence, but is seen as work in progress. “He can run with the ball but hasn’t got a clue with what to do with it at the endâ€. Ipswich old boy David Norris “plays in the hole, but has no pace, killer pass, skill or goalsâ€. The veteran was “a bit jaded†against Posh, and “rattled and tried but showed a lack of qualityâ€. “He will always give 100%†was a commonly agreed upon remark. Former Derby and Doncaster midfielder Paul Green gave “little effort†against Huddersfield and was “a bit jadedâ€. Warnock’s style of play is partly to blame for the midfielder’s ineffectiveness: “Green and Tonge can play football in the right formation and with the right encouragement. Green was central to Donny Rovers' passing game under O'Driscoll." The Republic of Ireland international was slated by fans for expressing the hope (with Norris) that Warnock’s contract would be extended. “Do we all agree that they are all worried that when we get a new manager their careers at Leeds will be over? To be honest quite a few of them should be very worriedâ€. Strikers “We couldn’t score when we were on top and we knew it. Huddersfield had enough quality in attack to believe they could scoreâ€. Leeds fans frustrations are strongest when discussing their attack. “Where are our goals coming from?. “Full of his excuses for his own ability to hit the target on a regular basis,†former Cardiff striker Ross McCormack “doesn’t perform the basic repetitive functions of a striker or wingerâ€. The Scotland international has “no confidence in front of goal. Simpleâ€. From the Central African Republic, Habib Habibou is a loanee from Belgian team Waregem. “I think he’s a donkeyâ€, “Has to be the worst full debut in a Leeds shirt (against Huddersfield)â€, “Now we know why he hasn’t been playingâ€, “Sounds very much like a Warnock signingâ€. El Hadji Diouf is “someone with a bit of class who can pass to someone in the same colour shirt,†which is currently seen as an achievement. He is “too slow at times, and a “luxury player – we don’t know his best positionâ€. “Please stop diving!â€. Former Pompey striker Luke Varney “puts himself about without purpose or qualityâ€. He is “good in the air, but wastefulâ€, and “his attempts at taking on people are woefulâ€. “Diving again – a disgrace!â€. Varney does this frequently and Leeds fans don’t like it. Former Southend striker Ryan Hall was described as “one for the future†to the derision of Whites. He is 25. Sometimes a manager’s comment can become folklore amongst a set of fans. “Injury ridden bench warming Norwich rejectâ€. The replacement of Luciano Becchio with Steve Morison has caused anger, and is seen as evidence of the club’s lack of ambition. “I’m sorry, but (Morison) hasn’t played well for us. Yes, he’s scored three goals, but the rest of the time he’s been sh*te. Welsh international? Well, that doesn’t mean a lot really. The Welsh have never been noted for their football. Morison is seen as being “just about goalsâ€. Leeds Fans' Views on ITFC and the Game “Can't remember many wins on my trips to Ipswich recently but we have had some bad luck on decisions so perhaps things might go our way this time.†Our win last year has been discussed on at least one thread. â€Certainly right on the bad luck point - we deserve better this time, not only because of the travesty of the game last season when White was sent off AND then they got lucky in the last minuteâ€. There is very little discussion of Saturday’s match so far this week given their apathetic mood. I will pop a thread on the forum on Saturday morning with more feedback. Discussion of Warnock’s successor turned to Mick McCarthy on one thread. “McCarthy 28/1. Might not be a bad choice? Yorkshire lad. Supported Leeds as a lad. At 53 [actually he just turned 54], he’s not over the hill. Wolves fans gave him a good reception when he returned with Ipswich earlier in the seasonâ€. “He has managed at all levels, proved he can get promotion with a decent sized club when the pressure is on and has the right characterâ€. One Leeds fan took the far-fetched notion too far: “If the rumours are true that Warnock has some input into who will replace him, then I would be willing to bet McCarthy is on his list. “They are mates, they go way back to their playing days at Barnsley and who have we got next? Ipswich. Who knows what might be talked about between them after the match? Just a thought likeâ€. Yes, just a thought. Websites The best website I found was on footymad.net, called The Gelderd End. There was some informed comment on lufctalk.com and bits and pieces on motforum.com, Marching on Together. Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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