More Dark Skies as This Years’ Leeds United Circus Draws to a Close
Article by Jeremy Taylor
We are looking for Leeds United fans as writers! Interested? Email e-football@live.co.uk for more info!
As another season draws to a close and clubs take stock ready for next season, Leeds United finds itself in an all too familiar position; that of total and utter chaos.
The past month or two has seen a series of negative, self-destructive and crucially still-unexplained events that serve no other purpose than de-railing any stability that might have built up.
The fact that most of football isn’t even interested anymore serves to show how bad things are. To become a laughing stock, people have to stop and watch. But Leeds United is now like that annoying child at a birthday party that just can’t play properly; the kid that always hurts itself, ruins the fun and ends up whimpering alone in a corner being ignored.
The latest debacle is the apparent refusal of six of Leeds’ foreign imports to travel to Charlton. The club has vehemently stuck to the line that they were all injured, simultaneously, on Friday.
One wonders what they were doing? Perhaps they suffered some sort of unfortunate collision during a friendly game of ‘Bocce’ in the Thorpe Arch car park. Common sense tells you that on this one, for once, the conspiracy theorists might actually be on the money. Whatever the truth is though, it’s unlikely to be anything to do with Leeds’ whiter than white chairman Cellino. He’s a model example of scruples and honesty.
Most Leeds fans exhale and shrug when asked what next. Where do we go from here? What is going to happen this summer?
Between stories of drinks giants and Australian gladiators, the incumbent owner states he’s going nowhere. In this instance though, one suspect’s fans would hope he is lying. Sense says that, if a decent offer came in he’d sell. It hasn’t exactly been a positive experience for him in English football so far, and if reports that Eleonora Sport have been sniffing around Parma are true then he could well be looking for the door.
But where would this leave Leeds in the short term? Well, judging by the previous two buy outs, they make the property conveyance process look like popping to the corner shop for some bread. So, if a takeover of Leeds were to be announced tomorrow, even the most optimistic of Leeds fans wouldn’t be expecting to sit down on the 2015/16 opener with the ship ready to sail.
Taking that picture down and putting the Cellino picture back up, what happens if he bursts back through the doors on the day of the Doncaster match with a fag hanging from his big grin and lots of ideas?
Well the first thing he’ll needs to do is start talking, and fast. Since he officially left the building the club managed to stabilize and then self-destruct, all in a matter of months. His ‘coach’ is on the doorstep looking down the street and the team in disarray. It’s safe to say that whoever has been in charge since he took his long break hasn’t exactly bathed themselves in glory.
But where there’s trouble there’s opportunity some would say, and Cellino could be very well placed to position himself as the savior; like the cat coming home to send the mice hiding.
He could sit Redfearn down, massage his shoulders and whisper in his ear that he’s got £10m to spend on whatever he wants this summer – and all could suddenly be well.
It’s possible, but let’s be honest; the truth will probably see Redfearn grab his coat and a new ‘coach’ found from somewhere. After all, Cellino didn’t exactly learn the benefits of longevity during his twenty-year stewardship of Cagliari, so why would he suddenly learn it in Leeds.
No, Redfearn is as good as gone, and who could blame him. He’s a good man, a decent coach and there’s plenty of clubs out there that would treat him with the respect he deserves. He’d be mad to stay under Cellino. Cue the speculation on his replacement that will see lots of names thrown about, only for someone no one’s ever heard of to get the job.
On to the team. Cellino will probably wield his axe ruthlessly this summer, which could actually be interesting. Players like Morison would have been going anyway, so he might as well have spoken out to the YEP this weekend. Plenty of others will go too.
But most fans won’t care about the majority of the current squad. It’s the family jewels that will have all eyes on them. Cook, Byram, Mowatt, Taylor and the other budding talent will be the centre of attention and the true barometer of Cellino’s intentions.
Ross McCormack’s sale was ultimately swallowed by the fans because the player clearly wanted out and the fee was ridiculously big. But investing in the squad, not harvesting it is the only way out of this mess for Cellino.
If he’s to get the fans back he needs to show some willing and desire to improve things. Cashing in on one of the few real assets the club has would be disastrous and he would move firmly into Bates territory in the fans eyes.
It’s hard to find a positive spin at all. The only real shred of light is that, where Cellino is concerned, fans can expect the unexpected.
With Bates you knew what you were going to get. A big load of nothing, washed down with a serving of asset stripping and a side order of borrowing against the club.
With GFH you knew you would get a large portion of lies, with a garnish of false flag waving and general bewilderment (and indeed more borrowing against the club).
But with Massimo Cellino it’s literally unpredictable, which in its essence is definitely better than nailed on disappointment.
Here’s to a another uncertain summer…
Jezaldinho
@jezaldinho
© e-Football 2015 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
We are looking for Leeds United fans as writers! Interested? Email e-football@live.co.uk for more info!
As another season draws to a close and clubs take stock ready for next season, Leeds United finds itself in an all too familiar position; that of total and utter chaos.
The past month or two has seen a series of negative, self-destructive and crucially still-unexplained events that serve no other purpose than de-railing any stability that might have built up.
The fact that most of football isn’t even interested anymore serves to show how bad things are. To become a laughing stock, people have to stop and watch. But Leeds United is now like that annoying child at a birthday party that just can’t play properly; the kid that always hurts itself, ruins the fun and ends up whimpering alone in a corner being ignored.
The latest debacle is the apparent refusal of six of Leeds’ foreign imports to travel to Charlton. The club has vehemently stuck to the line that they were all injured, simultaneously, on Friday.
One wonders what they were doing? Perhaps they suffered some sort of unfortunate collision during a friendly game of ‘Bocce’ in the Thorpe Arch car park. Common sense tells you that on this one, for once, the conspiracy theorists might actually be on the money. Whatever the truth is though, it’s unlikely to be anything to do with Leeds’ whiter than white chairman Cellino. He’s a model example of scruples and honesty.
Most Leeds fans exhale and shrug when asked what next. Where do we go from here? What is going to happen this summer?
Between stories of drinks giants and Australian gladiators, the incumbent owner states he’s going nowhere. In this instance though, one suspect’s fans would hope he is lying. Sense says that, if a decent offer came in he’d sell. It hasn’t exactly been a positive experience for him in English football so far, and if reports that Eleonora Sport have been sniffing around Parma are true then he could well be looking for the door.
But where would this leave Leeds in the short term? Well, judging by the previous two buy outs, they make the property conveyance process look like popping to the corner shop for some bread. So, if a takeover of Leeds were to be announced tomorrow, even the most optimistic of Leeds fans wouldn’t be expecting to sit down on the 2015/16 opener with the ship ready to sail.
Taking that picture down and putting the Cellino picture back up, what happens if he bursts back through the doors on the day of the Doncaster match with a fag hanging from his big grin and lots of ideas?
Well the first thing he’ll needs to do is start talking, and fast. Since he officially left the building the club managed to stabilize and then self-destruct, all in a matter of months. His ‘coach’ is on the doorstep looking down the street and the team in disarray. It’s safe to say that whoever has been in charge since he took his long break hasn’t exactly bathed themselves in glory.
But where there’s trouble there’s opportunity some would say, and Cellino could be very well placed to position himself as the savior; like the cat coming home to send the mice hiding.
He could sit Redfearn down, massage his shoulders and whisper in his ear that he’s got £10m to spend on whatever he wants this summer – and all could suddenly be well.
It’s possible, but let’s be honest; the truth will probably see Redfearn grab his coat and a new ‘coach’ found from somewhere. After all, Cellino didn’t exactly learn the benefits of longevity during his twenty-year stewardship of Cagliari, so why would he suddenly learn it in Leeds.
No, Redfearn is as good as gone, and who could blame him. He’s a good man, a decent coach and there’s plenty of clubs out there that would treat him with the respect he deserves. He’d be mad to stay under Cellino. Cue the speculation on his replacement that will see lots of names thrown about, only for someone no one’s ever heard of to get the job.
On to the team. Cellino will probably wield his axe ruthlessly this summer, which could actually be interesting. Players like Morison would have been going anyway, so he might as well have spoken out to the YEP this weekend. Plenty of others will go too.
But most fans won’t care about the majority of the current squad. It’s the family jewels that will have all eyes on them. Cook, Byram, Mowatt, Taylor and the other budding talent will be the centre of attention and the true barometer of Cellino’s intentions.
Ross McCormack’s sale was ultimately swallowed by the fans because the player clearly wanted out and the fee was ridiculously big. But investing in the squad, not harvesting it is the only way out of this mess for Cellino.
If he’s to get the fans back he needs to show some willing and desire to improve things. Cashing in on one of the few real assets the club has would be disastrous and he would move firmly into Bates territory in the fans eyes.
It’s hard to find a positive spin at all. The only real shred of light is that, where Cellino is concerned, fans can expect the unexpected.
With Bates you knew what you were going to get. A big load of nothing, washed down with a serving of asset stripping and a side order of borrowing against the club.
With GFH you knew you would get a large portion of lies, with a garnish of false flag waving and general bewilderment (and indeed more borrowing against the club).
But with Massimo Cellino it’s literally unpredictable, which in its essence is definitely better than nailed on disappointment.
Here’s to a another uncertain summer…
Jezaldinho
@jezaldinho
© e-Football 2015 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
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