Cjay

On 06/10/2017 at 16:36, BOF said:

 

Oh thanks for the responses

4 hours ago, Nigel said:

1) We both have relatively new managers, Steve Bruce coming up on a year in charge, what do you think of him so far?

TBF its safe to say the jury is still out. He splits the fanbase down the middle, half think hes dinosaur with no tactics and the other half think hes the type of proper experienced manager the club needs to sort itself out after so many years of hirings and firings. I want to give im more time, hes proved to be able to get results here, and elsewhere, and sometimes you just need to stick with a manager.  Results do still need to improve though.

Think Steve Bruce has the same dividing effect that Neil Warnock had at Leeds, half think he is a dinosaur playing football from a bygone age and will never achieve much again, the other half see a proven and experienced manager who if given time will get you back to the Premier league. 

2) Which of your signings are you most impressed with so far?

Suppose it has to be Kodjia, although he has come in for his fair share of abuse too, often cited as greedy and not really a team player. However he scores all kinds of goals, and can make em from nothing.  Honourable mention to Chester, one of the best centre backs in the country

Sort of player who excites the crowd and gets you on your feet, either cheering and shouting at something brilliant or doubled over in frustration.. 

3) What have you made of your start this season?

Has to be said its poor. To gain 1 point from the first 3 games was unforgivable even though 2 were away at half decent sides.  Since then its been half decent but the feeling of negativity wont go till we exorcise some of the demons of last season. Still cant win away from home which considering the squad we have needs to change fast.

Cant praise him to much as an Leeds fan we are unable to praise an ex Manchester United player to much, but i do rate Bruce, and some of the players you have signed will be here because Steve Bruce is and will play for him, for that reason i think 10-15games is fair, if things arent much better then perhaps a change will be needed. 

4) Which Championship side have you been most and least impressed with?

Of the ones we have played Cardiff were good. Typical Warnock team, in your face and gritty, but with a good forward line too. Worst has to be Norwich as we beat them.

Of the others Wolves look like they have made some great signings and it looks good for them atm. But it is very early.

He is effective at this level is Colin (and no higher no matter what he thinks), his football is atrocious though or atleast was at Leeds and he instructs his players to waste time and such, not a pretty footballing side Cardiff but they will be tough to beat. 

I am in the minority but i dont buy into this "Wolves have made great signings", not that concerned about Wolves myself, they have made some good signings but not as great as the media seem to think imo. There manager also not that impressed, yes he managed some big clubs but won nothing at his two biggest, Porto and Valencia. Rafa Benitez was a proven manager at the highest level with trophies and achievements to match, the Wolves guy, not so much and alot of this fuss is purely down to money spent and the agent. 

5) If you were allowed to sign one player from a Championship rival who would it be?

If Im honest no one.

Our team need time to settle and we have had far too many players in the door. If anything id like to reduce our squad to give our youngsters more of a chance, they look like they could make the step up at this level.  

If you are asking me who the best player is outside of our team is id have to say Neves from Wolves looks a real decent player

Watched you on Sky and the 2 standouts for me were the lad from Spurs and Green is it? played up front he really looked a good prospect. If Bruce mixes the youngsters with a few experienced heads like O'Leary did with us then i think you will have a really good shout at promotion, its about balance imo, enough legs from the youngsters and enough experience to guide them through. 

6) The media had you amongst the favourites for promotion, is this a view reflected amongst yourselves? 

Again this is split.

Half think we wont get out of this league with Bruce as manager, but personally Im not in that camp  I think we have the best squad in the championship which should put us high enough up he league to make a go of it. In saying that we have to sort out our awful away record but if we can make in roads to that i think we will be in and around.  It definitely wont be a cake walk like last year though, I see 5 or 6 being involved, including yourselves.

Think part of the problem is a lot of you guys think you have the best squad in the league, and with the money spent and the disappointing season last season you now feel there are no excuses, and the players know that and are under so much pressure they are buckling at the moment. On paper you will definitely be up there, along with us, Sheffield Wednesday, Boro, Wolves, Fulham, etc the list goes on.  
7) John Terry, experienced leader who will rally the troops on the pitch and lead you to promotion or ageing past his best centre half living on his reputation for one last pay day?

He is definitely taking time to settle, which i suppose is normal after spending so much time at another club in another league. I think he will come good tbh, hes not the type of character to not give it his all and I think we will benifit from him being at the back once the dust settles. Just hope he can stay fit as we sold Baker to accommodate him.

In his prime he was one of the top cbs in the world, blood and guts, no nonsense, everything on the line, exactly what you want in your team (what we all want). At his age now, if fit, he is probably one of the top 5 cbs in the league, with our very own Pontus Jansson top , however the if fit bit is the issue. He hasnt had a lot of football in recent seasons, he has never played in this league which is tough, long and hard work, and he isnt Italian (there cbs just seem to get better with age). The worry is as you say you sold Baker, who was also quality at this level and a lot younger, if John Terrys body picks up the niggling injuries that he has struggled with recently and which Rio Ferdinand did towards the end of his career then you have an issue, you either end up with a top quality captain or a past his best, injured and expensive seat warmer.  Could add Chris Samba in there to, was quality once upon a time but getting up there in years, if he can stay fit though like Terry then you have a very imposing and experienced pair, but then again if Bruce plays a high press game then you could be in trouble against pace. 

8)  Are you concerned that you could become another big club stuck in the lower divisions for some time like a Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Derby County etc or are you confident if not this season then next you will return to the Premier League?

Always worried. This is our  last big shot before the money dries up and the pressure is telling on fans and Bruce alike. Just hope the players dont start to feel it too early else it could be a long season. You guys will know being a big name in the Championship only guarantees one thing, that teams will try harder against you. 

If we dont go up this season i fear a long wait down here.  

They absolutely do, smaller clubs will raise there game against you as they do to us and the likes of Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and various other larger clubs (dont consider Boro larger just because they spent cash). Its very easy to get relegated from the Premiership and then you sneeze and poof you have been down here 5 years, then you just become one of the crowd, and get stuck in a rut. The biggest worry is that the slide doesn't stop, you sneeze again and your in League 1, thats a very sobering moment.
9) Your key player for this season?

If Im honest im not sure.  Sounds funny but we have so many new players once again that its difficult to know who will play regularly never mind who will play well.  At a guess Id have to say one of the attackers as we struggled to score goals last season.  Someone like Snodgrass could provide a link between the lines that we desperately need.  We also have a few youngsters such as Onomah, and Green that could really light up Villa Park if they can keep up their good form.  

Onomah and Green as i said earlier stood out for me, very exciting young players. Funnily enough i have just wrote about why i wouldn't have wanted Snoddy back on our forum, quality at this level but getting on and wages are ridiculous.  
 10) Finally your picks for top 2 and playoff winners and bottom 3?

I said earlier that i think it will be tight this year. You could throw a blanket over 4 or 5 teams that could win this league, both our teams included. Id say Middlesborough will be difficult to keep ahead of and Wolves too if they can settle the foreign contingent quickly. Id say they will be top if i had to bet now, as for the play offs who knows

As for relegation id say Bolton, Burton and Milwall would be my favourites.

Think your relegations are pretty spot on, especially the last 2, Burton and Milwall, Bolton were not bad against us, awful to watch but effective. Wont be popular on here but i went for Us, Fulham and Birmingham, Arry has made some excellent signings and he is a very experienced manager, much like Bruce, Fulham got lucky against us, we had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, but they were very good last season and kept there key players. And as for us, i had to pick us you have to be positive, but we have started brilliantly. 
11) Added this after having a read through and thought id ask for your opinion on your newish owner and ffp. Has he done well and does ffp concern you guys or are you confident the club has it under control? 

Our owner seems one of the better ones, he has invested heavily in the team which is all you can ask for but is also quite down to earth with the fans. He communicates regularly too which is a breath of fresh air after Lerners stewardship.

FFP we are led to believe is under control this season, although we are very close to the limit. 

Seems to divide opinion to the owner, we have had some shocking owners to, when we lost Uncle Ken we thought GFH would be better, they were even worse if anything, Randy Lerner seemed popular at one point ? 

53 minutes ago, Nigel said:

Do you have a link to some of the others teams answers?  It would make for good reading.

I have only done one other so far, can post the link.

https://www.owlstalk.co.uk/forums/topic/258819-now-the-madness-is-over/

Plan on visiting  all the promotion rivals and maybe a few other clubs if i feel brave.

http://www.motforum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34686

Thats the thread i made on our forum, all the clubs links will go there 

1 hour ago, villakram said:

1. Useless, sack him.

Thats pretty conclusive, and who would you replace him with? 

2. Kodger.

Good player Kodjia, wouldn't mind seeing him at Leeds in the future. 

3. We've been poo.

Is that because of poor tactics or poor player performances in your opinion?

4. Least Villa/Norwich, you lot are close to top of most.

Well keep being poor please till we play you, and thanks 

5. No-one, they'd just become useless the moment they stepped onto VP under uncle Brucey.

Not feeling the love for Uncle Bruce, lot of what your saying is similar to what i got on the SWFC forum, manager turning players poor etc

6. Personally no. Generally, I suspect not.

We started poor last season, ended up 7th , which isnt the playoffs but you get my point 

7. Jury is out on this one, though his start at the club has been quite respectable.

I respect Terry for not sodding off to China or the MLS, credit to him for that but he is a bit of a cock imo 

8. Terrified.

Its actually a lot of fun the Championship it isnt all bad, but i think we have served our time, you have a good squad, better then we have had (although now may be different)

9. Kodger.

Seems more popular with you then Bruce 

10. Not us and not us... elsewise, too depressing and too much work.

Cheer up, could be worse, you could have Neil Warnock as manager and Paddy Kenny in goal. 

11. Nope, not at all clear he has any idea what he is doing or that we are much more than an overseas property investment. FFP or not, if we don't get promoted, serious pain lies ahead. I expect plans to sell/develop the land close to VP will be revealed.

I dont know much about your owner tbf, does seem to be throwing a ton of cash at players with very little resell value, throw lots of cash at it and hope that fixes it, speaking from experience that rarely ends well . Hope you dont become another Leeds or even worse a Portsmouth. Is property his game then your owner?

Congrats on ditching the super dodgy Italian and good luck for the season.

Gets a bad press  Cellino and he was mad as a box of frogs, but the club was in a state when he arrived after years of Uncle Ken and the worlds skintest arabs, plus the leftovers from the Ridsdale era, last accounts we lost 9million and compared to where we were thats a minor miracle. I have a feeling time will be kind to Massimo Cellino, fans are starting to realise he did a pretty incredible job under the circumstances and left us in a far better state then he found us. He also seems to of sold us to a guy with a plan and who seems to genuinely care, early days but i think Leeds United FC have a lot to be grateful to Cellino for. 

Thanks for your response and goodluck to you guys to 

Hello i am the Leeds fan

With the transfer window closed i thought I'd go around our promotion rivals and ask there thoughts on certain things. 

1. We both have relatively new managers, Steve Bruce coming up on a year in charge, what do you think of him so far?
2. Which of your signings are you most impressed with so far?
3. What have you made of your start this season?
4. Which Championship side have you been most and least impressed with?
5. If you were allowed to sign one player from a Championship rival who would it be?
6. The media had you amongst the favourites for promotion, is this a view reflected amongst yourselves? 
7. John Terry, experienced leader who will rally the troops on the pitch and lead you to promotion or ageing past his best centre half living on his reputation for one last pay day?
8.  Are you concerned that you could become another big club stuck in the lower divisions for some time like a Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Derby County etc or are you confident if not this season then next you will return to the Premier League?
9. Your key player for this season?
10.  Finally your picks for top 2 and playoff winners and bottom 3?
11. Added this after having a read through and thought id ask for your opinion on your newish owner and ffp. Has he done well and does ffp concern you guys or are you confident the club has it under control? 

Thanks in advance and good luck for the season

In peace

Decided to go around our Championship rivals forums and get there view on the season, the transfer window, other teams in the division and there own etc, this is my second forum visit, Sheffield Wednesday was first. Ive got a thread post all planned, be a shame to waste it