Questions from Leeds fans

[limpid]

I've had a request from  a Leeds fan to ask some questions. Which they will post here.

Thanks.

[Cjay]

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

 

 

[villakram]

1. Useless, sack him.

2. Kodger.

3. We've been poo.

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

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

6. Personally no. Generally, I suspect not.

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

8. Terrified.

9. Kodger.

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

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.

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

Edited September 6, 2017 by villakram

[Cjay]

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 

 

Edited September 6, 2017 by Cjay

[Nigel]

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.  

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.  

 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.

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. 

[Nigel]

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

[Cjay]

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 

[Cjay]

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 ? 

 

[BOF]

On 06/09/2017 at 02:59, Cjay said:

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? This answer would have been very different a month ago, and may be different again in a month.  September was a very good month and we're looking more capable of a promotion push.  There are still question marks over him but for now it's looking promising.  A difficult October will tell us a lot more about whether he's the man to take us up.  It has taken him longer than we'd like to get results but once they keep coming now, we'll be happy.
2. Which of your signings are you most impressed with so far? From the players we brought into the club this summer I'm going to go with Ahmed Elmohamady.  He has a bit of everything.  Not in the 'master of none' way that Bacuna used to.  Ahmed adds quality in all aspects of our game.  He's good in defence.  He's good in attack and his crosses are accurate.  He has made the righthand side even stronger and he has the experience to keep it all ticking over nicely.
3. What have you made of your start this season? One win from our first seven games looked as though we were facing another season of absolute dross and underachievement, but 4 wins on the spin since that and now an unbeaten run of 8 league games means we have hopefullly turned a corner.  We still need consistency in our performances, but if we can win ugly when needs be (Bolton) then that's a good trait to have too.
4. Which Championship side have you been most and least impressed with? Most impressed with how Sheffield United have taken to the Championship and how Bristol City (helped by ex-Villan Nathan Baker) have made themselves into promotion candidates.  Least impressed (but hugely amused...) by Sunderland who seem to have come down in as bad a state as we did last season.  The bluenoses are always good for a laugh too and they're not disappointing this season either.
5. If you were allowed to sign one player from a Championship rival who would it be?  Ooh, good question.  I think you would have to be absolutely mental to turn down the chance to sign Fulham's Ryan Sessegnon.  Anyone who's scoring goals, controlling matches and getting man of the match at 16 years of age from leftback in the Championship is going to be an absolute superstar.  Gareth Bale was the last player to do that kind of thing.  I have high hopes for Ryan.
6. The media had you amongst the favourites for promotion, is this a view reflected amongst yourselves? We are hard on ourselves.  This comes from years of disappointment and the refusal to believe anything good is on the horizon.  I hoped we would come down and bully the division, but we were too big a mess.  This season I think yes many of us expected (nay, demanded ...) that we be in the mix to go up.  If that had not been the case, then there would have been cries for heads to roll.
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?  The first one.  It's surreal that we have him.  We only have him because he refuses to face Chelsea.  Otherwise he's a Premier League defender.  To even have him around the place is going to make everyone else try 10% harder.  He improves every player in the team and that could be crucial.
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? Concerned, definitely.  You'd be mad not to be.  Our finances are set up for promotion.  We've a finite amount of time before we have to cut our cloth and start behaving like every other Championship club.  I am also confident that we will not be stuck though.  But the concern is there definitely, and should be used as motivation.
9. Your key player for this season? Jonathan Kodjia.  It would be easy to take him for granted and say someone else like Sam Johnstone or Keinan Davis.  But the fact is Kodjia is our talisman and everything else comes from that.  We're a different team with him in the side.  But the performances of the other 2 will be key as well.
10.  Finally your picks for top 2 and playoff winners and bottom 3? I don't see Cardiff maintaining their start.  Over the course of the season I think Middlesbrough's quality will come through and they'll go up.  I hope we go up with them.  As for the playoffs.  I'll go for a toss-up between Wolves & Leeds.  Going down I'd have to say it's not looking good for Bolton or Burton at the moment.  I honestly think the bluenoses are in dire straits too.  You've got to think Sunderland will get some kind of form at some point.  Enough to steer clear anyway.  There are no obvious candidates above them, and with the noses only escaping on the last day last season they do have form, and this could be their year (wouldn't that be a shame).
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? Xia has been a breath of fresh air.  He has an almost childlike enthusiasm for owning the club, which comes through in his tweets and which endears him to many of the fans.  The fans mostly love having someone in charge who connects with them and shares their emotions through the good and bad results (even if some tweets are more ill-advised than others).  That naïvety does not continue into the boardroom or the transfer market though.  We have a very experienced and professional setup off the pitch.  He has put his money where his mouth is too.  Money that some doubted he even possessed when he was linked with us.  As for FFP.  Yes, that word 'concern' again.  I am concerned that FFP will strangle us if we don't get back up in good time.  But I also believe that the club are acutely aware of their responsibilities around FFP as evidenced by this summer's frugality whilst overhauling the squad.

Thanks in advance and good luck for the season

 

 

 

[Cjay]

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

 

Oh thanks for the responses

[VILLAMARV]

On 9/6/2017 at 02:59, Cjay said:

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?
   Not overly impressed. I think the job was massive and it's no surprise to me that last season was a write-off as far as we were concerned so I don't judge him too harshly on it, in fact I think we owe him a debt of gratitude for turning us around. Yes we've been down here a year but the truth is we've been awful, truly awful for 5 or 6 years. He simply has to have us around the promotion frame this year or he'll be sacked, such are the expectations at this club. He's doing ok but we need better than ok so the pressure is on him. I don't doubt that he can get us up, I just doubt whether he will.
2. Which of your signings are you most impressed with so far?
   From this summer's signings I'd have to say the re-loaninng of Johnstone. He looks transformed from the player we saw last season.
3. What have you made of your start this season?
   It's a bit below par in my opinion. 1 point after 3 games was hardly going to help us from the start. Since then we've done ok. Cardiff and Brentford were shockingly bad performances though.
4. Which Championship side have you been most and least impressed with?
   Most: Wolves - Least: Bolton
5. If you were allowed to sign one player from a Championship rival who would it be?
   Pontus Jansson
6. The media had you amongst the favourites for promotion, is this a view reflected amongst yourselves? 
   Ourselves? - yes I'd say so. Myself? - not so much.
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?
   Jury was out for me but I have to say, however unlike-able he may come across in the media, he oozes class on the field.
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?
   Confidence is hard to come by at the moment. If the team give us something to cheer we'll be right behind them but this is obviously the major worry for the club and why it's so important to get up this year.
9. Your key player for this season?
   Kodjia without a doubt.
10.  Finally your picks for top 2 and playoff winners and bottom 3?
    Bolton, Burton Albion and Small Heath for the drop. As for the top Wolves look impressive going forward. Along with them I'd say Cardiff, Villa and Bristol City are 4 of the teams I think will have enough to be in the top 6 come May. I think Fulham, Middlesbrough, Norwich and Leeds will be fighting it out for the other 2 play off spots. Can't see Preston lasting the distance, Sheffield Utd are such an unknown quantity but I think they will lose a few games more than the rest. Who goes up and who wins the play offs is anyone's guess.
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? 
    Kind of built in to question 8 this too. We're under massive pressure this year. Each year we stay down here means shedding more of the wage bill. Have to be careful we don't complain too much to a Leeds fan about parachute payments - this league is hardly a level playing field when it comes to finances - and at the moment we benefit. Xia has been amazing imho. He has a boyish enthusiasm which shines through. Di Matteo took him for a bit of a ride imo and wasted a lot of money on Gollini, Elphick, Tshibola and McCormack. No Championship club can afford to write off £20m like that on players who are just not good enough or don't perform for whatever reason.

Thanks in advance and good luck for the season

 

[Cjay]

34 minutes ago, VILLAMARV said:

 

Thanks for your response.

On 11.

Looking at you guys i see you as similar to Sheffield Wednesday, except you have the benefit of Parachute payments (which are a total farce)  because essentially clubs are rewarded for failure, but thats the way it is. 

But Wednesday, like you have spent big on experienced, expensive, proven players at this level, Jordan Rhodes being the obvious one , Ahmen Abdi another, these players are going to be on big money at this level. You spent something ridiculous like £80million last season wasnt it? McCormack, Chester, Neil Taylor etc big money and big wages, then add to that John Terry who is going to have cost something substantial somewhere, be it wages or whatever. 

What i struggle to see with either of you is where do you get the money back? 

Is anyone else going to come in for James Chester at £10mil or whatever it was, or those 3 you mentioned, combined fees something like £20million.

If you dont get promoted you are stuck with huge earners who nobody will want, atleast not unless on the cheap. 

 

[VILLAMARV]

2 minutes ago, Cjay said:

Thanks for your response.

On 11.

Looking at you guys i see you as similar to Sheffield Wednesday, except you have the benefit of Parachute payments (which are a total farce)  because essentially clubs are rewarded for failure, but thats the way it is. 

But Wednesday, like you have spent big on experienced, expensive, proven players at this level, Jordan Rhodes being the obvious one , Ahmen Abdi another, these players are going to be on big money at this level. You spent something ridiculous like £80million last season wasnt it? McCormack, Chester, Neil Taylor etc big money and big wages, then add to that John Terry who is going to have cost something substantial somewhere, be it wages or whatever. 

What i struggle to see with either of you is where do you get the money back? 

Is anyone else going to come in for James Chester at £10mil or whatever it was, or those 3 you mentioned, combined fees something like £20million.

If you dont get promoted you are stuck with huge earners who nobody will want, atleast not unless on the cheap.

Exactly. It's a massive risk. To be fair to any incoming investor though we needed a clear out from top to bottom and that doesn't come cheap.

We are used to it though!! The biggest problem for us over the last 5-6 years has been big earners not pulling their weight. See Ireland / Nzogbia / Agbonlahor / Lescott / Richards in particular. If it came to it, Onomah and Snodgrass's loans will expire and Terry, Bunn, Samba, Agbonlahor and Hutton are all out of contract in the summer. So wages we wont have on the books next year. DeLaet, Richards, Elphick, Jedinak and Whelan - all of whom must be on a pretty penny - would have a year left and probably be available at knock down prices like you say - and hardly a queue of suitors. The prospect of losing the likes of Chester, Grealish, Taylor, Hourihane, Adomah or Kodjia would be detrimental to the team and that will obviously unnerve a lot of us fans. Kodjia the obvious way to balance the books though there and surely there'd be takers. But I think the way the older players contracts are staggered shows the club have thought about it and planned ahead when it comes to FFP. The fact that Xia allegedly has money to invest and effectively can't must be extremely frustrating for him, but as you say, that's the way it is. If we end up in a situation where we are selling Grealish and Kodjia to pay the rest of Richards's contract though things will turn very ugly and fast.

As for the transfers under Xia, Chester and Kodjia have proved to be worth every penny. Jedinak has been more hit than miss for me. Swapping Adama for Adomah was daylight robbery. But RDM also wasted a lot.

Ok, Elphick just isn't that great, but his heart is in the right place. McCormack, Gollini and Tshibola? That was the 'spine' RDM constucted. A goalie who only wants to train in Italian and doesn't like Birmingham very much. A centre back, who for all the will in the world, just isn't very good. A midfielder who doesn't seem to be sure he really wants to be a professional footballer and a striker who cant seem to get past the end of his drive in the morning. Jesus wept. That's what did for RDM.

But then back to the first point - we needed a complete overhaul. That neither comes cheap, nor should we expect every transfer to work out. Having said that though, McCormack has to be one of the worst signings we've ever made. Tshibola and Jedinak was never going to be enough to overhaul our midfield and it was ridiculous of RDM to think they would be - no surprise that Bruce has added 4/5 central midfielders since he's been here imo.

And so to Bruce - Hogan aside - Bruce has 'wheeled and dealed' quite a bit and I think that gets overlooked when people think of the money we've spent. Samba and Terry in on frees. Whelan, Hourihane, Lansbury, Bree, Elmohamady and Bjarnason all in for not a lot each. Amazing business swapping Ayew for Taylor. Onomah and Snodgrass look useful loan signings. Hogan needs some goals badly or he's going to look like a massive waste of money admittedly. Since he's been here though the players he's sold or loaned out pleases me greatly Gestede, McCormack, Tshibola, Cissokho, Gollini, Westwood, Ayew, Amavi, Gardner, Kozak, Bacuna, Sanchez, Veretout, Gil and (the only one I miss) Baker. Much is made of the amount we've spent but we've had a massive turnover of players. That's 15 first teamers dispensed with there under Bruce alone and about £25-30m back in in fees.

Under RDM another 10 of the relegation squad - Richardson, Nzogbia, Crespo, Guzan, Bennett, Okore, Robinson, Sinclair, Clark and Gueye were all gone along with Veretout, Gil, Sanchez and Cissokho out on loan and theres another £20m odd back in there. The money we have saved as a club on wages in shipping out over 25 players in the last 15 months and how that affect our turnover for the same period is really the crux of the FFP. Crude analysis of transfer fees touted in the media are only going to get you so far.

Yes we've spent a lot, but we've done a lot and more of the transfers have been hits than misses so far under Xia, hence I feel we've turned the corner and why I think we owe Bruce a bit more gratitude than he's getting from some quarters, like I said in my earlier, albeit less long winded reply earlier. Proof is in the pudding though. He has the squad he has now. It looks good on paper. He's earned the right to have a go at it this season for me. Can he get us up? is the multi million pound question.

[Cjay]

21 hours ago, VILLAMARV said:

Exactly. It's a massive risk. To be fair to any incoming investor though we needed a clear out from top to bottom and that doesn't come cheap.

We are used to it though!! The biggest problem for us over the last 5-6 years has been big earners not pulling their weight. See Ireland / Nzogbia / Agbonlahor / Lescott / Richards in particular. If it came to it, Onomah and Snodgrass's loans will expire and Terry, Bunn, Samba, Agbonlahor and Hutton are all out of contract in the summer. So wages we wont have on the books next year. DeLaet, Richards, Elphick, Jedinak and Whelan - all of whom must be on a pretty penny - would have a year left and probably be available at knock down prices like you say - and hardly a queue of suitors. The prospect of losing the likes of Chester, Grealish, Taylor, Hourihane, Adomah or Kodjia would be detrimental to the team and that will obviously unnerve a lot of us fans. Kodjia the obvious way to balance the books though there and surely there'd be takers. But I think the way the older players contracts are staggered shows the club have thought about it and planned ahead when it comes to FFP. The fact that Xia allegedly has money to invest and effectively can't must be extremely frustrating for him, but as you say, that's the way it is. If we end up in a situation where we are selling Grealish and Kodjia to pay the rest of Richards's contract though things will turn very ugly and fast.

As for the transfers under Xia, Chester and Kodjia have proved to be worth every penny. Jedinak has been more hit than miss for me. Swapping Adama for Adomah was daylight robbery. But RDM also wasted a lot.

Ok, Elphick just isn't that great, but his heart is in the right place. McCormack, Gollini and Tshibola? That was the 'spine' RDM constucted. A goalie who only wants to train in Italian and doesn't like Birmingham very much. A centre back, who for all the will in the world, just isn't very good. A midfielder who doesn't seem to be sure he really wants to be a professional footballer and a striker who cant seem to get past the end of his drive in the morning. Jesus wept. That's what did for RDM.

But then back to the first point - we needed a complete overhaul. That neither comes cheap, nor should we expect every transfer to work out. Having said that though, McCormack has to be one of the worst signings we've ever made. Tshibola and Jedinak was never going to be enough to overhaul our midfield and it was ridiculous of RDM to think they would be - no surprise that Bruce has added 4/5 central midfielders since he's been here imo.

And so to Bruce - Hogan aside - Bruce has 'wheeled and dealed' quite a bit and I think that gets overlooked when people think of the money we've spent. Samba and Terry in on frees. Whelan, Hourihane, Lansbury, Bree, Elmohamady and Bjarnason all in for not a lot each. Amazing business swapping Ayew for Taylor. Onomah and Snodgrass look useful loan signings. Hogan needs some goals badly or he's going to look like a massive waste of money admittedly. Since he's been here though the players he's sold or loaned out pleases me greatly Gestede, McCormack, Tshibola, Cissokho, Gollini, Westwood, Ayew, Amavi, Gardner, Kozak, Bacuna, Sanchez, Veretout, Gil and (the only one I miss) Baker. Much is made of the amount we've spent but we've had a massive turnover of players. That's 15 first teamers dispensed with there under Bruce alone and about £25-30m back in in fees.

Under RDM another 10 of the relegation squad - Richardson, Nzogbia, Crespo, Guzan, Bennett, Okore, Robinson, Sinclair, Clark and Gueye were all gone along with Veretout, Gil, Sanchez and Cissokho out on loan and theres another £20m odd back in there. The money we have saved as a club on wages in shipping out over 25 players in the last 15 months and how that affect our turnover for the same period is really the crux of the FFP. Crude analysis of transfer fees touted in the media are only going to get you so far.

Yes we've spent a lot, but we've done a lot and more of the transfers have been hits than misses so far under Xia, hence I feel we've turned the corner and why I think we owe Bruce a bit more gratitude than he's getting from some quarters, like I said in my earlier, albeit less long winded reply earlier. Proof is in the pudding though. He has the squad he has now. It looks good on paper. He's earned the right to have a go at it this season for me. Can he get us up? is the multi million pound question.

 

Id forgotten about Ireland, N'Zogbia, Lescott and Richards, they must have cost you a fortune. 

Is Agbonlahor not popular with you guys? always assumed he was because he was a local lad, but guess that can only get you so far, the fact he hasnt reached 100 goals for you in what 12 years suggests he may not be all that. 

If he was available for a good price id take Jedinak at Leeds for a season, think he is quite underrated myself. Samba was a strange signing i thought, hows he done? 

Yeah as you say, i guess the worry is if you dont go up this year you will have to sell one of the younger stars, Hourihane and Kodja would fetch a decent amount i would think, but then who do you replace them with? Really like Kodjia, if you had said we will swap you Kodjia for Chris Wood in the summer id have happily taken it, more of an all round forward for me, good player. As you say it is quite smart in one way, older players arent on long term contracts so you wont have them to long if it goes pear shaped.

I do think you paid over the odds for some, Chester for example, £10m, we got Pontus Jansson for £3.5m, just seems you have been taken advantage of in the inflated English market. Kodjia and Jedinak i rate, surprised to hear he hasnt impressed you? I like Kodjia a lot, £15m seemed ridiculous at the time for a Championship forward, but i guess thats the market now unfortunately

Elphick you dont rate? we looked at him allegedly. . The Ross McCormack we had was a great player, cant fault him on the pitch at the time, but always got the impression he thought he was better then he was, billy big bollox, always after wage increases and such. He has fallen from grace so fast, unfortunately for you it cost you £12m, cant really fault the club on that one imo, they didnt know that Ross was going to all of a sudden become useless. 

Dont know anything about Gollini and Tshibola, just they cost a good chunk of cash and dont seem to do much. Haha yes its a sate state of affairs when you put it like that, RDM wasted a ton of cash on poor/ unmotivated/over the hill (whatever way you look at it) footballers. The goalie doesnt like Birmingham? he actually said that? 

I suppose RDM did what he thought was best, as you say all transfers arent going to work out, just looks worse when the money spent was so much, if it had been £5m total nobody would complain so much i guess, just say "well we had a punt, they didnt work out, not much lost, move on". But when your new star striker wont climb a gate, yet his chubby middle aged manager will that is damning, and RDM will always be remembered as the man who spent huge money on a lazy git. 

I didnt realize you had let so many go, Bruce clearing out the dead wood, i thought Amavi was having bids of £20m turned down for him not long ago? or was that all paper talk. 

"Samba and Terry in on frees. Whelan, Hourihane, Lansbury, Bree, Elmohamady and Bjarnason all in for not a lot each". . Looking at it written down thats a very impressive group there, Terry of course one of the best Cbs of his generation (horrible little man) but as a player class. Samba, at one point one of the best Cbs in the country, past his best but still a big unit which is always useful in this division. Whelan, nobody gets excited about Glenn Whelan , but vastly experienced and respected player, played at the highest level for a long time. Hourihane, absolute class at this level, really wanted us to get him when he left Barnsley, sort of a Lampard of the Championship, a goalscorer, Elmohamady, similar to Whelan, not a headliner, but a great player to have, and Bjarnason, we wanted him before he went to probably where you got him from, dont know much about him but looks class on youtube. 

Really good little group there. 

Your right, the media and consequently the wider football family dont really know how much you have saved on wages and such, so we only all judge on transfer fees, which of course isnt going to be hugely accurate. But Samba, Terry and the other ex prem lot arent going to come cheap on wages either, so its a bit of a 50/50. 

Was reading through and he does seem to get a ton of stick Steve Bruce, but as you say he has his squad now, this is his team so he does deserve a fair crack at it, but at the same time with what he has spent he has to earn promotion this season for me, to justify it, otherwise if he cant do it with the squad he wanted then will he ever? 

[VILLAMARV]

That's definitely where we are with Bruce. He's had all the slack we can cut him now he just has to the deliver results to justify him quoting his CV at us I think it's very similar to you guys with Warnock. In that the football on display is always going to divide opinion if there's the slightest doubt about it's effectiveness.

How you getting on with other forums?

Decent Bristol City lot here on the whole I find and a list of other forums if you're still looking http://www.otib.co.uk/index.php?/topic/186815-season-201718-championship-clubs-forums/

Also, as you're here, how about you answer your own questions

On 9/6/2017 at 02:59, Cjay said:

Hello Leeds fan

1. We both have relatively new managers, Christiansen , 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. Your new chairman has you amongst the favourites for top 6, is this a view reflected amongst yourselves?
7. Are you confident if not this season then next you will return to the Premier League?
8. Your key player for this season?
9.  Your picks for top 2 and playoff winners and bottom 3?
10. Thought id ask for your opinion on Radrizzani and ffp. Has he done well and does ffp concern you guys or are you confident the club has it under control? I suppose buying back Elland Road helps

Thanks in advance and good luck for the season

 

Edited October 10, 2017 by VILLAMARV

[Cjay]

1 hour ago, VILLAMARV said:

That's definitely where we are with Bruce. He's had all the slack we can cut him now he just has to the deliver results to justify him quoting his CV at us I think it's very similar to you guys with Warnock. In that the football on display is always going to divide opinion if there's the slightest doubt about it's effectiveness.

How you getting on with other forums?

Decent Bristol City lot here on the whole I find and a list of other forums if you're still looking http://www.otib.co.uk/index.php?/topic/186815-season-201718-championship-clubs-forums/

Also, as you're here, how about you answer your own questions

 

 

I guess it is similar, altough i didnt like Warnock when he was our manager and still dont like him now .

Ah thanks, i had a slow down because at the rate i was going i would have ran out of teams by January, signed up to Sheffield United the other week havent said anything yet, thats useful thanks. Alright, i did earlier but will again as maybe changed slightly.

1)Cant really fault Thomas, can nit pick about our recent away form maybe but on the whole 5th place after 11 games is very impressive for a man new to this division. The style of football he is trying to play is what football fans wish they watched, Barcalonaesque, slick, fast, high pressing, attacking football. Its not been perfect, we look vulnerable at the back all of a sudden but so did Manchester City in Peps early days. Not suggesting we are Manchester City but the style we both strive to play is the one TC and Pep grew up with in Barcelona, so there are similarities, it took Pep time to get it right, will take TC time to.  

2) Pontus Jansson is technically a new signing since he was on loan last season, he has almost godlike status among the Leeds fans, cant remember the last player so universally adored.He has had his wobbles, but at times he has been a one man defence and for me is the best cb in the division, others will have there own opinions of course, but he has been a colossus. I think hand on heart every team in this division would want Pontus if they could have him, and we are very fortunate, even next to Kyle Bartley last season he stood out, Bartley never looked half as good without Pontus next to him, something the media may not have picked up on, but Leeds fans did. With Pontus Samu Saiz has been a revelation this season also, against Sheffield Wednesday, a game we lost, but in the first 20minutes we should have been 2-0 up, and during that period Saiz was running rings around them, thats not been a one off he has looked a class above in practically every match, for a new player to this division he has adapted well and should only get better. 

3)Happy with the start, as i said earlier 5th after 11games is great, when you factor in this is practically a new side, playing a different style of football, under a different manager with different ideas it becomes even more impressive. Not getting carried away, we have had a wobble, but thats all it is, its not a catastrophe yet, looking at other forums some have written us off now, but i dont agree. You look at our last few results and see we lost, but thats all people will see, what they may not see is at times we did dominate all these games, we had our chances and failed to take them, which is a problem, but offers hope. We go ahead and we win, thats how its been this season so far, which makes sense because we like to play on the break with pace. The Nottingham Forest performance was honestly one of the best performances i have seen in this division from anyone ever, it should have been 6-0 and if we can find that performance again i honestly dont think any team will be able to contain us, but its all ifs and buts. The defence has looked iffy recently, but up until these last few games it looked rock solid, we kept 6 clean sheets on the bounce i think it was, so that shows that we can defend, just need to iron out these mistakes. All that being said our goalkeeper worries me, he doesnt look comfortable with crosses and is giving us fans heart attacks, but so did Rob Green, in the first  4 -5months he was a total liability, but in the final few he was a hero, so we just have to hope thats what happens with Felix Wiedwald. 

4)Cardiff much as it pains me to say it, they were solid, they took there chances, they stopped us playing our style, tactically spot on. Worst, i guess Burton, but i quite like Burton, underdog and all that, so i'll say Sheffield Wednesday. They may have beaten us, and they deserved to, but my god they are awful to watch most of the time. Slow, devoid of any flair, just boring stuff, ironically they were completely the opposite against us, but that was the one off instead of the norm, i find them so boring to watch. This isnt Yorkshire bias, i'm not from Yorkshire, just never been impressed with them, they have got to the playoffs twice in a row, so must do something right, but ive never watched them and thought "wow id pay to watch this, its exciting". 

5)Oh erm, cant remember who i said earlier but we need a cb, tempted to say Terry, class at this level, but i will stand by the man i kept banging on about on our forum, gonna say Harlee Dean. Think he is class at this level, statistically he was better in every area then Bartley, and for what Birmingham paid for him, total bargain. 

6) You changed the question lol, i was so confused, thought "im sure i didnt write that". Its difficult, the start has given us all hope, and if we perform how we have at times then yeah, dont see why not. The defence is concerning, and if anything derails us it will be that, either our calamity keeper, or even worse, a serious injury to our Swedish superman. Losing Pontus for a while would be a disaster, and if that happens then i think we may struggle. Overall though, yes i think we will be around there, the hope is that we should get better as we go on, players get used to the style, the manager learns more about the division etc. But as you know, no guarantees in this division, you can look like the second coming of Peps Barcelona one week and the next week, you can look like David Moyeses Sunderland. 

7)Again it is difficult, theoretically yes, but in real life terms who knows, we may lose Pontus, Ronaldo Vieira, Luke Ayling, Samu Saiz, Gianni Alioski and TC if we dont go up this season and have to start again. But i am confident we will be there soon enough, within the next 3 years is my prediction. 

8) Pontus Jansson, as impressive as others have been, Saiz, Ayling, Lasogga etc, without Pontus we dont look like half as good a team. 

9) Wolves, Cardiff, Leeds . . . . . Burton, Bolton, Sunderland. 

10) Absolutely love the man, no worries whatsoever about him, he has done everything he said he would so far, so cant really complain. 

[Cjay]

And since i typed the above reports have appeared about us entering talks with the council about a new training ground. So add that to question 10, cant fault the new owner, he seems to have a long term plan and thats all we can ask for.

[MickeyC_UTV]

4 hours ago, Cjay said:

Is Agbonlahor not popular with you guys? always assumed he was because he was a local lad, but guess that can only get you so far, the fact he hasnt reached 100 goals for you in what 12 years suggests he may not be all that. 

 

Hi Cjay you really need to check out the gabby thread (tried to search and then paste link but didn’t pop up maybe cos I’m on my phone) Gabby certainly divides the fans, traditionally, yes being a local lad (rightly so) should be popular and has (historically) had lots of praise but in recent years has been a poor professional.

[limpid]

17 hours ago, MickeyC_UTV said:

Hi Cjay you really need to check out the gabby thread (tried to search and then paste link but didn’t pop up maybe cos I’m on my phone) Gabby certainly divides the fans, traditionally, yes being a local lad (rightly so) should be popular and has (historically) had lots of praise but in recent years has been a poor professional.

640 pages of arguments

[Cjay]

17 hours ago, MickeyC_UTV said:

Hi Cjay you really need to check out the gabby thread (tried to search and then paste link but didn’t pop up maybe cos I’m on my phone) Gabby certainly divides the fans, traditionally, yes being a local lad (rightly so) should be popular and has (historically) had lots of praise but in recent years has been a poor professional.

Well that was an interesting read, thanks 

Didn't read it all, 600 pages, skimmed 40 or so, he certainly divides opinion, what i didnt know is at one point he had gone a full year without a goal, thats shocking for an attacking player.

Even more shocking is the wage figures you guys had on there, £50-70k a week? That cant be right, greatest of respect he was never THAT good .

We all love our academy lads, we have had a few and they get a lot more slack then non academy lads, but seems Gabby is wearing out his goodwill.

From an outsiders perspective ive always thought of Gabby Agbonlahor as ok, in his younger days, when he had lots of pace, he was a threat, because he was quick, scored some goals and generally was a worry for the Prem defences. 

I didnt know till i read your thread about his erm, outside football issues.

Now, he isnt anymore then an average Championship forward/Winger, there was a debate on there about whether he could manage 20 goals in this division, personally id say no, his ratio throughout his career is what, 1 in 4, yes, largely against better teams in the Premiership but also surrounded by better players and service so it balances out. 

He isnt a bad option from the bench, but if you were relying on him to fire you to promotion i think you would be down here till the day he retires imo.