Leeds United

[OutByEaster?]

I can't see Bielsa leaving, he'll be 66 in the summer and unless there's a hometown club calling him back, I think this will be his last job.

 

[Zatman]

39 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Leeds have to just ensure they dont do a sheffield united next year.

I think bielsa will struggle to bettee this year. If i was him i would jump ship if a bigger club comes in for them. I think arsenal would be a good fit for biesla if they get rid of arteta

He is nearly 66 years old with a bad reputation within the boardroom. No top team is touching Bielsa like they havent done for his entire mythical career. The only big clubs he has had were in the doldrums when he signed for them like Marseille and Lazio(when he resigned after 2 days) who luckily got a much better manager than Bielsa in charge

Edited April 6, 2021 by Zatman

[Rino8]

15 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I can't see Bielsa leaving, he'll be 66 in the summer and unless there's a hometown club calling him back, I think this will be his last job.

 

Probably. It sounds like he's going to be here next year and that should be long enough for the club to have improved in enough positions that him leaving won't be a disaster like it would have been if he'd have left last summer.

17 minutes ago, Zatman said:

He is nearly 66 years old with a bad reputation within the boardroom. 

I think he's calmed down a bit since those days too.

We were an ideal club for him because our board and players weren't too proud or had too much ego to change things. Huge infrastructure changes had to be made when he came for him, a Lazio isn't going to freely adapt like that.

[OutByEaster?]

To me he seems happy at Leeds, he seems confident that he has the support at board level to be able to do things his way. He's by no means an orthodox manager and there are a lot of boards where his approach would cause friction, I haven't seen any of that at Leeds.

 

[Cjay]

2 hours ago, Zatman said:

He is nearly 66 years old with a bad reputation within the boardroom. No top team is touching Bielsa like they havent done for his entire mythical career. The only big clubs he has had were in the doldrums when he signed for them like Marseille and Lazio(when he resigned after 2 days) who luckily got a much better manager than Bielsa in charge

Sorry but this is a myth that seems to have become a fact.

He has turned down the Inter Milan job more than once, quotes from the President of Inter Milan confirm this.

He also had major support for the Barcelona job when Pep left from Guardiola himself, Lionel Messi and Johan Cruyff. Not to say he turned it down or was ever offered it but to say he couldn't have had it would be wrong imo. 

And finally he turned down the Real Madrid job when offered it in 2004 by Jorge Valdano, his close friend and at the time Real Madrid Sporting Director.

He probably is to difficult a personality for jobs like Madrid and Barcelona but to say no top team would touch him isnt true. 

He is extremely picky and simply wouldn't get the control he would want at teams like that.

[Mjvilla]

21 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Good team? Are you kidding me?

Most of those players were a bunch of nobodys, average championship players and still would be had not Bielsa arrived.

When i look at Leeds squad i see a bang average squad of players that are massively overachieving.

Really? It's a team full of internationals or players close to international football.

A team that's been together for years in the main (Sheffield United showed how important that can be) knows their job and has been having coaching from a well renowned coach for a few years now.

Bielsa has clearly done a good job, clearly developed a number of those players. To say he hasn't would just be bitter.

But to say it's a 'bang average squad' is a bit false in my opinion. It's a decent squad. 

 

[Mjvilla]

17 hours ago, Cjay said:

Sorry but this is a myth that seems to have become a fact.

He has turned down the Inter Milan job more than once, quotes from the President of Inter Milan confirm this.

He also had major support for the Barcelona job when Pep left from Guardiola himself, Lionel Messi and Johan Cruyff. Not to say he turned it down or was ever offered it but to say he couldn't have had it would be wrong imo. 

And finally he turned down the Real Madrid job when offered it in 2004 by Jorge Valdano, his close friend and at the time Real Madrid Sporting Director.

He probably is to difficult a personality for jobs like Madrid and Barcelona but to say no top team would touch him isnt true. 

He is extremely picky and simply wouldn't get the control he would want at teams like that.

I cant find anything online to confirm this, just a couple of dodgy sites reporting it as rumours. 

So, apart from Inter Milan (I can only find confirmation of him turning it down once over 10 years ago), and rumours (unconfirmed) 6 months later where moratti, who was inters president during both these times, said he was one name amongst many others considered. 

Barcelona, he had backers I've no doubt. But he wasn't selected and never considered where it matters. Why?

I think you'd be absolutely daft not to think that his managerial career has been held back because of the way he is. It's not a myth when you consider what he's achieved.

He has won hardly anything really. There's a reason for that. He's never managed right at the top. There's a reason for that.

Is he good enough? You'd probably think he is when you read everything about him. Does he have the right attitude and personality, then no. I think that's quite clear and is what held him back. 

To not consider this is blind faith, in my opinion.

[Cjay]

5 hours ago, Mjvilla said:

I cant find anything online to confirm this, just a couple of dodgy sites reporting it as rumours. 

So, apart from Inter Milan (I can only find confirmation of him turning it down once over 10 years ago), and rumours (unconfirmed) 6 months later where moratti, who was inters president during both these times, said he was one name amongst many others considered. 

Barcelona, he had backers I've no doubt. But he wasn't selected and never considered where it matters. Why?

I think you'd be absolutely daft not to think that his managerial career has been held back because of the way he is. It's not a myth when you consider what he's achieved.

He has won hardly anything really. There's a reason for that. He's never managed right at the top. There's a reason for that.

Is he good enough? You'd probably think he is when you read everything about him. Does he have the right attitude and personality, then no. I think that's quite clear and is what held him back. 

To not consider this is blind faith, in my opinion.

Oh i fully agree, i am sure the way he is has held him back in his career in the sense that elite clubs dont want that sort of personality.

He is a very different personality to what you usually get in football, very strong minded and you could even say inflexible in a way in that its his way or no way.

That would never fly at a club like Barcelona or Inter or Real Madrid, clubs where a manager is seen as just a part of a larger cog not the be all and end all.

But i was just making the point that the fact he hasnt managed a huge club isnt because he hasnt had opportunities or wouldn't have been wanted.

I know he is seen as a bit odd and opposition fans think he gets far to much credit for as you say minimal trophies, but personally i think its admirable how he is speaking as a football fan. 

If people were told  that they could likely get a job on far more money at a far more prestigious company with far more opportunity for accolades and fame and all they have to do is just be more flexible, do as they were told by their boss and just be a good company man then i think almost everyone would do just that?

Practically every football manager in the world would do just that for a shot at the elite jobs wouldn't you agree? 

Bielsa wont and i find that admirable in a way, he is who he is and no amount of money or job prestige will change that.

The Barcelona and Real Madrid stories were on seperate journalist podcasts years ago, listened to it when we appointed MB. I had a google i cant find either of them unfortunately, the best i can find is the quote from the coach about Madrid and the podcast confirmed that the person in question was Jorge Valdano which makes perfect sense given his relationship with Bielsa.

"We had just announced our departure from Argentina and a few days later Camacho left Real Madrid," said Luis Maria Bonini. Marcelo receives a call from an important person at Real Madrid, who wanted him to take the reins of the team. He replied: "I have just left Argentina, do you think I can lead Real Madrid?" It was hard to say no to Real, only Bielsa can do it. But we were in mourning. We had just managed the Argentina team, it was our dream. It was hard. Marcelo didn't want people to think he was leaving the squad to join Real Madrid. " Marcelo Bielsa stopped coaching for three years before returning to Chile in 2007.

 

[Zatman]

He might think he is some Leeds hero in the media but he seems to take some pleasure in how he helped nearly bankrupt the club. What a clearing in the woods

 

[Mjvilla]

17 hours ago, Cjay said:

Oh i fully agree, i am sure the way he is has held him back in his career in the sense that elite clubs dont want that sort of personality.

He is a very different personality to what you usually get in football, very strong minded and you could even say inflexible in a way in that its his way or no way.

That would never fly at a club like Barcelona or Inter or Real Madrid, clubs where a manager is seen as just a part of a larger cog not the be all and end all.

But i was just making the point that the fact he hasnt managed a huge club isnt because he hasnt had opportunities or wouldn't have been wanted.

I know he is seen as a bit odd and opposition fans think he gets far to much credit for as you say minimal trophies, but personally i think its admirable how he is speaking as a football fan. 

If people were told  that they could likely get a job on far more money at a far more prestigious company with far more opportunity for accolades and fame and all they have to do is just be more flexible, do as they were told by their boss and just be a good company man then i think almost everyone would do just that?

Practically every football manager in the world would do just that for a shot at the elite jobs wouldn't you agree? 

Bielsa wont and i find that admirable in a way, he is who he is and no amount of money or job prestige will change that.

The Barcelona and Real Madrid stories were on seperate journalist podcasts years ago, listened to it when we appointed MB. I had a google i cant find either of them unfortunately, the best i can find is the quote from the coach about Madrid and the podcast confirmed that the person in question was Jorge Valdano which makes perfect sense given his relationship with Bielsa.

"We had just announced our departure from Argentina and a few days later Camacho left Real Madrid," said Luis Maria Bonini. Marcelo receives a call from an important person at Real Madrid, who wanted him to take the reins of the team. He replied: "I have just left Argentina, do you think I can lead Real Madrid?" It was hard to say no to Real, only Bielsa can do it. But we were in mourning. We had just managed the Argentina team, it was our dream. It was hard. Marcelo didn't want people to think he was leaving the squad to join Real Madrid. " Marcelo Bielsa stopped coaching for three years before returning to Chile in 2007.

 

Absolutely. He sticks to his guns no matter what. You can't help but admire a man willing to do that.

[PaulC]

On 05/04/2021 at 18:47, Vive_La_Villa said:

I think Leeds this summer were actually in a better place than we were. They had a good team that had played together for 2 seasons. They just needed to add to that and did so with 20-30 million pound players. Most of them Internationals. Rafinha was a fantastic signing.  Villa on the other hand got promoted with 2 players that were good enough for the first team. Smith has had to build a first 11, keep them up and then could attempt to improve them further.  
 

So whilst I think Bielsa has done a superb job. I think the job Smith had was a lot more difficult. 

I would partly agree but Smith was fortunate to have a player of the quality of Grealish. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 minute ago, PaulC said:

I would partly agree but Smith was fortunate to have a player of the quality of Grealish. 

He was and had he not got Grealish we wouldn’t have got promoted when we did meaning Dean would have had to build a team in the Championship to get promotion. May have taken a season or two but I reckon once promoted it would have been in a better state to take on the Premier League.  I guess we’ll never know. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

On 07/04/2021 at 15:16, Zatman said:

He might think he is some Leeds hero in the media but he seems to take some pleasure in how he helped nearly bankrupt the club. What a clearing in the woods

 

Which part?

[Zatman]

2 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Which part?

Its about 25 minutes in, the first part of the interview he sounded OK but part 2 he came across a right prick

[PaulC]

He has a pop at a lot of managers and shows disrespect to people who are less fortunate than him. Yes hes a complete arsehole

[Vive_La_Villa]

5 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Its about 25 minutes in, the first part of the interview he sounded OK but part 2 he came across a right prick

You watched a 1 hour 13 minute interview with Danny Mills?? You feeling alright mate?

Edited April 8, 2021 by Vive_La_Villa

[Zatman]

1 minute ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

You watched a 1 hour 13 minute interview with Danny Mills?? You feeling alright mate?

i watched 2 parts actually

It has really been the top of the lockdown shit I have watched  

[AvfcRigo82]

Apparently they have joined the race to sign Sergio Aguero!    

[Rds1983]

5 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Apparently they have joined the race to sign Sergio Aguero!    

Only if they fail to sign Haaland, he's a Leeds fan and desperate to join don't you know. 

[MrSmirch]

Pep had the exact same look on his face when he said “I’d like a team of 11 Dante’s.”

You don’t think...