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Leeds: We Really Can't Afford Any More Cellino Balls-Ups
Darko days are over, time for Cellino to stick with Redfearn and give him time & support.
Leeds: We Really Can’t Afford Any More Cellino Balls-Ups
Darko Milanic lasted 32 days at Leeds United under Massimo Cellino. His CV was littered with trophies, albeit in Slovenia, his reputation as a pragmatist should have rung alarm bells but we fans, desperate for success, clung to the hope that this time the president’s choice, suggested by the trusty Salerno was the right man. He appeared calm, professional and much better looking than his horrific predecessor Hockaday who, with the hapless Junior Lewis, lasted a remarkable 70 days. Before them a marriage made in hell that had no chance of longevity was terminated when Brian McDermott finally left the club not too long after his erroneous sacking and reinstatement in January.
All three ex Leeds managers were decent blokes with varying degrees of experience, all three of them were eaten up by the size of the club, the expectation of the fans and most of all the voracious appetite for success emanating from our esteemed owner.
The current score is Mangiaallenatori 3:0 Allenatori, this has got to be the full time score for this season at least. No more outsiders, the good uns won’t come anyway, it’s time for one of our own.
Cellino’s famous watermelon comments are bizarre, in no business do you employ a senior manager without absolute knowledge of their personality, suitability and total confidence is their ability. He has now made two monumental mistakes with Hock & Darko, that must be the end of it.
Massimo was as gutted as we were on Saturday night and has admitted both times that he made wrong appointments, bottom line is the buck stops with him, the next appointment must put the club into a strong, stable position to achieve his target of promotion in two years.
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The only run of success where the team have shown steady improvement was under the caretaker change of Neil Redfearn, a proper Leeds man, steeped in 9 years experience at the club and responsible for the hugely successful academy. Tellingly, Redfearn is the only coach who has had the balls to call the boss Massimo and the two of them appear to have serious mutual respect, speak of each other in glowing terms and genuinely like each other.
Cellino wants progressive, exciting, passing football, solid at the back, creative in midfield with a touch of magic in the last third, along with sporting director Director Salerno he has added new players to a core of home grown youngsters who are capable of delivering exactly what he and the fans crave. The watching masses want to see a group of players who show pride in the shirt, play with passion, want success and care about the results.
Off the field Cellino has done an awesome job on the debt, running costs and ugly relationship with GFH, there is still major concern regarding the strength of the administrative side of the business and the ability & leadership available to potentialise commercial revenues. His promise to buy back Elland Road by the end of November is seen as a litmus test of his intentions by a good sized chunk of the fan base.
Right now the club needs stability like never before. We boast global support who have stuck with the club through thin and thinner over the last dozen years but the cynicism is deep rooted. Leeds fans are amongst the most passionate in the world and social media provides a perfect platform for myriad viewpoints, all felt from the heart, all strongly stated, diverse but all springing from the fountain of hope that we will see a team we can be proud of.
Cellino has announced that Neil Redfearn is the new head coach, he needs to take care of him financially, give him a proper term contract, assurances about his future and plug the gap in the academy, the highly rated Richard Naylor & Leigh Bromby should be enticed back into the fold.
The sheriff is at the last chance saloon to stop this season being wasted, he must give Redfearn time and support and back him, not sack him.
Check out Paul on being interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds
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COMMENTS
I am as disappointed with recent results as every Leeds fan, but I am also so sad with Cellino once again running our club through the mud. I met Darko before the game at Rotherham and he came across as a gentleman, but you could see the fear in his eyes - ask yourself, is this really surprising given the massive shadow cast by the owner. Clearly, Darko made a big mistake at half time v Wolves, but surely someone should have pulled him to one side and had a quiet word with him, offered him some support and given him more time - perhaps then Darko could feel relaxed and we would the real person and not just someone in fear of his every move. I love Leeds and admire Cellino for the efforts he puts into the club, but his crass management style makes me very bitter. Darko was brought over from Austria, he had no knowledge of the English game, whilst half of the team he inherited are also new to these shores, yet he was given no time at all to make his influence. The worst for me, the official website does not even offer our thanks or any good luck for his future - this is a great club, berifit of class - and I am not happy !!
On paper the team is good - far better than teams like Wolves. For the first time in a decade I look forward to home games. The young players are the best since Smith and Kewell etc. Byram and Cook would have left within 12 months of their own choice. With Redfern in charge there is a chance they will stay. Where Darko was unlucky in his results Redfern was lucky. We need this luck to continue and above all guess the players will be pleased on Monday morning. Lets hope people get off their arses and turn up for the Charlton game and support the team.
Very good article - sick and tired of reading all of the negatives from cut and paste "news sources" and ex greats wheeled out to spout. If the team wasn't getting there by 6 matches then why not change again - it is Cellino's right - why shouldn't NR take the role under a Mangiaallenatori - if he is good enough he will stay - if he isn't what is the point of having a good academy but with a failure of a first team. Yes - I am surprised he didn't get the job after the Hock but it was probably worth one more try. We seem to have the players so now it is down to the coach
As a foreign coach you have to learn very quickly how to win in the Championship.Darko tried to defend a 1-0 at Rotherham and got muscled out of a game that should of been a formality at HT.He then makes the fatal error of doing precisely the same thing against Wolves.We simply do not possess the technical ability at the moment to defend for 45 mins.If he,d had more courage and gone after both of these teams we would have 6 points more and Darko would of bought himself some more time.The next appointment must be a manager who understands English football and the enormous pressure you are immediately under at a club like Leeds. MOT
we must keep sam byram, why he was not playing is a mystery, as i see it we need to be organised in defence, cannot defend a lead, good luck to mr redfern, we will be a better team with a little confidence from some wins, asap please.
proof beyond all doubt that Cellino can't pick a manager to save his life..or I should say WON'T pay for a decent manager. The problem is he's damaging the reputation of the club with every farcial appointment he makes and I would think pretty soon - now?- we won't be able to attract a decent manager, assuming he'll fire Redfearn at some point if he doesn't change. I know Redfearn said he wanted t manage the Academy, but needs must. The downside ids if he does boot him out would Refearn be happy to go back to the Academy...and then what?
I think NR said he wanted to stick with the Academy in he same way that any one of us would refuse a small pay rise to take a job where we would be immediately risking the tin tack. It says something that they thought he might take the York City job. What level are we operating at here? He has a strong bargaining position and I imagine the deal is now worth taking this doesn't say much about how smart Cellino is. Good luck to NR, to Darki, The Hock but please Mr Cellino, no more stupid appoinments.
What does Salerno do? Can he spot a coach or does he just buy players?
Can we please put an end now to all this acrimony and blame, I'm getting just a bit sick of it. Cellino cocked up mega style and he knows it. Milanic should never have been appointed and I feel sad for the guy especially with his wife and family in the stand on Saturday. If that game had ended at half time he would have been hailed a hero, instead he was humiliated and he did not deserve that. Some of you will totally disagree with that I have no doubt. Cellino has to realise that running an English club is a far cry from the continental attitude and unless he changes his schoolboy style and stop acting like we are a hobby he is going to fail. All you out there who think Redders will be like stepping out of an episode of Roy Of The Rovers need a dose of reality. Neils a great guy and I am positive he will do well, but there will be bad games and I am worried a lot of fans just cannot take a beating. There is only one priority right now and that's get behind the guys on the pitch, Redders and Cellino and the press and media can go to hell.
3rd of the season gone 6th from bottom. I'm sure a certain member of the peasantry could have achieved that!
SABOTAGE
