sleepkid wrote:Leeds... did O'Leary spend them into the grave or what? You knew things were really bad when they signed Seth Johnson. Might as well just start mugging grannies then.

Argh, sleepkid! You had to raise this subject when I've had a couple of beers and feel verbose! I'll trim it, I don't want this to be a Leeds United thread:

but yes. Leeds are financially restricted with regard to who they can sign this season because they are still paying the wages of players signed to ludicrous contracts by O'Leary and Peter Ridsdale.

I enjoyed the European fantasy immensely, but what I realised, and what the club itself didn't seem to realise, was that is was a fantasy; it was exceptional, and amazing, and not to be relied upon. And that using it as a basis for the clubs finances was stupid! irresponsible! wrong!

Seth Johnson rang alarm bells. I was confused when we signed Robbie Keane. Robbie Fowler was just a mystery.

What we're talking about here is amazing over-acheivement through gross mismanagement, and we're still paying for the fucking thing.

It'll be interesting to see who David O'Leary manages next - if anyone. I think people were prepared to give him a chance after Leeds, but the way things ended at Villa - it's a very shitty stick that he's going to touched with.

Argh!

I don't think it was such an unrealistic fantasy for Leeds. It was a quality squad brimming with talent, but the wages that were being handed out were a bit ridiculous, and no one seemed to have any financial sense or foresight.

I didn't have any problem with them signing Robbie Keane though as I think he's quality, and he usually worked twice as hard as Viduka (who can be quality, but can also be a lazy git) - but signing Fowler was a bit of a surprise. He did a bit of business for City, but really he was just putting pies around his middle. I blame Phil Thompson for Fowler's departure from Liverpool, but that's all been sorted now. Fowler should only have ever played for Liverpool. And Owen is learning, much to his chagrin, that he should probably have done the same.

The only think I can really say is perhaps that Leeds squad was too young, and when things were going well, they were good, but as soon as things started getting rough, they lacked the experience to knuckle down.

I think the same thing happened to Ipswich during their brief rise to the Premiership and fall. Lots of good young players came out of that squad as well.

...but the biggest mistake I think Leeds ever made was letting Cantona go to the Mancs. They would never have done shite without him, and then we wouldn't have to put up with them and their legions of insufferable fans. gahhh...

Belive It or not, I support Bordeaux.
I like so much the wines poduced in this area, that I`ve decided I`d sopport Its soccer team too.

sleepkid wrote:...but the biggest mistake I think Leeds ever made was letting Cantona go to the Mancs. They would never have done shite without him, and then we wouldn't have to put up with them and their legions of insufferable fans. gahhh...

You're just out to hurt me, aren't you?

i'm surprised you rate blackwell dan.
i'm probably being a bit harsh. he just hasn't impressed me thus far. his pre-season signings have been a bit of a mystery to me. hulse and harding out, nicholls (injured), carole (not even being played), livermore (already sold) and foxe (has been injured his whole career) in. horsfield isn't as good as blake or cresswell so his loan spell seems a bit odd. we just don't look like a premiership side at the moment, which is a shame because there were moments last year when we did.

i've been going to see leeds for twenty-two years and i've never seen any racism from leeds fans. unless you count hatred of manchester to be racism? aside from that it sounds pretty ridiculous to me.

as far as the o'leary era goes it was pretty painful to behold. having to sell an entire squad of international quality footballers in a couple of years is demoralising. if we'd have won a trophy, we'd probably see the whole affair very differently. there were some fucking batshit insane signings though. on the plus side, being in the championship has made me take an interest again. it's almost like it was back in the 80s when i first supported leeds.

Italy - Croatia (Croatians)

tommydski - just before I go out here is my Blackwell defence:

It's not as if I rate him out of sight, I just don't think he's done anything to deserve replacement. So far, every target he has set, he has met. I thought after relegation we could easily do a Manchester City and drop straight through: Blackwell set a target of staying up and exceeded it, bringing us to mid table with some shocking players. Last season, the target was a top six finish and he met that and again went beyond, getting us to the playoff final (let's not go there).

So this season the target is promotion. Given his record so far, I can't see any reason not to give Blackwell a full season-long shot at it. He's earnt it, I say we've nothing to lose by giving him a crack. The close season has been distinctly weird but the performances so far have seemed promising.

Importantly, I can see a chance of promotion this season or next under Kevin Blackwell, whereas I really think that if we replaced him then we can forget promotion for the next two seasons. I think we can do without that shakeup, and that it would leave us for worse. There isn't any money, I don't know what else could be done with the players we have - why not just let the incumbent do his worst?

actually, that's fair.

i suppose i am expecting too much too soon.
the championship this year is so strong. fifteen of the clubs have been in the premiership. i think we are going to be overwhelmed by clubs with a more established set of players. still, maybe if we generate some income we could be onto a winner next season.

i notice that both of the scorers in today's 1-1 draw between sheffield utd and liverpool were ex-leeds.
that's fowler and hulse.

not that i'm bitter.

Sly Bug wrote:Italy - Croatia (Croatians)

cunts.