Is Heck slowly turning us around ?

[1964white]

Now you're making excuses for him before a ball has been kicked, that shows you what a loser he is.

You raised the Derby game at ER, they were nowhere in the form there are in now when we played them. Even so I'm hopeful of a draw

[Clive]

Were you at Birmingham, Hull & Ipswich ?

Forget the play-off places, Christiansen had lost his way as we headed on a downward spiral


I was hoping for a more experienced coach & yes you could be right the job maybe too big for him but for now I'm prepared to give the man a chance

Forget the FA Cup defeat, look at Man City.

Did you want Grayson and McDermott to stay? If you did what's different about Christiansen?

Karanka took a while to get going at Boro, he took them up in the end.

If Heckingbottom is not what you were hoping for and you think the job may be too big for him then why are you prepared to give him a chance?

Are we just a testing ground for players and managers or a club with serious ambitions of promotion?

[weasel]

Full marks to 64 for dangling out the fishing line to keep the forum active.

[1964white]

How can you say we're more competitive when we've lost one and drawn one?

We lost to the blunts through a dodgy penalty with minutes to go & we came back from 0-2 down to nearly win the game as Lassoga's header came off the bar in the dying seconds

How can you say it's a better team selection

Dropping your mate Alioski & Roofe who were virtually passengers of late was a correct move as it's been like playing with nine men. Playing Anita at RB was also a good decision

[1964white]

Did you want Grayson and McDermott to stay? If you did what's different about Christiansen?

No i didn't

Karanka took a while to get going at Boro, he took them up in the end

Karanka was one candidate I hoped we'd go for

If Heckingbottom is not what you were hoping for and you think the job may be too big for him then why are you prepared to give him a chance?
Are we just a testing ground for players and managers or a club with serious ambitions of promotion?

Blame the wonderful board our fans were raving about in the summer for the low-key recruitment of coaches & the duff signings. I've had reservations about Radz, Orta & his cronies since day one

[1964white]

Full marks to 64 for dangling out the fishing line to keep the forum active.

I do try

[Cjay]

We've had 15 years of this, surely people should be past looking for positives now and should shout out these no mark managers as soon as they get through the door?

The first half against Sheff United was up there, too. With the way he sets us up there never seem to be any passes on.

I have to try to maintain a bit of hope or I'll drive myself insane

15 years is more then half of my life, I'd have been sat in a room silently sobbing for 15 years if i didn't cling on to something.

He isnt my choice, he wasn't top 10, i will bitch and moan till i see something suggesting improvement.

But at the same time he is here and for my own sanity, despite my personal opinions, i have to keep in mind that he could no matter how unlikely turn it around.

[1964white]

Why is it ridiculous?

If we'd signed a striker from Barnsley with 1 goal in 16, would you expect him to become one of the best strikers in the league and score the goals to fire us to promotion?

We've had 15 years of managers like Heckingbottom, we've seen what happens, it's a complete waste of time to back them.

If we can spend £4.5m on a player then why can't we sign up a top manager on a package worth that?

I agree a top manager should have been a top priority but I'm not going to get on Heck's back as soon as he walks though the ER doors.

Radz is the man to start throwing sticks at as he is the man who had employed Christiansen & Heckingbottom

Tbf to PH the tykes team that smashed us at Oakwell last season was totally opposite to the one we beat in November, probably the worst Barnsley side I've seen, the original tykes team Heck built was stripped of all his best players that outplayed Monk's team

[Clive]

No i didn't


Karanka was one candidate I hoped we'd go for


Blame the wonderful board our fans were raving about in the summer for the low-key recruitment of coaches & the duff signings. I've had reservations about Radz, Orta & his cronies since day one

And now you're raving about Heckingbottom.

I think the signings have been an upgrade on what we've seen in the past, you may not like the set-up, but Orta has brought in some decent players.

The Heckingbottom appointment reminds me of the Redfearn appointment, it's the owner playing to the fans with a back-to-basics Yorkshireman in place of a foreign coach.

Radz seems like Cellino with better PR. It's clear he wants a cheap yes man who will be grateful to be manager and will do as he's told, but we'll never go up with that set up.

[Clive]

Tbf to PH the tykes team that smashed us at Oakwell last season was totally opposite to the one we beat in November, probably the worst Barnsley side I've seen, the original tykes team Heck built was stripped of all his best players that outplayed Monk's team

Did he build that team or was it Lee Johnson? And did he just get lucky and happen to have a lot of talented young players together at the same time?

If he's the sort of manager who sells his best players without a fight then that may be why he's here. I suspect a big reason for McAllister being sacked and replaced with Grayson was because Macca was fighting to keep Delph.

[1964white]

And now you're raving about Heckingbottom.

I think the signings have been an upgrade on what we've seen in the past, you may not like the set-up, but Orta has brought in some decent players.

The Heckingbottom appointment reminds me of the Redfearn appointment, it's the owner playing to the fans with a back-to-basics Yorkshireman in place of a foreign coach.

Radz seems like Cellino with better PR. It's clear he wants a cheap yes man who will be grateful to be manager and will do as he's told, but we'll never go up with that set up.

Not raving about Heck, just giving him my support for now.

Agree with the rest of your points. Because of the DOF we are limited to who we can attract, many managers wouldn't give Leeds the time of day under the current circumstances & yes we are doing
things on the cheap !

These days as the years fly by my expectations for a successful Leeds United team are not great

[1964white]

Did he build that team or was it Lee Johnson? And did he just get lucky and happen to have a lot of talented young players together at the same time?

If he's the sort of manager who sells his best players without a fight then that may be why he's here. I suspect a big reason for McAllister being sacked and replaced with Grayson was because Macca was fighting to keep Delph.

Maybe he got lucky, I can't answer that

[The Subhuman]

We should spend a lot of money on a manager, I'd rather do that then spend 10M on a striker. But until we decide that's the way to go we're going to have to keep trying out managers until we maybe hit on a good one.

TC had to go and now was the perfect time to do it. It was more likely we'd end up in league 1 than the premiership under TC. It maybe the case that Heck is the same so bye bye Heck this time next season and we start again

[Norm]

I agree with you about a manager faaip.
We got lucky with Revie, Wilko and Graham, but George really wasn't happy and it showed.
We got lucky to a point with O'Leary but obviously it imploded in the end.
We got lucky with Grayson but had a crap chairtwot.
Other than that -

For a club as big as Leeds over the years we've had some decent people who weren't decent managers.
Austerity seemed to guide most chairmen. I'm just hoping Radz isn't just the new false prophet.

[LevLeeds]

Agree Harry re Bristol, one of the worst teams I've seen this season when they played us in Bristol and looked no better yesterday. That could be we're their jinx team though

Weidwald is holding us back as he has all season, I'm sure that the defense doesn't trust him so it looks constantly shaky. We may just need a good keeper who can command the area and organise the defence. I think we win that at a canter if he doesn't make the error.

Didnt he go something like 10 games without conceding a goal at the start of the season? a club record??

Unbelievable really considering the keepers we've had in the past, an for him to achieve that,,,,, madness. Awful goalkeeper and the defense are struggling as a result because they simply have no faith in the lads ability.

[The Subhuman]

7 games - after the two he conceded v Bolton to the two v Ipswich.

[Cjay]

Think Wiedwald will come good tbh, he has been one of the few to come out of the last few months with any credit.

Plenty of keepers struggle with crosses 1st season.

People keep using Rob Green as a comparison, he has hardly been a pillar of consistency for his career.

Rob Green played behind a settled back 4, Ayling,Jansson,Bartley,Berardi/Taylor.

Wiedwald has had Anita,De Bock,Berardi,Dallas, Jansson,Ayling, Shaunie, Cooper, Pennington. Its not been settled and arguably isnt of the same quality at cb as last season.

Goalkeeper makes a mistake everyone remembers, strikers miss chances its quickly forgotten.

[weasel]

I agree a top manager should have been a top priority but I'm not going to get on Heck's back as soon as he walks though the ER doors.

Radz is the man to start throwing sticks at as he is the man who had employed Christiansen & Heckingbottom

Tbf to PH the tykes team that smashed us at Oakwell last season was totally opposite to the one we beat in November, probably the worst Barnsley side I've seen, the original tykes team Heck built was stripped of all his best players that outplayed Monk's team

I don't think anyone is getting on PH's back but merely pointing out that there has been no significant improvement yet and nothing to get excited about. All new managers seem to come in and pick the same side (barring injuries/suspensions), that the last manager picked, for their first match (often they won't even manage the side that game but watch from the stands etc) and then make a few changes the following match. PH has simply followed this trend.

The concern is that PH didn't seem to be able to turn around the situation at Barnsley. Yes their best players were sold but good managers still find ways to win even if it is to completely change the style of play/formation. Most managers at this level and below have to constantly deal with their best players being sold - it happened at Barnsley and it has been happening at Leeds (we lost 3 of last season's best 4 players in Wood, Bartley and Green as well as our best left back and yet for much of the season had been doing better than the season before).

It is a risky appointment if viewed as a long term appointment, although to some degree I think they have accepted the play-offs is unlikely this season so they have half a season to see if PH looks like he can get the best out of the team. I still think that they will be planning now for hiring a new manager in the summer although they will be hoping that PH can do much better than they really expect. All they are doing is trying to placate the fans by simply appointing a manager that is completely opposite to the previous manager much in the same way that Cellino did when hiring Darko Milanic then Refearn and Rosler, then Evans. It makes a mockery of any long term planning as all it will mean is that a few of the player who were suited to the way one manager wanted to play won't be suited to the new manager.

[weasel]

I agree with you about a manager faaip.
We got lucky with Revie, Wilko and Graham, but George really wasn't happy and it showed.
We got lucky to a point with O'Leary but obviously it imploded in the end.
We got lucky with Grayson but had a crap chairtwot.
Other than that -

For a club as big as Leeds over the years we've had some decent people who weren't decent managers.
Austerity seemed to guide most chairmen. I'm just hoping Radz isn't just the new false prophet.

I would disagree with us getting lucky with Wilko as the board purposely went for Wilko as he had a good history of getting teams promoted - similar in many ways to Warnock. He knew how to get out of the division and got in the right players - the journeymen pros but players that still had fight in their bellies and quite a few that he (Wilko) had worked with before. Yes to some degree we got lucky in that the board wouldn't have really expected us to then win the League 2 seasons after getting promoted but in terms of what the board hired Wilko to do he simply fulfilled their hopes/expectations .

[NorfolkWhite]

Don't be surprised if Heck does make a change between the sticks, he may give Felix one more chance to redeem himself. Problem is we haven't got a reliable championship keeper

Been saying that all season, Hobson's choice at the moment. Felix showed a few glimmers but nothing that suggests he is a decent long term No1.