Silky wrote:Good onya Mike for taking on board what i've said and taking the time to give me a reasoned reply... it's quite refreshing
I dont think Grayson likes anyone to think that they are bigger than the club, or that we are lucky to have them... he wants the player to think theyre lucky to be at Leeds!.. not the other way 'round... IMO, guys like Keith Andrews and David Stockdale, guys who are on the outer at their parent club, should be jumping at the chance to come and play for Leeds United for 10k a week, and if they cant see that then they can walk on... which is exactly what's happening... (IMO)
This method could be what is harming us right now. If you look at the list of players who we have signed, and some players we've been linked with;
- David Stockdale, Leeds born.
- Richard Naylor, Leeds born and Leeds fan.
- Andy O'Brien, Leeds academy.
- Andy Keogh, Leeds academy.
- Jonathan Woodgate, Leeds academy and former great player.
- Lee Bowyer, former Leeds player.
- Alan Smith, Leeds born and bred, former great player.
- Lloyd Sam, Leeds born.
- Michael Johnson, Leeds fan.
See a pattern?
For some reason Grayson likes a lot of players who either support us, are born here, or have some connection to this club. Now that does bring a certain level of commitment and desire to sign for this club, however, what it also means is we don't always get the best player for that position. Granted some of those would have made good additions to this team, and some have, but I think that signing players who feel lucky to be at Leeds is holding us back. It is basically a criteria on Grayson's tick sheet and it's not the best way forward.
What we need to do is sign up a couple of mercenaries. They might not be committed to the club long term, but they will get us to where we want to be. We could have got Kevin Phillips without too much trouble, and he'd have been an excellent signing for us. We could have got Barry Ferguson for a cheap price. We could have brought in number of other players with top end experience, on shorter term deals, to simply get us to where we want to be. If getting back to the premier league means signing players who use us as a stepping stone, or simply leave us after we achieve it, then so be it. Look at Citeh and Tevez, not a committed player, but his goals and ability have led them to the champions league and silverware, and that is what you sometimes have to do.
I can understand Larry's approach. It is admirable. But it is foolhardy, because we get turned down by players because he expects too much from them. He expects too much commitment, too much desire to come to Leeds. Instead what he should be doing is trying to have them buy into a vision of getting us back to the premier league, and having that on their CV could lead to them either: a - getting a nice big pay deal from us, or b - a nice big pay deal from someone else. That to me is one of the things Larry seems to miss. He looks at a lot of players in the long term sense for this club, and although that is good in some instances, sometimes you just need to bring in that player or two who are here for only a season or two. But I guess it's each to their own on their approach, and it also comes down to Grayson not getting the money he needs to do the job everyone wants him to.
I wont accept that the squad is any weaker.... It's a bit stretched at the moment because of the injuries/suspensions, and we could certainly do with 1 or 2 more signings.. but i believe those signings will come in eventually.... and the other players will come back..
In goal we are weaker than last season. Kasper is by far a better keeper than Lonergan off what I've seen. He's more of a leader and more composed, and that's actually saying a lot! Rachubka should step up to the plate soon and get his chance. But right now our goalkeeping area, mainly our number 1 slot, is weaker than last season.
In defence, Kisnorbo's return is nice and he's done ok so far. But O'Brien's been woeful, Parker's struggling with fitness again, Connolly had two stinkers, against Southampton and Bradford. In my opinion, this summer it was clear we needed a new right back and left back. I'm not saying we should get rid of Connolly or Bessone or Parker, but we should have signed two new first choice fullbacks. We didn't. Now Lees is showing some promise and could be a big player for us this year, but I've yet to be convinced that O'Dea is a good enough left back, and to be honest, his main position is centre back and he's playing out of position for us. For me, no stronger than last year.
In midfield, well at the wings we are as good as last year, but in the centre we've yet to step up. Losing Killa and Johnson were two big hits, and although Clayton and Nunez have stepped up, Brown has yet to do anything good at all. He's a loose cannon, and personally I would drop him to the bench tonight. Howson is doing ok, but nothing amazing. For me, we are no stronger in midfield than last season, and I honestly believe we are weaker because of the losses of Killa and Johnson.
Up front, well, in this sense we are pretty much the same as last year if our players weren't injured. But it was clear in the summer that we needed another striker with Becchio and Somma injured. As that left us with Paynter, Grella and McCormack. The only one there I have any faith in is McCormack and he's not really a proper striker, he's more of a goal scoring winger. When we lost becchio last season we missed him, and what we needed in the summer was a proven goal scorer at this level - eg. Kevin Phillips would have done nicely. But we didn't get anyone until Keogh, and that for me leaves us with another section of the team that we are weaker in.
Overall, we are worse in goal, no better in defence, weaker in midfielder, and weaker up front. That's how I read it.
As far as the protests go, i still believe that now is not the time, and with things the way they are, i still think they'll cause more harm than good.... it's early in the season, the transfer window isnt shut yet, and these players/manager deserve a chance to show us what they can do... 2 games in is not a 'chance'.....
I can see your point, but I don't agree with it entirely. Two games is not a chance, yes, but in those two league games we've shown no promise, and no signs that we will be challenging for promotion. Brown has been woeful in both games. O'Brien was woeful. Lonergan although he made some good saves, is not really in my opinion looking convincing enough to be our number 1. On Saturday we created next to no chances, there wasn't any real attacking intent or at least none that came to anything remotely threatening. I find it hard to find positivity in those two performances. They were horrendous games for us, and if they are simply blips, great, but I am yet to be convinced that they are. Perhaps tonight will change that, but I wouldn't put a tenner on it.
As for West Ham and Leicester, look at their squads, and then look at ours. West Ham were unlucky against Cardiff, but they lost that game but they showed a lot of positive signs. They have quality in all areas of the team, and they will win promotion this year without a doubt. Leicester are still blending together, and when they do, they'll fire on all cylinders. They might only be 3 points ahead, but they'll start to widen the gap soon.
