Leeds to sell another Captain?

Ratscoot · Post by **Ratscoot** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:45 am

Looking very likely Stephen Warnock will be joining Derby, shame as I thought he'd been our best player overall this season but can see why on the financial side and it may help us get some new blood in.

But can we now make the following Captain

Morrison
Austin
Tonge
Doukara

joluafc4eva · Post by **joluafc4eva** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:49 am

Cant understand why high-flying Derby would want one of our players considering our position in the league

Genghers · Post by **Genghers** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:57 am

We've gone through a lot of captains recently: Howson, Snoddy, Peltier, Austin, McCormack, Pearce, Warnock...

I'd say Cooper is in with a shout after impressing in the FA Cup. That's the problem with a constantly shifting, young line-up with little Championship experience though, no one really stands out.

I'd love Cook or Mowatt to be captain, but it's too much pressure to put on one of the young ones.

Genghers · Post by **Genghers** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:59 am

joluafc4eva wrote:Cant understand why high-flying Derby would want one of our players considering our position in the league

He's been one of our best players this season and has lots of Premiership experience - no brainer for me. Lots of poor teams have good players and they frequently get snapped up. Look at all the ones we've lost over the years...

Dons Legends · Post by **Dons Legends** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 11:18 am

Letting Warnock go would be crazy, I see no sense in it at all, not one good argument to say we should let one of our most experienced in form players leave, when we are battling against relegation.

Genghers · Post by **Genghers** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 11:32 am

Dons Legends wrote:Letting Warnock go would be crazy, I see no sense in it at all, not one good argument to say we should let one of our most experienced in form players leave, when we are battling against relegation.

We need two players in every position in this league and at the moment we only have one other left-back. We'd need to bring someone in and I'm not sure how likely that is in our current situation...

I think Taylor should be starting left-back anyway as Warnock will leave in summer regardless. Taylor is a great prospect and will only improve with game time.

rab_rant · Post by **rab_rant** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 11:39 am

Genghers wrote: We need two players in every position in this league and at the moment we only have one other left-back. We'd need to bring someone in and I'm not sure how likely that is in our current situation...

I think Taylor should be starting left-back anyway as Warnock will leave in summer regardless. Taylor is a great prospect and will only improve with game time.

And whatever happened to Aidy White at left back... forgotten man.

LufcTom · Post by **LufcTom** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 12:28 pm

Why oh why are we selling him? Or as sky sports puts it 'release him from the final 6 months of his contract' .. One of the best this season. A backwards step in my opinion. Maybe we have someone else lined up? Cant see it in my opinion. Something going in behind the scenes? I dont know but a bad move for leeds great for warnock if they go up.

Armleywhite · Post by **Armleywhite** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 12:43 pm

Leeds United, synonymous with how to fukc up and totally mis manage an already bad situation.

Post by **1964white** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:03 pm

Once again an OTT reaction on here

Yes Warnock is arguably our best player this season but he is 33yo & is probably one of the highest paid players at the club. Warnock is a hard nut as more than once he has overcome serious knocks when he looked gone for the season.
One more bad injury could be the end his playing career so if there is a championship club prepared to put in a decent offer for Stephen i would be tempted to take it especially now i've seen how well Charlie Taylor has developed into a very accomplished left back over the last two games, we looked good down the left defensively in both the Sunderland & Bolton games without SW. Charlie looks the business believe me !

Post by **1964white** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:05 pm

Cooper should be made captain

Gandalf · Post by **Gandalf** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:11 pm

We could have done with his experience for the back end of the season, however despite performing well, he did tend to cramp up, get niggles etc after about an hour. Taylor, Berardi, Cooper and maybe a returning Aidy White could cover the left back position

I have no doubt that he would see a move to Derby as a positive for him, especially as he is out of contract in the summer. Also, as a high wage earner, and after putting Cellino's nose out of joint by refusing to move house from Liverpool, I can't see Il Presidente standing in his way.

Let us hope that his wages can help us find players for the positions where we really need improvement

theleedsmango · Post by **theleedsmango** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:23 pm

If you were to sum up "years spent playing for a senior English football team" across the squad, I reckon we'd have one of the lowest in the Championship, with the majority coming from Sharp, Warnock, Tonge, Taylor and Morrison. Out of those five, only Warnock is a regular team player and the only one offering us any experience in the starting 11. Take him out and Pearce/Austin/Murphy are next and even they aren't guaranteed starters.

I've nothing against foreign players or youth players, on the other hand I believed we had a really good balance at the start of the season, but for many reasons (ever changing managers, the stupid diamond formation, inexperience, lack of familiarity with each other) we have become dragged in to the dreaded relegation battle. This is the time when experience is key in this division. Getting rid of Warnock, solely for that reason, is dire.

Let's not bring up age/proneness to injury - any player can crock out at any time.
Wages? If Warnock is on double the wages of any other player (unlikely) then get rid of two players we don't need - Morrison/Tonge?

Let's also not forget that the vast majority of players released by the club are with clubs in far better positions than us. Couple that with how Warnock was treated by Cellino, and you can see why this is a great move for him. For us though, it leaves us placing more responsibility on another inexperienced, but hugely talented, youth player with many no doubt claiming that doing so justifies the transfer.

theleedsmango · Post by **theleedsmango** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:31 pm

Gandalf wrote:We could have done with his experience for the back end of the season, however despite performing well, he did tend to cramp up, get niggles etc after about an hour. Taylor, Berardi, Cooper and maybe a returning Aidy White could cover the left back position

Let us hope that his wages can help us find players for the positions where we really need improvement

What positions would that be? The only thing we are missing at this moment is wingers. However get rid of Warnock and we have one young left back, Taylor. Berardi, given Byram's alleged move to midfield, will be our main right back. Cooper is probably our best central defender at the minute and should definitely stick there. And White has barely seen the light of day under most of our managers - even at his best his main attribute was speed and little else. So Warnock's departure wouldn't free up wages for other positions as free up wages for filling the position he was in. I think Taylor has a bright future but "hey Charlie, we've sold our main left back, you're our only option, away out there kid and help us avoid relegation" isn't the greatest development for an untested youngster.

Martyn · Post by **Martyn** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:54 pm

theleedsmango wrote:
What positions would that be? The only thing we are missing at this moment is wingers. However get rid of Warnock and we have one young left back, Taylor. Berardi, given Byram's alleged move to midfield, will be our main right back. Cooper is probably our best central defender at the minute and should definitely stick there. And White has barely seen the light of day under most of our managers - even at his best his main attribute was speed and little else. So Warnock's departure wouldn't free up wages for other positions as free up wages for filling the position he was in. I think Taylor has a bright future but "hey Charlie, we've sold our main left back, you're our only option, away out there kid and help us avoid relegation" isn't the greatest development for an untested youngster.

We keep talking about Charlie as a kid, but he's 21, not 17. There are lots of younger players than him cutting it in the Premier League, let's show him a bit of confidence and give him a run.

theleedsmango · Post by **theleedsmango** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:06 pm

Martyn wrote:We keep talking about Charlie as a kid, but he's 21, not 17. There are lots of younger players than him cutting it in the Premier League, let's show him a bit of confidence and give him a run.

I know that but in the context of senior football, he's very much a kid. And the situation shows we don't have confidence in him. Warnock has started nearly every game when fit. We're now letting Warnock go, leaving Taylor as the only viable option. We aren't choosing him or promoting him based on talent or attitude, he's our only option. That leaves Pearce as the only defender who has played in this league before last season. Given our defensive history is poor at the best of times, does that not worry others when we are treading water at the wrong end of the table?

I'll await patiently to see who comes in to the team when Warnock goes, but I have reasonable expectations that the new signings won't be of the callibre of players we need; we need players in their prime, or close to it, and we have no money... I don't think we'll go down, I think the 4-5-1 will steady us and get more points than the diamond, but it's not going to be comfortable. Mistakes now are costly, and the players will know that.

Genghers · Post by **Genghers** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:11 pm

rab_rant wrote:And whatever happened to Aidy White at left back... forgotten man.

I don't think he's featured since he signed that contract extension after Everton were sniffing around! He seems pretty broken.

I'd love him to come back and help us out, he could be a decent winger with his pace.

Martyn wrote:We keep talking about Charlie as a kid, but he's 21, not 17. There are lots of younger players than him cutting it in the Premier League, let's show him a bit of confidence and give him a run.

And indeed in our squad. The biggest problem for me is the lack of cover, but maybe we'll assess that if Warnock leaves.

hibbi86 · Post by **hibbi86** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:20 pm

theleedsmango wrote:That leaves Pearce as the only defender who has played in this league before last season. Given our defensive history is poor at the best of times, does that not worry others when we are treading water at the wrong end of the table?

Lets face it as good as Warnock has been hes not going to steady the ship at the back weve had defensive problems for the past 8 years!

Maybe its time we let go of the old reargaurd as even with Pearce and Warnock and Byram all players who played last season we were still leaking goals, last year and this year when they were all in the back 4.
We lack the natural goal scorer the guy whos going to punish teams when ever her gets a chance. We are creating plenty of oppertunities but seldom are we taking them. this is why we are drawing or losing games so often as we cannot put the matches to bed when our chances come along.

The Subhuman · Post by **The Subhuman** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 5:25 pm

I think that's Antenucci

Post by **YorkshireSquare** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 6:12 pm

I'd argue that in the 'narrow' system we play his ability to get forward and create chances is just as important as hi defensive work. He is joint top in terms of assists.