Cellino outlines lofty ambitions.....

[hibbi86]

I did say the contracts were "good things"! Despite my many reservations about Cellino I do try be fair about his conduct.

Yeah it is abit of a silver lining, amongst alot of displeasure i am personally neither pro or anti cellino, i think he massively under estimated the job at hand on his arrival which lead to alot of broken promises and signings that in some cases where hugely inadequate and wasted money.

But then on the flip side it appears we are more financially stable after the GFH debacle and our team all be it nowhere near completion we have the basis core of players to work with.
I now take what hes says with tequilla, a huge pinch of salt and a slice of common sense and would prefer to see his actions rather than hear them.

I am slighlty optomistic for the coming season that could change depending on signings in and out of the club over the coming 8-10 weeks

[theleedsmango]

At the minute we are Bamba and Austin down, that is 2 key players for us last season. We need to sign two strong players to cover these positions before we look at improving on that team. We are also a minimum of 2 wingers short for the 4-3-3 formation Rosler is suggesting we move forward with. And we'd all like a new striker, so already that is 4/5 players needed to improve our first 11.

The players we've been linked with are very much in the same mould as last season's imports; more of a risk than a guarantee. They will need time, and that is not the argument here, but other teams will be pulling in players that are more than likely going to make an immediate impact than ours.

We'll have a younger team, definitely, but there needs to be balance. Our average age reduced because we got rid of useless players (Hunt, Norris, Green) and were lucky enough to have exceptional youth coming through (Cook, Mowatt, Taylor). Amongst that we signed some mediocre players. The intended goal should never be necessarily to lower the age, but to improve the quality of players. We replaced old, tired players with mediocrity, and our youth turned out to be better options. There's players I'd take in a heartbeat that are over 30. Generally their wages don't allow it and they are too good for this league. The ones we can afford and will come here, tend to be past it. We don't want them, correct. We don't want any players that aren't going to contribute regardless of age. Age was only an issue due to the contracts. That and the older players we signed were mostly crap.

Cellino has done a chunk of good things here, mostly overshadowed by his silly actions. Last season's signings weren't the best, but that is last season. I'll give him this summer and judge it separately. His actions, in terms of getting us financially stable, appear, on the evidence we have, to be working. It took Arsenal years of selling their best players and 'chugging' along before they got on to a footing where they can compete with world class signings. We might need to go through the same slow process, and I would understand that, but yet that wouldn't align with his Premier League targets, and certainly there is ample pressure on Championship teams to get promoted as soon as possible.

Are we moving along in the right direction? Absolutely.
Will we be in the Premier League by 2017/18? Very, very unlikely.
Will we be in the Premier League with Cook, Byram, Mowatt and Taylor all on board? Nope.

Cellino is going the slow, sustainable way. Again, that is not a knock, and short of a billionaire coming in, was always going to be the case. His self-caused explosions will keep knocking us back, and slow it down further. I just can't buy in to his promises, but do think we are moving in the right direction, albeit it slowly and erratically.

[1964white]

would love to know where all the ross mccormack money went?

Souleymane Doukara - 2m
Giuseppe Bellusci - 1,6m
Liam Cooper - 600k
Billy Sharp - 600k
Casper Sloth - 600k
Mirco Antenucci - 500k
Gaetano Berardi - 500k
Marco Silvestri - 400k
Nicky Ajose - £150k

There's almost £7m Dan

[danhirons]

Souleymane Doukara - 2m
Giuseppe Bellusci - 1,6m
Liam Cooper - 600k
Billy Sharp - 600k
Casper Sloth - 600k
Mirco Antenucci - 500k
Gaetano Berardi - 500k
Marco Silvestri - 400k
Nicky Ajose - £150k

There's almost £7m Dan

Yeah but that's my point. He's saying he's come in and bought all these players and invested all of this money for the love of the club - and he's had ten million from the sale of McCormack to buy all these players with and he's still had some to invest back in the club.... Plus look how much of that money he's wasted... 2 million on doukara?! He must be mental. To be spending 2 million on a player like that at this level and after saying how we wasted so much money is not really acceptable. He'll say it was his money, but really it was from the sale of McCormack that we've signed all this crap with

[1964white]

Yeah but that's my point. He's saying he's come in and bought all these players and invested all of this money for the love of the club - and he's had ten million from the sale of McCormack to buy all these players with and he's still had some to invest back in the club.... Plus look how much of that money he's wasted... 2 million on doukara?! He must be mental. To be spending 2 million on a player like that at this level and after saying how we wasted so much money is not really acceptable. He'll say it was his money, but really it was from the sale of McCormack that we've signed all this crap with

Doukara reminds me of a beach whale, doesn't even look a 250k player let alone £2m

His cheaper signings such as Silvestri, Antenucci & Berardi were the better ones. I have a soft spot for Bellusci as there is a decent footballer in him but the £1.6m we paid looks way over the top although next season will prove the players value/worth if they are still here !

[Gandalf]

Souleymane Doukara - 2m
Giuseppe Bellusci - 1,6m
Liam Cooper - 600k
Billy Sharp - 600k
Casper Sloth - 600k
Mirco Antenucci - 500k
Gaetano Berardi - 500k
Marco Silvestri - 400k
Nicky Ajose - £150k

There's almost £7m Dan

"Cellino says the fee for McCormack was £10.75m and will be put towards the repurchase of Elland Road, rather than new players for a Championship season which starts on August 9.

“We already had our budget for players,” he says. “We had a £15m budget to buy players and we’re doing that. The money from Ross is not for that. It’s for Elland Road. "

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/s ... -1-6736431

[andywatson]

Doukara reminds me of a beach whale, doesn't even look a 250k player let alone £2m

His cheaper signings such as Silvestri, Antenucci & Berardi were the better ones. I have a soft spot for Bellusci as there is a decent footballer in him but the £1.6m we paid looks way over the top although next season will prove the players value/worth if they are still here !

Doukara is a great example of Cellinos strengths and weaknesses. He is very impulsive. Doukara actually made a real impact when he first arrived. I remember saying he was very inconsistent, but on his day looked to be a class apart with powerful running and finishing. However he has also proved to be totally uninterested most of the time.

I think Cellino saw the early Doukara, fell a bit in love, and impulsively paid the £1.5M to make the move permanent. A more circumspect owner would have let the loan run its course and made a fuller assessment- and in this case not signed him permanently. I remember there were transfer embargo issues at the time which will also possibly have factored into the decision.

[weasel]

I would have hoped that people would have, at the very least, learnt to judge Cellino by his actions rather than his words. Apparently not in some cases.

didn't buy ER as promised

words?

And now he has another 2 year plan. Lets hope this one works out a bit better shall we?

Well in fairness we are only 1 season into his 2 year plan. Same as with every ambition/plan things always need to be re-evaluated. Sometimes successes happen quicker than expected sometimes things take longer to achieve.

Bringing down the squad age is a generally good thing, but it can be taken too far- Bamba was rated as much for his experience and leadership as his actual defensive skills. Austin is similar. It is not fair to describe players such as Warnock as "deadlegs". Yes, He was a higher earner, but performed consistently throughout the season for us, and elsewhere. Hunt- who was an unmitigated disaster as a signing for us-scored in his debut for Ipswich. Sometimes it's not all the players fault. Yes, the squad needed overhauling, but many of the replacements have also been found wanting.

Crikey using Hunt to make an argument is clutching at straws. Yes Hunt scored on his debut and seemed to get his share of luck with a couple of early goals. He then returned to his normal form and was awful - note Ipswich released him at the end of the season in which they went from looking good for automatic promotion to failing mserably in the pay-offs. Experience can be a good thing but did we miss Warnock's experience at left back? Reducing the age of the squad is a big plus in my eyes. Yes in signing/bringing through youth there is the risk of them not being good enough but it is a risk worth taking if some turn out to be decent. Where would we be if the ikes of Norris and Green had have been playing instead of Cook and Mowatt? Yes Redfearn selected them but you cannot argue about Cellino interfering in team selections but then say it is all down to Redfearn for selecting the youth. Choose which side of the argument you wish to take in regard to Cellino meddling and give praise and criticism accordingly instead of cherry picking.

RE: Given Lewis Cook a more lucrative three year contract + offered renewed contracts to academy players
Of course these are good things, but should be an expectation, not a cause for celebration.

So conveniently brush aside the good things by saying it should be an expectation. There were a lot of clubs sniffing after Cook. We were unable to offer good enough terms to keep a lot of decent payers in the past.I see it as a cause for celebration. Admittedly there is the chance he could still be sold but at least we will get a better price if it is the case.

RE: now all we require is some quality additions in key areas of the first eleven
Are you having a laugh? This is what I have been saying all season, and you have been telling me we already have.

I recall seeing 64, myself and others repeatedly saying towards the end of the season just finished that we have a good base and just need a few key signings. I don't think 64, myself or others have ever claimed we are the finished article.

See I would agree that it is best to judge Cellino by his actions than his words. His passion seems to get the best of him and he makes rash promises - he says what he thinks fans want to hear. However despite this he has done a lot of good things but also done a lot of stupid/embarrrassing things.

However to judge him by his actions is definitely the key and he needs to be judged over a much longer period of time. He has made mistakes, he needs the time to rectify the mistakes. If we judged Ridsdale on his first few years at Leeds I'm sure he'd score pretty close to 100% popularity/approval, however judge him at the end of his time at Leeds and that figure is much much lower. Promises that are made should not always be carried out just to gain popularity amongst the fans. This is not a Ridsdale v Bates type argument over lack of investment but merely the point that decisions need to be taken from a correct financial point of view rather than because a rash promise was made or to make fans happy.

[1964white]

I was trying to put a positive spin on recent events at ER, unfortunately my points got cut to ribbons

We have a decent base which does require building on with some quality signings. The key for me is we are looking a much more professional club at top managerial level now so given the right resources with good solid organisation there is no reason why not to expect a decent season this time round. That is how the likes of Bournemouth,Watford, Norwich, Burnley, Hull City, etc have achieved promotion to the premiership of late

[danhirons]

Re: reducing the age of the squad -

I'm not too sure how much credit cellino can really take from this...yes reducing the age was desperately needed but
1) several of the older players were out of contract at the end of last season/this - and it was unlikely any owner would have kept them on
2) a lot of his younger signings havent really paid off so reducing the age of the squad is irrelevant if players like adryan, del fabro, doukara at the end of the season arent going to play...
3) he's been helped by the emergence of players such as cook and morwatt and taylor - not sure how much credit he can take for this - apart from selling warnock and failing to buy a replacement!

Personally I feel after over a year in charge we can start to jude him on his start....hopefully this will turn around in the future.

But apart from that I agree with a lot of what you've said

[weasel]

Definitely a lot of factors have helped in reducing the age of the squad however it has been a policy of Cellino's when at Cagliari to be youth focussed and as the man who has the final say on transfers it is noticeable that the incoming signings have predominatly been younger. Yes the key is in getting quality and it can certainly be argued that Adryan, Del Fabro and Montenegro haven't really produced (or been given the chance to produce) but with signing young players there is always going to be a higher risk element that many will be failures (just look at how many great prospects never make it into first team squads all over the world). The upside is that even if just 1 in 10 turns out to be good then you have a player that is still young but that we wouldn't have been able to afford given his current performance levels/worth. Also the likelihood is that from a business point of view younger players will be on lower wages.

[Crude]

Can't say I disagree with Cellino on this topic