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Wednesday 8 May 2013

A huge missed opportunity for Leeds United

When the history books are written, there's a danger that the chapter dedicated to the 2012-13 season will be entitled "A huge missed opportunity". The season started full of hope and ended with a pathetic whimper.

Of course, some will say, so what, the same applied to the previous season! But 2012-13 was different, because in 2012-13, following the promotion of West Ham, Southampton and Reading, there were no outstanding teams in the division and promotion was there for the taking.

Looking ahead to next season, will Wigan, QPR and Reading perform as badly as Wolves, Blackburn and Bolton following their relegation? It seems unlikely. QPR and Reading know the division and know how to get out of it. It's true that QPR may implode, but if they retain 60% of their present squad, they would have to be amongst the favourites for an automatic promotion spot. And you would fancy both Reading and Wigan to be there or thereabouts.

Bolton, meanwhile, are likely to offer a more sustained challenge next season, whilst you would expect the three play off losers to be contenders and Nottingham Forest to be stronger with Billy Davies at the helm for a full season backed by Arab cash.

Meanwhile, Leeds must reflect ruefully on the fact that Leicester qualified for the play offs with a paltry 68 points, SEVEN points less than sixth placed Cardiff achieved last season, whilst Hull secured automatic promotion with SEVEN less points than West Ham amassed the previous season when finishing third. The fact that Cardiff were able to storm the division with a squad not significantly stronger than the one that finished sixth the previous season says everything about the poor standard of the Championship this time around.

Of course, Leeds fans are hoping that McDermott will have a stronger squad at his disposal next season, but there's no getting away from the fact that had GFH Capital grasped the nettle in January and signed two or three decent players, Leeds would probably now be in the playoffs given the way Leicester collapsed but still qualified. It was a huge miscalculation not to invest in that window and until we see the colour of GFH Capital's money, there must be a doubt as to whether they are actually able to finance a push for the Prem.


33 comments:

  1. So true mot.

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  2. 2 sensible articles in a week? WTF?

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  3. Well said again mate, shame your going to get a load of haters .

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  4. Yep! Can't argue with that, but new season, new hope.

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  5. Detling White8 May 2013 at 11:04

    The Board were too busy trying to sell assets than invest, hence Becchio departure, he didn't ask for £30K a week.

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  6. Dear Hf (Chomski),
    Conversely it could be stated that it "says everything about the
    GOOD standard of the championship" !!

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  7. Why tell us things we allready know hf ?

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  8. All true and all been said a hundread times this year. Nothing insiteful about this article. I will say one thing though, what makes u so sure wigan will go down??

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  9. I totally agree but what the F--k has it got to do with you and where does the 'WE' come from you scummy tosser

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  10. West ham united today issued a "Hands off" warning to manchester united following the news the whiskey nosed twat is retiring,sparking fears amongst supporters that much sought after manager sam allardyce is lined up to replace him. It has been revealed that Big Sam has a get out clause in his contract should a big club come in for him and so far west ham have managed to hold onto their east end legend despite recent interest from Barcelona following Peps resignation. There are growing fears that if/when Sam DOES leave,a host of talent will follow him to old trafford,pogatetz,liam noble,bernie nolan and keeper Just bincaughtoffmeline. Meanwhile top Romanian defender Ratarse is said to be stalling over a move to upton pk until the managerial situation is sorted,he was quoted as saying, "it was big sam who attracted me to west ham in the first place and i'll have to reconsider if he leaves and they appoint a lesser candidate". The fight to hold onto Sam will intensify during the summer when the Real Madrid job becomes vacant. Meanwhile co owners gold and sullivan have offered Sam an improved deal and have even took on more staff at their dildo factory to pay for it.

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    1. Now this is what makes visiting Nfs blog worth visiting. Great reply!

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  11. Well written piece. Not sure about making predictions as to which teams will do well next season. The only predictable thing is that it will be unpredictable. Frankly, I'm quite looking forward to seeing how it will unfold. I would agree that there has been a levelling out - it could be that they have all improved - who knows.

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    1. Funniest thing ever on this site, dildo factory-classic!

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  12. you have said all this before hf!! repeating yourself because the season is over!saddo

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  13. thankyou for stating the bleeding obvious

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  14. gerneral enquiry from nice guy Brian is your wife avaible LEEDS UTD are looking for a new goal keeper & we need a quality stopper next season we will also have to double the size of the shower block too!!!! if she signs

    MIGGY WHITES

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  15. what ever will be will be, you are still stating the obvious, we live in hope that funds will be made available, early days or early doors. cash was king at Leicester this was and still is no gaurantee of promotion, McDermott has got the ball down and we are playing, Watford was a nick, we strangled their play and got a result, result too late, but step in the right direction.

    like all in coming managers they inherite players they may not feel fit for the purpose. we like all other teams have youth, and the youth have been winning in style.

    hopefully we will intergrate the youth programme with the seasoned pros, and a proven playmaker and a goal taker. it may not be next season maybe the season after what ever way, we will be playing a better way of football under Mcdermott.

    we were frankly shit this season under warnocks bollacks we will come again. MOT

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  16. go away we dont want to read your dribble anymore. leeds leeds leeds

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  17. Yes we could have grasped the nettle in January and got stung quite severely,still not made the play offs and be stuck with players bought on a quick fix that would now be surplus to MCDERMOTTS requirements,Clubs sell players in the January tranfer window mainly because they are Crap or are nearing end of contracts, summer is the main time when squads are put together and thats where it went wrong last season.

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  18. I agree with u for once.we missed the boat bigtime.we have premier league fans,but league 2 directors and owners.these next 2 months are vital for gfh.we will see how ambitious they really are.

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  19. Over the last 3 days you've tried get a response from sunderland fans , liecester fans and sheff utd fans !!! But all you ended up with was 8 replies from Leeds fans abusing you ,,, you're just a Leeds utd feeder ,, you know that were the only fans on the internet who will defened our SUPER club ,, that's were called SUPER LEEDS .. GIMP BOY

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  20. What are you saying when you say "until WE see the colour of GFH capitals money?" are "WE" now a Leeds fan? and as for Reading and QPR "knowing" how to get out of the championship? is there a "secret formula" that nobody else knows? The last time these two clubs got out of the championship was with different managers, coaching staff and some different players. You do make yourself look a complete prat on here. Why do you bother? are you a member of Garth Crooks "how to talk utter shite" school of learning?

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  21. A balanced rational article well done

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  22. Get over it HF! LUFC's season is over. You can now pick a different team to stroke your member to.

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  23. You see! When you put aside the silly internet trolling and engage your brain cell you are quite capable of writing a half-decent article!

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  24. The only problem with that is if we had made the playoffs warnock would still be the manager so saving grace is we didn't

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  25. what are you going to write next week??? seeing as though there aint anything going on!

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  26. a huge missed opportunity for you to start a family while on holiday....instead you spent to much time following the great Leeds United and getting upset.

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  27. The fact the top teams had less points just shows how far more competitive the league was, unlike the previous season where most teams were poor,
    So even today, you continue to talk utter bollocks,

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  28. Come on Hammers fan show you have a sense of humour, the post about Big Sam being poached and the dildo factory is brilliant, my wife is looking at me and wondering why I am in stitches.

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  29. I also missed a huge opportunity to ignore this stupid blog. I'm already kicking myself for that!
    One thing to think on HF.Given the termoil of the takeover which dominated the first half of the season and restricted Leeds ability to get the squad into the shape they needed to be for promotion, how can this 'opportunity' have even existed under these circumstances?

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