What is it about Leeds United and take over deals? They never seem to run smoothly it seems. And now, the Leeds Effect seems to have assumed the status of an Inverse Midas Touch, as anybody who comes in to contact with the club seems to be contaminated with a new disease known as Buy Out Collapsivitis.
So, after GFH Capital's ludicrously protracted buy out of Leeds and the collapse of the the David Haigh & Andy Flowers deal, it seems that Cellino himself has been infected - for not only was his bid for the off-Whites initially blocked by the Football League's Fit and Proper Crook Committee, now his proposed sale of Cagliari has collapsed.
It seems the proposed buyer - the marvelously named Silvestrone - has not been fronting up a consortium as he claimed after all, he's simply been on a massive ego trip; or so Cellino claims. Either way, the Italian is suddenly light of something like sixty five million quid, and that can't be great news for fans of Leeds.
I reckon it's time for Newcastle and West Ham to reduce their bids for McCormack: Cellino may be happy to grab at any money on offer!
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
Newcastle Fancy Nicking Leeds United's Ross McCormack from West Ham
So, Newscastle are the latest club to be linked with Leeds United captain Ross McCormack. As a West Ham fan, I wish Newcastle well because I really don't think the guy is worth anywhere near eight million. Three yes. But not a penny more!
The big question is, why would Newcastle be interested? I mean the guy isn't French is he?
But then maybe the club aren't that interested, maybe it just Pardew who has had his fancy tickled.
Is there a Mrs McCormack?
And is she a looker?
The big question is, why would Newcastle be interested? I mean the guy isn't French is he?
But then maybe the club aren't that interested, maybe it just Pardew who has had his fancy tickled.
Is there a Mrs McCormack?
And is she a looker?
Monday, 2 June 2014
Lallana Betrays Southampton Fans As He Eyes Tottenham Move
How sad. We all knew that the baby rats would follow Daddy Rat Pochettino out of Southampton, but it leaves a disgusting taste in the mouth when a player turned into a star by a club then betrays the fans of that club by slapping in a transfer request.
We have been through it at West Ham, and Judas Defoe will never be forgiven for slapping in a transfer request the day after we were relegated. But Lallana doesn't even have that excuse! Southampton are - for the time being - still a Premiership club and the fans have been brilliant, paying good money to back the team even when the club was in the old Third Division with a then unrecognised Lallana in the side.
The club were going to sell him anyway, so Lallana could have shown some respect to the fans by biding his time. Instead, he has kicked those who idolised him most in the bollocks and stripped Southampton fans of any pleasure they may have gained from watching him in the World Cup.
The transfer request is cruel and heartless and Lallana should be ashamed. He shouldn't be thinking of where he will be plying his trade next season anyway, he should be totally focused on helping England to win the World Cup. Just imagine for a moment the pride the fans of Southampton would have felt had Lallana, Shaw and Lambert done a Moore, Hurst and Peters; now any World Cup glory will be bitter sweet in deepest Hampshire.
Shame on you Lallana: the club may not deserve loyalty and respect after sacking Pochettino's predecessor, but the fans deserved better!
We have been through it at West Ham, and Judas Defoe will never be forgiven for slapping in a transfer request the day after we were relegated. But Lallana doesn't even have that excuse! Southampton are - for the time being - still a Premiership club and the fans have been brilliant, paying good money to back the team even when the club was in the old Third Division with a then unrecognised Lallana in the side.
The club were going to sell him anyway, so Lallana could have shown some respect to the fans by biding his time. Instead, he has kicked those who idolised him most in the bollocks and stripped Southampton fans of any pleasure they may have gained from watching him in the World Cup.
The transfer request is cruel and heartless and Lallana should be ashamed. He shouldn't be thinking of where he will be plying his trade next season anyway, he should be totally focused on helping England to win the World Cup. Just imagine for a moment the pride the fans of Southampton would have felt had Lallana, Shaw and Lambert done a Moore, Hurst and Peters; now any World Cup glory will be bitter sweet in deepest Hampshire.
Shame on you Lallana: the club may not deserve loyalty and respect after sacking Pochettino's predecessor, but the fans deserved better!
Sunday, 1 June 2014
Leicester Planning for Immediate Return to the Championship?
It probably makes sense given the squad's limitations, but it's rare for a club to come out and announce that they expect to go straight back down following promotion. But how else can you interpret the decision to sign Matty Upson?
Dear God, the guy was past it in his final season at Upton Park so unless he has found a way of reversing the ageing process, he's going to be as much use in the Prem as a eunuch with a blistered tongue at an orgy!
Slow, injury prone, uncommitted in the challenge, a poor passer and 35 years of age - it's a recipe for disaster at the highest level. Still, when you look at the rest of the Leicester squad, Matty will fit in nicely!
What price are Leicester to be relegated? It must be a good bet!
Dear God, the guy was past it in his final season at Upton Park so unless he has found a way of reversing the ageing process, he's going to be as much use in the Prem as a eunuch with a blistered tongue at an orgy!
Slow, injury prone, uncommitted in the challenge, a poor passer and 35 years of age - it's a recipe for disaster at the highest level. Still, when you look at the rest of the Leicester squad, Matty will fit in nicely!
What price are Leicester to be relegated? It must be a good bet!
Forget Southampton, Pochettino should work with the present Spurs squad
OK, important fact number one: Spurs finished above Southampton last season. Important fact number two: Spurs finished the season stronger than Southampton. But would you believe it, with Spurs repeatedly linked with raids on Southampton's squad?
Now, why was Pochettino recruited and Timmy Sherwood sacked exactly? Presumably because Pochettino is thought to be the better manager and coach. And what do better managers and coaches do? They get more out of the players at their disposal.
OK, so how much did Spurs spend last year? That would be something in the order of £100m. And believe it or not, quality players do not become rubbish players overnight. Bad tactics, bad man management and squad disaffection can trigger underperformance, of course, but a new manager is meant to address that, isn't he?
So, let's look at that bad season. Spurs finished 6th in the Premier League which, whilst disappointing, hardly constitutes a disastrous year. They finished above Manchester United and, apart from Everton, all the teams that finished above them might, by neutrals be expected to finish above them. In other words, that bad season would be called par on a round of golf.
And now let's look at the backdrop. People keep going on about the money spent, but that takes no account of the debilitating effect of losing Gareth Bale, arguably one of the best five players in the world. Any team would take time to adjust to losing a player of that calibre, a player who won games single handedly in the previous season. Take the games against West Ham. Back in 2012-13, Bale tore us apart in both games. At White Hart Lane he scythed through our midfield and opened up our back four with all the ease of Brad Pitt opening a woman's legs. At Upton Park he scored that wonder goal in the last minute of the match and turned the game in the last twenty minutes. Without Bale, Spurs hammered at the Allardyce defensive wall but could find no way through. So, in two games, you have the Bale effect in a nutshell. Add the six points lost to West Ham and Spurs would have finished on 75 points and in fifth place - which is more points than Bale inspired Spurs finished the previous season with! And in 2012-13, Spurs did not change managers in mid season.
Of course, players need time to settle in to a new club, especially when signed from abroad. Look at Bale himself when he joined Spurs. True he was young, but he didn't make a great impression initially did he? Liverpool might well have jettisoned Suarez last summer, considering him more trouble than he was worth, and what a mistake that would have been! Spurs bought half a team last summer and somehow expected all the pieces of the jigsaw to fall magically into place immediately. That rarely happens.
Is Soldado a crap player? His record before joining Spurs suggests otherwise. Lamela has looked lost but a good coach should surely be able to get him back to playing to his best. Yes Spurs need to replace Defoe and need a quality left back, but those positions apart, the squad is strong and doesn't need any major overhaul. If AVB and Timmy can get the current mob to sixth place and 69 points, surely it's not asking too much to expect Pochetinno, if he is any good, to add value and turn that 69 points to, say 81. That's four extra victories! Two wins over West Ham and two other inexcusable reverses turned into maximum points. The defeat at Norwich was disgraceful and a victory at Burnley would make up for that; Spurs fans can nominate another game to make up for the other three points, though I would suggest Liverpool and Manchester City are not factored in!
So, if Pochettino is any good, he should be able to qualify for the Champions League without employing a transfer revolving door. Spurs should aim for stability now. Tell the new manager to prove himself worthy of the job by bettering AVB and Timmy. Is that really that big a challenge?
http://thegamesgonecrazy.blogspot.ro/2014/05/west-ham-owe-it-all-to-tottenham-hotspur.html
Now, why was Pochettino recruited and Timmy Sherwood sacked exactly? Presumably because Pochettino is thought to be the better manager and coach. And what do better managers and coaches do? They get more out of the players at their disposal.
OK, so how much did Spurs spend last year? That would be something in the order of £100m. And believe it or not, quality players do not become rubbish players overnight. Bad tactics, bad man management and squad disaffection can trigger underperformance, of course, but a new manager is meant to address that, isn't he?
So, let's look at that bad season. Spurs finished 6th in the Premier League which, whilst disappointing, hardly constitutes a disastrous year. They finished above Manchester United and, apart from Everton, all the teams that finished above them might, by neutrals be expected to finish above them. In other words, that bad season would be called par on a round of golf.
And now let's look at the backdrop. People keep going on about the money spent, but that takes no account of the debilitating effect of losing Gareth Bale, arguably one of the best five players in the world. Any team would take time to adjust to losing a player of that calibre, a player who won games single handedly in the previous season. Take the games against West Ham. Back in 2012-13, Bale tore us apart in both games. At White Hart Lane he scythed through our midfield and opened up our back four with all the ease of Brad Pitt opening a woman's legs. At Upton Park he scored that wonder goal in the last minute of the match and turned the game in the last twenty minutes. Without Bale, Spurs hammered at the Allardyce defensive wall but could find no way through. So, in two games, you have the Bale effect in a nutshell. Add the six points lost to West Ham and Spurs would have finished on 75 points and in fifth place - which is more points than Bale inspired Spurs finished the previous season with! And in 2012-13, Spurs did not change managers in mid season.
Of course, players need time to settle in to a new club, especially when signed from abroad. Look at Bale himself when he joined Spurs. True he was young, but he didn't make a great impression initially did he? Liverpool might well have jettisoned Suarez last summer, considering him more trouble than he was worth, and what a mistake that would have been! Spurs bought half a team last summer and somehow expected all the pieces of the jigsaw to fall magically into place immediately. That rarely happens.
Is Soldado a crap player? His record before joining Spurs suggests otherwise. Lamela has looked lost but a good coach should surely be able to get him back to playing to his best. Yes Spurs need to replace Defoe and need a quality left back, but those positions apart, the squad is strong and doesn't need any major overhaul. If AVB and Timmy can get the current mob to sixth place and 69 points, surely it's not asking too much to expect Pochetinno, if he is any good, to add value and turn that 69 points to, say 81. That's four extra victories! Two wins over West Ham and two other inexcusable reverses turned into maximum points. The defeat at Norwich was disgraceful and a victory at Burnley would make up for that; Spurs fans can nominate another game to make up for the other three points, though I would suggest Liverpool and Manchester City are not factored in!
So, if Pochettino is any good, he should be able to qualify for the Champions League without employing a transfer revolving door. Spurs should aim for stability now. Tell the new manager to prove himself worthy of the job by bettering AVB and Timmy. Is that really that big a challenge?
http://thegamesgonecrazy.blogspot.ro/2014/05/west-ham-owe-it-all-to-tottenham-hotspur.html
McCormack to follow McDermott out of Leeds but hopefully not to West Ham
As sure as night follows day, so the man made captain of Leeds looks certain to follow his mentor, Nice Guy Brian, out of Leeds. Recreated by McDermott into a goal poaching striker, the Scot is, unsurprisingly, unhappy at the treatment of his father figure and, like Lampard who followed 'Arry out of West Ham, wants away. Well, after topping the goal scoring charts last season, why would he want to hang around for an impending battle against relegation regardless?
Mind you, as a West Ham fan, I hope he finds a different home than Upon Park. Ross may relish the opportunity of playing in the Prem but it is questionable whether he has the ability to deliver on the top stage. Dear God, he's not even been able to establish himself as a fixture in the Scotland team.
£8 million is far too much to speculate on a guy who is now in his later twenties and who, until last season, never suggested that he was anything other than a run of the mill Championship player. Rhodes has done it consistently for much longer and looks the better bet to me.
Gold and Sullivan should check out Becchio's record at Norwich before they rush in with big bucks! The gulf between Championship and Premiership is huge - and the transition is especially hard for strikers.
Mind you, as a West Ham fan, I hope he finds a different home than Upon Park. Ross may relish the opportunity of playing in the Prem but it is questionable whether he has the ability to deliver on the top stage. Dear God, he's not even been able to establish himself as a fixture in the Scotland team.
£8 million is far too much to speculate on a guy who is now in his later twenties and who, until last season, never suggested that he was anything other than a run of the mill Championship player. Rhodes has done it consistently for much longer and looks the better bet to me.
Gold and Sullivan should check out Becchio's record at Norwich before they rush in with big bucks! The gulf between Championship and Premiership is huge - and the transition is especially hard for strikers.
Saturday, 31 May 2014
Festa, Carbone, Zola & Di Canio - The Leeds United Short List!
So it looks like four Italians are in the running to replace Nice Guy Brian. All four, like Mussolini, will be expected to get the Leeds United Feel Good Factor Sleeper Express to the Premiership, Europe, Infinity and Beyond to run on time, but do any have the credentials for success?
Well Uncle Festa knows the club and seems to have been the nominated man when Cellino first arrived. But since then, he has faded into the background with Carbone coming more to the fore. Festa has, of course, next to no management experience and no track record in the British game apart from 136 games for the Smoggies - hardly a great reference - and a further 27 starts for Pompey. Why is he amongst the favourites? Because he is a mate of Cellino's, and Sicilians like to keep it in the family. A strong candidate for appointment certainly, but utterly unqualified for the job.
So to Benito Carbone. Well he has the right first name, is Italian, is a mate of Cellino and is already at the club, so he has to be worth 50 lira of anybody's money! Like Uncle Festa, Carbone has played but never managed in England and, like Festa, his management CV is far from extensive, with appointments limited to lower division teams in Italy. He already has one sacking on his CV and does not have any of the right credentials for such a challenging job. But Cellino likes him so, even though he is a favourite amongst Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford City fans, Carbone must be considered a strong contender to be appointed.
But if Cellino wants to look further afield, there are two other Italians waiting in the wings, both with experience of playing and managing in England.
Zola would be a popular choice because Zola is, well, lovable. As a manager he is pretty crap, of course, but why should that stand in the way of his appointment. He has managed in the Prem, turning Curbishley's mid table West Ham team into a rag bag relegation fighting mess in less than two seasons. And he has also managed in the Championship, taking Udinese Calcio to the brink of the Prem in his first season in charge before the ruote came off big time in his second season at the helm. It seems that, like Nice Guy Brian, Zola is good when the Feel Good Factor is high, but when things start to go wrong, he is utterly clueless. On that basis, he is the very worst man to take over at Leeds Disunited but he is Italian and is desperate for a job, so he can't be ruled out!
Which brings us to Il Duce Di Canio. Now here is a man made for Leeds - he would love to manage a team known as the Whites! And with his fascist salutes, he would have instant appeal for the "force" - as McDermott termed Leeds fans, or the "vile animals" if you prefer Dave Jones' description! Of course, his track record is less than perfect. Yes he guided Swindon to promotion and kept Sunderland up in his first season in charge, but his insane antics made his continued employment impossible. A Brian Clough with knobs on, the unstable Di Canio would be a marvellous appointment for Dirty Dirty Leeds. He's Italian, he's unemployed, he's passionate - so who knows? He would be the perfect last nail in the Leeds Disunited coffin!
http://thegamesgonecrazier.blogspot.ro/2014/05/mcdermott-cellino-speak-with-forked.html
Well Uncle Festa knows the club and seems to have been the nominated man when Cellino first arrived. But since then, he has faded into the background with Carbone coming more to the fore. Festa has, of course, next to no management experience and no track record in the British game apart from 136 games for the Smoggies - hardly a great reference - and a further 27 starts for Pompey. Why is he amongst the favourites? Because he is a mate of Cellino's, and Sicilians like to keep it in the family. A strong candidate for appointment certainly, but utterly unqualified for the job.
So to Benito Carbone. Well he has the right first name, is Italian, is a mate of Cellino and is already at the club, so he has to be worth 50 lira of anybody's money! Like Uncle Festa, Carbone has played but never managed in England and, like Festa, his management CV is far from extensive, with appointments limited to lower division teams in Italy. He already has one sacking on his CV and does not have any of the right credentials for such a challenging job. But Cellino likes him so, even though he is a favourite amongst Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford City fans, Carbone must be considered a strong contender to be appointed.
But if Cellino wants to look further afield, there are two other Italians waiting in the wings, both with experience of playing and managing in England.
Zola would be a popular choice because Zola is, well, lovable. As a manager he is pretty crap, of course, but why should that stand in the way of his appointment. He has managed in the Prem, turning Curbishley's mid table West Ham team into a rag bag relegation fighting mess in less than two seasons. And he has also managed in the Championship, taking Udinese Calcio to the brink of the Prem in his first season in charge before the ruote came off big time in his second season at the helm. It seems that, like Nice Guy Brian, Zola is good when the Feel Good Factor is high, but when things start to go wrong, he is utterly clueless. On that basis, he is the very worst man to take over at Leeds Disunited but he is Italian and is desperate for a job, so he can't be ruled out!
Which brings us to Il Duce Di Canio. Now here is a man made for Leeds - he would love to manage a team known as the Whites! And with his fascist salutes, he would have instant appeal for the "force" - as McDermott termed Leeds fans, or the "vile animals" if you prefer Dave Jones' description! Of course, his track record is less than perfect. Yes he guided Swindon to promotion and kept Sunderland up in his first season in charge, but his insane antics made his continued employment impossible. A Brian Clough with knobs on, the unstable Di Canio would be a marvellous appointment for Dirty Dirty Leeds. He's Italian, he's unemployed, he's passionate - so who knows? He would be the perfect last nail in the Leeds Disunited coffin!
http://thegamesgonecrazier.blogspot.ro/2014/05/mcdermott-cellino-speak-with-forked.html
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