Despite the majority of Leeds fans being ecstatic at the
sight of Brian McDermott arriving for training the Monday following the
Deadline Day debacle, it seems his position with both the club and the fans
looks in serious jeopardy. Reinvigorated and with a point to prove, McDermott
looked a revitalized man, on a mission to restore our club to its position of
former glory. However, another annihilation at the hands of relatively weak
opposition sees many fans look at McDermott in a whole new light. From zero to
hero, from hero to zero, his sacking seems a question of when, rather than if,
although the question of ‘who’ sacks him also remains to be seen.
With the embarrassment of Saturday afternoon seeming to be
the tip of the iceberg for many impatient fans, McDermott may well have fought
his final battle. Showing what many fans have described as ‘tactical
ineptitude’ and a lack of a cut-throat,
ruthless streak that all winners seem to have, the man heralded as Leeds United
legend six weeks ago now sees himself an outcast with the large majority of the
fans on social media. Looking over his shoulder at a second sacking in as many
months, the stats are unable to save McDermott’s blushes. Fitting the pattern
of sacking our manager when promotion is beyond our reach, Simon Grayson and
Neil Warnock may well sympathise. However, looking at the various statistics of
the last 3 men not able to take us back to the big time, the results make
interesting reading, with all 3 experiencing the same fate for not achieving our
ultimate goal at the first attempt.
Whether it is McDermott who deserves to take the brunt of
the criticism or the players, it seems more and more likely that Brian will pay
the penalty for mid-table stagnation for another successive season. Recent form
and the reputation that proceeds Mr Cellino makes it seem likely that yet
another change of manager will happen, and not many will or can complain about
it in terms of the recent form being shown under his leadership at the moment.
What can be considered debatable is whether any manager is going to achieve the
success we all crave in less than 2 seasons, and perhaps, much like Nigel
Pearson at Leicester, a manager needs to be given a sizeable transfer kitty and
3 or 4 seasons to build a side capable of promotion. Though the McDermott’s
fate may hang in the balance, the decision on whether McDermott deserves more
time to build is the subject of intense twitter debate. However, it seems that
those teams in the mix are either recently relegated from the top flight or
have been consistently improving (and investing) for several seasons, often
with the same man at the helm despite relative failures along the way. One man
who is mooted by many of the fans as the ideal replacement is Malky Mackay, yet
even he was granted a 3 year plan and remained in the hot-seat despite play-off
heart break.
Amongst the chaos that seems to break out on a weekly basis
at Leeds United, we feel that the promotion blue print that many clubs are
adopting with their manager is simply not being adopted at Leeds United.
Whether Brian is our man is far from clear (and many of you have criticised our
attempts to defend him), but stability and continuity often pave the way for
future success. If he is sacked, there won’t be many complaints, but his
successor must be given more than 12 months and 1 full season to get us
promoted. Rome wasn’t built in a day,
and Leeds United certainly won’t be either.
Do you think that Brian McDermott should be sacked? Do you
feel that any manager, Brian or otherwise, can achieve success in their first
season with Leeds? Tweet us @LUFC_Calypso to let us know your thoughts!
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