A Calypso Season Preview

It’s that time again. With the national team filling our hearts with the barrage of depression and fury, it’s time to turn our attention back to Leeds United. The summer break has seen the wholesale changes that many fans had called for, with the squad, manager and everything in between seeming to have been completely revamped. As our perennial charge for promotion, or rather the inevitable attempt to avoid relegation, starts once again tomorrow lunchtime, we at @LUFC_Calypso took some time to access the changes at Elland Rd, casting our verdict on the season ahead.

The Manager:

Dubbed as the next Jose Mourinho by absolutely nobody in footballing history, Dave Hockaday’s appointment hardly made the United faithful jump out of their skin with excitement. Allegedly on roughly 10% of Brian McDermott’s 750k salary, it is clear to see strategy that the club president has taken. Thus, when it comes to making some kind of profound statement about the enigma that is ‘The Hock’, it proves to be very difficult indeed. At the end of the day, Hockaday is a man who knows a bit about football, so that helps. He’s not fancy, doesn’t interview particularly well, and has about as much charisma as Phil Neville in co-commentary, but he might just fit the bill for the direction we seem to be heading in. Who knows what direction that might be, but for now, our best bet is to sit tight and see how he fairs. If he fails in our first 5-10 games, I fear he’ll be handed his P45 in what will feel like a blink of an eye. That’s Cellino; that’s football.

The President:

Massimo Cellino has already left an indelible mark on our illustrious club. Rumours of banning black current cordial, the colour purple and the number 17 epitomise the barmy, seemingly uncalculated strategy that the Italian possesses. Although Cellino does seem to be issuing false promises from time to time, I do feel that his intentions are ultimately good. He’s going to make a lot of mistakes, undoubtedly, but he might just make the occasional masterstroke. Financial stability and a ruthless streak are two commodities that haven’t been seen round our parts for an awfully long time, so to see these return to the fore is surely a good sign. Just how crazy the man is remains to be seen, but much like Hockaday’s situation, we can only buckle up and prepare for the bumpy ride. Regardless of the outcomes, there’s no doubt in my mind that this season will be an exciting one, and there’s something to be said for that.

The Squad:

First things first, the removal of the periphery, or ‘deadwood’, players is a hugely encouraging sign. The likes of Peltier, Pugh, Lees, Brown, Drury etc. have all been sent packing, and for the most part I feel this is a positive step. Clearing out the emotionally scarred and habitual underachievers was integral in forming a squad capable of, one day, fighting for promotion, and barring the odd individual we have done that. Ross McCormack was always going to leave, and Cellino has made an absolute masterstroke in pushing for possibly 5x the value GFH would have sold him for, making his decision to sell more than justified.

In terms of incomings, this has been mostly positive. Silvestri looks a very decent keeper, and Stuart Taylor looks like a capable understudy in the absence of Jamie Ashdown. Berardi will be great competition for Byram, and may allow him to make the move to midfield that many of us have expected. Bianchi has shown some promise in the middle of the park, and may add the tempo and class that has been lacking a bit recently. Benedicic comes with the reputation of being a hot prospect for the future, and if he proves to be a goalscoring midfielder he’ll win over the Leeds faithful in no time. Doukara and Ajose have some work to do to overturn preconceptions, but I feel neither are ‘poor signings’. If, and I seriously mean if, we sign Sorensen, I’ll feel a whole lot better about our squad, but we desperately need a striker capable of 15-20 goals at this level and beyond. Who knows what will happen in the market from now, but the current crop of newbies seem more than capable.

The general tone is that we have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen. Nobody does. But I’m not THAT worried about going down, and I’m not hugely optimistic about our promotion chances (if we have any), but the black clouds of the GFH reign of stupidity seem a fair distance away at the moment. Good luck everyone, it’s going to be a mad one.