LA.Don

Hmmmm, but for every Leeds you also have a Luton Town, Notts County, Swindon, Norwich, Charlton, Southampton, Oldham....... They all played top league footie not too long ago but when will we see them again?

I feel we have totally gone down this road before.........almost every year! We cannot wait until the new signings or clearout yet we can never afford any/many decent signings and the following year we simply have a paper thin squad with youngsters, poor quality players, and we rely heavily on players like Darren Mackie and Derek Young. I don't know either what McGhee is smoking or what he has been promised but to clear out and bring in a decent squad would cost up to million - say 5-10 players from free transfers to 100k, include signing bonuses and salaries, and I highly doubt we'll see anything like that kind of money. And realistically we need more than 10 players. WTF...

My point of uneducated is that if some of the players cannot grasp what MM is asking there is a problem as we see. However, does MM adapt his tactics for the few who he has no intention of keeping past the summer while sacrificing his style of play and the players who'll incorporate what he's trying to do. It's short term fix or long term focus. Do you coach in the moment or try to establish and build a philosophy as a new manager? While I get the impression MM is focused on long term the majority of fans want the short term and immediate fix, hence the current situation. The fear is the long term mentality could see us somewhere between 8-12th in the league which is unacceptable, but is it worth it in the long term when no successful outcome is guaranteed??

Haha, wouldn't say I'm ignorant about the situation the club is in. Sacking the manager won't help. We're 8 points away from top 6 with a game in hand and 9 from bottom so every game is vital. While we are playing absolute shite right now a run of a few good games and we're safely in mid table but I do agree 6th is unlikely now - yes, that's not good enough and yes, losing to div. 1 teams in the cups isn't good enough, but I'm all for giving MM time to see what he can do. We'll never buy ourselves out of trouble so you've got to give MM time to impliment his style, pick up a few players hopefully in the summer, plus incorporate the young and promising Fyfie, Pawlett, and Paton who have been impressive this year. We're in a bad run right now but the Hearts, Celtic, and Hibs performances a few weeks ago show that potential is there. As I said before, SM and WM have to make some sort of funds available if we're having a MM clearout this summer though. Call me optimistic, patient, or simply 'ignorant' but the 'we're pish right now so turn on the manager' attitude doesn't work for me right now. We're a club that simply has to give MM time. It's clear listening to JC and MM that they are very different managerial types so the squad has to adapt which also takes time with the stereotypical uneducated footballer.

In regards to transfers, we have experienced this problems for 5-10 years or so. We punt the underachieving players, sell some players, and lose the expired contracts. However, the manager has been given little or no money for adequate replacements, or to improve a paper thin squad. For MM to be given a chance of success he has to be given some sort of money to bring in players in the summer. I'm realistic that we'll not be given millions but if SM and WM want MM to be successful he has to be given some realistic resources to do so - if we are to experience a squad clear out realistic replacements cost money.

If McGhee resigns or we sack him then we're in a worse situation than we were when we sacked JC. The club sacked JC because he had taken us as far as he could and they see MM as the man to take us forward. That means MM has to impliment his style and get his players to take us forward. However, that takes time and we may go backwards initially inorder to go forwards in the long term. We have to accept that. Many Man Utd. fans called for Fergies head in 1987 becuase he didn't have an immediate impact in terms of results/trophies and they were pretty dire to begin with - time can do wonders. I was never a fan of JC but I gave him 3 years. One to familiarize himself with the club and the squad, and to start implimenting his way. Two to get his own players and squad, playing his style of play. Three to progress and play as a JC team. We did that and became a top 6 team but he couldn't take us further than that and he had to go because the club wanted more. In my opinion MM has 3 years. However, if SM and WM feel McGhee is to take us further than JC then I do feel they have to back him financially. My concern is that he is expected to do better than JC with the same or less resources. Every year we seem to operate with less and less money yet the board expects MM to do better than JC. If they want more than a JC team they have to back him with money so the summer will be interesting. The Xmas market is no place to sign players given our financial situation so this summer and personnell changes will be very interesting. I don't know or have access to club finances - how much investment/sponsorship/additional income do we get annually? Is Milne doing his job to attract investment? Obviously I assume not. We live in a world of instant gratification - back the team and MM.......for now!