Lies, lies will tear us apart, again

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“Keeping McCormack is a matter of principle, not money” announced Cellino, confidently.

It was enough to temporarily placate the fans, who were worrying about the possibility of a Championship campaign without the player that had just single-handedly kept them in the division.

To those fans, McCormack was an asset for more than just his goals. He ‘got it’, and thrived on the pressure that came with playing for Leeds, a feat many before him struggled with. The thought of losing him to a Premier League club was hard to take. While few would deny that he had earned the right to play at the highest level, it hurt to imagine him in the colours of another team. Cellino appeared to share the same view.

“If a Premier League team comes we have to give him the chance but I pledge to keep him here.” A few days later, it was revealed that fellow Championship rivals Fulham were in talks with McCormack over a move to Craven Cottage, and the backlash began. “McContract” snarled some, a midst other, less repeatable insults. They were met with a telling silence from both player and club.

The dismal truth is, he’s right to leave.

Back in May, McCormack publicly challenged Cellino to show some ambition, stating that it was “up to the owner to show his hand now, and let everyone see what his plans for next season are, because if the quotes from him are right and he’s said he doesn’t expect promotion next year, that’s not something us as players want to hear or hang around for.” Two months, and no new signings later, Cellino brought in the practically unheard of Dave Hockaday to coach the team, and the camel’s back broke.

Ross McCormack wanted to take Leeds to the Premier League. His commitment was unquestionable, but after giving the club another season of his precious career, one in which he gave everything he had to give, his reward was for the club to demonstrate the most shattering display of ambition possible.

At this point, it appears he has decided to draw the line. Every player that has anything about them harbours ambitions of playing at the highest level possible, in McCormack’s case, that level is undeniably the Premier League. Perhaps then, it speaks volumes that he sees that the quickest route to fulfilling that dream is with a team in the same division, on the same points, with the same level playing field, as Leeds. With the signing of McCormack, Fulham will have shown more ambition than Leeds did in the entirety of his time with the club.

The move to Craven Cottage is no ‘side-step’, Leeds are a club stagnating in a division that becomes harder to escape from with every wasted season, while Fulham have their eye on an instant return to the Premier League. The pledge by Cellino to keep McCormack was a bold one to make, though Leeds fans are beginning to find that behind the promises is a catastrophic lack of action. Broken promises results in broken trust, which sees unease and a lack of confidence spread through the club like a virus. Cellino recently compared Leeds to a Ferrari; it’s as well that he never commented on its condition, as they’re in need of a serious amount of work. Once the initial hurt has subsided, McCormack will leave Leeds with the blessing of most fans. He’ll move on to Fulham knowing that he gave everything he could to restore this clapped out Ferrari to its former glory.

Unfortunately, it was just too much of a scrapheap to salvage.

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