Time for Cellino to take a step back

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When Massimo Cellino likened Leeds to a Porsche a few months ago, few took him seriously. The Italian, who isn’t afraid to show his passion when speaking to the media, had more people laughing at him, rather than with him that day.

The comparison was perhaps a little over the top, but Cellino never alluded to the condition of his new ‘pride and joy’. Leeds may have been a Porsche, but they were certainly on the scrapheap.

Fortunately, their new owner got straight to work on restoring the club to at least a shadow of its former self; though still lacking the top-flight football that so many fans became accustomed to through their childhood, Leeds are a much more stable outfit these days.

Worryingly, that stability rests on the shoulders of a man who appears to be constantly changing his mind. Just a few days after personally taking responsibility for Leeds’ poor start to the season, Cellino removed head coach David Hockaday from the club, citing the very same poor start to the season as the reason for his dismissal.

Neil Redfearn stepped up as caretaker, and turned Leeds’s fortunes around. By the time they’d finished their demolition of Huddersfield, confidence was high.

The majority of fans wanted Redfearn to stay on as the permanent first-team coach, but Cellino decided to drive his Porsche in another direction, down what turned out to be a dark, gloomy looking mud path, as he appointed Darko Milanic instead.

Six games later, he is gone. His removal from a club was the result of the immense, and somewhat ridiculous, amount of pressure that any coach at Leeds must now feel weighing upon their shoulders the second they sign their contract. Cellino’s reputation for dismissing any coach that doesn’t show signs of being a fully-ripened watermelon almost instantly means that the coaches he entrusts with the team, the one that he built, are expected to hit the ground running. There is no time to build, no time to strategise, no time to get things right.

Milanic oversaw just over 540 minutes of first-team football at Leeds, which is almost enough time to watch ‘Titanic’ three times. Almost.

Leeds are in danger of suffering the same fate as the doomed ship, and right now, there’s an eerie sinking feeling around Elland Road.

At this point, the best thing Cellino can do for Leeds, is take a step back.

The fans appreciate the money he’s spent on the club’s recovery, but after being on life support for so long, they need strong leadership at both management and boardroom level to ensure the dark days of recent times are banished to the history books.

For this to happen, Cellino needs to understand that as much as he’d like to, he can’t do everything. Changing coaches every time things take a newgative turn will get Leeds nowhere, nor will publicly undermining them after their departure.

On the flip-side, hiring coaches that the majority of fans have never heard of is a disastrous idea too. Leeds fans are patient, to a degree, but they’re sick and tired of being seen as a joke to the rest of the footballing world, which the pointless hiring and firing of Milanic has only served to fuel.

For Leeds to stand a chance, Cellino needs to leave Redfearn to do his job, without interference and to a degree, without pressure. Along with that, he needs to trust him, and show him the respect he deserves for taking on what has become the most insecure job in football.

If he continues to treat United the way he has, the goodwill shown to him by the fans in exchange for his investment in the club will be short-lived. The problem with having a fierce fanbase is when things go wrong, you’ll be on the receiving end of a fierce reaction.

The club’s heart and soul screams ‘Marching on Together’, and if Leeds are going to get back to where they rightfully belong, there can be no exceptions to that.

After all, tyranny and anarchy are never far apart.

You can follow Steve on Twitter at @giddy_goose – and don’t forget to follow @FanZone too for links to all the latest blogs.

Time for Cellino to take a step back

admin

When Massimo Cellino likened Leeds to a Porsche a few months ago, few took him seriously. The Italian, who isn’t afraid to show his passion when speaking to the media, had more people laughing at him, rather than with him that day.

The comparison was perhaps a little over the top, but Cellino never alluded to the condition of his new ‘pride and joy’. Leeds may have been a Porsche, but they were certainly on the scrapheap.

Fortunately, their new owner got straight to work on restoring the club to at least a shadow of its former self; though still lacking the top-flight football that so many fans became accustomed to through their childhood, Leeds are a much more stable outfit these days.

Worryingly, that stability rests on the shoulders of a man who appears to be constantly changing his mind. Just a few days after personally taking responsibility for Leeds’ poor start to the season, Cellino removed head coach David Hockaday from the club, citing the very same poor start to the season as the reason for his dismissal.

Neil Redfearn stepped up as caretaker, and turned Leeds’s fortunes around. By the time they’d finished their demolition of Huddersfield, confidence was high.

The majority of fans wanted Redfearn to stay on as the permanent first-team coach, but Cellino decided to drive his Porsche in another direction, down what turned out to be a dark, gloomy looking mud path, as he appointed Darko Milanic instead.

Six games later, he is gone. His removal from a club was the result of the immense, and somewhat ridiculous, amount of pressure that any coach at Leeds must now feel weighing upon their shoulders the second they sign their contract. Cellino’s reputation for dismissing any coach that doesn’t show signs of being a fully-ripened watermelon almost instantly means that the coaches he entrusts with the team, the one that he built, are expected to hit the ground running. There is no time to build, no time to strategise, no time to get things right.

Milanic oversaw just over 540 minutes of first-team football at Leeds, which is almost enough time to watch ‘Titanic’ three times. Almost.

Leeds are in danger of suffering the same fate as the doomed ship, and right now, there’s an eerie sinking feeling around Elland Road.

At this point, the best thing Cellino can do for Leeds, is take a step back.

The fans appreciate the money he’s spent on the club’s recovery, but after being on life support for so long, they need strong leadership at both management and boardroom level to ensure the dark days of recent times are banished to the history books.

For this to happen, Cellino needs to understand that as much as he’d like to, he can’t do everything. Changing coaches every time things take a newgative turn will get Leeds nowhere, nor will publicly undermining them after their departure.

On the flip-side, hiring coaches that the majority of fans have never heard of is a disastrous idea too. Leeds fans are patient, to a degree, but they’re sick and tired of being seen as a joke to the rest of the footballing world, which the pointless hiring and firing of Milanic has only served to fuel.

For Leeds to stand a chance, Cellino needs to leave Redfearn to do his job, without interference and to a degree, without pressure. Along with that, he needs to trust him, and show him the respect he deserves for taking on what has become the most insecure job in football.

If he continues to treat United the way he has, the goodwill shown to him by the fans in exchange for his investment in the club will be short-lived. The problem with having a fierce fanbase is when things go wrong, you’ll be on the receiving end of a fierce reaction.

The club’s heart and soul screams ‘Marching on Together’, and if Leeds are going to get back to where they rightfully belong, there can be no exceptions to that.

After all, tyranny and anarchy are never far apart.

You can follow Steve on Twitter at @giddy_goose – and don’t forget to follow @FanZone too for links to all the latest blogs.