> >Yes, but as everyone is trying to tell you, that's a totally unfair > >comparison to make. Like it or not he has had to totally rebuild the > team > >twice since we got relegated. An average cost of a signing is a better > >comparison in those terms. > > But Mark why has he 'had' to rebuild the team twice? Was he obliged to buy > rubbish players first time round? He was already a coach and Leeds and > part > of his selling point as manager was he had a plan in place and had a good > knowledge of this division. Why couldn't he sign anyone with ability to > last > beyond 1 season? (Sully aside).
Jesus, I really didn't think it necessary to go over this. Blackwell had minus funds to play with, and also was in charge of a club with massive financial debts and the very real possibility that they would go out of business before the season started. So, Blackwell had to find a squad from the free transfer market, with players willing to join a club knowing they might not get paid or might be out of a job within a few months, with players knowing they would be joining a relegation battle. Hence people like Wright, Deane, Joachim etc etc. His first 'team' was cobbled together with no money, with the sole purpose of avoiding relegation, including being 10points clear of a relegation spot for when we had to go into admin. That job done, and bates coming in and offering a bit of financial stability, he could start to buy players to build a new side. Only an idiot would expect him to be able to go from the first side immediately to a team which would win the league. So last season was the first phase in building a promotion side. The first phase. I really don't understand why that is such a difficult concept for some people? > The whole 'having to build 2 teams' thing is yet another piece of > Blackwell > mythology to with the 2 players trite line. See above, it is not mythology at all. This is at the root of yours and Rich's misconception about Blackwell. Most of us can see the three distinct phases in the team's development. Most of us recognised last season for what it was. It is a testament to his transfer dealings and team building that we finished in a position that flattered a transitional side. You cannot simply get rid of almost a whole squad of substandard players in one fell swoop. You have existing players on contracts, and the ones you want rid of are unlikely to want to fuck off to a smaller/worse side. You are not going to be able to find a team of players of your required standard all at once even if you could just get rid of your current players. Especially not with the artificial market you get these days with the transfer windows - where everyone tries to wait for the last minute to ensure they can get replacement players in if they sold a player etc, and so on down the chain. > > > >That's how I see last season. The job was to get into the playoffs. The > >system by xmas was proving that this was entirely possible. Not > forgetting > >the system (4-3-3 or 4-5-1) was in many ways forced onto him with the > loss > >of Stone just before the season starts. In Jan he bought a right > midfield > >player (Griffiths) and could have changed the system to his intended 4-2- > 2, > >but in my opinion he chose an entirely logical option to stick with the > >current system until the end of the season. > > Isn't that appalling planning though? Having been given large funds to > build > a squad, we end up with 4 near enough million pounds players up front > (plus > 2 other disasters clogging up our wage bill, plus another 6 figure signing > in Beckford... if we sign Jeffers I think I'll cry) and such a grotesquely > imbalanced midfield that an injury to one 34 year old (not exactly > unforeseeable) meant the entire system of 4-4-2 had to be abandoned. Is > that > really credible? The season before we 'couldn't' play 4-4-2 as we didn't > have a left midfielder (Pugh having being abandoned for scoring too much), > yet somehow managed to bring in Healy during the season. What will it be > next season? Is Griffiths really a spud peeling sensation or was he not > played as Blackwell realised he'd bought another Einarsson? And why was > Einarsson given a 2 year contract extension despite patently not being > good > enough? You are still not looking at it in the right way. Another analogy.. its like gin rummy. You don't swap the shit cards for cards you want in one go. You have to wait until they become available until, gradually, your hand evolves into the winning one you want. Leeds came to the table with no cards so had to pretty much take the first bunch they could.. having ANY hand is better than none at all. KB's first team were pretty much the first x players that would come to Leeds. He then tried to swap a few players in/out during the Jan transfer window. Last summer was his first chance to have a decent overhaul of the team, and he obviously changed as many as he could to give him a side to finish top 10. This summer he is going to do a few more 'upgrades' on the squad. So that hopefully the overall team strength is good enough for promotion. You still need decent squad members just in case, theres no point getting rid of a player you think is 'ok' and can do a job if push comes to shove (like Einarsson) when you have a player like Wright you don't think can do a job you need to get rid of. Another way to look at it is that you have 8 potential players coming in, you want to get rid of your 8 worst squad players ideally. Sometimes that's exactly what you do, other times you might have to sell a good player (like Healy) because you have enough players in a certain position, because then the money can be used to buy a good (first team) player in another position where you are short. Basically a lot of how your squad develops to the side you want totally depends on what players (you want) are available at any time. Just like in rummy, sometimes if a fourth of a card turns up you take it, even though the other half of your hand is nowhere near fully developed. You take what you need with the understanding that eventually you will get the team you want. This summer is the time for KB to finish off the promotion team. Everything up to now has just been transitional. > > > ******* > > This message and any attachment are confidential and may be privileged or > otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended > recipient, please telephone or email the sender and delete this message > and any attachment from your system. If you are not the intended > recipient you must not copy this message or attachment or disclose the > contents to any other person. > > For further information about Clifford Chance please see our website at > http://www.cliffordchance.com or refer to any Clifford Chance office. > > > _______________________________________________ > the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators > accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. > Leedslist mailing list > [email protected] > http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > oh alright then :-) _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist oh alright then :-)
