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| 18,000+ for a Capital One cup tie...makes you wonder how many would turn up if Bates went! |
Working under the financial constraints that continue to
shackle every manager under the Bates regime, Neil Warnock appears to have
accomplished some sterling work in the transfer market during the summer. His
planning so far has been faultless; his first signing was the defensive
lynchpin the team have do desperately lacked since Kisnorbo ruptured his Achilles
over 2 years ago, and in Drury and Peltier has added a degree of ‘know how’ and
class… words very rarely uttered in dispatches about Darren O’Dea and Alex
Bruce.
Behind those we now have Paddy Kenny, proclaimed by Warnock
himself as his most important signing – it would be hard to disagree: after
watching over a long procession of keepers, all of whom were ticking time
bombs, accidents waiting to happen – none more so than last season’s pair – to have
an able AND confident last line of defence is the most novel and welcome change
of the lot.
In the midfield a flurry of inexpensive, unspectacular new
faces initially padded out the squad; not names to excite, but competitive,
reliable and hardworking; the very antithesis of Clayton and Pugh. More
recently, David Norris was brought on board to add a little attacking intent,
then along came Rodolph… add Luke Varney and suddenly we no longer have a team
of pushovers.
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| "Tentative" opening.. |
So we’re now solid and competitive (oh, and rid of Andy O’Brien),
we now just need match-winners…ah, bugger! Sadly this is where the manager’s
plans have fallen down – through no fault of his own, it must be added –
players who win games by scoring goals, creating them for others, who excite:
these players cost money, serious money… yes, even in excess of the £500,000 we
forked out on Danny Pugh! While defensive solidity and a competitive streak are
a pre-requisite for any Championship side with designs on promotion, class wins
games; while it’s not inconceivable that a collection of unremarkable grafters
could scrape a play-off berth, candidates for top 2 slots have pace, creativity
and goals in their line-ups. We have McCormack and little else.
This shouldn’t have been an issue; having sorted out the
defensive side of things, having built a competitive midfield unit, Warnock
should’ve been spending the last few friendlies integrating the marquee
signings he’d planned his summer around. Snodgrass is gone, yes, but one pacy
forward (Maynard? Beckford? Cox?), a similarly quick wide player on the right, and because I’m greedy, an exciting
young attacking midfielder to revel in the freedom afforded by Rodolph’s anchor
role, then suddenly the squad would be looking very good… it’d be almost as if we’d replaced everything that our
woeful contract negotiations track record has forced us to sacrifice over the
last 12 months.
But we haven’t, and nobody seems to know whether Warnock
will ever have the chance to do so; so here we find ourselves, the first
competitive home game, and there he is, warming up on the pitch – El Hadji
Diouf! Sadly now it seems that needs must and if Leeds want to recruit a
forward with a degree of pedigree, this is once more, what we’ve been reduced
to.
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| 1-0 |
So here we are again, it’s not even kick-off and Elland Road
is divided; the need for more firepower is clear, but few supporters would’ve elected
to recruit a man who’d most likely rank below a vivisectionist in a ‘Humanitarian
of the Year’ poll. It’s not the best omen to kick-off a season with.
Mercifully, every other aspect of the afternoon was more
positive. While Diouf’s inclusion on the subs bench predictably drew very
audible booing, the absence of Pugh, Connolly and Paynter had me somersaulting
inside. Tom Lees was absent, but that allowed Sam Byram – impressive at
Deepdale – a start (he impressed again), indeed amongst the first XI there were
8 debutants; while most felt such a drastic turnover of players was needed, I’m
sure many doubted it would be achieved.
On the terraces, the mood was mixed; very positive towards
the players, but tinged with the desire to express anger at the ongoing events
at boardroom level. ‘Bates Out!’ chants were regular throughout, along with a
fresh ‘Shoes off! Bates out!’ variation; while Paddy Kenny’s new ode quickly
attainted cult status…sadly “Sausages and Burgers at Warnock’s house” has yet
to make the transition from the pre-season tour.
On the pitch, a slow start allowed Shrewsbury a couple of
early chances and afforded Kenny the opportunity to prove his worth; Leeds on
the other hand were sparked to life by the opening goal; Becchio slotting in
from 6 yards after Austin’s long range effort reached him via the keeper’s
fumble and the defenders stray leg – try telling Rodolph it wasn’t his assist.
The advantage was doubled within 6 minutes, the assist McCormack’s, the goal,
Varney’s after more charitable defensive work.
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| Sign him up, sign him up... |
The second half was fairly comfortable and put beyond doubt
mid-way through as Norris struck home Varney’s knock-down, then McCormack hit home
a penalty on 70 minutes; his little signing gesture celebration in front of the
Kop, hopefully a hint of positive forthcoming news. The four goal cushion was
the signal for changes, including Diouf; his introduction receiving the
expected mixed response – a word of advice though, if you do insist on abusing
Diouf, then do so from the safety of the stands, he looks like he’s been doing
some serious weights this summer!
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| Grit your teeth... |
In his 15 minutes Diouf showed some nice touches, but a lot
of rustiness too, barely ever threatening to go past a defender, although off
the pitch, when warming up and at the final whistle, his efforts to appease by
repeatedly applauding the Kop were evident; chin up El Hadji, Barry George had
few friends at ER until he revealed his LUFC affinity…
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