Here are several clues to help you figure out the identity of our mystery idiot.
1) Tactically inept 2) Blames others, and never himself, when things don't go his way 3) Blames the superiority of other teams when his team suffers yet another defeat 4) Doesnt know when to call it quits 5) Foolish in his transfer dealings 6) Prefers to turn to over-the-hill veterans, instead of taking the risk of blooding enthusiastic and speedy youngsters who have something to prove and their futures to play for 7) Sells off the club's best future assets, the latest being 18yr old Simon Walton 8) Doesn't know how to turn the fortunes of the club around 9) Ignores chants of "You've gotta go!" from the club's supporters, who seem to know how to better manage the club than he does 10) Should leave before the club finds themselves in Div 2 next season
Well, if it isn't pretty obvious enough, this idiot is none other than Leeds United's current manager -- Kevin Blackwell. I do hope he's living on borrowed time, cos if he stays in charge for another month, this could well turn out to be a season of struggling to stay up rather than challenging for promotion.
First off, when teams come to Elland Road and play defensive (which they have every right to do), he should change his lineup to counter the soak-and-absorb tactics of the opposition. Instead, when Leeds loses, he goes moaning that Leeds play best when their opponents try to attack, rather than defend and then counter attack. C'mon, he's being paid to win games, and outsmart opposition managers. Why the hell is he blaming other managers for choosing the right tactics when he himself obviously is just an English-version of Sven Goren Eriksson --- tactically clueless, and just reliant on once-good veteran players who are way past their prime. A classic example came again yesterday. When Leeds were struggling to break down Coventry City, he should have tried to bring on creative players, and speedy players who can out-sprint opposition wingbacks and then put in decent crosses. Translated: bring in Robbie Blake and Eddie Lewis (arguably Leeds' 2 most creative players), and keep Seb Carole on the pitch. Instead, what does Blackwell do? He replaces Carole with the lumbering Steve Stone (yes the same Steve Stone from 15 years ago), and brings in Jonathan Douglas, whom I have nothing against, and also nothing for. Blake comes on with only 5 minutes left in the game. What has perplexed me all season, is why Blackwell just refuses to play Blake even when his so-called first-choice striker Geoff Horsfield was suspended for 4 games. C'mon, Blake can play striker or winger, yet he has barely played 100 mintes of competitive football this season.
Enuff said, the manager's gotta go. It seems everyone, bar the manager himself knows that. I do hope chairman Ken Bates knows that too. It would make more financial sense to terminate Blackwell's contract than to start next season in Div 2.
I do hope I can be proved wrong, and Blackwell can quickly turn the club's fortunes around. Nowadays, whenever I update the Leeds scores (on the right), the only constant is the "LEEDS UNITED 0" part; I just have to change the opposition team, and mebbe change the 1 to a 2 or 3. I hope this is no longer the case, and for the sake of everyone, sooner rather than later.
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