Well, well, well, are the chickens coming home to roost, after the euphoria of being top of
Division One for a lengthy spell? The Wimbledon report specified lack of ambition off
the field and the Sheffield
report specified everything going pear shaped at the moment.
The Lincoln Allison piece mentioned something else so true as well, the over reliance on the over 30’s club that flourishes at Burnley, and will continue to do so as long as Stan is manager. What on earth are we doing signing players like Ellis for example? Stan will be a legend at the club for what he has done and the way he has turned it round from oblivion to something sometimes worth watching. Nobody wheels and deals like he does, nobody knows the lower leagues and the bargains like he does or goes fishing for free transfers. There can’t be anyone better. That’s his forte and that’s why he was appointed, and he has succeeded in that respect. He has earned his place as a Burnley legend.
But frankly, like many others I imagine, I am now just a little fed up of hearing the excuses for the lack of bigger signings that are now necessary to keep the momentum going. We are not talking ten million pounds on one player but just one million, and the way that Shefki Kuqi was missed was the perfect case in point. When the chance came to sign a player better than those we have, the opportunity was lost. I’m fed up of hearing that the club wants to strengthen the squad but will only do so if the players are better than those we have, or if the price is right.
Baloney, excuses.
Who is kidding who here? Is Stan having to cover and excuse Director deficiencies and lack of decisiveness by continually excusing the lack of essential signings? Are Directors wary of handing out more money when they have seen £500,000 spent on Papadopoulos, who never gets a game? Is the club nervous and afraid of the premiership prospect?
Shefki Kuqi sums up where the club is unable to grasp the nettle and make a bold leap. He could have been ours for a straight million, but the vision and resolve to get him was sadly lacking. Nobody could ever have expected to see the club where it is, where promotion is still actually possible. But having got to this stage let’s go for it, not by spending twenty million as Lincoln Allison suggests but by snapping up the one million pound bargains when they come along. For heaven's sake, one million IS the beer money that Stan talks about and we couldn’t even find that. This club is dithering and it is costing us the chance of premiership football. The chance may not come again for a generation.
I for one do not want to settle for a good cup run and lower table mediocrity. We can get promotion if we want it badly enough, and OK, maybe we would come back down after one season, but oh for just one season of Man Utd, Arsenal, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea. And who knows, maybe full houses and Sky money would keep us up a little longer. What’s the point of supporting a club for 40 years if you don’t want to get to the top when the chance is there?
Lincoln Allison makes some good points, but the idea of settling for mediocrity is exactly what I fear Directors are doing. Up in the top six a new level of thinking and desire is required beyond that which has been sufficient so far. There has to be imagination, vision, confidence, and yes, an occasional calculated gamble. Nobody wants this club to spend like Bradford did, who gambled recklessly. Look where it got them, but a million every now and then when the chance comes is essential.
Miracles have been worked up to the present, we acknowledge and applaud that, but my suspicion now is that the position we got to in December took club and management by surprise and nobody quite knows what to do next. The step forward in desire, decisiveness, and policy, might just be beyond current management and boardroom thinking levels. There is a bridge to cross and I fear the club is unable to do it.
My forecast is that without this necessary change in strategy, promotion will slip away, not that we ever expected it in the first place. To gain any kind of promotion now, a run of at least six straight wins is necessary, including beating all the top teams still to come to Turf Moor. Can anyone see that happening with the current thin inadequate squad?
I travel from Leeds as often as possible. A trip for my wife and myself leaves no change from £60. For this amount we have the right to expect more. This is human nature, and is perfectly realistic. As a Headteacher I took a poor school and turned it round and made it better, with the predictable result that parents wanted it to be better still. The more I did, the more they wanted, and I didn’t begrudge them that. They tasted success and wanted it to continue. Their desire for more then fired me up all the more. cccc
So it is with what we should be wanting for this club. Stan and Directors might well be coming to the point where they think it reasonable to become disenchanted with supporters like myself wanting more. They shouldn’t. This isn’t a supporter carping, it is a supporter being ambitious and feeling just a little let down by the failure to sign a player like Shefki Kuqi when he was there for the asking. Promotion won’t come with loans, free transfers, and the occasional nugget like Arthur Gnohere. And yes, I would go for Ginola. He might just respond to being rescued from the Aston Villa hellhole, and yes he might be 35, but even at that age and half the player he used to be, he would contribute as much as Alan Moore and the currently, not at his best, Glen Little. Ginola would pay for himself like Ian Wright did in increased gates and merchandise sales. Rather a 35-year-old Ginola than a 37-year-old Ellis whose wages could be spent on something else.
My God, how we have paid for missing Shefki Kuqi. Sheffield Wednesday didn’t beat us on Saturday, Shefki Kuqi did. He should have been scoring for US against them. It is a further sad commentary on the state of our players that half the crowd on Saturday held their breath when Taylor ran up for the penalty, assuming he’d try to head it in.
Every game is critical, you might say, but the Sheffield Wednesday game was so crucial. If promotion is missed it is that game that can be seen as the turning point, not the defeat at Manchester City, unless new players arrive soon. Blake should have signed for us by now but hasn’t. I wonder why? What happened to the Greek defender who came and got rave reviews in reserve games? We are reportedly looking at a Belgian to take a look at him on trial. For goodness sake, he is a Belgian international with a World Cup place to play for. Again, more dithering. If he fits the bill, then sign him now.
Do Barry Kilby or Ray Ingleby read the supporters' webs? I hope they do and thus might hear a well-argued plea from a long time supporter to be a little more decisive and daring. To be a top club, it’s essential. Just one million: that’s all that was asked and we fluffed it.
Look what a price we paid.
David (no, not that one) Thomas
Leeds
January 2002
The ambition debate - views from Lincoln Allison,
Eddie Lea and Firmo
As
with all articles on the site, the views expressed in
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