Sums it up pretty well...
Wise sees the size of his task as Hooper sees Southend home John Ashton at Elland Road Wednesday October 25, 2006 The Guardian Dennis Wise becomes Leeds United's fifth manager in four years this morning. It is difficult to imagine a harder job in football. Exactly six years ago, the club drew with Barcelona in the Champions League. Last night they were humbled by Southend. The fall from grace has been staggering and Wise had the good sense to offer only a low-key bow to a set of fans who have been decidedly underwhelmed by his appointment. The reality check came in the viewing. The new manager watched from an executive box in a stadium that was barely a quarter full. The temptation must have been to head back down the M1 with his No2 Gus Poyet and return to the safety of Swindon Town. Even David Geddis, the Leeds manager for the evening - their third of the season - questioned the desire of a team in freefall. "Players have to start performing and taking responsibility," he said afterwards. "Anyone coming into this club with confidence this low faces a massive job." Last night's defeat was Leeds' fifth in succession. In the last three games they have conceded 12 goals. By the 36th minute last night they had fallen two behind and everyone could safely have gone home right then. Stephen Crainey's defending for the first was indicative of their general lack of organisation. He was caught on the wrong side of Simon Francis; his response was a clumsy challenge just inside his own penalty area and from the spot Steve Hammell tucked his shot past Tony Warner. Two minutes later they hit a new low. Matthew Kilgallon dithered in his own six-yard box, his clearance was charged down and it fell into the path of Gary Hooper. His shot was not great but it slipped, literally, through the hands of Warner and into the Leeds net. Long-term watchers of the club insist that this is the worst fare they have seen at Elland Road since Don Revie took over in the 60s. It is hard to imagine it being this bad even that long ago, so bad was last night's defending. Ian Moore did offer a glimmer of hope just before half-time when he took advantage of a scramble in the Southend penalty area to score with a neat, low finish. However, it inspired nothing. Leeds could no more muster a head of steam at the start of the second half than they can fill their eerily empty stadium. And twice around the hour mark they were given warnings that a third goal was on its way. Warner did well to race from his line to deny the clean-through Hooper in the 58th minute and moments later Peter Clarke failed with an ambitious lob. With a team-mate either side, he should have done better. Yet they were misses that did not really matter. The underbelly of the Leeds side is so soft that another opportunity is always around the corner and in the 64th minute Southend ensured they were giant-killers on the night. It just no longer feels like it given the state of Leeds United. Mark Gower crossed from the left and it took some brave defending from Crainey to block Luke Guttridge's header. The ball fell to Hooper, however, and he hooked his shot into the net. The most damning assessment came from Steve Tilson, the Southend manager. "I don't think people will say it is a big shock because of the way things have been going. [But] I wasn't sure what way it would go," said, referring to the presence of a new manager in the stand. "What normally happens is [teams] pick themselves up for two or three games and then it levels out, but we looked like the home side. It is our first win away from home all season. We played really well. We kept the ball really well. We had to keep the crowd quiet and we did." Wise had the desire to overcome some pretty insurmountable odds in his playing career but none come close to the problems he faces from this morning. His has not been a popular appointment and Ken Bates chose his programme notes and Leeds's in-house TV station to try to pacify supporters. "I am aware that Dennis Wise may not be everybody's cup of tea but this is not a popularity contest," he said."It is a question of the right man to resolve a serious situation. "He was the unanimous choice. Dennis has played at the highest levels of the game, both at international level and in Europe and captained a team of world-class players. He's a winner. "He will get 110% from the players. He will get effort and fight. He's a tactician. He is a bad loser. He can wind people up and get them going." Bates forgot to include miracle worker. Wise will need to be to rescue anything from such a mess. _______________________________________________ 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 :-)
