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Author Topic: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.  (Read 5337 times)

Offline supertom

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Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« on: October 21, 2012, 09:34:22 AM »
Was just thinking about 03-04. GT had just narrowly avoided relegation with a really outdated brand of football and left a squad still weighted with previous managers overinflated signings as well as his own uninspired and average signings.
In comes O Leary. Good rep (Leeds finances aside). I was excited too. A promise of a better brand of football and a good record with young players.

The first few months of the season were then a struggle. We were still hungover from relegation scrapping. There were some good things. We played the ball better. Players seemed more interested. Granted it got to Decemeber time and if I recall we were right down in the arse end of the table, where we didn't want to be.

Then something clicked and we just started to work. Obviously from then on results came with performances and we won games and played some decent stuff.
January came in and O Leary made an inspired signing in Nol Solano. He and Angel gelled very well too.

I know I've just used the word positive and O Leary in the heading. But ignoring the next two seasons and focusing on the first, it was good. Hopefully we'll see something similar this time out. I'm just hoping that like then, something clicks, the results start coming. DOL almost got us into the top four, half a season after we were struggling with another relegation scrap.

I think Lambert can long term really take us places. He doesn't have the arse headed arrogance and ignorance of O Leary or O Neill, and that will hold him in good stead. So he'll get the time. More so, I hope we have a couple of games where our season suddenly turns round. I think the Wolves game in O Leary's season was one?? I just remember we'd been very unlucky in a few games and someone was due a pasting and then we twatted them.
Similarly after O Neills unbeaten start he had that long mid stretch of 15 odd games winless and then we looked in trouble again. Then we had a good late run and finished comfortably mid-table.

I reckon Lambo's got it in his locker to take us on a good run. Hopefully it won't come too late though.

Offline claret and blue blood

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2012, 09:42:50 AM »
I tend to agree with the above post, those missed Benteke chances go in and we would be looking way more optimistic.

Offline Risso

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2012, 09:44:52 AM »
We had much better players available back then.  Mellberg, Solano, Angel, Barry.  We have nobody anywhere near that class in the squad these days.  Lambert needed to add some real quality to the squad, but he risked his dosh on foreign unknowns and lower division gambles.  It doesn't look like working.

Offline supertom

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2012, 09:49:22 AM »
We had much better players available back then.  Mellberg, Solano, Angel, Barry.  We have nobody anywhere near that class in the squad these days.  Lambert needed to add some real quality to the squad, but he risked his dosh on foreign unknowns and lower division gambles.  It doesn't look like working.
Yes that's another problem which makes me feel it's less feasible to have a similar turnaround. I also think O Learys first two signings paid off (at first) very well, in Sorenson and McCann.

I'm gonna blindly hope that we do turn things around. Like 03-04 though, I do think a decent january signing (or three) will help immensely.

Offline Risso

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2012, 10:00:15 AM »
There's also the fact that this is only Lambert's second Premier League season.  O'Leary had had 5 mostly successful years with Leeds (and yes, I remember how that turned out).

Offline Billy Walker

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2012, 12:25:22 PM »
We had much better players available back then.  Mellberg, Solano, Angel, Barry.  We have nobody anywhere near that class in the squad these days.  Lambert needed to add some real quality to the squad, but he risked his dosh on foreign unknowns and lower division gambles.  It doesn't look like working.

It's easy to say, with hindsight, the players were better back then.  At the time, though, after we had just escaped relegation, those self same "better players" were getting stick and fans were getting depressed.  We have just as much potential and skill in this current squad.

Offline Percy McCarthy

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2012, 12:52:35 PM »
Thing is, the season before under SGT was a blip. He took over when we were sixth the previous Feb and nearly got us relegated. A year later, and hey presto we were sixth again. This rut has been going on for two years and we haven't got the players who got us to sixth anymore.

I remember saying around the time of the Wolves game that if we bought Solano and Izzet(I know, I know) in January we would qualify for Champions League. In the end we only got Solano and missed out by four points I think.

Offline ktvillan

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2012, 01:22:52 PM »
Good on you for a bit of positivity but I have to agree that back then we at least had a good experienced spine to the side with the players mentioned by Risso, plus Delaney, Vassell and Hendrie were more than useful.   I think it's much tougher call to get this group of players up to scratch.

Offline Billy Walker

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2012, 02:46:41 PM »
Fair points Percy and ktvillan. 

Offline kippaxvilla2

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2012, 10:33:44 AM »
We had much better players available back then.  Mellberg, Solano, Angel, Barry.  We have nobody anywhere near that class in the squad these days.  Lambert needed to add some real quality to the squad, but he risked his dosh on foreign unknowns and lower division gambles.  It doesn't look like working.

This is the first time ever that I had never heard of any of our summer signings.  Literally not one had I heard of previously.

Offline Risso

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2012, 10:35:43 AM »
We had much better players available back then.  Mellberg, Solano, Angel, Barry.  We have nobody anywhere near that class in the squad these days.  Lambert needed to add some real quality to the squad, but he risked his dosh on foreign unknowns and lower division gambles.  It doesn't look like working.

This is the first time ever that I had never heard of any of our summer signings.  Literally not one had I heard of previously.

Same here.

Offline Meanwood Villa

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #11 on: October 22, 2012, 10:45:31 AM »
I think the turning point in O'Leary's first season was the League cup QF against Chelsea. Gave the players real confidence. If we can somehow win one of the Utd/City/Arse games next month hopefully it'll have the same effect.

Offline Risso

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #12 on: October 22, 2012, 10:48:44 AM »
I think the turning point in O'Leary's first season was the League cup QF against Chelsea. Gave the players real confidence. If we can somehow win one of the Utd/City/Arse games next month hopefully it'll have the same effect.

We'v just beaten City.  Didn't seem to have the desired effect on our confidence.

Offline not3bad

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #13 on: October 22, 2012, 10:57:40 AM »
We had much better players available back then.  Mellberg, Solano, Angel, Barry.  We have nobody anywhere near that class in the squad these days.  Lambert needed to add some real quality to the squad, but he risked his dosh on foreign unknowns and lower division gambles.  It doesn't look like working.

It's easy to say, with hindsight, the players were better back then.  At the time, though, after we had just escaped relegation, those self same "better players" were getting stick and fans were getting depressed.  We have just as much potential and skill in this current squad.

That's a fair point.  If you went back in time to the lowest point in O'Leary's first season and said, "what do you think of the quality in the squad?" what would the answer have been?

Offline Risso

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Re: Trying to think positive...O Leary's first season/now.
« Reply #14 on: October 22, 2012, 11:01:47 AM »
We had much better players available back then.  Mellberg, Solano, Angel, Barry.  We have nobody anywhere near that class in the squad these days.  Lambert needed to add some real quality to the squad, but he risked his dosh on foreign unknowns and lower division gambles.  It doesn't look like working.

It's easy to say, with hindsight, the players were better back then.  At the time, though, after we had just escaped relegation, those self same "better players" were getting stick and fans were getting depressed.  We have just as much potential and skill in this current squad.

That's a fair point.  If you went back in time to the lowest point in O'Leary's first season and said, "what do you think of the quality in the squad?" what would the answer have been?

I honestly think the answer would have been "very good".  I remember the game against Southampton at Villa Park when we were in the bottom three, and there was the anti-Ellis march.  Some of the banners read "top six manager and players, bottom three owner" or words to that effect.  People mostly thought the squad was too small, not that it wasn't good enough.

 


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