McDermott was never sacked? Try telling their fans

THAT was the weekend that never was. Or so the owners of Leeds United, a club surely beyond satire after the events of the past weekend, would have us believe.
Leeds United player Alex Mowatt is congratualted by his teammates.Leeds United player Alex Mowatt is congratualted by his teammates.
Leeds United player Alex Mowatt is congratualted by his teammates.

Twenty or so minutes into the second half of what would become the biggest home victory Elland Road had witnessed in almost a decade, GFH Capital rushed out a statement every bit as laughable as the goings-on the previous night had reduced United to, as several season-ticket holders put it, “a shambles”.

“The club would like to make it clear that Brian McDermott remains our first-team manager,” read the missive on the club’s website. “He has not been dismissed from his post as has been suggested and we look forward to him continuing in his role with us in taking Leeds United forwards.”

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So, there you go. McDermott was, and always had been, still in charge – anyone claiming anything to the contrary being simply wrong.

Never mind that the 52-year-old had spent the afternoon away from Elland Road due to having been informed of his dismissal the previous evening by a lawyer acting on behalf of Massimo Cellino, the prospective new owner who has struck a £25m deal with GFH Capital for a 75 per cent stake.

And never mind that McDermott’s axing triggered a chain of chaotic events that, by the end of Friday night, had seen the club’s acting chief executive sacked, the managing director resign and the club captain clumsily wade into the row live on national television.

No, in the world of GFH Capital, all had remained focused on “taking Leeds United forwards”. Just how gullible do those spouting such PR-led drivel take the people of Leeds to be?

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Even allowing for this victory over Huddersfield, the past few days have turned a club with a proud history into a national joke.

Supporters can, considering the extreme passions that football is capable of arousing, often be guilty of going overboard. But those devotees of Leeds who clogged up the radio airwaves bemoaning how their beloved club had been turned into “a laughing stock” were bang on the money.

Negative headlines have been made all around the world during a furore that supporters first became aware of midway through last week when it emerged that a request from Gianluca Festa, still considered Cellino’s apparent manager-in-waiting despite weekend denials from the Italian’s camp, to observe from the dugout during last Tuesday’s draw with Ipswich Town had been turned down.

Since then, confusion has reigned at Elland Road with even assistant manager Nigel Gibbs, who in the absence of McDermott took charge of the team, admitting: “I found out (I was in charge) at 12.15pm. I was coming to the game anyway because I’d had no contact from the football club.”

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The alternative to Gibbs was Festa, a coach whose experience amounts to a stint as an assistant at Cellinho’s Serie A Cagliari and a year at the helm of Lumezzane, from the third tier of Italian football.

As it was, the former Middlesbrough defender watched the game from the upper tier of the East Stand and eye-witnesses say he spent much of the 90 minutes furiously scribbling down notes.

In the first half, the Cagliari-born 44-year-old had plenty to write and not much of it is likely to have been favourable.

After a bright start that saw Cameron Stewart curl a shot wide following delightful link-up play between McCormack and Jimmy Kebe, United simply lost their way.

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Some of that was down to their own sloppiness and some was down to Huddersfield displaying the sort of expansive attacking football that their manager Mark Robins has worked so hard to instil in his players.

Danny Ward was the first to threaten, the one-time Leeds Academy graduate exchanging passes with Nahki Wells before a last-ditch tackle by Sam Byram whipped the ball to safety as he shaped to shoot.

Oliver Norwood then went even closer with a drilled shot that struck a post with Paddy Kenny beaten before Byram again came to United’s rescue with a block as Ward attempted to roll the ball across goal for Oscar Gobern to tap in.

Wells also hit the side-netting before an incisive pass from Calum Woods released Ward and he, finally, broke the deadlock with a firm shot across Kenny.

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Falling behind initially did little to rouse Leeds, who had two further big escapes before the break courtesy of Wells shooting straight at Kenny and then wasting a one-on-one opportunity when through on goal.

The second of those misses proved to be a big turning point as, in the second minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half, Ross McCormack prodded Leeds level after Town had failed to clear a long punt from Byram.

Buoyed to be on level terms despite being outclassed for much of the first half, United were transformed after the restart as Kebe and Stewart linked delightfully with McCormack.

Kebe was the first beneficiary of this link play, as the Crystal Palace loanee latched onto a delightful backheel from his captain before lifting a shot beyond Alex Smithies.

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With neither defence looking particularly solid, the next goal was always going to be vital and, after Wells and Ward had spurned excellent openings, McCormack swooped just after the hour to convert Byram’s cross.

The game was now up for Town, who fell further behind 17 minutes from time when Stewart again showed great skill to get to the by-line before rolling a cross that McCormack swept past Smithies.

The nadir for Huddersfield, however, was still to come, there being eight minutes on the clock when Smithies rashly raced from his goal and clattered into Anthony Gerrard.

As the team-mates lay prone just outside the penalty area, Alex Mowatt showed tremendous poise to chip the ball into an unguarded net to seal United’s biggest home win since QPR were thrashed 6-1 in November, 2004.

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The delighted home fans in a crowd of 31,103 reacted to Mowatt’s first senior goal as they had done to all of their side’s previous four strikes by singing Brian McDermott’s name loudly. The man himself, though, was not there.

He had been invited to watch the game from an Executive Box in the towering East Stand. It had been a tempting offer.

But, after seeking legal advice, McDermott opted to stay away. Whether the 52-year-old does the same today, when he is due back at his office at Thorp Arch, remains to be seen.

Either way, regardless of whether it is GFH Capital, Cellino or anyone else at the helm, Leeds have work to do if the trust of their supporters is to be restored.