There is a saying in Yorkshire that there is “trouble at ‘t mill” and today, trouble is brewing in West Yorkshire as players and fans alike express their shock and surprise at not only the appointment of the new Leeds United Coach, Dave Hockaday, but also the news today that all the team members at Leeds United are having to pay from their own wages to have their kit cleaned on match days, a move designed by their new owner, to teach them something that is hopefully beneficial!
Leeds United FC was recently taken over by Italian millionaire, Massimo Cellino, former owner of Serie A side Cagliari, and he has instigated this new move in a swathe of cost cutting techniques at the club, who finished 15th in the Championship last year and in a financial mess. And as much as the fans are scratching their heads about the appointment of their new coaching staff, they are now turning their attentions on this new venture.
So will it have any effect at all? That is the question!
Leeds United, as a football club, has a great history of winning at every level. In the past, there may have been incidents like this where young players were employed to ‘skivvy’ for the older, more mature ones. Indeed, kit teams were used at every level of the game, but is Mr Cellino doing the right thing here? One report states that “this is happening in addition to the kitchen being closed at their Thorp Arch training ground and stunned players [are] being told to bring in packed lunches.”
With this in mind, questions begin to appear – why is Cellino doing this to his players? Is he more interested in cutting costs than engendering the right attitude in his players? If he is cost cutting, and this alone, then he is likely before too long, to suffer a day of long knives at the hands of his mutinous players. If he treats them lower than they deserve, then they will respond, most likely on the pitch in front of the fans, in negative ways.
Conversely, this could be just the thing to shape these players, who are so used to getting lots of money in wages, into players who see the benefits of those that support them. This could be just the way to bring back some old fashioned morals and values into the game. If successful, Cellino will end up shaping his players into an effective, fighting, playing unit, determined to get to the top of the league and where they want to be, in the Premier League.
Who knows what will happen next. The fans wait for the coming news on the transfer front and await the start of the new season, where once and for all, they will see whether anything Mr Cellino has done will have the desired effect.
Source: DSG
