The Super(ish) Leeds United Thread

Started by Rufus T Firefly, January 25, 2007, 08:14:53 PM

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rodney trotter

I'd say he will leave. It's not going to be to have a meeting to apologise. The FA investigating the spying and looking messy. A shame for Leeds, he was the best manager for them in a good while.

Hopefully they don't go into freefall for rest of season. In a great position.


screenexile

Fair play . . . he's a character anyway!!

imtommygunn

 ;D

Seems like a rocket but good craic.

Insane Bolt

A manager who studies opposition teams....well I never. Jermaine Jenas take a redner 😂

No1


mrdeeds

MB to conclude: "We look at Stoke and it's hard as the new coach has had 3 games. So we analysed the 26 games he (Nathan Jones) had at Luton." #lufc

Rufus T Firefly

Didn't seem possible, but he's gone up even further in the estimation of the fan base.

I note an interesting quote from Frank Lampard,

"Yeah [everyone does research] it's really simple. It's probably a nice eye-opener for the fan to see it because most of this stuff happens behind closed doors. But they are done everywhere, there's no amazement from anyone who works in football."

which would be the equivalent of me saying that I too play snooker when asked to comment on a Ronnie O'Sullivan 147! 

However it does beg the question as to why he got his knickers in such a twist last week when the issue first come out.

seafoid

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jan/16/marcelo-bielsa-leeds-spied-every-opponent

Marcelo Bielsa admits Leeds have spied on every opponent this season
• Manager says it is not illegal but not necessarily right
• Bielsa insists he had no bad intentions or wish to cheat

Louise Taylor
Wed 16 Jan 2019 17.41 GMT Last modified on Thu 17 Jan 2019 00.30 GMT


Marcelo Bielsa explains in his press conference his tactical analysis of opponents this season. Photograph: Mark Walker/PA
Marcelo Bielsa has admitted Leeds United have spied on all their opponents this season but remains adamant no specific rules were broken and believes he is guilty of stupidity rather than cheating.
"I observed all the rivals we played against and watched the training sessions of all opponents," said the Leeds manager in the course of an extraordinary, unscheduled, press conference cum coaching masterclass at the club's training headquarters near Wetherby.
Leeds' spying should be treated as a form of entertainment, not cheating | Paul Wilson
Read more
"So why did I send someone to watch them? Just because I thought I wasn't violating the norm. All the information I need to clarify [my tactics] I gather without watching the training session of the opponent ... but we feel guilty if we don't work enough. Watching it [the opponents training] allows us to have less anxiety and, in my case, I am stupid enough to allow this kind of behaviour."
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Elland Road's "Spygate" furore is that Bielsa's Championship leaders have been able to deploy such clandestine tactics undetected for more than half a season.
The former Argentina and Chile manager was finally prompted to address the issue last Friday when, shortly before Leeds beat Frank Lampard's Derby County 2-0 in West Yorkshire, the Midlands club revealed that police had apprehended a suspicious person outside their training ground on Thursday. Bielsa immediately acknowledged he was a member of his backroom staff.
Although the man was released without charge, it transpired he had been equipped with pliers, binoculars and disguised clothing. "Cheating is a big word but this is over the line," said Lampard, who revealed that, before Derby lost 4-1 to Leeds earlier in the season a man was spotted lurking in the bushes outside his training ground. "I'd rather not coach than send people undercover on their hands and knees in the undergrowth," added the former England midfielder.
The Football League and Football Association responded by launching investigations but, given that there are no precise rules governing footballing espionage, it is difficult to see exactly what punishment they can impose on Leeds and Bielsa without stepping into a legal minefield. Even so, the EFL has asked Elland Road executives for their observations and, once a response is received, will decide if there has been a contravention of the League's charter and whether to issue charges against Leeds and/or their manager.



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Marcelo Bielsa said: 'I observed all the rivals we played against. We watched all the training sessions before we played them.' Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images
If any charges are proven, the League – liasing closely with the FA – believe the "full range of sanctions" could potentially be applied. These range from a slap on the wrist to expulsion from the league, although no one is suggesting that the latter scenario - or a points deduction – are likely.
Nonetheless Leeds made a point of issuing a swift, formal, apology to Derby on Saturday and Bielsa has evidently deemed it politic to adopt a conciliatory tone while opting for total honesty.
"I'm going to make it easier for the EFL investigation," said the 63-year-old Argentinian, speaking via a translator. "My behaviour is observed from the most extreme position. By doing this I respect the possible sanctions by the authorities."
Significantly he declined to use the precedent of past incidents of football managers spying on opponents – a practice that, as recently as Friday, he maintained is the norm across South America – as a defence and appeared to accept that a certain moral ambiguity underpinned such subterfuge. "I don't want to make it easier for me by attacking others," he said.
"Regarding what I've done it is not illegal. It's not specified, described or restrained. It's not seen as a good thing but it is not a violation of the law. Although not illegal it's not necessarily the right thing to do. But the wrong things you do are not done with bad intention or an intention to cheat.
In the course of the media briefing, Bielsa also treated assembled journalists to a PowerPoint presentation designed to detail how much preparation and analysis he and his staff devote to each opponent - before spies are deployed and their reports compiled.
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Regardless of information received from undercover operatives, the Leeds manager spends countless hours analysing opponent's previous matches. Citing Derby as an example, he revealed his research on the exact number of times Lampard had utilised particular formations, which players he had deployed in different positions and the identification of opposing formations they had struggled against.
If the underlying message was that Bielsa's meticulous attention to the small print would almost certainly have helped transport Leeds to the top of the table without any spying, it
More pertinent though is the question of how lawyers will interpret his actions in relation to EFL Regulation 3.4 which states: "In all matters and transactions relating to the league each club shall behave towards each other club and the league with the utmost good faith."
Then there is the similarly rather woolly EFL Regulation 21 which states that managers must not bring the League or any club into "disrepute."
It seems Bielsa's answer attributed what had happened to cultural misunderstanding. "If you observe something without authorisation we call it spying," he said. "I'm going to try and explain I did not have bad intentions. I did not try to get an unfair sporting advantage but I did it because it was not illegal or violating specific laws. But I have to adapt to the habits of English football."Lampard later admitted he had yet to see Bielsa's explanation. "It's a funny one for me because I don't really want to speak too much," he said after Derby's win over Southampton. "I've said quite a lot at the weekend. It is what it is now. We all know what's been happening across the board. It's a league issue now. It's our league, it's every team. So it's up to them to decide what goes from now."
"f**k it, just score"- Donaghy   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxG2WwVRjU

Mourne Rover

Big result for Leeds tonight after the QPR setback - the BBC R5 profile last night confirmed what an amazing coach Bielsa is.

Rufus T Firefly

Quote from: Mourne Rover on March 01, 2019, 11:19:53 PM
Big result for Leeds tonight after the QPR setback - the BBC R5 profile last night confirmed what an amazing coach Bielsa is.

Typical Leeds. I went into that WBA match fearing the worst, particularly in light of our recent run of form, and was knocked over by a performance that was as good as I can remember since the halcyon days of the League Title in 1991/92 - it was that good.

The important thing now is to try and build on that. If it can instill confidence and self-belief into the players, and put a bit of energy into the weary limbs, then automatic promotion might yet be achievable. The Sheffield United match coming up is already looking huge! 

Billys Boots

It's hard to understand how they can have two such contrasting performances within 3 days of each other.  This is going to be typically nail-biting stuff.  Again. 
My hands are stained with thistle milk ...

lurganblue

A Sheff Wed win tonight would be nice for Leeds

Denn Forever

Well nobody said being a Leeds supporter was going to be all fun and games.


Must have got a new spy.
I have more respect for a man
that says what he means and
means what he says...

ziggy90

Quote from: Rufus T Firefly on March 04, 2019, 09:18:37 AM
Quote from: Mourne Rover on March 01, 2019, 11:19:53 PM
Big result for Leeds tonight after the QPR setback - the BBC R5 profile last night confirmed what an amazing coach Bielsa is.

Typical Leeds. I went into that WBA match fearing the worst, particularly in light of our recent run of form, and was knocked over by a performance that was as good as I can remember since the halcyon days of the League Title in 1991/92 - it was that good.

The important thing now is to try and build on that. If it can instill confidence and self-belief into the players, and put a bit of energy into the weary limbs, then automatic promotion might yet be achievable. The Sheffield United match coming up is already looking huge!

St Andrew's awaits  ;)
Questions that shouldn't be asked shouldn't be answered