The Sleeping Giant: A Leeds United Story

Brian McDermott sacked as manager of Leeds United

News just reaching us here at Sky Sports. Leeds United have come to release of Brian McDermott. In a short statement to the press, Leeds Chairman Salah Nooruddin has said "We are grateful for the work that Brian has put into the club but we feel that a change of person is needed to bring the club to the next level. We will be announcing the name of our new manager in the next few day"

A source close to the situation has said that they person they choose my not be a big name and they may extend there search to more unknown managers.

We will have more as this story develops

Leeds United hire Gabriel Ryan as new manager

In a move that will send shock waves around Leeds tonight, unknown manager Gabriel Ryan has been giving a one year deal with the club.

Ryan, who is 36 years of age, only has one manager role to his name before this job. He managed the York City under 18's. Ryan has this to say in a short statement "I am honored to be given this chance to manage such a big club. I believe i have the ambition to match what this club wants. I want to thank the chairman for giving me this chance.

Leeds Chairman Salah Nooruddin added "Gabriel instantly appealed to us with his vision of what he wants this club to be. We are fully behind him and we believe that he can bring us success"

Ryan is due to be introduced to the press this coming Friday

Good start, add some pictures to make it more interesting and draw people in, but two very good updates

Gabriel Ryan meets the press

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The first press conference is always a nervous time for a new manager, the first time that the press will really grill you on everything from your personal life to the team selection. This is no different for Ryan as he enters the press room in Leeds

(GR is me and Press is...Press!)

GR: Thank you all for coming this morning! I know its been a bit of a whirlwind these past few days but im eager to get started so fire away!

Press: Hi Gabriel, John Foran from the Leeds Echo. This move caught alot of people off guard. Can you tell us how all this came about?

GR: I got a phonecall from my agent late last week saying that the Leeds job had become available, i told him to make enquires and to maybe set up a meeting with the board. He got back to me later that day and a meeting was set up for the evening. I spoke with the Chairman and the Chief Executive for roughly an hour. Then about 12.00 am friday morning i got the phonecall say that i got the job! It was all a blur to be honest!

Press: Hi Gabriel, Ross Mason here from the Daily Mail. You have no experience in management at this level. Do you think you have taken a job too big for you?

GR: Well, i look at it like this. Jose Mourinho started his career at a youth level and so did AVB, he was a coach. We need to start somewhere. I have a belief in myself that i can deal with the pressure. Sure, anyone can tell you that working with 22 18 year olds will really get you prepared for this!

*laughter*

Press: John Stein, Telegraph. Have you had a training session with the team yet? Are they responding well?

GR: We had a brief warm up this morning, i introduced myself there, We have another session later on. It all went well. The boys seemed happy and are raring to go for this season. I want to add to your question that the lads all know they are free to come to me with any problems. Last question! So much to do!

Press: Barney Rouney from the Guardian. You say you took the job because yo belive that Leeds have the potential to be a huge club. Can you go into more detail on that?

GR: Sure! Leeds are a huge club. Look at there history. The players that have come through here. You look at the Giles, the Bremners to the Smiths and the Lennons. Quality all the way through. The stadium is packed every week with 25000 or more. Thats more than some Premier League teams. This club has been dormant for too long. Its time for it to wake up.

*With that, Ryan stand up, thanks the press and leaves the room. There is an excited chatter in the room. The man made an impression*

Meeting the Team

*Think of these as Ryans inner monologues!*

So ive had my first training session with the lads. On a whole im pleased with how it went. There is some work to be done with this team. I got word today that i have 1 million transfer budget to play with. I think i can boost that with some sales. There are some great players here though.

Ross McCormack


Probably the best player of the team. A can play anywhere on across the attacking midfield or up front. A great goal scorer. A little on the older side then i would prefer but he will be the man to help us get out of the Championship

Scott Wootton


I have high hopes for this kid. Great in the air and will work his arse off for the team. Hopefully he can improve as we go one

Luke Murphy


Joined from Crewe this season and has a good eye for a pass and a cross. Hopefully can become a good creative force. Lacjking in speed which is a worry.

They are the lads that stand out as real difference makers. The rest of the team, the likes of Brown, Paddy Kenny, Hunt and Vareny will help towards out goals. In the long run im not so sure..

My aim is playoff and i think that this tactic can do it

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Could Hernandez be on his way to Elland Road?

News coming out of Italy suggests that Leeds are deep in talks over the transfer of Abel Hernandez to Elland Road. What could be considered a coup for Leeds as Palermo were relegated to Serie B last year and need to offload some of there bigger earner. Rumours are the deal could be worth about 2 million. Stay with Sky Sports for more info

Leeds sign Argentinian wonderkid

http://backpagefootball.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Luciano-Vietto.jpg

Vietto is sure to light up Elland Road

In whats seen as a major sign of intent, Leeds United have beaten off 5 other clubs, one of those being French giants PSG, to claim the signing of Argentinian forward Luciano Vietto. Tipped by many to be the next big thing, Vietto moves to Leeds from Racing Club for a fee of 3.5 million. Speaking to reporters Vietto said "I am very happy to join such a big club and i hope to give my all to the Leeds fans" Gabriel Ryan also added "This signing is one of a few that we wish to make. It shows that Leeds is a club that is very attractive to players" Vietto is the third signing that Ryan has made after earlier this week the club sealed deals for Alberto Cerri on loan from Parma and Jed Wallace from League 2 team Portsmouth.

Leeds Preseason Report

Leeds Fixtures


To be honest its been a lackluste. The lads are playing well but just not taken there chances well. To top it all off Vietto got injured in the last game and will be out for 3 weeks. Annoying but it involves a small bit of re-jigging the team. Creatively we have not been good enough and im looking to fix this. On the plus side the lads are getting to know each other better and fitness levels are good.

Transfers

Overall im pleased. The team is well balanced as it is and i thought a few changes were needed. For this season this team should get me to the playoffs. Vietto is a steal for his price, he should have gone for more. Letting Green go was not what i wanted but the money offered helped fund the Vietto deal.

First Championship game is against Brighton so hopefully we can pull off the result!

August Review

Leeds United vs. Brighton



Not the start we wanted! We never really got a foothold in the game. McCormack played well and the back 2 had great games. Chances were few and far between and its something we need to work on. Some positives for sure but nit enough to get the win

Leeds United vs. Oldham; Capital Cup Round 1



Another game that took us a little bit to get into. The main change i made here was allowing Hunt to have more of a free roam. He made a great impact getting the goal just before just half time. Conceding the goal at half time was a bit of a sucker punch and it was far too long a wait until the winner. Need to take control of games.

Leeds United vs. Leicester City



This was more like it! Away from home against a team that is in the running to go up this year. Everyone worked there arses off. We were faster then them and just kept attacking. Hunt had another great game, scoring two. We had one of the new boys make a huge impact too, and not the one you would expect. A few days before the game i added Soitiris Kyrgiakos to the team, signing on a free, and he popped up with two huge headers to help seal the points! Great win

Leeds United vs. Sheff Wed



Building on the momentum from the last game was always important. This was no exception. Wootton had a great game and was unbeatable in the air

Leeds United vs. Ipswich Town



We completely collapsed in the last 5 minutes which was unacceptable. Diouf was immense in the first half and ran the Ipswich defense ragged. I need to stamp out the lapse in concentration. The one plus from this game is that Vietto came off the bench and loosk raring to go

Leeds United vs. Millwall; Capital Cup Round 2



If i may speak as a lifelong Leeds for a second, there is nothing like beating Millwall! Anyway back to being professional! We went hell for leather from the start and Millwall could not keep up with the pace. Diouf scored and other two and Vietto also got his first goal with a lovely side footed finish. He also had a hand in the Diouf goal too. Overall great game and a great performance

Leeds United vs. QPR



YES YES and YES! This was game that i was dreading as QPR have a team that should be able to in the league but we took them apart from the start and really should have scored more than two goals. Aidan White had a superb game

League Table

Very happy with this. Considering the teams we have played im more than happy. Hope we get a decent team in the cup too!

Gabriel Ryan's Players of the Month

So every month i will be naming young Player of the Month and Player of the Month for Leeds only.

YPOTM

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Immense at the back and as been the bedrock of this young team. He is going to be something special

POTM



Since i moved him into a central attacking position he has been lethal. Scoring often and in important games

Very nice start I like it Leeds are a big team but big debt wonder how you'll manage it but grab the strong young players from lower leagues and I can see the team blossoming. Good Luck

Feeling like this is not getting any love...

Its a good start mate; like stigzee said, there's a lot of debt at Leeds, will be interesting to see ow you deal with it

Seems you have picked up the pace after that loss to Brighton!

Also this may become a good long term save since Leeds have good facilities and you can try building a squad around homegrown players rather than buying them - which will also help you to manage your debt!

all the best