SCENE SETTER
It's July 2007 and once again, Leeds United are a club in dire straits. Back in 2001, the club made it to the semi-final of the Champions League, but failed to qualify for the following season. Innumerable loans were taken out against qualification for the 2002/03 competition in order to pay for the players to take the club there.
Again, Leeds missed out on qualification, and the debt was beginning to tell. In the summer of 2002, captain and record signing Rio Ferdinand was sold to arch rivals Manchester United for £30m. Terry Venables was brought in to steady the ship on the pitch, but his spell in charge was a disaster, mostly thanks to chairman Peter Ridsdale.
Jonathan Woodgate- who Ridsdale promised Venables wouldn't be sold- joined Newcastle United in January 2003 for £9m. Other players that left under Venables included Lee Bowyer and Olivier Dacourt to West Ham United and AS Roma respectively.
The decline didn't end after the departure of Venables. Peter Ridsdale resigned shortly after and was replaced by non-executive director Professor John McKenzie. Peter Reid was hired as Venables' replacement and helped to keep the club up.
In the summer of 2003, the squad took another hit, when popular striker Harry Kewell was sold to Liverpool for £7m. Reid brought in several loan signings, with the likes of Jose Roque Junior, Zoumana Camara, Salomon Olembe and Lamine Sakho joining the ranks.
None of these loan signings worked out, and Reid was sacked in November after a humbling 6-1 defeat away at Portsmouth left the club at the foot of the table. Club legend Eddie Gray was appointed as caretaker manager, but was unable to steer the club from relegation.
A mass exodus followed in the summer of 2004 as the likes of Dominic Matteo, Mark Viduka, Paul Robinson and James Milner all left for pastures new. The sale that stuck a knife in the heart of Leeds fans was of local-born hero Alan Smith- the player pictured kissing the Leeds badge and crying as he was mobbed by adoring Leeds fans at the end of his last game for the club against Charlton Athletic-, who was sold to Manchester United for £7m.
Insolvency specialist Gerald Krasner led a last-minute takeover of the club and the squad was pretty much stripped bare ahead of the club's first season outside the top flight for 14 years and Kevin Blackwell was appointed as the man to fill up the squad and consolidate in the league.
Controversial ex-Chelsea chairman took over the club in January 2005 and set about clearing the last of the club's debt. Leeds finished in 14th that season and got all the way to the Play-Off final before being beaten by Watford in May 2006.
The debts still weren't going away and more players were sold in the summer of 2006. This did telling damage to the squad, and Kevin Blackwell was sacked in October with the club sitting at the bottom of the table. Dennis Wise was brought in to keep the club up, but failed to do so.
In May 2007, the club entered administration. Leeds had 10 points decucted which effectively relegated them to the third tier of English football for the first time in the club's history.
The club appealed for a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) with it's creditors which was challenged by HM Revenue & Customs. As a result, administrators KPMG put the club up for sale, and an eleventh-hour bid by Ken Bates was accepted. The Football League sanctioned this under the "exceptional circumstances" rule, but deducted 15 points for the start of the 2007/08 season due to the club failing to exit administration with a CVA.
Dennis Wise left the club at the end of June, and the club set about appointing a new manager, to help the club at least survive its first season in League One, and wipe out the 15 point deficit as soon as possible.
And that's where our story begins...
7th July 2007
BREAKING: Townend joins Leeds
Leeds United have appointed former Aston Villa, Everton, Norwich and Blackburn midfielder Josh Townend as their new manager.
The 43-year-old takes charge of the club with immediate effect, replacing Dennis Wise who was unable to save the club from relegation last season.
The appointment comes as a surprise that Townend would take on such a challenge for his first role in management, given the club's recent financial struggle and the fact that there will be a 15-point deficit to clear as soon as possible. What will come as some consolation to Leeds fans however is that Townend is a local-born fan of the club, which should drive him on in this mountainous task.
Source: Press Association
DAY ONE
I sat in my office and stared at the wall. This was my first ever role in football management and it was easily the toughest task I would ever face in my career. Six managers have tried to resurrect this great club's fortunes since things first started going awry in 2002.
And of all people- your Gary Kellys, your Gus Poyets, your Neil Warnocks and your Dave Bassetts- I had been the one chosen to within five years, take Leeds United from the bottom of League One to the top of the Championship.
Do-able in five years? Perhaps, but what's to stop Ken Bates from using his trigger finger if I can't lift us out of the bottom three soon enough?
I took a look at the team report from my new assistant, Steve Staunton, and the report suggested we could use some depth on the wings and at right-back. Frazer Richardson was still fairly young and Darren Kenton was at the opposite end of the spectrum, getting on a bit as it were.
I looked at the team and decided to go for a 4-4-2. Players I knew I wanted in the side included the likes of Casper Ankergren, a goalkeeper signed permanently following a loan spell from Norweigan outfit Brondby last season. I also wanted to fit Jermaine Beckford into the system. Beckford had just returned from a loan spell with Scunthorpe United where his 8 goals in 17 appearances in the second half of last season helped fire them to promotion. I'd decided that Neil Kilkenny and Bradley Johnson had to play. Kilkenny had a strong pedigree, having come through the Arsenal academy before a spell at Birmingham City where he played in the Premier League and then the Championship. Johnson was a promising 20-year-old who signed from Northampton after loan spells at Gravesend and Stevenage.
Just as I had wrapped up planning the tactic I was planning on taking with me to the dressing room the following day, I heard a knock on the door. It was Linda Johnson, my PA.
"I've had contact from the press officer. He wants you at Elland Road for a press conference starting in two hours."
"Ok, thanks Linda" I replied.
***
Two hours later, I was sat in the press room at Elland Road. The room was swarming with journalists, and as I looked at the desk I'd be sat at, I saw microphones from a multitude of institutions, including ITV Calendar, BBC Look North, Real Radio, Radio Aire and Sky Sports.
When I walked into the room, there was an amazing flashing display from photographers and a number of cameramen stood at the back. This was a big deal. I took a seat in between Ken Bates and Graham West, the press officer. Ken Bates began by addressing the journalists.
"Good afternoon everybody, and welcome to Leeds United Football Club for the unveiling of our new manager. I will invite you to ask questions one by one. We'll start with you at the back" he said, pointing to a man with short brown hair.
"Josh, congratulations on getting the Leeds United job. Could you tell us how this all came about?"
"Well as you know, I retired from playing last season and had received my UEFA B Licence. As soon as I got home from my last match, I contacted my agent to see if he could phone around and make clubs aware of my willingness to manage. I had been having a quiet summer until this time last week when my agent rang me telling me there would be an interview for the position at Leeds United on Tuesday. Having attended the interview, I got a call on Thursday evening from the gentleman sat to my right and after negotiating a contract the following day, we agreed on a five-year deal"
"As you're aware, the club has had a difficult time financially. How has that impacted the transfer budget for the summer?"
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss such details. It's an internal matter that remains between me and the chairman. You'll find out by the end of the transfer window"
"Do you have a preferred tactical style that you would ideally like to implement at the club?"
"I feel that in the short run, it's important to just find a style that fits the players we have. But in the long run, I would like to ideally be able to implement a style which focusses on a high intensity. I want us to be fighting for every ball, but then using the ball sensibly and not just playing hoof ball. As I said though, that's my long term vision, for now I'm working on a style with what I have at my disposal"
"Should we expect a lot of activity from you in the transfer window, given that the club has already signed a lot of players this summer?"
"That's a good question, but it's worth remembering a lot of players left in the summer. I feel this team can be strengthened further in two or three areas, but I won't reveal which ones"
"What attracted you to this club, given the magnitude of the challenge?"
"I'm a Leeds fan. When your first management opportunity happens to be at the club you've supported since you were knee-high, you take it, whether the club is on the back of back-to-back Champions League titles or whether it's at its lowest point in its 88-year history."
A few questions later and Ken wrapped up the press conference. I headed home, ready to start training the following day and prepare for our first friendly against Charlton Athletic at The Valley.
Title of the year. Well done
And also, good to see someone else writing FM08, great version of the game!
tenthreeleader: cheers mate :)
MEETING THE PLAYERS
The time had come when I had to meet my squad and unveil the plans I had. I arrived at Thorp Arch to the sight of several glum faces. Who could blame them? They thought they were joining a club that they could just willy-nilly take straight back to the Championship and then the Football League imposes a 15-point deduction.
It could have been worse. The club was within 24 hours of extinction. The CVA had finally been approved, payments for which were set to end by 2009, thus ridding the club of the financial burden Peter Ridsdale had imposed upon it.
I gathered the players round and began a speech.
"Right lads, I just want to introduce myself. I'm Josh Townend and I will be your new manager. It's no secret that the club has finally hit rock bottom. Some of you here are good enough to be playing Premier League football, but you've chosen to help take Leeds United out of the depths of despair. I want to see you lads give it everything you've got to get us results on the pitch.
I won't stand for players who won't try. If I see that attitude on anyone, they'll be straight out the door. We train hard and we play hard. If we get it right this season, it could well be a season to remember"
Once I gauged that the players had understood, I led them to the tactics room to discuss well, tactics. I sat the players down and revealed a slideshow to them.
"These tactics aren't based on any order of priority. We'll rotate them based on which one brings out the best in this team. The formations may even change if there's a particular system that works well for us during a match. The first one I'd like to show you is something we're all familiar with.
The 4-4-2. Does a job, long balls forward and involves everyone helping each other out. In the middle, we've got a holding midfielder who will win us balls in the midfield, and a playmaker who will be the source of most attacking moves. Up front we have a support striker who will hold up the ball, and an out-and-out centre forward who we'll look to for goals.
Our other tactic is the 4-2-3-1. This is a relatively new tactic but very effective if you do it right. In the middle we again have a holding midfielder and the other midfielder will be an all-rounder, capable of winning balls and starting moves. In the hole, we have our playmaker, and the lone striker will be our goal getter"
The nods indicated that the players understood, as did the absence of questions. I sent them out for 5-a-side and continued to construct a team for our first friendly.
