A new broom.....

I'd say it depends on:
Are they any good, or integral to the team
Length of contract
Can they be sold for cash
Are there better alternatives available either already at Leeds or not.

So what do you think based on that?

Byram being the 'and' player!

With the exception of Jason Pearce, which players are you disappointed we've sold/let go in the last 12 months Jonty?

Can you honestly say he's not got rid of players that plenty on here (including your love children) considered "deadwood" and not worth the shirt? Obviously not that he's had any involvement in the decision making in the last few weeks.

Ross is the only real top player gone - but then for a transfer fee way above his true value - ergo good business.

Do we not think the club needed a fresh start, a new look? Average age of the squad was 23 last match. How good is that for the future?

Signs are that this team of no hopers are starting to gel. A blend of the new and old, along with some players through from the academy. Forget this season, but with some shrewd summer additions, and retaining our better players - you just never know next season.

But the above is a glass half full view - I might as well type it in Dutch eh ..............

Forget this season
.......

This season was lost when hockaday was employed.

Hopefully we survive and return in the championship next season.

We have a good crop of youngsters in the side, this needs blending with good championship players.

We have all been thinking this. I hope Cellino thinks the same otherwise we will struggle again.

VOF, to be honest, not that disappointed in any player going, even Ross.

As long as we replace with better players, and this applies especially to Ross and we simply haven't done that.

What concerned me about this window was Warnock and Pearce going when we need first team players. Would have no problem with them going in the summer, but not now.

We now have 7 loanees at the club. Only 5 can play on a match day so some loanees are clearly never going to get a chance now, so how do you deceide if you pay 1/2 mill for Del fabro or Montenegro at end of season for example?

There seems to be no strategy, just get as many players in as possible and hope to G-d one of them is good enough to save team and sell at a profit at some point.

Are we going to have another 10/12 players in the summer on top of the 18 he's already brought in and see 10 players leave etc.

We'll have same excuses next season, team needs to gel etc. We have to have some solid foundation, others we're never going to build, we'll just be continually re-arranging deckchairs.

The squad Cellino took over was nowhere good enough for promotion major overhaul was needed.
Imagine the complaints in this board if Cellino had bought no players in and just kept existing squad that Warnock and Mc Dermot had put together.
Change was needed.

Jonty .... we share similar concerns. I'm not happy and don't get the logic of either Warnock or Pearce leaving. Every other player that's left makes complete sense.

We still don't seem to be targeting effective wingers - and haven't done since before MC took over. We brought in 2 last winter - and what a joke they turned out to be. We sign a 6ft 4 big guy striker, then don't appear to have brought in anyone to supply him - that makes no sense to me. But, as normal, I'll give the club/ownership/management the chance to prove themselves. I'll also give the player time as well.

some of the loanees are still kids. Del Fabro is still very young, as is Benedicic. Montenegro doesn't seem able to break into the 1st team and others from the summer influx seem to be similarly struggling. But then signing players is never an exact science and never has been. I, like those around me at the ground on match days, have seen a definite improvement in performance. It's just results haven't reflected that. We have better technical players, most of them just aren't used to the standard or pace of the CCC. It was always going to take time for a complete new team to gel and get used to it all. That being said, our upturn in results has been on the back of predominantly last seasons/academy players. I'm sure some of the summer signings will still come good, there's enough about them to know they can kick a ball.

What I liked about the summer recruitment is we targeted younger players, not last pay day journeymen. Surely no one can decry that idea - even you? If going for youth/younger players, you're always going to roll the dice. For every talent, you'll probably find 2 or 3 duds.

There'll be players joining, there'll be players leaving in the summer - it happens every year. You'll be the first to have a go if we've done nothing in the transfer market come start of next season. Personally I suspect some of the players won't be retained brought in last summer, and new faces brought in. I just hope we target 3 or 4 really influential signings and add them to the core of the current squad. Do that and I feel we can be up or around the top 6 next year.

This side isn't far off now - we've not been turned over by anyone like we have in previous seasons. Most results have been close. We should have beaten Birmingham, unlucky not to have. There's 1 point between us and 12th I believe - that's how close it all is.

VOF, I don't care about the age of the player so much, I care more about whether they are quality and can make a difference.

Have Benedicic, Del Fabro, Morntenegro or even Adryan made a difference this season.

Certainly for the first 3 no, and for the last one, he's not won us any games I believe.

Would you pay 1 mill for Benedicic, Del fabro or Montegro. Would you pay 3 mill for Adryan?

You say you'll give the loans time, but they only have a year to prove themselves and they are just not playing.

So fine then Jonty we won't sign them - where's the problem?

Wouldn't you rather try out loans for a year, with a first option to sign, rather than sign them up on 3 year contracts? Haven't we learned anything? You'd be jumping up and down had we signed them all up to 3 year contracts. It's a try before you buy logic - makes perfect sense to me.

I believe we're being incredibly unfair on Adryan. New league, new environment and we all expected him to run on to the pitch and be the new Ronaldo. Was never going to happen. He's shown glimpses of real talent - but has also been found wanting. For me he's not had a proper run in the side to get used to the league and the pace/strength of it. He's been caught up in a political game behind the scenes. From the bits I've seen of him, at the very least he should be on the bench as an impact sub. Up to NR how he picks the team, but I certainly don't get the logic of omitting a player with definite talent. He also works hard for the team - he just doesn't fit the current style of play we're adopting.

I do care about the age. I want the club to build for the future. I don't want a here and now fix, then struggle further down the line. We've had a conveyor belt of journeymen for too long - time we built for the future and within our means.

Im an advocate of the loan before buy for these unknown quantities, but not if they're never going to play.

In our scenario we are wasting wages on Liam players not playing and depriving academy players their chance in dev squad.

VOF,

To pick up on here.

Like you say the majority of the sales when look at individually were the right thing to do. Even Ross who I rate very highly. Warnock doesn't but that's the only one, Pearce I wouldn't have sold but get it.

Signing younger players is obviously a big positive.

Loan with option to buy makes a lot of sense.

But for me the way we did all this was always going to mean a season of struggling, and many new faces needed to be bought and sold again this summer.

For a start changing so much of the squad at once was going to send us backwards no matter how good the players were. Hockaday was probably useless, but there isn't many managers in the world that could have managed to get a team of 8 new signings to play well within 6 games. I feel sorry for him to be honest.

Also when the manager doesn't have a say in the players being side, there is very little chance that the players will be the right ones for the system. And a large proportion will not get any game time (assuming the coach gets to pick the team) which means large amounts of money are being wasted and we are not improving as a side.

This is where the loan to buy idea has failed. They are not loans the coach sees something in, it wasn't him that so that diamond in the rough, nothing caught his eye, so why would they be given the chance?

There is also the worry of the reasoning behind certain transfers such as Warnocks, which appears to me to be due to a personal dislike from Cellino.

Then there are situations as touched upon like Hockaday, no manager could have succeeded in those circumstances in 6 games, so if Cellino really saw something in him why wasn't he given time? It just appears childish and a very unproductive way of running a football club.

These are Cellino's methods and have been for 20 odds years. And the above are what are holding us back in my opinion. So as much as there are a number of things that are a positive. I think we will always have the other side of things holding us back. And I can't see that changing.

We are just a few players away from a promotion push, I agree, but so are 75% of the clubs in the Championship, you have eluded to that when pointing out how close the league is. And we were just a few players away from a promotion push at the end of last season. The form shown by the majority of last seasons squad without Ross, Smith, Warnock, Pearce, Kenny, Lees is showing that at the moment. Add them to the side playing now, in place of the signings that are playing and on the whole we are better off.

I would want to sign Cooper still, and a keeper. And another defender.

What is such a shame is that we got such a fantastic fee for Ross which had to be taken, but that was a great opportunity to replace him and buy the other 2 or 3 players we needed. And we have wasted it.

We still need at least 3 players now.

HaveFaith - I can't argue with any of what you've put.

In an utopian world i'd not have Cellino anywhere near the club if i'm being honest. He's brought too much baggage - and we've had baggage for a decade and i'm bored of it.

I want a football team run by an owner who knows what they're doing, and for the most part remains in the background and supplies the nouse and finance.

Hockaday was a joke - not the guy himself, though others may differ on that view, but the way in which it all happened. Smacked of an owner being clueless and hiring the guy after a night sniffing white lines. You can't blame Hockaday for jumping at the opportunity and the pay cheque.

Just give me a season where we're arguing about who was man of the match, and not which a(rse) is mishandling our club. I do strongly believe though that had we remained with GFH running the club, we'd be racking up and ever increasing debt and facing the very real prospect of more admin. They were just a bunch of feckwits ...............

Fully agree, about everything.

We are better off than we would have been with GFH definitely.

I think they were more intelligent than Cellino.

But they were only interested in stiffing us out of as much money as they could.

I think Cellino really does want whats best for the club. I think he will do anything to feel the adoration of us fans.

I just think the man has it all wrong in his head. He is so sure he knows how to make it all happen. And is trying his best to stick to that plan. But his plan is all wrong.

It's a shame really. Because I think he has the right passion and ideology that we need.

If GFH had had his passion and his ideology they might have been able to do something positive. I don't know, it's coming out that they too tried to influence team selection and signings too which I didn't realise so probably not. But I don't think there have been many owners out there that have solely aimed to screw the club like GFH did, and for that reason anything is better.

Anything has to be better than GFH ..................

Would have done better to sign 2/3 players in the summer and keep the spine of last season.

Imagine if we'd have just signed Cooper, Antenucci and...Adryan. Our team wouldn't even be that much different, these players could have come into a more settled side and I don't doubt we'd be doing a lot better.

Completely agree best fans

Yes, agree too, always said the same, would much rather quality over quantity.

Get 3 good players + maybe 2 loanees to see how they go during season. Ship deadwood players out during and at end of season, then get another 3 quality players, transfer loans to permanents in any good and trial another couple of loanees.

Solid, progressive strategy that doesn't cost a fortune.