Ex-Storaksjonær: Massimo Cellino 5/4-14

[Kato]

Enig med Jon.  Mannen er fargerik og rik - det skal han ha.  Jeg håper som nevnt tidligere at vi får se mest av Cellinos gode sider.  Det er mye spennede materiale på vei inn og det blir interessant å se hvordan sesongen kommer i gang.  Men jeg oppfatter ikke Cellino som en "herlig type".

Det er stor forskjell på å være "helt ærlig" og å snakke "rett fra levra".  Journalister og suppoertere er interessert i å høre om planer, strategier, målsettinger, etc. - ikke hva som surrer oppi hue på han - akkurat nå.

Jeg har sett mange som er litt på samme måte - både privat og i jobbsammenheng.  Han som generalfornærmer vertinnen eller en gjest i et selskap, slår ut med armene og sier " jeg bare sier hva jeg mener".  Han som kjører over kollegaer på jobben bare for å få gjennom det han brenner for akkurat nå eller for ikke å tape ansikt - uten å tenke på hva som er best for selskapet og miljøet. Jeg har sett sånne ødelegge vennskap og firmaer.

Når man skal drive en multi-millioner-pund bedrift så er det ikke nødvendigvis gode egenskaper å skyte fra hofta, være impulsiv, vise hvem som er sjefen, blåse ut i pressen, henge ut kolleger.  Det som er viktig er å utvikle en grunndig, kunnskapstung og langsiktig plan - knytte til seg flinke folk i alle roller - OG FØLGE PLANEN! Dette mener jeg gjelder enten bransjen er fotball eller datautstyr.

Helt enig! God formulert.

Det er blitt så 'in' å snakke fra levra og enkelte blir ekstremt slitsomme. Det høres ut som om det er en dyd å proklamere sin mening om alt fra små ting til andre mennesker - helst da i negativ retning. Lagt merke til at de som "bare sier det de mener" - utover å fortelle sin mening HEEEEELE tida -  som regel aldri har noe positivt å si?

Den type holdninger er ikke ærlighet, kun passiv-aggresjon.

Uansett, jeg liker folk som er kompromissløse (til en viss grense), men jeg tror Massimo Cellino hadde hatt ekstremt godt av et kurs i takt. I det minste tre pust før han svarer på alt og alle.

Kan det være at han "frykter" Leeds-fansen? Han så kanskje spørsmålene ved ansettelsen av Hockaday og prøver nå å ta "vår" side mot han? Jeg kan ikke se hvordan det skal gagne lag- og klubbygging og hele tiden fortelle at Hockaday må leie lanke og holde kjeft. Ser jo nesten ut som han usikre "tøffingen" som henger med en person og snakker drit om han bak ryggen (les: i media).

Jeg er redd vi er HELT avhengige av en god start, om ikke denne sesongen skal bli skummel.

Kan ikke på noen måte forstå at hans breikjeft kan gagne klubben på sikt. Greit nok at vi får mer info, utover det virker etikken og moralen til å være på et lavmål.

Men man må vel gå over noen  lik for å være milliardær

[Borge]

Enig med Jon.  Mannen er fargerik og rik - det skal han ha.  Jeg håper som nevnt tidligere at vi får se mest av Cellinos gode sider.  Det er mye spennede materiale på vei inn og det blir interessant å se hvordan sesongen kommer i gang.  Men jeg oppfatter ikke Cellino som en "herlig type".

Det er stor forskjell på å være "helt ærlig" og å snakke "rett fra levra".  Journalister og suppoertere er interessert i å høre om planer, strategier, målsettinger, etc. - ikke hva som surrer oppi hue på han - akkurat nå.

Jeg har sett mange som er litt på samme måte - både privat og i jobbsammenheng.  Han som generalfornærmer vertinnen eller en gjest i et selskap, slår ut med armene og sier " jeg bare sier hva jeg mener".  Han som kjører over kollegaer på jobben bare for å få gjennom det han brenner for akkurat nå eller for ikke å tape ansikt - uten å tenke på hva som er best for selskapet og miljøet. Jeg har sett sånne ødelegge vennskap og firmaer.

Når man skal drive en multi-millioner-pund bedrift så er det ikke nødvendigvis gode egenskaper å skyte fra hofta, være impulsiv, vise hvem som er sjefen, blåse ut i pressen, henge ut kolleger.  Det som er viktig er å utvikle en grunndig, kunnskapstung og langsiktig plan - knytte til seg flinke folk i alle roller - OG FØLGE PLANEN! Dette mener jeg gjelder enten bransjen er fotball eller datautstyr.

Godt sagt

[Runar]

Enn om han er så pr smart at han snakker ned The Hock for at fansen skal samle seg litt rundt han?

Tror selvfølgelig ikke på det, skjønner at MC gikk høyt og hardt ut i starten, men nå er det påtide å snakke opp omgivelsene ikke ned.

[Asbjørn]

20-siders Leeds United - bilag i dagens YEP. Og her skriver Phil Hay om sine inntrykk rundt Massimo'en vår:

Leeds United: Cellino’s way can be the only way

Whites President Massimo cellino does things his way at Elland Road and does not brook dissent. Phil Hay reports.


Cagliari no longer belongs to Massimo Cellino but the bones of his Italian footballing empire are buried at Elland Road. All that he did at Cagliari and all that he learned came with him when Leeds United drew his attention from the Rossoblu.

Archived articles in the Italian press from 1992 onwards show a certain correlation between the club he bought then and the club he owns now. For the privilege of running Cagliari, Cellino reportedly paid the equivalent of £12m up front â€" part of the money a straightforward fee, part of it used to service debts and the rest channelled into the business. The cost of Leeds was not so different.

He sold Daniel Fonseca, the feted Uruguayan striker, in his first summer as Cagliari’s owner and at, the age of 35, showed an appetite for unilateral control. The influence of Carmine Longo, Cagliari’s busy sporting director, helped Cellino learn the ropes in Serie A but led rapidly to conflict. Longo and Cellino have been enemies for years.

England will never work as Italy does and Cellino learned as much when the Football League used the weight of its rules to obstruct his takeover of United in February, but in four months as owner there has been an overwhelming sense of Leeds adapting to his methods rather than Cellino adapting to Leeds. His outlandish nature, his single-minded attitude and his aggressive control begs two questions of Cagliari in West Yorkshire â€" can it work and will it work?

If England has struggled to get a handle on Cellino, the 58-year-old has struggled with equal measure to understand things about the English game.

When he first picked through the accounts of United’s academy, he asked why Cagliari’s youth development centre â€" a productive scheme in its own right â€" was able to run at a quarter of the cost. Before long, he began cutting hard and deep into the staff at Thorp Arch. The club’s wage bill amazed him, close to £20m last season, and so too did the ability of managers in England to heavily influence transfers, contracts and other matters which Cellino saw as his responsibility. He quickly drew a line in the sand.

The club have narrowed their expenditure in unsentimental fashion and the chain of command at Elland Road is as short as it was when Cellino held sway over Cagliari. With a token chairman in Salah Nooruddin and no chief executive, United were the only side without a representative at the Football League’s AGM in June after Cellino chose to miss the gathering.

Club presidents who hold ceremonial roles and no real power are as alien to him as delegated authority. “I was raised as a manager, not as a bulls**t president who puts his tie on, eats roast beef and f***s off home,” Cellino said during an interview with the YEP in April. “I look after everything.”

Comments like that â€" uniquely outspoken â€" have thawed the relationship between Cellino and United’s clued-in support. Where once they threatened to lynch him on the steps of Elland Road, there is now an urge to see Cellino play the ownership game as well as he talks it. Many like him or like his style. Before long, they will judge him on substance.

He has a frenzied air about him, a snapping bark in the middle of relaxed and jovial interviews, but an infectious public persona. Much as Cellino’s restructuring of the club has cost jobs and sacrificed good, capable staff, the average fan seems to have warmed to him. And Cellino for his part has tried to be one of them â€" sat in the same pubs or in the middle of a small crowd at Guiseley, happy in the company of ordinary people. There is more chance of a fans’ forum with him at the top table than there ever was with Gulf Finance House.

Four months ago, Cellino took on a club and a fanbase who ache more than ever for someone capable of breaking the cycle of calamity. The passing of bland Football League seasons has created a resigned and self-deprecating mood in Leeds but hope never dies. It’s the hope that kills. The city has heard it all before: promises from owners, promises from managers, promises from players. Cellino says he hates bulls**t but Leeds United have been full of it for years. If he is more trustworthy, he will win a lot of friends. If not, he will wage the same wars fought by others before him.

He has already placed one pin in his roadmap â€" the repurchase of Elland Road by November at the latest, and with straight cash if necessary. Cellino says the money is there, and so is the opportunity to demonstrate the strength of his word. The deadline he set will be registered and remembered.

Some still complain about his original promise to buy back the stadium within days of his takeover. Common sense said that a deal so quick was unfeasible and rash, a plan uttered in the heat of the moment, but the promise was there in black and white and nothing passes a watchful support by.

They will look, for example, to see whether Cellino’s appointment of David Hockaday as United’s head coach is a product of the Italian’s vision or a product of his eccentricity. It is on that point â€" the subject of Hockaday’s employment â€" that a generally enthusiastic crowd are struggling to see eye-to-eye with Cellino.

Hockaday has been belittled and ridiculed and, as a matter of decency, needs time and space to answer back but he is working without the luxury of a honeymoon period. All Cellino can say in his defence is that obscure coaches did good things for him at Cagliari, albeit without lasting long. At Cagliari, certain appointments like Hockaday’s worked.

So too did a transfer policy which, by all accounts, Cellino dictated. Supporters of Cagliari argue bitterly over the credibility of his 22 years as owner but they were a Serie A club for most of it. In the few seasons when relegation came calling, he never allowed the rot to fester.

He has driven United’s transfers throughout the summer, falling back on what he knows â€" the Italian leagues and Italian players, or those who have played there for years â€" and he is playing a long game. Marco Silvestri and Tommaso Bianchi were signed for four years and Cellino’s loans have all been negotiated with options to make those deals permanent. Most are young, raw and malleable, and their relative obscurity defies predictions. The bookmakers think Leeds will skirt with the Championship’s bottom three, concluding that a squad who under-performed last season, minus Ross McCormack and swollen by a clutch of unfamiliar names will toil. But even they are guessing.

Cellino, too, is trusting his gut. He does not know the division or how little it forgives, especially after Christmas. But the Italian is a night-owl who works and plays into the early hours of the morning. It is not uncommon for him to call you long after midnight, happy and willing to speak at length. Like many football club owners, you sense that his life would be empty without the thrill of the sport and the smell of the boardroom but the stress, the time, the money and the aggravation: not even a man as off-the-wall as Cellino would offer that up in return for nothing.

So fast and furious has this summer been that it is pointless predicting when or if his strategy will take Leeds out of the Championship and cure the paranoia of a club who always await the next crisis. But when he says he will die trying, he might not be joking.

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/latest-whites-news/leeds-united-cellino-s-way-can-be-the-only-way-1-6771095

[Asbjørn]

...og han 'talks a good talk'


Leeds United: Outspoken owner Cellino wants humility
Leeds’ owner says he won’t boast about the future â€" but he does want to get to the Champions League. Phil Hay reports.


Three games. Or three league games. That short window â€" ending on August 19 â€" is all Massimo Cellino thinks it will take for him to know if a squad built with foreign pieces is tailor-made for England’s second division.

His knowledge of the English game is limited and his understanding of the Championship must be similarly patchy but the start of the new season should show the division in all its forms: the rumble in the jungle of Millwall away, a match against a Middlesbrough side whose coach prides himself on continental football and a visit from a Brighton team whose consistency and defensive record took them to the play-offs in May.

A month before that, when Cellino bought Leeds United, he promised promotion by the summer of 2016. “In 2015-16, if we don’t go into the Premier League then you can tell me I’ve failed,” he said, a few days after completing his takeover. You can see in him now, the tentative hope that 2015 might give Leeds what they’ve craved for 10 years but most of those thoughts he keeps to himself. And his mood fluctuates. Last Saturday’s friendly win over Dundee United frustrated and annoyed him, lacking the structure and style he wanted. His head coach, David Hockaday, was summoned for a meeting the following day.

“We are not there yet, not good enough,” Cellino said. “Promotion â€" I will know for sure after the first three games if we can do it. Ask me then. But at the moment, I think not.”

The 58-year-old talks over and over about teaching United “humility”. He says it “p***es me off” to remember the way in which Leeds’ previous owner, Gulf Finance House, made noises about promotion, stability and future growth at the same time as the club lost millions of pounds and built up a debt which Cellino agreed to service. Leeds finished 15th in the Championship last season; badly bruised and very grateful for the mass of points accumulated before Christmas.

“The season is coming fast,” Cellino said, “but I want to sell humility here. I don’t want to sell bulls**t to the people. It’s too easy to do that.

“I’m working here, trying to do my best, and it’s better to think it will take us three years to get to the Premier League and then perhaps find ourselves there after one. If I say ‘we go up next year’, we could end up in League One.

“In football, all you do is work day-by-day. First we think about staying in the Championship because to get to 80 points you must get to 50 first. Last year we bulls*****d the people â€" always saying ‘Premier League, Premier League, Premier League’ â€" but if I hadn’t come here this club would have gone bankrupt.”

Elland Road was that sort of battleground in April; the scene of unpaid wages, winding-up petitions and bitter internal disputes. Cellino imposed himself by implementing a mass of changes, some of them ruthless, some highly unpopular but all designed to rearrange the club in his image. Ken Bates, the former Leeds owner, once said: ‘The Romans didn’t build a great empire by organising meetings. They did it by killing anyone who got in their way.’

In four months at Elland Road, Cellino has taken few prisoners. The appointment of Hockaday as United’s head coach is the best example of his singular approach. It is a long time since the employment of an English boss by a prominent Championship club required such heavy use of Wikipedia. As Brian McDermott’s replacement, Hockaday was a peculiar, leftfield choice â€" out of work since his sacking by Forest Green Rovers and in no way an obvious candidate. The same could be said of several of the signings made by Leeds during a summer in which Cellino has openly dictated the club’s transfer policy.

United’s first recruit, goalkeeper Stuart Taylor, was as conventional a signing as Championship sides make but most since then have been obscure footballers with comparative traits: relatively young, taken from Italy and seen by Cellino as assets with significant future value.

Cellino says his strategy has the Champions League in mind, as wildly ambitious as that sounds. His plan is that Leeds will reach the Premier League with the calibre of squad needed to thrive and progress quickly. In his view, players like goalkeeper Marco Silvestri, signed for four years from Chievo, should make the transition without difficulty. “When Leeds go to the Premier League, we’ll go there because we want to, not because we must get there to pay debts and wages,” Cellino said. “If it takes one year, good, if it takes two years...(shrugs shoulders). But when we get there we want to go to the Champions League too. That’s why we have to buy good players for the future. The players we’re signing are going to be top players.

“I started with the goalkeeper (Silvestri) and 100 per cent, we have a top goalkeeper â€" the best goalkeeper we have had at Leeds, I’m telling you.”

The big loss this summer was Ross McCormack, sold to Fulham for £11m. United’s owner resented the way in which that transfer materialised but did not allow his criticism of McCormack to lower his opinion of striker who scored 29 goals last season and did more than anyone to keep relegation at arm’s length. For additions forwards, he looked to the transfer market while also looking closer to home. He extended his hand to Noel Hunt, who failed to score once during his first season with United, and also promised to use Steve Morison, who spent last term on loan at Millwall.

“Hunt has the skills,” Cellino said. “He’s a good guy. Morison is a character â€" a bullet â€" but a bloody good player with skills also. If he wants, if he really wants, he can be a big player here. This is not mathematics. It’s football. And football is strange. Hunt, he never scored last year but maybe this year he will make 35 goals. You never know.”

That is true of Leeds all over. In this of all seasons, the potential of United’s squad, their suitability for the Championship and Hockaday’s ability to hold it all together is a matter of opinion. Even Cellino is waiting for the season to start before deciding his own level of optimism. “For now, humility,” he said. “When I came here I was worrying that the club was going down. The club was talking s**t, not paying debts but saying ‘we’re going to the Premier League.’ We were going to League One! So let’s start by keeping it in the Championship. Humility.

“When I hear people say ‘I’m 85 years old and I saw us beat Manchester United’ I’m not interested. I want to see us play Manchester United now, to beat them three to nothing. That’s my dream.”

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/latest-whites-news/leeds-united-outspoken-owner-cellino-wants-humility-1-6771102

[Asbjørn]

...og han 'talks a good talk'


That is true of Leeds all over. In this of all seasons, the potential of United’s squad, their suitability for the Championship and Hockaday’s ability to hold it all together is a matter of opinion. Even Cellino is waiting for the season to start before deciding his own level of optimism. “For now, humility,” he said. “When I came here I was worrying that the club was going down. The club was talking s**t, not paying debts but saying ‘we’re going to the Premier League.’ We were going to League One! So let’s start by keeping it in the Championship. Humility.

Praise be to Phil Hay. Et helt intervju med Cellino uten at noen ansatte tråkkes ned.
...og at Cellino fremhever ydmykhet, dere   - praise him for that. Så var det bare dette med å få det til selv da...
Men neida, her fremheves mange sider ved Cellinos virke som kan bli bra for Leeds, også på kort sikt.

TENK om vi får til en knallåpning nå da dere, det kan bli saker

[Dennis]

Ifølge David Hockaday er ikke Cellino like hensynsløs som han fremstår. Sier i intervjuet Enrique linket at det var han (David) som ikke ønsket Rossini og at MC godtok det og sendte han tilbake. Visstnok har de samtaler om spillere og så forhandler MC om pris og lønn.

Enten er DH en nikkedukke eller så fremstår MC annerledes utad. Jeg kan ikke tro at han er såpass smart at han tar all fokuset vekk fra laget og treneren (jf uttalelser om babysitting og hand holding), men kanskje er det overdrevet.

Tiden vil vise.

[Promotion 2010]

08.11.14
by Jake Ross
IT’S CELLINO’S WAY OR NOTHING

Leeds United, from the outside looking in, seems to be in utter chaos. From the viewpoint of his East Stand office, however, Massimo Cellino looks at things a little differently.

From a man who openly admits he knows little about English football, his backing of players who looked out of their depth at United last season, is a little strange. So is Cellino’s drunken rants to local sports reporters, boycotting the official site and announcing signings that haven’t actually concluded. Even the fans most against Cellino expected a little more professionalism on his part. Us fans are waiting on tenter hooks for news to spout from the club, but the cobwebbed, dust-filled official website doesn’t look like it will bring any solace, anytime soon.

Saturday’s game away at Millwall highlighted the scale of problems facing the squad as it prepares for another season. New coach Dave Hockaday is working with much the same squad as last year, minus our talismanic goal scorer, plus a few Italian imports. There are glimpses that the likes of Tommaso Bianchi, Zan Benedicic and Souleymane Doukara will improve on what we already have, but there needs to be a serious investment in quality starters, so we don’t have to rely on last years under performers.

Dave Hockaday’s appointment is possibly one of the strangest decisions Cellino has made during his time here. A man with no real pedigree, a relative unknown, now managing the once great Leeds United. His position is already untenable, especially with fans calling for his head, before a competitive ball was kicked. Cellino’s language suggests he will have no hesitation sacking Hockaday if he feels he made the wrong decision employing him, which won’t take long. Leeds could well go through a hoard of ‘managers’ this season, which will only make it harder for our already disgruntled players. Perhaps they’ll learn to deal with a new coach every 6 weeks.

Leeds have already been labelled as a ‘travelling circus,’ who knows what the circus will look like come the end of the season.

Then we have the situation rising from Nigel Gibbs’ parting of ways with the club. It is suggested that Gibbs did not agree with Cellino’s suggestion that he work under new coach Hockaday. At this point you could suggest that Gibbs’ reaction (bringing up a constructive dismissal case) is out-of-order because he went against his employers demands. Because Gibbs dared to cross ‘Mr President’ he was forced to become an outcast, unable to do his actual job. Rumours suggest that Gibbs was sent to do office work, and forced to make his own way to the pre-season tour of Italy, which is both unprofessional and uncalled for. The story of Gibbs leaving the club only epitomises the non-sensical approach of our owner, and his disregard for anything that gets in his way.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be a season of massive change. Massimo Cellino has managed to divide a fan base, some openly encouraging and backing up his large-scale cost cutting. Then we have those who say that Cellino will only kill this club, as his tyrannical, brash contradictions will only de-stabilise and already fraught and unhappy squad. Whether you are for or against the ‘king of corn’ we can all agree that change is needed at Leeds United, but is Cellino’s way the right one?

http://jakerossleedsblog.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/its-cellinos-way-or-nothing/?

[Promotion 2010]

Leeds United: Hockaday to continue as boss

Leeds head coach Dave Hockaday
by Phil Hay
Published on the
24 August
2014
19:27

45 comments

Leeds United head coach David Hockaday received a dramatic stay of execution tonight as owner Massimo Cellino abandoned a plan to sack him and said: “I’m to blame.”

In an astonishing turnaround, Cellino confirmed that Hockaday would remain in his job until the the Italian had “a fair chance to judge him” - just 24 hours after a 4-1 defeat at Watford placed Hockaday’s future in serious doubt.

Senior officials around Cellino were told to prepare for Hockaday’s dismissal in the aftermath of a result at Vicarage Road which left Leeds a point above the Championship’s relegation places.

United were expected to announce the 56-year-old’s departure today, just 66 days after naming him as head coach, but Cellino backtracked suddenly after talks with Hockaday around 6pm.

Speaking to the YEP, the Cellino said the defeat at Watford had come down to a “s*** mistake” by new signing Giuseppe Bellusci, a 58th-minute blunder which led to the defender’s dismissal and gifted Watford a penalty with the game level at 1-1.

Cellino also admitted that a summer in which 11 players have arrived at Leeds had been “harder than I thought” and claimed the dismissal of Hockaday would have punished the head coach for United’s failure to complete their squad before the start of the season.

“Yes, at Watford I decided to sack him,” Cellino said. “I said ‘he’s finished.’ I wasn’t happy. I was ashamed of the performance and it (sacking Hockaday) was what I wanted to do.

“But in my life I’ve learned that with your decisions, take 24 hours. Why should I blame the coach? The squad isn’t finished and that is my fault. Signings players has been harder than I thought so if I fire anyone, I should fire myself or else I’m a coward. I have to control my ego.

“This coach, he might not be a good coach, but sacking him now is not fair. I cannot say if he is good or not. When the squad is finished, I’ll see what he does then. But for now you blame me for the results. I blame myself because the fault is mine.”

Hockaday faced chants against him from an away crowd of 2,100 at Vicarage Road and Cellino’s initial plan to sack him after only five competitive games in charge appeared to reflect the mood of a large section of the travelling support.

But Hockaday defended himself and the performance of his team afterwards, saying Bellusci’s red card - shown for a trip on Fernando Forestieri inside United’s box - had dictated the course of an otherwise even match.

Troy Deeney converted the resulting penalty and further goals from Forestieri and Daniel Pudil sealed Watford’s win. Leeds were reduced to nine men in injury-time when Sam Byram was dismissed for an alleged headbutt on Pudil, a decision which United could appeal today.

Bellusci, 24, joined Leeds on loan from Catania a fortnight ago but Leeds paid more than £1.5m to make the move permanent last week, a deal agreed before Bellusci made his first-team debut.

Cellino said: “Bellusci is a good defender and what he did yesterday was a s*** mistake. We lost because of his mistake. I see that now. I didn’t see it yesterday.

“If he didn’t f*** up and we win the game, would I be firing the coach? No. So it’s wrong to blame the coach for the results. We are missing four or five players still. We are not good enough. I am the president so I should only sack myself, not Hockaday.

“I want to do everything too fast - I want 15 new players, I want to be in the Premier League, I don’t want the old coach, I want a new one. I want to build Rome in 12 hours but it doesn’t happen. If another coach comes in and we have the same problems, we are back in the s***. So I’ll wait.”

Leeds are close to their 12th signing of the summer after agreeing the terms of a three-year deal with Aarhus midfielder Casper Sloth on Friday evening.

The Elland Road club will pay around £600,000 to complete the deal.

Flamengo midfielder Adryan - currently on loan at Cagliari - remains a target and discussions aimed at cancelling his deal in Sardinia and bringing him to Elland Road will continue in the days ahead.

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/latest-whites-news/leeds-united-hockaday-to-continue-as-boss-1-6803211

Circus Cellino!   

[Promotion 2010]

Simon Austin
@Ethandour surely it takes a brave man to say 'I was rash this weekend. I've thought about it and changed my mind. Defeat was my fault'

[GeirO]

Manager Cellino tar ansvar!

[Promotion 2010]

Fra bloggen til Simon Austin:

Cellino explains Hockaday dismissal - and say he'd like him back one day

Leeds owner Massimo Cellino sacked Dave Hockaday on Thursday â€" and then revealed he would like him back as boss one day.
Hockaday was dismissed after just six games in charge of the Championship side.

The final straw for Cellino came with an embarrassing League Cup defeat by Bradford on Wednesday night.

The Italian had initially decided to sack Hockaday following the 4-1 league defeat at Watford on Saturday, only to perform a dramatic U-turn.

Hockaday, 56, leave with a record of three defeats in four league games.

“I felt sorry for him and had to give him some tranquillity,” Cellino told me.

“After the game on Wednesday, I found him in real trouble, it was getting too much for him.

“It was hell for him. He was under big, big pressure. I had to do something.”

Cellino denied he had made a mistake in appointing the 56-year-old back in June though.

The decision to choose Hockaday to succeed Brian McDermott as Leeds boss was met with widespread derision among the Leeds faithful.

The 56-year-old had only one previous managerial job on his CV â€" and that had ended in the sack at non-league Forest Green following a run of seven defeats in eight games.

“I think he has good qualities,” Cellino added.

“I found he had skills, loyalty and a desire to work hard.

“He is a very nice man â€" probably too nice.

“In the future, when I have a stronger team, I would like him to come back to Leeds.

“He is the perfect coach for a club that is strong.

Cellino had a reputation as a ruthless owner who got through lots of coaches during his time as owner of Italian side Cagliari.

Yet he admitted he felt sympathy and possible even guilt because of Hockaday's plight.

“I don’t think it was a fair chance for Hockaday,” the 58-year-old said.

“He needed an environment that was ready to protect him.

“I told him a couple of days ago ‘it’s not your fault’.

“The club doesn’t have a physical trainer or a goalkeeping coach.

“The team isn’t strong enough. The whole culture isn’t right.

“It’s easier to coach Real Madrid than Leeds at the moment.

“Hockaday needed time, but there was a game Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, and he never had that time.

“He agreed with my decision and it was like a weight had been lifted from him.”

Academy boss Neil Redfearn will now take caretaker charge of the side against Bolton tomorrow and Cellino believes things will start to improve.

“Neil Redfearn knows the boys and he is going to protect that team on Saturday," he said.

“We will have good new players coming.”

Cellino insisted he did not have a replacement lined up.

“If I said I had someone lined up, I would be lying,” he said.

Simon Austin at 15:05
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[Promotion 2010]

Intervju Part 1:

Fans’ trust makes it hard for me to sleep â€" Cellino

Leeds United owner and 'president' Massimo Cellino Picture: Tony Johnson.
by Richard Sutcliffe
Published on the
30 August
2014
06:30

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MASSIMO CELLINO has admitted to feeling “ashamed” and “embarrassed” during the alarming start to Leeds United’s season that this week cost Dave Hockaday his job.

The 56-year-old’s tenure at 
Elland Road came to a swift end on Thursday after just 70 days and six games.

Poor performances allied with hugely disappointing results â€" the most recent of which saw United knocked out of the Capital One Cup by League One Bradford City â€" saw Cellino abandon the experiment and begin the search for a new manager.

Steve Clarke, the former West Bromwich Albion chief, is believed to be among those under consideration with the indication from Elland Road being that a British coach â€" or at least one well versed in the domestic game â€" would be preferred.

Sources in the West Midlands suggest contact has been made and that Clarke has been receptive, in principle, to United’s approach.

Gianfranco Zola would also fit the bill, but the one-time international is believed to have ruled himself out of the running, while speculation in Italy suggests ex-Catania coach Rolando Maran â€" unattached after leaving the Serie A club last year â€" is interested in the vacancy.

Whoever does succeed Hockerday will have a big task on their hands to revive a season that, even at this early stage, seems in danger of unravelling.

Cellino, for his part, is determined to get the right man in place after admitting that Leeds’s performances in their first six games just have not been good enough.

Speaking exclusively to The Yorkshire Post, Cellino said: “I am not used to having a team I am ashamed about. And, at this moment, I feel ashamed.

“I don’t like to see my boys in an embarrassing situation. I feel for them.

“At this moment, it kills me. I want to make people happy, the fans happy. Everything else means nothing to me.”

Cellino has been busy this week trying to bring in the new faces he believes will make United competitive in the Championship.

Casper Sloth became Leeds’s 12th signing of the summer when joining from Danish club AGF Aarhus for £600,000, while talks continued yesterday with Brazilian playmaker Adryan and Paraguayan forward Brian Montenegro over season-long loan moves.

With the transfer deadline looming at 11pm on Monday, time is of the essence for Leeds in terms of getting any remaining deals over the line.

In terms of turning the club around, however, Cellino insists that patience will be key.

He said: “If we want to build something that will last for 20 years, we have to work together. We cannot wash out, in two months, years of what has gone wrong.

“I am asking for time, (though) not from the fans. They will give me that time. They love me, and that is killing me more.

“The fans, they are fantastic. They give me so much love. I would prefer it if they p***** me off, as then I wouldn’t feel so much for them.

“I can’t sleep trying to make things right for the fans. I feel the responsibility. It is with me all the time, even in bed.

“The trust the people give me doesn’t allow me to sleep. That is how it is. I have to do my best for those fans and the people of Leeds. I am convincing myself that once the (transfer) window closes on Monday and all the players are here, we have two weeks to get things right.”

Academy chief Neil Redfearn has been placed in interim charge following Hockaday’s dismissal and he will be in the dugout today for the visit of Bolton Wanderers to Elland Road.

As for Hockaday, the only surprise about his departure was perhaps the timing with Cellino having pledged just last Sunday to give the former Forest Green Rovers chief more time to gel together the squad.

However, that resolve weakened during the week and the decision to make a change was made during Thursday.

Cellino said: “We had too much confusion (on the pitch). That has to change. The manager came to me (on Wednesday) and said, ‘We are not training Sunday, not training Monday but will train Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning.

“He was thinking of giving free time to players. I say, ‘Why don’t you think about working?’ We have 15 days after the Bolton game to do that.”

[Promotion 2010]

Love is something you show, maintains Cellino

Caretaker coach Neil Redfearn takes yesterday's training sessaion at Thorp Arch. Picture: Andrew Varley.
by Richard Sutcliffe
Updated on the
30 August
2014
08:35
Published 30/08/2014 05:46
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3 comments
Have your say!

“PEOPLE say Rome was not built in a day. But I want it built in 12 hours. That is my problem.”

Massimo Cellino, in typically forthright manner, is outlining the philosophy behind his running of Leeds United, a club that even by its own often chaotic standards has been a beacon of uncertainty and upheaval since the uncompromising Italian first arrived on the Elland Road scene at the start of the year.

The most recent major change to befall Leeds came just two days ago when Dave Hockaday was axed 70 days and six games after succeeding Brian McDermott, a manager who left United with the unenviable record of being shown the door twice in a matter of months.

Hockaday’s enforced departure followed not only a swathe of staff redundancies across all departments as Cellino battled to stem inherited monthly losses of more than £1m, but also top scorer Ross McCormack’s sale to Fulham for £11m.

Coming in the opposite direction to Elland Road since the end of last season have been a dozen new signings â€" with more planned before Monday’s transfer deadline â€" while the number of arrivals will be swelled further during the coming international break by whoever gets the nod as United’s new head coach.

No wonder, therefore, that supporters have had trouble keeping up with the often head-spinning developments at their club.

“So much has to change,” said Cellino, at the helm of the Championship club since April, when talking to The Yorkshire Post yesterday in one of the Elland Road executive boxes. “I don’t only mean the players and the staff, I mean the culture of the club.

“The more I think about it, the more angry I get. Too many when I arrived said they love Leeds but I think they loved more what being at Leeds was like for them.

“They would say they are passionate for Leeds, but they are not willing to sacrifice. They don’t give up holidays, they don’t give up their lunch, they don’t give up their free Wednesday, they don’t give up their Bank Holidays. They don’t give up anything.

“They (the players) work one hour a day for four days a week. Everyone wants a car, everyone wants a company telephone. They talk about Leeds and the power and the passion...but I don’t know.”

With this last point, Cellino bangs his chest before adding with a sigh: “I don’t pretend to love this club more but, to me, love is something you show and not something you say. If you love, you sacrifice and you do a lot of work.

“It isn’t just that (area) we have to change. Look at the club. The stadium belongs to someone else. Thorp Arch (the club’s training ground) belongs to someone else. Another company run the conference business. If I want a meal, I have to ask someone else’s permission. This is not right.”

Elland Road and Thorp Arch were both sold by the then United board late in 2004 to stave off one of several financial crises to hit the club since the heady days of competing in the Champions League.

Both have proved costly deals in the long-run with the combined annual rent this year alone coming to £2.3m.

Cellino has vowed to buy back Elland Road, the rent for which will rise by a further three per cent in October, before the end of the year, while he has been actively seeking alternative training bases in the club’s home city.

One potential site has, however, fallen through. “We can’t go to the University because it is not available at this time,” said the United president. “I have to work out what we do next as I don’t like Thorp Arch. No one is in control there. It is almost like we have one club at Thorp Arch and another club at Elland Road.”

Cellino, as charismatic in the flesh as he is undoubtedly ruthless, has also had to contend with a number of other problems inherited when buying a majority shareholding from GFH.

One of these is the on-going dispute between United and former chairman Ken Bates over GFH’s termination of his presidency. The case is due in court during the autumn.

“There is so much mess that my head is blowing,” said Cellino, who met Bates last week in an 
attempt to resolve the matter without adding further to the club’s legal costs.

“He (Bates) hasn’t done anything wrong to me and we met as two businessmen. He had a problem with GFH and is asking me to solve it.

“I don’t know who is right and who is wrong. My duty is to look after Leeds, anything else is not my problem.

“But we have spent a lot of money in the past (on court cases). I am trying to sort this one without throwing more money from the window. That would be just more of the same s***.

“Let’s look at the future, not the past.”

Cellino’s attempts to overhaul the Elland Road squad saw a 12th new face arrive this week in Danish midfielder Casper Sloth.

Another two deals are believed to be close to completion as Leeds look to bring in Brazilian playmaker Adryan and Paraguayan forward Brian Montenegro on season-long loan deals.

The challenge facing Hockaday’s successor will be to mould this double figure tally of new signings into a squad capable of competing in the Championship.

As for Cellino, his own task is to get United running along the lines of Cagliari, the Serie A club he ran for 22 years before selling up to take over at Elland Road.

Asked how long he expects that process to take, the Leeds president initially throws his arms out wide as if to suggest, ‘Who knows?’

“Cagliari was 22 years ago,” Cellino eventually responds. “It was so different.

“It was my country for a start and Cagliari were a small club. Here, I found the agents came in to give me advice and would try to take advantage.

“But they forgot I have had 22 years in this business. They think I have just come to Leeds from running a fish and chip shop. I say, ‘Listen guys, I know what is happening. What are you talking about? Don’t try to take advantage of me’.

“Time is going very fast so I have had to convince myself that this club needs time to change and get things right.”

[Promotion 2010]

Jeg har enorm tro på prosjektet "Cellinos Leeds United" hvis han slipper til en Coach med erfaring og "know-how" både i å lede et lag til suksess og takle Cellino!

Noe sterke personligheter som ikke nødvendigvis skal fremheve seg selv må det vel finnes! 

[sportcarl1]

Love is something you show, maintains Cellino

Caretaker coach Neil Redfearn takes yesterday's training sessaion at Thorp Arch. Picture: Andrew Varley.
by Richard Sutcliffe
Updated on the
30 August
2014
08:35
Published 30/08/2014 05:46
Print this
3 comments
Have your say!

“PEOPLE say Rome was not built in a day. But I want it built in 12 hours. That is my problem.”

Massimo Cellino, in typically forthright manner, is outlining the philosophy behind his running of Leeds United, a club that even by its own often chaotic standards has been a beacon of uncertainty and upheaval since the uncompromising Italian first arrived on the Elland Road scene at the start of the year.

The most recent major change to befall Leeds came just two days ago when Dave Hockaday was axed 70 days and six games after succeeding Brian McDermott, a manager who left United with the unenviable record of being shown the door twice in a matter of months.

Hockaday’s enforced departure followed not only a swathe of staff redundancies across all departments as Cellino battled to stem inherited monthly losses of more than £1m, but also top scorer Ross McCormack’s sale to Fulham for £11m.

Coming in the opposite direction to Elland Road since the end of last season have been a dozen new signings â€" with more planned before Monday’s transfer deadline â€" while the number of arrivals will be swelled further during the coming international break by whoever gets the nod as United’s new head coach.

No wonder, therefore, that supporters have had trouble keeping up with the often head-spinning developments at their club.

“So much has to change,” said Cellino, at the helm of the Championship club since April, when talking to The Yorkshire Post yesterday in one of the Elland Road executive boxes. “I don’t only mean the players and the staff, I mean the culture of the club.

“The more I think about it, the more angry I get. Too many when I arrived said they love Leeds but I think they loved more what being at Leeds was like for them.

“They would say they are passionate for Leeds, but they are not willing to sacrifice. They don’t give up holidays, they don’t give up their lunch, they don’t give up their free Wednesday, they don’t give up their Bank Holidays. They don’t give up anything.

“They (the players) work one hour a day for four days a week. Everyone wants a car, everyone wants a company telephone. They talk about Leeds and the power and the passion...but I don’t know.”

With this last point, Cellino bangs his chest before adding with a sigh: “I don’t pretend to love this club more but, to me, love is something you show and not something you say. If you love, you sacrifice and you do a lot of work.

“It isn’t just that (area) we have to change. Look at the club. The stadium belongs to someone else. Thorp Arch (the club’s training ground) belongs to someone else. Another company run the conference business. If I want a meal, I have to ask someone else’s permission. This is not right.”

Elland Road and Thorp Arch were both sold by the then United board late in 2004 to stave off one of several financial crises to hit the club since the heady days of competing in the Champions League.

Both have proved costly deals in the long-run with the combined annual rent this year alone coming to £2.3m.

Cellino has vowed to buy back Elland Road, the rent for which will rise by a further three per cent in October, before the end of the year, while he has been actively seeking alternative training bases in the club’s home city.

One potential site has, however, fallen through. “We can’t go to the University because it is not available at this time,” said the United president. “I have to work out what we do next as I don’t like Thorp Arch. No one is in control there. It is almost like we have one club at Thorp Arch and another club at Elland Road.”

Cellino, as charismatic in the flesh as he is undoubtedly ruthless, has also had to contend with a number of other problems inherited when buying a majority shareholding from GFH.

One of these is the on-going dispute between United and former chairman Ken Bates over GFH’s termination of his presidency. The case is due in court during the autumn.

“There is so much mess that my head is blowing,” said Cellino, who met Bates last week in an 
attempt to resolve the matter without adding further to the club’s legal costs.

“He (Bates) hasn’t done anything wrong to me and we met as two businessmen. He had a problem with GFH and is asking me to solve it.

“I don’t know who is right and who is wrong. My duty is to look after Leeds, anything else is not my problem.

“But we have spent a lot of money in the past (on court cases). I am trying to sort this one without throwing more money from the window. That would be just more of the same s***.

“Let’s look at the future, not the past.”

Cellino’s attempts to overhaul the Elland Road squad saw a 12th new face arrive this week in Danish midfielder Casper Sloth.

Another two deals are believed to be close to completion as Leeds look to bring in Brazilian playmaker Adryan and Paraguayan forward Brian Montenegro on season-long loan deals.

The challenge facing Hockaday’s successor will be to mould this double figure tally of new signings into a squad capable of competing in the Championship.

As for Cellino, his own task is to get United running along the lines of Cagliari, the Serie A club he ran for 22 years before selling up to take over at Elland Road.

Asked how long he expects that process to take, the Leeds president initially throws his arms out wide as if to suggest, ‘Who knows?’

“Cagliari was 22 years ago,” Cellino eventually responds. “It was so different.

“It was my country for a start and Cagliari were a small club. Here, I found the agents came in to give me advice and would try to take advantage.

“But they forgot I have had 22 years in this business. They think I have just come to Leeds from running a fish and chip shop. I say, ‘Listen guys, I know what is happening. What are you talking about? Don’t try to take advantage of me’.

“Time is going very fast so I have had to convince myself that this club needs time to change and get things right.”

mycket vettigt sagt, och han är frispråkg, kanske för frispråkig, det jag gillade mest var det han sa om att alla säger att de älskar klubben(mest syftade han nog på spelare) men de är inte beredda att ge upp något

[Promotion 2010]

En liste med tidligere trenere under Cellino i Cagliari. Flere store eller større navn der også:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwZsSEaCQAA97n9.jpg:large

[asLeeds]

En liste med tidligere trenere under Cellino i Cagliari. Flere store eller større navn der også:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwZsSEaCQAA97n9.jpg:large

Ser det er fleire som var innom både 2 og 3 ganger....

[Asbjørn]

Ser det er fleire som var innom både 2 og 3 ganger....

...det er nettopp det - han går ikke av veien for å ombestemme seg.

Vinglete vil noen si, villig til å tenke seg om vil andre si.

Sannheten er vel et sted på midten   

[Promotion 2010]

Matt

Massimo stopped for a chat a photo with my students yesterday. Clearly busy but made time for us. A gentleman! #lufc pic.twitter.com/ylvBeoNi9j

[Asbjørn]

Om Massimo og om hvorvidt han skulle reise til USA i morgen
Phil Hay ‏@PhilHayYEP  · 3h 
@LUFCjamie1919 @APOPEY I was told over the weekend that he was going after the deadline. But he changes his plans all the time



Mhm 

[Asbjørn]

eddieleeds ‏@eddieleeds1  Â· 8m  
Anyone else watched tunnel cam on #lutv ? Cellino shakes every mans hand leaving dressing room ....does a "cross" across his chest ....1/2


eddieleeds ‏@eddieleeds1  Â· 7m  
@eddieleeds1 then kisses a book or something in his pocket .....full of passion .....great watch tbh 2/2

[Asbjørn]

The Scratching Shed ‏@TSSLUFC  · 15s 
With Doukara, I have estimated spend at around £6.95m (based on reported figures), which doesn't include any loan fees. #LUFC


Ca £7mill brukt (før lønn & evt sign on fee)

[Asbjørn]

The Scratching Shed ‏@TSSLUFC  · 15s 
With Doukara, I have estimated spend at around £6.95m (based on reported figures), which doesn't include any loan fees. #LUFC


Ca £7mill brukt (før lønn & evt sign on fee)

The Scratching Shed ‏@TSSLUFC  · 2m 
Total sales is around £11.85m but that's before fees and clauses (15% to Cardiff on RMc apparently) #LUFC

[Leedsgutt]

eddieleeds ‏@eddieleeds1  Â· 8m  
Anyone else watched tunnel cam on #lutv ? Cellino shakes every mans hand leaving dressing room ....does a "cross" across his chest ....1/2


eddieleeds ‏@eddieleeds1  Â· 7m  
@eddieleeds1 then kisses a book or something in his pocket .....full of passion .....great watch tbh 2/2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm7F3U5jCog&list=UUyQcJHDN4uYfPa1DHzKVSnw

den kan du se her.

[sportcarl1]

eddieleeds ‏@eddieleeds1  Â· 8m  
Anyone else watched tunnel cam on #lutv ? Cellino shakes every mans hand leaving dressing room ....does a "cross" across his chest ....1/2


eddieleeds ‏@eddieleeds1  Â· 7m  
@eddieleeds1 then kisses a book or something in his pocket .....full of passion .....great watch tbh 2/2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm7F3U5jCog&list=UUyQcJHDN4uYfPa1DHzKVSnw

den kan du se her.

helt underbart med detta engagemang

[Jon R]

Jeg har enorm tro på prosjektet "Cellinos Leeds United" hvis han slipper til en Coach med erfaring og "know-how" både i å lede et lag til suksess og takle Cellino!

Noe sterke personligheter som ikke nødvendigvis skal fremheve seg selv må det vel finnes! 

The missing link, altså.  Jeg tror du har rett!

Jeg håper vi får inn en "coach" som egentlig er manager og som har hånden på rattet når det gjelder strømmen av spillere inn og ut. Finnes denne personen og er Cellino villig til å satse på han?

Jeg innbiller meg at Steve Clarke kan være  mannen vi trenger! 

[sportcarl1]

var ett reportage i dagens aftonblad om svenske mittfältspelaren Albin Ekdal inför VM-kvalet mot Österike. Bl a stod det att Albin hade en bra relation till sin förre ägare
-Han kom ner till träningsanläggningen någon gång i veckan och ringde ofta spelare som var skadade  i varje fall mig och undrade om han kunde hjälpa till på något sätt, han var en medmäniska också, inte bara hård säger landslagsmittfältaren.

[Leedsfan]

var ett reportage i dagens aftonblad om svenske mittfältspelaren Albin Ekdal inför VM-kvalet mot Österike. Bl a stod det att Albin hade en bra relation till sin förre ägare
-Han kom ner till träningsanläggningen någon gång i veckan och ringde ofta spelare som var skadade  i varje fall mig och undrade om han kunde hjälpa till på något sätt, han var en medmäniska också, inte bara hård säger landslagsmittfältaren.

Er det virkelig noen som tror at Cellino kun er en drittsekk, han er kanskje nådeløs og envis!

Han er nok en eksentrisk og spesiell personlighet, og jeg har null problem med å tro at han er en gledesspreder i medgang. Derimot i motgang er han nok en utfordring!

[Eriksen55]

var ett reportage i dagens aftonblad om svenske mittfältspelaren Albin Ekdal inför VM-kvalet mot Österike. Bl a stod det att Albin hade en bra relation till sin förre ägare
-Han kom ner till träningsanläggningen någon gång i veckan och ringde ofta spelare som var skadade  i varje fall mig och undrade om han kunde hjälpa till på något sätt, han var en medmäniska också, inte bara hård säger landslagsmittfältaren.

Er det virkelig noen som tror at Cellino kun er en drittsekk, han er kanskje nådeløs og envis!

Han er nok en eksentrisk og spesiell personlighet, og jeg har null problem med å tro at han er en gledesspreder i medgang. Derimot i motgang er han nok en utfordring!

http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/landslagsfotboll/landslaget/article19482620.ab