Renewed hope

What a difference a few weeks can make. The appointment of Neil Warnock has no doubt given us renewed hope, fresh belief and something to smile about again... Some of us even daring to dream of a late push for promotion this season.

For once it seems like Uncle Ken has done right by us and backed up his claims that he wants promotion by bringing in a "proven" manager in this league. There is no doubt that Warnock will not be Bates' puppet and I would have thought he's been assured that he will have some funds to bring in some fresh blood. Especially if his first interview on LUTV was anything to go by, with him stating clearly "There will be times when I will have to tell him (bates) what is best for the club, and he will have to listen."

I must admit I have never been Neil Warnock's biggest fan, and if you would have told me even last season he would now be our manager.. Well I think you can guess what your response would have been. Alot has happened since then though, we have had at best a poor season... A poor and very frustrating season that has seen some of the most appalling and lacklustre performances I have ever witnessed. Once the news broke of Grayson's departure and the likely candidates were touted around the media.. There is no doubt that Warnock was certainly the most qualified man for the job, and I quite fancied him to come in and sort our team out and give them a winning mentality... Like many other Leeds fans though, I didn't think there was a realistic chance of us getting him and expected the chairman to go for someone not even linked with the job, a yes man - or my worst nightmare - Billy 'job done' Davies.

So for once I'll say fare play to Mr Bates for making possibly his best decision during his time at Leeds. If the Doncaster game is anything to go by, when Warnock's intervention helped us come back and win the game 3-2. Then he might just be the right man for us. If he can influence that sort of turnaround even though he was really a spectator in that game, then what's he going to do from the dugout.

The one thing that annoyed me about Grayson's tenure at Leeds was how he always spoke of the pressure of Leeds playing at Elland Road... That to me is crazy and one of the reason's the team performed better in away games, as they actually started to believe that. So instead of Elland Road being a fortress and somewhere teams have always dreaded coming to...Our players were more fearful of playing in front of us than the opposition.

Yes he's ex- Sheffield, and yes he's slated us in the past. But the last man to deliver us the title was ex Sheffield Wednesday manager and now our legend Howard Wilkinson. If anyone can instil a never say die attitude and winning mentality it is him. So why not let the past be in the past, get behind our new manager and the team and make Elland Road a fortress once more.

One of his recent quotes has absolutely delighted me, and it's the one thing we have all been crying out for, for quite a while now... And that is what I will leave you with.

Warnock: “The main thing I can tell the fans is they can come to games knowing the players wearing the Leeds shirt will be willing to run through brick walls for 90 minutes.

“There won’t be anyone putting a Leeds shirt on giving less than 100 per cent for 90 minutes under me, I can promise everyone that.”

That will do for me... MOT!