Too late again for Leeds United

By Mark Rasdall

Like so many Leeds United fans I was hugely disappointed with our  defeat at Burnley last night. Every LUFC loss puts me off my food and replaces it with drink, but late defeats ruin my sleep as well so I am not in the best of moods this morning. Nor, I suspect, is Neil Warnock  who put out a side to gain a
point not lose three.
 
Tiredness may be fuelling over-reaction here and a below par performance last night. 1.0 is no disgrace. Cardiff scored four but conceded five. It's not as if we're being thumped or have no plan, organisation or desire to do better. Neil has brought in these three elements in abundance -  something that Simon Grayson simply could not manage, not to mention a  tactical prowess that probably only really comes with age and experience - certainly in this league. We replaced Grayson with Warnock; Crystal  Palace replaced Freedman with Holloway...

However,  the points are already beginning to slip away. Fifteenth is not as bad  as it sounds as we're only ten points off top place - but we're also ten places off of the bottom of the most competitive Championship for  years. We're all talking about the takeover and funds in January. As  I've written here before, though, how those funds are allocated will be  key and without Neil we may just spend, spend, spend and under-achieve,  under-achieve, under-achieve. We don't want a Venky's glory boy thinking they can't possibly fail, only to fail all of us. If we're completely  honest we all know that some of the current players are not and never  will be good enough to play for Leeds United. You and I know who they  are but still we get behind them and the team in the hope if not expectation that things will improve.
 
And this is my  point really. We all expect better things - no doubt now against Watford on Saturday.But why? Neil can only work with what he has and goodness knows he's worked miracles already with a squad low on quality and  quantity. Why would things change? I tweeted during the darkest part of  the
Brighton game on Friday that 'this is what happens when you sell  Gradel, Howson, Clayton and Snodgrass.' Money gives us options to get in some flair and creativity but it needs to be deployed properly and effectively. I have faith in Neil to do that but am not convinced he'll  still be at Elland Road by then. If we're not really careful and are not at least in the mix in January, I don't think Neil will be - yet again we'll have left it too late.

If ever there was a  time to announce the takeover it has to be now - not just for the fans  but for Neil Warnock. You can live on bread and water but real butter  makes you feel like a winner.

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