Review of 2011/12 – Part 3 – End of season blues On the morning of 18 February, the day of their home game with Doncaster Rovers, Leeds United formally confirmed Neil Warnock as the new manager. Caretaker Neil Redfearn’s time in charge would end with the fixture, for which he made a number of changes, moving Danny Pugh to central midfield, recalling Andros Townsend on the left wing and giving Alex Bruce a start at right- back. Neil Warnock celebrates United's fightback against Doncaster United weren’t in the contest in the first half and Warnock, watching from the stands, must have wondered what he was getting into when Rovers took the lead just after the half hour. Leeds keeper Andy Lonergan made a good block from a James Hayter effort, but the ball fell to Mamadou Bagayoko who stabbed it into an unguarded goal. The advantage was no more than Rovers deserved and there was an accustomed air of resignation as United players trudged off to boos and jeers at the interval. Deciding to make his first intervention, Warnock set off for the dressing room. Warnock: “It was really frustrating being in the stands. After 10 minutes, I was really wishing I had put my name down on the sheet to be able to be in the dugout as there was a space on it. “It wasn't a bad first team talk! They responded to the changes. Neil Redfearn was already shouting at them when I went in. I let him do that. I wanted to be the good cop! “The little things were what I was desperate to change, maybe the ones the punters don’t notice. For example, in the first half we defended a corner and Townsend was inside our six-yard box. This meant we had one lad, McCormack, up front with everyone else back. I got hold of Townsend at half time and said, ‘Who told you to go there on corners? I want you on the halfway line on one side and McCormack on the other’. That way the opposition have to bring three back, which is what happened.” www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Review of 2011/12 Part 3 – End of season blues 1 Warnock also ordered a tactical switch, Robert Snodgrass given a roaming role in the centre to make him more difficult for Doncaster to pick up. Phil Hay in the Yorkshire Evening Post: “His instructions were almost rendered redundant three minutes after the break. Giles Barnes sprinted over 40 yards of clear turf and laid the ball off to Hayter who, with Lonergan to beat and United’s defence nowhere, clattered the ball against the crossbar. United’s stroke of luck was huge but quickly wasted. “With 54 minutes played, Spurr outran Alex Bruce on the left wing and crossed to the far post where Diouf’s unselfish knockdown gave Bagayoko a tap in. Only then, at a desperate moment, did Leeds react as Warnock would have wanted. “Their next attack stretched Doncaster’s defence and Townsend met Danny Pugh’s lay off with a deadly strike, driven into the bottom corner of Button’s net. It raised Elland Road’s smile for the first time since confirmation of Warnock’s appointment earlier in the day. “Leeds searched for a moment of class and it arrived 10 minutes from time when Clayton met Snodgrass’ low cross with a flying volley and hooked the ball into the net off the underside of Button’s bar. The noise was deafening and the tension rose after a clash of heads between Spurr and United debutant Robbie Rogers caused a lengthy delay on the cusp of injury time. “As the 99th minute arrived, Becchio drove the ball against Luciano Becchio crashes home an injury time winner against Doncaster substitute Mikael Forssell and kept his head to sweep the ricochet into the net. Warnock shared in the pandemonium by clenching his fist, and celebration rapidly descended into violence. Welcome to Leeds.” The game ended in a breathtaking 3-2 victory. It would have been understandable if the passionate and emotion-fuelled fightback had gone to Warnock’s head, but not a bit of it. The new manager was alarmed at a lack of leadership on the field and spent the week stressing that point to the players, saying publicly: “We have good players, including some top class ones. But we need more leaders. It can’t just be me off the field, I need one or two on the field as well.” When asked if the United job would be his last in football, after saying that at each of his previous three clubs, Warnock laughed, “I mean it this time. This is definitely the last one. I don’t know how long I’ll be here. Because of how the chairman is with me, we will know when the time has come for it to end … If I am not enjoying it, I won’t want to stay. Likewise, if he is not happy with the job I am doing then he will tell me to call it a day. www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Review of 2011/12 Part 3 – End of season blues 2 “I can’t imagine there will be many managers out there who wouldn’t want a two-and-a-half-year contract, whereas I wanted an 18-month one. We could easily extend beyond that … but I will definitely not be going anywhere else in England after Leeds.” As Warnock prepared for his first game in charge, a week later at Portsmouth, he revealed that Tottenham loanee Andros Townsend had left the club. “When I talked to Harry Redknapp about changing my system for him, Harry said how pleased he was Andros was getting a regular game. The next minute Townsend’s agent phones to say he’s not enjoyed it at all. He said: ‘No disrespect to you, Neil, but he’s wanted to leave for a while.’ I said to him: ‘He’s only been here four weeks. I don’t suppose it’s anything to do with me hearing that Birmingham want him, is it?’ “I said to his agent: ‘I don’t want anyone playing for Leeds who’s not happy, but we’ll have to play him at Portsmouth as I’ve worked on his role all week. Next week he can go to Birmingham or wherever.’ I go into training the next day and ask one of the staff to fetch Andros so I can put him in the picture. They return to tell me he’s cleared his locker and gone back to London. By the time you read this he’ll probably be at Birmingham. It’ll be interesting to see how many games he plays between now and the end of the season.” United earned a goalless draw at Portsmouth, denied victory by a 54th minute offside decision. Ross McCormack’s exquisite chip from the left corner of the area came back off the bar and when Robert Snodgrass headed home the rebound he was adjudged Neil Warnock is totally immersed in the moment during his first game in charge of United, a offside. goalless draw at Portsmouth on 25 February Warnock: “Overall I can’t complain. I think the lads were trying to impress me early doors because it was 100 miles an hour, like Wacky Races. But when we calmed down in the second half we created some very good chances. One goal would have won us the game. Considering the bombardment from free kicks, throw ins and so on, I thought we defended really well. I didn’t think we’d get many 0-0 draws having spent a week with the players and looked at the videos of the last few games. I’ve got to be pleased with that.” Robert Snodgrass wore the captain’s armband at Portsmouth and Warnock confirmed that he would continue in the role: “I had a chat with Andy (Lonergan) and it’s nothing against him… I think he www.mightyleeds.co.uk - Review of 2011/12 Part 3 – End of season blues 3 was quite relieved really. He’s taken it on board and wished Snods all the best. I said to Snods he’ll be captain for the rest of the season and we’ll see where we go.” Lonergan backed Warnock’s decision and claimed Snodgrass should have been given the nod two months earlier. The keeper had captained United through the final throes of Simon Grayson’s tenure, replacing Jonny Howson after the midfielder’s January transfer to Norwich. Grayson initially gave the armband to Lonergan in early January with both Howson and vice-captain Patrick Kisnorbo sidelined by injury. At the time, Snodgrass was recovering from emergency appendix surgery but the Scotland international revealed that he had asked Grayson to give him the captaincy. Speaking after his first match as captain, Snodgrass said: “I’ve been down here four years and this was one of the things to tick off in terms of things to achieve. I did fancy the job and I spoke to Simon Grayson at the time. He felt my form was going really well and he didn’t want to affect that. That was his way of thinking but I didn’t agree and I told him so… This manager is different. He tells you how it is because he’s got a proven track record.” Three days later, United signed free agent Danny Webber on a short term contract.