As Neil Warnock’s frustration mounts, he has now expressed his support of Robert Snodgrass, as our captain deliberates over whether to sign a new contract and publicly said that he needs more support from the club. Will he still be at Elland Road when the new season kicks off?
Warnock has told the Yorkshire Post that Snodgrass was justified in delaying a decision about whether to extend his contract, even though the club have offered him a figure that would make him our highest paid player. Snoddy will have further talks with the club next month, but said earlier this week that he wants to know if those running the club are serious about building a squad that can challenge for promotion.
Warnock said: “He knows what I think about him and I don’t blame him. I know he’s saying ‘let’s see how ambitious the club are. He is going to wait and see who we sign and how the situation develops. I’ve seen some of his comments and he’s come out and said he’s heard it all before at the club. Snods has been here longer than me so he probably knows more about the politics than I do.”
“They [the fans]want to see a top team and, quite honestly, you’ve seen with my retained list that I don’t think we’re anywhere near as good as we should be with the size of this club.” It’s been a frustrating close season so far for Warnock, with the possibility of losing as many of four of the players he wants to keep at the club, and the only signing so far being Jason Pearce from Portsmouth.
Leeds haven’t even been able to finalise a deal for Joel Ward, which has prompted Warnock to ask our beloved owner for a few more resources in order to build a squad for next season. Speaking on Radio Leeds he said, "It is a challenge to get a squad together that is capable of winning promotion. I want one shot at that eighth promotion and I am hoping I will get sufficient support to warrant that, and only time will tell. It is frustrating and disappointing but I have just got to get on with it."
These public comments from our manager and our captain suggest that all is not well behind the scenes at Elland Road, and you have to wonder how much longer either of them will be at the club. When Warnock first took the job we wondered if the club was big enough for his ego as well as Bates, but after a cozy chat in Monaco Warnock seemed sure that he’d be able to work with our beloved chairman.
Then a month ago the two men sat down to draw up plans for the new season, and again Bates promised that the manager would have the backing to sign the players that he needed. But now is the time to deliver on that promise, and if Bates lets the manager down there is no reason for Warnock to hang around. He is 63 years old and is comfortably off financially, so if he’s not getting any satisfaction from the job there is nothing to stop him walking away.
And for Bates’ part, we all know that he doesn’t tolerate public criticism from anyone, so he might well make Warnock’s mind up for him and push him out the door before he gets a chance to resign. I hope I’m wrong, but the way things are going I think we’ll be looking for yet another new manager before 2012/13 has even started.