EPL Talk » Dennis Wise

Does Anybody Remember Leeds United And Sheffield Wednesday?

Christopher Walker — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:03:20 +0000

Wednesday were all at sea for years…

Did you ever think that you would look at the Premier League table and see the Wigan in 7th, Hull take 20 points in the first 9 games and Fulham challenging for 6th?

If that wasn’t strange enough, once Champions League semi-finalists Leeds United are currently sitting in the middle of the third tier following in similar footsteps to the once impressive Sheffield Wednesday.

So what happened to the big boys who are nowhere to be seen in England’s top 20?

Leeds United - Essentially, Leeds spent millions that they simply did not have under the guidance of then chairman, Peter Ridsdale (now at Cardiff City) . Ridsdale took out large loans to buy players in an effort to build on the success of previous high finishes. The club expected to pay these back with prize money and revenue from television rights obtained from progress in the UEFA Champions League. Of course Leeds then failed to qualify and this led to high profile player sales to try and keep the club afloat, most notably Rio Ferdinand to bitter rivals Manchester United. This transfer caused the dispute between Ridsdale and manager David O’ Leary, under whom they never finished lower than fifth. Terry Venables took over followed by Peter Reid and then Eddie Gray but alas after three years of financial meltdown the club was relegated.

United were then the subject of a succesful take over bid by a Ken Bates (the once controversial Chairman of Chelsea). The club nearly made a return at the second attempt under Kevin Blackwell, Leeds finished fourth and reached the play-off final only to lose to Watford. Blackwell was sacked early in the following season after a sluggish start and was replaced by Dennis Wise. Despite the change in regime wise couldn’t lift Leeds out of the bottom three. With relegation virtually assured, the club applied to go into administration immediately in an attempt to incurr the 10 point dedution penalty whilst in the Championship. The football league overruled this and after a lengthy court battle and dispute with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Leeds started life in League One, 10 points adrift. Amazingly they still reached the play off final and lost to Doncaster.

Leeds in 2009

They are currently seventh in League One and four points off the play-offs with a game in hand. Should Leeds achieve promotion, it will be an arduous task to keep them in the second tier. It will be a long, LONG time before Leeds compete for European football again.

Sheffield Wednesday – In the 1990/91 season Wednesday were relegated to the second tier having spent the previous six seasons in the top flight. Little did they know they were about to enter the club’s most succesful spell in the modern era. Promotion back to the top echelon of the English game was secured at the first attempt with the Owls finishing third. For all the joy that promotion brought the Hillsbrough faithful, this was eclipsed in some style by winning the League cup in the same season by defeating Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley to win the clubs first major trophy since 1935.

The following season Trevor Francis took over the reigns in a player-manager role to fill the void left by Ron Atkinson’s departure to Aston Villa. Francis success was immediate, securing a third-place finish in their first season and Wednesday made four appearances at Wembley the following season. Defeating bitter rivals Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi final and losing the final after a replay to Arsenal. The Gunners had beaten Wedneday in the league cup final at the twin towers earlier in the season.

It was the 1994/95 season where most Wedneday fans feel it started to go wrong. After achieving another seventh place finish, Trevor Francis was sacked after a disappointing start that led to club finishing 13th and was succeeded by David Pleat and the latter by Danny Wilson This signalled the start of a managerial merry-go-round at Hillbrough, nine managerial changes followed in a mere ten years from Francis’ departure

Wednesday’s financial problems were starting to be exposed, the managers that followed Francis invested heavily in the squad with very little to show for it. Inflated transfer fees, high wages and badly negotiated contracts were the order of the day for the ailing club and they soon had to offload the high earners.

Wednesday started to capitulate and were relegation favourites for the 1999/2000 season, a disastrous campaign demonstrated by the 8-0 thrashing by Newcastle United. As a last ditch attempt at survival Wilson was replaced by Peter Shreeves who failed to keep the club in the top flight, Wednesday were relegated away to Arsenal despite a 3-3 draw on the last day.

After relegation Paul Jewell, Peter Shreeves (again), Chris Turner all braved the hot seat. The Owls suffering another relegation under Turner’s tenure at the club.

Stability And The Future

Paul Sturrock brought the club off its knees and Wednesday were promoted to the Championship in 2004 via the League One play offs and even kept the club in the Championship after the promotion. Wednesday however started the next season in poor fashion and the scot was replaced by currrent manager Brian Laws who guided the club to ninth in the league. Last season Wednesday survived the dogfight but with an ambitious new Chairman and a solid manager in Laws who has performed well on a shoe-string budget, Wednesday may well return to Premier League in the coming years.

Send In The Cockney Clowns: Newcastle Contemplates Signing Gerry Francis

The Gaffer — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 09:00:47 +0000

Gerry Francis has been offered a coaching position at Newcastle United, according to Sky Sports. But, according to The Daily Telegraph, he may reject the offer.

If he takes the position, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers manager will join a club overflowing with cockneys including owner Mike Ashley, vice president Tony Jimenez, executive director Dennis Wise, managing director Derek Llambias, assistant manager Chris Hughton and manager Joe Kinnear.

It’s not that I have anything against cockneys. It’s just that Ashley and company seem to be making mistake after mistake and, as a result of hiring Londoners, they’re distancing themselves further away from the Geordies and damaging the morale of the club’s players and supporters.

Just like Joe Kinnear, Francis has been out of the game for ages. His last management position was in 2001 when he was in charge of Bristol Rovers. Recently the former England midfielder has been a pundit on Sky Sports.

Other than for the sake of convenience, why put Francis in there? Why not hire someone who has more experience and who can actually make a difference?

Which other cockneys will Ashley and Wise unearth next for Newcastle? Maybe Michael Caine, Alan Sugar, Dennis Waterman and the cast from Eastenders will be invited to join the board and St James’ Park will start serving jellied eels instead of northern pies?

The sooner Newcastle gets new owners, the better.

Joe Kinnear’s Newcastle United Press Conference: Audio

The Gaffer — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:10:34 +0000

We have the audio of Joe Kinnear’s unbelievable tirade against journalists from yesterday’s Newcastle United press conference. If this isn’t a sign of a club in serious trouble, I don’t know what is.

What was Mike Ashley and Dennis Wise thinking about hiring Kinnear who obviously isn’t able to handle the pressure?

Newcastle Manager Joe Kinnear swears 52 times after being incensed at some of the newspaper headlines and coverage about him.

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Breaking News: Joe Kinnear Named Newcastle Interim Manager

The Gaffer — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:20:24 +0000

Newcastle United has named Joe Kinnear as their interim manager until the end of October.

Newcastle Executive Director Dennis Wise must have had his grubby hands involved in the appointment of Kinnear. The Irishman managed Wimbledon from 1992 to 1999. But while Kinnear never managed Wise at Wimbledon, there’s undoubtedly a close connection between him and Wise — and Newcastle fans won’t be satisfied with the appointment.

“The fans will be disappointed, I understand that, but I can’t do anything about it,” said Kinnear. “I will just be doing my very best because I am desperate to get back into the game. I will be going up to Newcastle on Monday and will pick the team from then. It is a big challenge but one I am really looking forward to.”

Newcastle United Hits New Low In 2-1 Carling Cup Loss To Tottenham

The Gaffer — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:42:26 +0000

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Newcastle United, it just did. In the battle of the two bottom teams of the Premier League, Newcastle lost 2-1 at home tonight to fellow underachievers Tottenham Hotspur in the Carling Cup in front of their lowest attendance in years.

The performance by Newcastle was utterly pathetic, lacking any passion, character, pace and commitment. Newcastle looks like a team with nothing to play for and without the leadership of a permanent manager, which is exactly the situation they find themselves in.

At St James’s Park tonight, there were massive pockets of empty seats visible as United fans decided to stay at home instead of supporting their club. In 1992, 14,000 saw a first-round League Cup game against Mansfield. Tonight the attendance was 19,743. This at a club where their average attendance in the Premier League last season was 51,122. The lowest attendance since St. James’s Park was redeveloped, before tonight, was 33,000.

The attendance was so small that oftentimes you could hear the players shouting instructions to each other from the field.

Tottenham, for most of the first half, looked equally as apathetic until Roman Pavlyuchenko scored his first goal for Spurs with a header, and Jamie O’Hara soon followed up with a second for Tottenham. Michael Owen picked up his fourth goal of the season near the end of the match.

If it wasn’t for Owen, Newcastle would be in even deeper trouble in 2008.

Newcastle To Announce New Manager

Things will seemingly get even worse for the club who, according to newspaper reports, seem likely to appoint Terry Venables as Newcastle manager either on a permanent or temporary basis.

Venables hasn’t managed in more than four years since he was sacked by Leeds United in March, 2003. At Leeds, his managerial skills were pathetic. The last person Newcastle needs now is another Londoner trying to sort the club out. Newcastle fans and players are sick of Dennis Wise and Mike Ashley, and Terry Venables will be no different.

The only thing Venables will be able to do is to schmooze the British media.

Newcastle, if they do decide to hire Venables, will drive the value of the club down even more than now.