Woodgate Ultimateum.

[Gazza]

David O'Leary admits Jon Woodgate has been told if he does not move from his home in Middlesborough, he will be sold.


Boss O'Leary insists the 21-year-old has to leave the North-East in order to stop getting in to trouble.


David O'Leary : "He has to leave Middlesbrough, he has to move down to Leeds, change his environment and that is not up for debate.
"It is a condition of him remaining a Leeds player."


O'Leary has though said he believes people should cut Woodgate some slack,

"I've watched this young man and he has suffered, believe me. He couldn't take the pressure of the two trials. He has been a waste of time to this club these past two years.

"The judge referred to it when passing sentence, saying that he could see the agony etched on Jonathan's face and I've recognised that.
"The lad has been totally washed out, he looks like death warmed up and has lost weight.
"I believe he has suffered enough," O'Leary told The Sunday People.


Why does O'Leary say pressure should be taken off him when he has just stated he will be sold if he does not leave his home-town.


Strange thing to say and I thought Leeds United were about family atmosphere and protecting players, but he has gone straight to the press.


Bad management by O'Leary.

 

[True Treble Reds]

Talk about contradicting yourself!

DO'L should learn to keep his gob shut.

I have no sympathy for Woodgate because you reap what you sew. He was involved and it don't matter if he has suffered or not, the young lad, Sarfraz(?) suffered far more than he 'kin did or probably ever will.

Having said that, DO'L is a complete tosser by making those comments to the press. Woodgate should tell him to feck off and he should go somewere else, regain his form, and never look back. He needs to totally separate himself from Bowyer et al and move on.

We all feck up in life to some degree so I aint being all holier than thou, it's just that he is still young and needs his managers public support, not press ultimatums. Behind closed doors DO'L could have told him to smarten up and move to Leeds but in the press? ... Absolute lact of tact and a classless move imo.

"He has been a waste of time to this club these past two years."
That'll make Woodgate feel better and less pressured

 

[Gazza]

I agree with what you said, and Woodgate must leave - there would be no shortage of takers for his signature.

He has now dropped down to fourth choice CB and may never get back on the right side of Leeds United.

Good Luck to him.

 

[Gazza]

David O'Leary has defended the controversial serialisation of his soon-to-be-published book after the first extracts appeared in the media focussing on the trial of Lee Bowyer and Jonathon Woodgate.

The News of the World published a section of the book titled 'Leeds on Trial' on Sunday just hours before Leeds slumped to a 2-2 draw with struggling Leicester at Elland Road.

He said: "The book is not about the trial. There's only one chapter in it on that, and anyway I cannot help the serialisation rights of a newspaper that wants to take it.

"Even though it is my book, I cannot help the timing of it either, and let me just say, I don't get any pennies or monies from what the News of the World have printed.

"I'm not trying to say go out and buy it, but I do stand by everything that is in it. Those two players let Leeds United down and the way they carried on in the streets of Leeds and everything else is disgraceful." <hr></blockquote>


This says it all I am afraid. David O'Leary was a good manager in my opinion who stuck by his players, defended them well and helped them at a young age but it seems in the last few days he has completely lost it.

 

[elmoyju]

I agree that the serialisation and even the writing of the book is in bad taste by DOL but as a Leeds fan I have to say that the past two years have been probably hardest on him and Ridsdale. They've been dealing with lawyers and players and PLC and trying to get results and press criticism etc for something that they did not do....only players in their team did.

I have no sympathy for Bowyer and Woodgate as what they got themselves involved in was stupid but I have sympathy for DOL and PR and all the rest of the people at Leeds who have been trying their best for two years to deal with something that wasn't done by them and was out of their control.

DOL has even had security for his family as they received death threats for continuing to play Bowyer and Woodgate.

Yes the writing of the book was bad but if anyone saw DOL at the end of last season he was close to breaking point. He couldn't talk about the trial to the press yet the press could make whatever assumtions they liked about the situation and print them. He was under a lot of stress and I guess he felt that writing the book would explain a lot of his actions over the last two years.

I don't agree that it was the right move but I can see WHY he felt compelled to write it and also face this criticism for writing it.

If anyone deserves sympathy it's the thankless manager and chairman who have had to mop up the mess Bowyer and Woodgate made, deal with the press, run a club, and try and get results still.

 

[Marching]

I fail to see what DOL has done wrong - he was asked to comment on something and told it how he saw it. Woody has let LUFC down big style by getting involved, albeit in a minor way, with the disgraceful beating of Nejeib. It has been known for while that Woody was not keeping the best of company on Teeside and it has been suggested before that he moved to Leeds. This is something LUFC suggest to ALL its players including Robbie Fowler where it was made a part of his contract so it is nothing specifically to do with Woody.
Woody knows the pressure is on him so hearing it from his boss yesterday will come as no big suprise. Of course both players have the full support of DOL, PR and everyone else at ER and to suggest otherwise is stupid.
This saga is or should be at an end depending on whether the Nejeibs seek what they wanted all along through the civil courts, Bow has been found not guilty of anything and Woody has been given his punishment - the end.
Just as a matter of interest, I wonder why Clifford, the only person found guilty of GBH, has never been mentioned in the civil action the Nejeibs are considering