Massimo Cellino: maverick or madman – a fan view (pt 1.)

Let’s be honest, Marmite on toast; you either love it or you simply detest it. There is no grey area, no in-between patch – hatred for Marmite is concentrated at the extremes of ‘love it’ or ‘loathe it’. The same can be said of Leeds fans and their relationship with Massimo Cellino.

When Massimo Cellino’s chariot rode into Elland Road, he brought with him the record of dispensing with managers so quickly and voraciously that he also came with the reputation and nickname of il mangia allenatori or ‘the manager eater’.  That reputation has served him well and he has already dispensed of five ‘head coaches in Brian McDermott, David Hockaday, Darko Milanic, Neil Redfearn and Uwe Rosler. Now onto his sixth man in charge, this state of affairs has Leeds fans calling for stability to build the success that they crave.

On the other side of the coin, these fans forget that Massimo Cellino is a football fan at heart; not the mercenary prospectors like GFH who saw Leeds as a revenue stream to be exploited. These fans also forget that Cellino had to operate like a surgeon to stem the haemorrhaging of £1m per month that Leeds were suffering when he took the helm. There were light bulbs turned off at Thorp Arch, stories of players bringing pack-ups and much more. Truth is that Leeds came out of the Football League-imposed transfer embargo at the first opportunity. Some fans forget that, conveniently according to those who support Cellino.

The72 decided to speak to one of those fans, Jason Brown who is a staunch Cellino-ite and helps to run a Facebook group called IN MASSIMO WE TRUST (formerly CELLINO IN’ group).

1. What are your thoughts on Cellino and his time so far at Elland Road

“I have mixed feelings on Cellino’s time at Elland Road so far. I think he has laid the foundations for future success very well. He stabilised us from the point of losing 1 million a month and a transfer embargo to where we were this summer when we were in a position to spend our biggest transfer outlay in a decade. Im not of the opinion that chairman can be blamed for onfield performances. He did his bit investing in the squad and its up to the manager to the get them playing. If that wasnt the case then the records of Revie, Ferguson et al arent really relevant. I think his tenure hasnt been helped by the repeated manager changes. I actually think Rosler being sacked was justified. Like I said, he was backed substantially by our standards and in a results driven business he wasnt delivering. Nobody will attempt to defend Hockaday who is a black mark on Cellino and Leeds. This alone started the fans questioning Cellino and its difficult yo defend him on this. As a whole tho I believe he inherited an absolute train wreck hence why he was financing us before he even took over and fending off numerous winding up orders. To go from the point of how much we were losing to where we are now deserves a tremendous amount of credit.”

2. Why is it that you feel that Cellino is the right man for Leeds United?

“I think the main reason that most will point to for being Pro Cellino is the work he has done financially and the amount of passion he has for the club. As I mentioned earlier turning around the amount we were losing to where we are now is an achievement that goes un-noticed by many. People are quick to point out that Cellino has only ‘loaned’ the club 20 million plus, but they totally overlook the fact that this is the way that every club is run these days and its either that or no investment. At the point when he came in we were teetering on the verge of another administration. Despite all the talk from other groups Cellino was the only one to stump up the money to save us. Another thing worth noting is Cellino could have sold us to LFU and walked away recouping as much money as possible and left us saddled with 30 million plus of long term loans. He didnt because he said it wasnt in the best interests of the club. Another big plus is we actually get value for our players now or we hold onto them. Ross Mccormack is the only notable sale and that was at 2-3 times his actual value. Previous owners have sold Gradel, Delph, Lennon, Schmeichel and Howson to name at few at a fraction of their value. Do people actually think if it wasnt for Cellino we still would have kept hold of Taylor, Mowatt, Cook etc.”

3. Can you understand the frustrations of Leeds fans towards Cellino?

“I can totally understand the frustrations of Leeds fans towards Cellino because it is a very divisive subject. For me the biggest criticism that can be levelled at him is the way we go through managers yet fans were also happy to call for the heads of Hockaday (rightly) and Milanic (wrongly) from day one. Redfearns role was devisive among the fans. Some thought he should stay because ‘He is one of our own’ and others thought that wasnt enough to keep him in employment. As for Rosler many, many fans were already calling for him to go before he got the sack.”

4. What would you want to say to them to reassure them?

As i said earlier I think the ground work is already in place for our future. Cellino has invested his own money so is always going to protect that money and by re-negotiating the 25 million loan with GFH so that interest is deferred until we get promoted. This alone saves the club millions. Costs have been cut so that all matchday profits are poured back into the club and as this summer proved, financially we are in a more stable position than we have been in for the past 10 years. I think the investment will keep coming and as such its only a matter of time before things click on the field.

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