Who Next for Leeds United?

As Neil Warnock closes the door on his way out of Elland Road and his managerial tenure with the mighty whites, one question looms large, who next for Leeds United?

It comes as no surprise that Warnock has left the club, having made his intentions perfectly clear that it was promotion or bust in the ER hot seat.

However there is a timid hint of surprise as his departure comes with six league games of the championship season remaining.

Nevertheless, the revelation comes after a sorry performance again by the whites, this time a home defeat to Derby County.

More points dropped and chances of promotion back to the Premier League a fleeting thought to be resurrected next season.

A club statement shortly after Warnocks departure outlined the strategy of appointing a successor:

"This may well be after the end of the season dependent on the availability of the club's preferred choice to become the next manager.

"A short-list has already been prepared as Neil was always going to leave at the end of the season in the event that we did not get promotion.

"However, with availability of suitable candidates changing all the time then we will adopt a flexible approach, so as to ensure that we make the right appointment

Academy manager Neil Redfearn will take caretaker charge of the first team until a permanent candidate for the role is found, a decision the powers that be are in no rush to make.

Leeds Chief Exec Shaun Harvey stated: ‘We need to look to the future and the search for his replacement is under way’

"There is no fixed timescale as securing the services of the right person is the primary objective to give us the best chance of promotion next season."

Warnock spent 14 months at the Leeds United helm, replacing Simon Grayson in February 2012.

"We would like to thank Neil for his efforts during his time as our manager and share his disappointment that we could not achieve promotion," added Harvey.

"We would also like to thank Mick Jones and Ronnie Jepson, who will leave the club with Neil, for all their hard work."

Early front runners to the vacated managers office include Mark Hughes, Owen Coyle, Gus Poyet, Brian McDermott and Martin O’Neill.

The bookies have former Reading boss McDermott at the shortest price of 5/4, followed by Poyet at 9/2 and Martin O’Neil at 8/1.

Gus Poyet is the only one of these names to have spent time at Elland Road as a member of the clubs backroom staff, serving as Dennis Wise’s assistant between October 2006 and October 2007. Poyet, now manager at Brighton, is held in high regard by the Leeds faithful.

The Yorkshire Evening Post reported over the weekend that sources close to the former Reading boss Brian McDermott, have stated he wants his next managerial role in football to be at Elland Road.

Read into that what you will.

McDermott’s availability comes after his former club Reading sacked him after four successive defeats; this coming after the manager had claimed the manager of the month award for January.

Prior to that, he led Reading to the Championship title the previous season, pipping Southampton to the trophy by a single point, winning an impressive 16 league games from 19 to close out the season.

However the newest managerial casualty from the top flight, needs no introduction to some Leeds fans, most recently Sunderland found him to be surplus to requirements, their loss could be the mighty whites gain.

The name Martin O’Neill is familiar to supporters of Leeds United, once upon a time he nearly signed with the Elland Road outfit whilst at Celtic.

The Northern Irishman could be back on United’s radar as their top target, however it is thought O’Neill will be taking a short break after his dismissal and look for a new position over the summer.

A scenario Leeds perhaps wouldn't turn their nose up at if ‘no fixed timescale’ were the intended plan of action alluded to by Chief Exec Shaun Harvey.

Who do you think should be Neil Warnocks successor?

Champions at Last!

Their recent form has stuttered, but Glasgow Rangers were crowned champions of the Scottish Third Division after besting Queens Parks result in Saturdays fixtures.

The Light Blues goalless draw at Montrose was followed by second placed Queens Park failing to overcome a one nil deficit at home to Elgin City.

Manager Ally McCoist told the clubs website: "We've been the best side in the league, the fact we're sitting 22 points ahead would indicate we are thoroughly-deserving champions. There's no doubt about that."

The championship trophy presentation will get underway on 4 May, in Rangers final league fixture of the season at home to Berwick Rangers.

The Gers boss heaped praise on his side and everyone involved:

"The boys all deserve massive credit, the young lads deserve enormous credit, as do the older lads such as Neil Alexander, Lee Wallace and Lee McCulloch.

"It has been an incredibly difficult situation for people in many ways. Some people won't give them any congratulations but that's certainly not the case from myself and the staff."

McCoist was at the helm of the Ibrox club when the then Scottish Premier League champions entered administration in February 2012 as punishment over an unpaid tax bill.

Liquidation soon followed, with no other resolution in sight, a consortium led by Charles Green purchased the clubs assets in June of that year prior to the clubs demotion to the third tier of Scottish football.

The club can now look ahead to another potential promotion charge next campaign in the SFL Second Division, or can they?

The 12 SPL clubs will vote on changes to the Scottish league structure on 15 April. This proposal will also include transitioning to one league body, play-offs and a greater distribution of cash among the smaller clubs.

Eleven votes are needed to pass the league restructure, whereby two top leagues will include 12 teams, which would split into three leagues of eight at the midway point of the season.

If the 12 SPL clubs vote yes to the proposals, Rangers Chief Exec Charles Green believes leagues should change to a 12-12-18 set-up instead of four leagues, and that the Gers should be promoted to the middle tier.

Green released a statement shortly before Rangers clinched the third division title saying:

All things being well, Rangers should win the Division 3 title and, that being the case, we should be promoted. That should happen regardless of what league structure the powers that be put in place.

"It would be manifestly wrong to deny any team promotion having won the competition they have entered into at the start of the season. Equally, teams, which have been relegated, should not benefit unfairly from any restructuring of leagues.

"There is already a precedent for this situation, established by the SFL at the end of the 1993-94 season when Stranraer, winners of the lowest of three divisions, were promoted to the new second tier on the basis they were champions of their division and merited promotion.

Should Darts be an Olympic Sport?

As the dust has settled following a successful Olympic Games at London 2012 last summer, with the mantra to ‘inspire a generation’ still ringing in our ears, the sporting world now sets its sights on Rio 2016, however, one corner of that world is in a tug of war like debate for recognition.

In the corner resides the sport of darts, a discipline which is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee, and won’t have the chance to apply for that recognition until 2024.

The games profile and global reach has gathered pace in recent years, with chairman of the PDC Barry Hearn overseeing the rebranding and repackaging of what many still call a ‘pub game’.

With a raised profile comes additional TV coverage, Sky Sports proving the perfect outlet to stage a spectacle that allows for maximum audience participation, it’s through Sky Sports that the Premier League format has been established, rising Darts stock tenfold.

Fans have their favourites who they cheer on with passion, and those who they boo in disapproval, allowing for a certain level of theatricality and pantomime.

Sixteen time world champion Phil Taylor recently voiced his opinion on a potential Olympic appearance for the ‘arras’, ‘If we got in there (the Olympics) I’d be chuffed to bits, I don’t think it’ll be in my lifetime but you never know’

Another supporter to the cause is former British Olympic Association Director of Sport, Sir Clive Woodward: ‘Darts is definitely an Olympic sport. Look at the fans, TV coverage, audience and real skill under pressure.’

But is it a real sport?

Those opposed to the sports legitimacy, claim it to be nothing more than a past time, something you would undertake down the pub with your mates for an hour before the football starts on a Saturday afternoon.

A stigma that I feel hinders the games wider perception and potential progression.

Its origins, established through the stadia of a dark and dingy, smoke filled public house with the smell of stale beer are unrepentant to some, despite the game breaking down the walls of humble beginnings, replacing it with bright lights, pyrotechnics and sell-out crowds.

Chairman Barry Hearn said in retort of the social stigma: ‘It’s a compliment that the sport should be taken seriously at last and the snobbishness that has spoiled the perception of darts has finally been defeated.’

The physical exertion or lack thereof has also been called into question.

Incomparable is the gruelling, unrelenting training regimes endured by the likes of Olympic heroes Mo Farrah and Jess Ennis.

Both aesthetically and lifestyle would also be a redundant comparison, I mean let’s be honest, stand a Sir Steve Redgrave or Sir Chris Hoy next to a PDC mainstay? No contest.

Athletes train through a four year circle, the Olympics being the end result, the pinnacle. Can the same be said for Darts professionals? I would have to disagree.

That’s not to disregard the mental strength required to play Darts at the highest level. Concentration, focus and nerve to produce the goods under extreme pressure are required by the truck load.

Also required is pinpoint precision and accuracy in execution when throwing darts, similarities can be drawn with a bowling action in Cricket or Baseball, even Javelin. The natural comparison is with Archery too, an established Olympic event.

The slightest fault can dramatically affect the darts final resting place on the board.

All in all, are the Olympics the appropriate theatre to showcase a sport like darts? Does darts need the Olympics and vice versa? I’m dubious.

Leeds United to reduce ticket prices at Elland Road

Plans have been unveiled to reduce season ticket prices at Elland Road by up to 25% as early as next season.

The high percentage cuts are to effect seats across the stadium, with the biggest reductions coming in the Kop with adult season tickets renewals set at £445, and £199 for juniors.

A new category aimed at 16-21 year olds will also be implemented under the banner of ‘young adult’.

For fans, the decision has been a long time coming, with large sections of home support becoming increasingly disgruntled at having to pay Premiership prices to see their team.

Those prices in recent years haven’t reflected the plight of arguably Yorkshires biggest football club.

Will the new plans reinvigorate the queue at the box office on Saturdays? We asked fans for their reaction:

‘It will improve attendances but not bring back sell-out crowds on a weekly basis’.

The new owners GFH aim at re-engaging disenchanted fans and reversing the clubs sustained decrease in attendances.

Average attendances at Elland Road during the 2010/2011 season were 27,000, however this season’s campaign has been met with struggles to reach and consistently draw 22,000.

Theirs a direct correlation between supporters through the turnstiles and what’s happening on the pitch, thoughts echoed by Matthew Ryan a lifelong Leeds United supporter and former season ticket holder, who has in the past traveled home and away to see the mighty whites.

‘We’ve let too many results get away from us and theirs a lack of consistency in the team which has cost us again, it’s a step in the right direction but that needs to be followed by good results’.

Tuesday Scan for Shiels

As the dust settles on the weekends disappointing 1-2 defeat at home to Annan Athletic, attacking midfielder Dean Shiels faces an anxious wait on the treatment table.

It was just after the half hour mark when the Northern Ireland international spent several minutes on the sidelines following a nasty collision with Annan defender Steven Swingehurst, before being stretchered off.

Both player and manager will find out the severity of the injury on Tuesday when a scan has been scheduled.

Manager Ally McCoist had this to say to the clubs official website:

‘Dean has got a really sore one. Obviously we will not know until he is scanned but the doc wasn’t in a positive mood when I spoke to him at half time.

“Dean’s knee is in a brace and it’s heavily iced so he’s in a great deal of pain.

“We will see how it is once the swelling comes down and will get it scanned on Tuesday.”

Saturdays result at Ibrox was the Gers first league defeat of the campaign, a campaign where Shiels has figured 21 times for the light blues, including 19 starts, which have facilitated a scoring return of 7.

The 28 year old signed a four-year contract in the summer after arriving from Kilmarnock, where he was a member of the victorious Scottish Cup side of last season at the expense of Celtic.

Once a former Arsenal trainee, Shiels, then 20, had to have his right eye removed in 2006 whilst at Hibernian. This was the culmination of a domestic accident he had suffered at the tender age of 8, the optical problem continuing to deteriorate ever since.

Hibs boss at the time Tony Mowbray spoke to BBC Sport expressing his admiration for Shiels: ‘he is a young man of remarkable spirit and determination.’

Hopefully this heavy knock sustained on Shiels knee will not be a serious set back to a player who has endured so much during his career so far, nevertheless the midfielder has continued unwaveringly, a true testament to what can be done with the right level of determination and application.

Other sight survivors within the game include former Rangers player Rino Gattuso, who suffered an eye injury in 2011 following a collision with former AC Milan teammate Alexandro Nesta.

The unfortunate altercation resulted in loss of sight in one eye, and kept the tireless midfielder out for much of his final season with Milan, who now plies his trade in Switzerland with FC Sion as Player/Coach. The problem has since improved.

Perhaps most famously, Dutch international Edgar Davids, nicknamed ‘the pitbull’, whilst at Ajax by then manager Louis Van Gaal, opted to wear protective glasses in order to keep playing after being diagnosed with the eye condition Glaucoma, the now iconic eyewear has made the player one of the most recognizable faces in football of his generation.

Brian Laudrup to make Gers return?

Former Danish international and Light Blues legend Brian Laudrup met with club chief executive Charles Green with a view to becoming an ambassador for the Ibrox outfit.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with RangersTV.tv, the 43 year old said of the opportunity: “To be able to be an ambassador for Rangers Football Club would be absolutely fantastic and we want to see if we can find a way to work together.”

Laudrups spell at the Glasgow club is considered by many to be his most fruitful tenure during his footballing career.

In a four-year stint in Scottish football, the younger Laudrup sibling claimed five major honours, helping guide the Ger’s to three SPL titles of an unprecedented nine in a row feat under Walter Smith, in a team that included the now troubled Paul Gascoigne.

In his time at Ibrox, the dane became a pivotal member of that successful team, scoring 45 goals in 151 appearances and winning three league titles.

He scored two winners against Celtic during the 1996/97 campaign to claim a final championship for the Gers.

He was also the stand out performer in the 1996 Scottish Cup final against Hearts, scoring twice and assisting Gordon Durie in each of his hat trick goals on the way to a 5-1 victory at Hampden. That final is affectionately known as ‘The Laudrup final’.

The twice Danish player of the year was making his first appearance in Glasgow this February since the exhibition match with AC Milan Glorie at the end of March last year, but has kept up to date with the turbulence currently being experience at Ibrox.

Laudrup said: When I speak to people back home, they ask me: ‘what about Rangers? What’s happening with them in the Third Division? I always turn it around and look at the positives. I ask if they’ve ever heard of a Third Division team in the world with 45,000 people at its home games.’

He added: “It is absolutely incredible and people are amazed by that. I’m not really amazed though because I know these fans are among the best in the world.

“Without the fans, there would be no club. For Rangers, in these circumstances, playing through the Third Division is tough.’

Looking to the future, Laudrup hopes to be involved in some way in the clubs development and reach in Europe, as the celebrated tradition of Rangers FC and passionate fanbase continues to inspire the team to progress through the divisions, back to where they belong; the Scottish Premier League.

“We need to stay prominent and with the history of Rangers Football Club, we all know they belong up there.

 “I would love, on my part, to bring the Rangers brand back to where it belongs at the very high end.

“In Denmark, we tend to know all about English teams and there is a history of Danish fans loving the Premier League there. I would love them to realise that here in Scotland, you have got a club which is one of the biggest in Britain.’

“If I could bring one or two Scandinavian players – or, even better, Danish players – to this club at some point I would be happy to.”

One things for sure, his rapport and admiration with fans is much like his talent as a player: undeniable, and his name is forever etched in Rangers Football Club history.

It’s that history that can inspire the next generation of players who pull on the blue jersey, to create new memories and new history.

Matthew Hatton - Last Shot at a World Title?

The name ‘Hatton’ is synonymous with the sport of professional boxing, however on this occasion it is preceded not by Ricky. Instead it is three years his junior, Matthew.

Stepping out of the shadow of his older brother, 31 year old Matthew ‘Magic’ Hatton is preparing for his third and arguably final shot at a world title.

He will face current reigning and defending IBO Welterweight champion Chris Van Heerden. The 25 year old southpaw, hailing from Johannesburg, South Africa, has never been knocked out in his professional career that boasts a healthy win return of 18 from 20 bouts, on ten occasions leaving his opponent incapacitated on the mat.

His only loss came at the hands of Nikola Stevanovic in 2011, a point’s decision for the IBF Intercontinental Light Middleweight title.

In recent years Matthew has failed to win the big one, first against Lovemore N’Dou for the IBO Welterweight title in a contentious draw in 2009 that still haunts the younger Hatton to this day, ‘I won’t forget that fight against Lovemore N’dou. It’s angered me throughout my career’, and a brave points defeat to Saul Alvarez in Anaheim, California for the vacant WBC Light middleweight title in 2011.

The former European champion enjoyed a credible Amateur career, winning 18 of 22 contests, before turning professional in 2000.

A decision Hatton admits he perhaps embraced too soon, ‘I should of stayed amateur longer, but saw how well Ricky was doing, so I turned pro at 19’.

His older brother has been a huge influence on the younger Hatton, from a very early age, ‘I always looked up to my elder brother’, and when quizzed on his earliest memory and his route into boxing, Hatton recounts fondly, ‘we were encouraged by mum and dad, started kickboxing at 6, Ricky was 9, we were always sparring’.

‘Pots would be shaking from me and Ricky knocking ten bells out of each other’, 25 years on, the passion remains the same for Matthew,  who feels he still has plenty left in the tank, ‘I feel physically and mentally at my peak, the day you stop improving is the day you should go out the back door.’

Citing the likes of Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank who were ‘guys in the spotlight growing up’, his desire hasn’t diminished over the years and the 51 fights the Stockport native has contested, 43 of which resulted in ‘Magic’ Hatton’s arm being raised in victory.

He will need every ounce of desire and belief to overcome the younger South African on March 2^nd, as he attempts to reach the top of the mountain at the third time of asking.

The great Frank Bruno took four attempts to become WBC Heavyweight champion of the world, persistence, drive and determination are key attributes to any great fighter and with the reward of a potential revenge match against Vyacheslav Senchenko, his older brother’s vanquisher last November, should he win the IBO Welterweright belt. Matthew ‘Magic’ Hatton will give everything to finally win the big one.