Although I have had my fair share of outbursts… Sutton to name one… now that the deal has been done, how about just a little bit of decorum and some home truths? After all, honesty is the best policy.
He’s gone. Wood has left the building. He was tempted away by the premiership. Whether it was the money, the status, the money, the thought of playing the likes of Arsenal/City/Spurs etc. week in, week out, the money, the claret and blue strip, the money, the chance of playing at home in that fantastic stadium at..er.. Turf Moor, or the money. Whatever the reason, he has gone.
As I said before, thanks for scoring all those goals last season. Thanks for putting up with all those Wood haters the season before and proving them wrong. There is no doubt at all that most of us went home last season very happy, because of his efforts. I have no doubt at all that had Monk played a better system at home, with two strikers up front, that bit of support would have made a difference. If Monk had taken into account the fact that Wood played more or less every game, as well as going the furthest on International duty trips, therefore would have benefitted from a strike partner, things would be different. We would have been in the premiership ourselves for a start!
To all those who are saying that he was useless, be honest, just admit it. The guy was top goal scorer in the league. Remember that goal at Newcastle? He wasn’t that bad. If he wasn’t that good and Burnley didn’t think he would be able to help them fight relegation, they wouldn’t have put three bids in for him. Whether or not he makes any impact at Burnley, remains to be seen. Time will tell. Will he even get picked for a start? At £15 million, frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.
If he was just up front about it and said, yeah, I have the opportunity to earn twice as much as I am getting now, to do more or less the same job, he would have got a bit more respect. If he had the balls to say, I know you fans idolised me last season, but realistically, 20,000 people cheering me on isn’t going to buy me the lastest SUV or 80 inch telly for my front room, he wouldn’t have so many people calling him names. If he said, yep, Leeds United did me a massive favour when there was no way I could stick a chance playing next to Jamie Vardy, so ta very much Mr Cellino. Again, a murmur of approval. If he said, yeah, the atmosphere winning at Elland Road and playing away with such fantastic support, it was brilliant. I am going to miss it, and I know that I will never experience that sort of adulation ever again, thanks for the memories, it would be gracious. If he said, I’m not confident that I will get promoted with Leeds United, at least if I go to Burnley now, I can stick it on my CV that I played in the top flight of English football, and then maybe some American or Chinese side will pay me oodles to play in their leagues once my English League career is over in 2019. Point taken, a nod of acknowledgement. If he had just said, I know I am letting the fans down and my team mates down, but honestly, I am looking out for myself. I know it’s selfish, but hey, that’s how life is. The reaction would be massively different. Sadly, honesty was just not top of his agenda.
So, I will say it again, he was top goal scorer in the league, however, the Premier League is a completely different animal to the Championship. Will he be able to adapt? Just look at Newcastle and the transition they had to make when they came down. It took months to adjust. Benitez had to change his game plan, much to the dismay of the Toon Army, and eventually had to grind out that promotion push. To his credit, he did. But he lost the favour of many Newcastle die hards, who just didn’t like the style of football he was forced to play. Will Wood be able to cut the mustard? Bovvered?
Monk, well he just didn’t change his game plan at all, did he? Apart from Sutton, of course, and heaven knows what he was thinking then. Home or away, the same old same old. Full backs playing as wingers, central midfielders going back to help the defence, wide midfielders struggling to get a consistent cross over to the one lone striker, no one to run onto the final ball. When Doukara did come on last season, he made an impact straight away. So had Monk been a bit braver, and believed in his squad a bit more, how many more goals could we have scored? How many more games could we have won? Would we have beaten Newcastle at home? Could we have keep a clean sheet at Villa after Christmas. Barnsley, yes, Barnsley away, 3-2. Could we have ground out results against Fulham away and QPR at home? Reading and Brentford away were terrible, and as for losing at home against Wolves and Burton, flipping Burton away. It’s enough to drive you mad with frustration.
For once in my life, I am not going to dwell on this…..unlike Sutton. On Tuesday we are playing Newport in the Cup. TC has promised that he will put his best team out as he wants us to win every game. I will understand if he leaves the likes of Pontus, Ayling, O Kane and Phillips out. They played a lot last season and by jingo, they and Cooper played their socks off on Saturday. We have a tough game on Saturday, and letting some of the less experienced squad have a run out tomorrow will be good. No disrespect to Newport, of course. After Sutton, lessons have to be learnt, I doubt if TC will be putting two youth players on to make their 1st team debuts though.
As for Wood….
