Drastic times clearly call for drastic measures. Out of Europe and out of contention in the Premiership, Leeds travel to Everton tomorrow with their season teetering on the brink of collapse. Treading water nine points behind a Champions League place, his players clearly not up to the job in hand, O'Leary will instigate an overhaul in the summer. "Some of the hunger has gone," he conceded. "It will need a bit of shock treatment to set it all off again."
That jolt will include a clear-out in personnel. The Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale, under pressure from the club's plc board, warned last week that O'Leary would have to sell to generate his transfer funds next season. With that in mind, the Irishman is willing to sacrifice Lee Bowyer, Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Olivier Dacourt with the cream of Italy and Spain set to squabble over their signatures.
Since West Ham were dispatched 3-0 in sumptuous fashion on New Year's Day, a win that lifted Leeds to the pinnacle, the Yorkshire side have lurched through nine games without a win. "The players have to be honest with themselves," said the manager, "but I haven't detected any dissent in the dressing room."
That much is hard to believe. Dacourt's refusal to play on the right wing at Fulham riled the management. To add to the sense of rebellion, Kewell went public with his frustrations at a lack of first-team opportunities after returning to training last month. It may also be no coincidence that David Batty has not started a game since opting, against O'Leary's wishes, to drive to Eindhoven rather than fly with the team.
As tempers simmer, the goals have dried up. There have been 37 in 27 league games - a shocking record given the attacking talent offered by Alan Smith, Viduka, Kewell, Robbie Keane and Robbie Fowler.
The players can hardly wait to put this season behind them. Unfortunately, if they fail to pluck a UEFA Cup place from the shambles only the Intertoto Cup awaits.
The trip to Everton, four points above the relegation zone with one league win in 11 games, provides an opportunity to spark a late revival.
Guardian Service.
