Stephen Warnock, the Leeds United defender, has urged the club’s supporters not to give up hope of a successful season despite recent turmoil on and off the pitch.
It was a huge shock when Dave Hockaday, the former Forest Green Rovers manager, was handed the job at Elland Road by Massimo Cellino, the owner, after Brian McDermott was relieved of his duties and much less so that Cellino — nicknamed “the manager eater” during his 22 years at Cagliari — admitted that he had made a mistake and dismissed him after 70 days and six matches.
A heavy league defeat by Watford was tolerated by the Italian owner, but a loss to Bradford City, their local rivals, in the Capital One Cup proved to be the final straw.
Now, a battling 1-0 victory against Bolton Wanderers, their fellow slow starters, showed plenty of signs that the Leeds players are at least united as a group and prepared to work hard for each other, according to Warnock, who scored the decisive goal.
“It’s never nice to see a manager go and the lads were fully behind him. But the president has made the decision to change it and we have to stick by that,” he said.
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“You need to be positive and, hopefully, this win can be a bit of a springboard to take the club forward and keep the togetherness of the boys. We’ve got a good set of lads here and we all battle for each other. Hopefully, the fans see and understand that and there is a lot of hope for the season.”
Under the temporary charge of Neil Redfearn, the academy manager, the home side flew out of the blocks and were duly rewarded when Warnock’s attempted cross found the bottom corner on 17 minutes.
Bolton, who have managed only one point from their first five games, created a host of chances but found Marco Silvestri, the Leeds goalkeeper, in inspired form. The Italian saved brilliantly from Joe Mason, the former Cardiff City striker, in the first half and denied Jermaine Beckford, the former Leeds favourite, with a stunning double save in the closing moments.
Warnock, 32, is not too concerned by the uncertainty over the managerial position at Elland Road and accepts that getting used to new managers is all part of the modern game.
“I have been at plenty of clubs where there has been a turnover of managers,” he said. “Probably 20 years ago you knew the manager was going to be there for at least a season or two, but now that’s changed.
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“We knew when all the new players came in it was going to take time and they might not gel straight away. Roy Keane did a similar thing at Sunderland, where he brought in a lot of players and they lost their first five games. But he was given time by the chairman and they ended up winning the league.”
With uncertainty swirling around Leeds, Matt Mills, the Bolton defender, is hoping that Dougie Freedman, his manager, is afforded more time after a difficult start to the campaign.
“He’s fantastic,” Mills said. “The game plan was spot-on. It was a freak goal. We completely dominated and created enough chances to win.”
Teams
Leeds United (4-4-2): M Silvestri — S Warnock (sub: C Taylor, 55min), G Bellusci, J Pearce, S Wootton — A Mowatt, C Sloth (sub: Z Benedicic, 77), L Cook, T Bianchi — B Sharp, M Antenucci. Substitutes not used: S Taylor, M Smith, M Tonge, C Dawson, L Cooper. Booked: Wootton, Pearce.
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Bolton Wanderers (4-4-2): A Bogdan — M Mills, D Wheater, (sub: D Dervite, 7), T Ream, H White — Lee Chung Yong, S Danns, J Spearing, M Kamara (sub: L Feeney, 82) — J Mason, C Davies (sub: J Beckford, 77). Substitutes not used: A Lonergan, R Hall, D Pratley, A Hughes.