Ronnie Moore: We shouldn’t be scared of Leeds

Aug 7 2007 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

TRANMERE ROVERS manager Ronnie Moore looks forward to the visit of fallen giants Leeds United this week and warns his players: “Don’t be frightened by the name.”

Leeds, an established Premiership club until 2004 and European Champions League semi-finalists at the start of the decade, dropped two divisions in four years to land in English football’s third tier, alongside Tranmere, this summer.

To make matters worse for the financially troubled Yorkshire club, they face the prospect of starting the League One campaign Prenton Park on Saturday with a 15-point penalty.

But that hasn’t diminished the fervour of Leeds supporters, who are expected to swell the opening day crowd at Prenton Park well into the five-figure proportions.

Moore points out that while the modern-day Leeds players don’t have the pedigree of the Elland Road heroes of the past, the club still travels with a powerful reputation and pulling power.

He said: “There is going to be a tremendous atmosphere here on Saturday. It does not matter who plays for Leeds United. The name itself is enough.

“But I do not want our lads to be frightened by that name. They will not be playing against Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles or Jack Charlton on Saturday. We have to be realistic and remember that Leeds have had some bad times as a club recently.”

Moore judges the squad assembled by manager Dennis Wise to be good quality for League One level.

Leeds had been many bookmakers’ pre-season favourites for promotion until the 15-point deduction was imposed by the Football League last weekend, in response to the club’s conduct after lapsing into financial administration at the end of last season.

Chairman Ken Bates is launching an appeal to be heard on Thursday but will have to persuade more than half of the League’s 72 member clubs of his case to succeed.

Moore and assistant Peter Shirtliff checked out Leeds’ pre-season progress in a friendly against Wigan Athletic last Saturday when the Premier League side won 2-1 at Elland Road.

Moore said: “What we learned is that Leeds are dangerous up front. The two strikers, Jermaine Beckford and Tresor Kandol make nice partnership.

“Beckford knows what this division is like. He went out on loan to Carlisle and Scunthorpe last season and scored a lot of goals for Scunny, helped them get promoted.

“Leeds played well on the day and were unfortunate to lose to Wigan. They will take some encouragement from that.

“But they did not give is a clear picture. They had two players, Jonathon Douglas and David Prutton, who will be suspended on Saturday.

“And they won’t have revealed any of their set plays, just as we didn’t show any of ours in the game against Stoke on Friday night.”

Tranmere’s 2-1 win over the Championship side put Moore in good heart of the end of a nine-game pre-season programme.

He said: “I was happy with the way the pre-season went but that counts for nothing now. There are no points on the board for what we have done. It was just about getting fit and prepared. We will see how fit and strong we are when the face Leeds.”

Midfielder John Mullin is likely to be ruled out of the Leeds game in spite of reporting a daily improvement in the ankle injury he sustained at Altrincham just over a week ago. Striker Gareth Taylor is due to return to training this week after suffering a knee problem in the same game.

Otherwise Moore hopes to have a clean bill of health in the squad to kick off the 2007/08 campaign.