Wise time bomb?

By Stephen 18
February 2 2005

Talk of Dennis Wise joining Leeds was inevitable, according to Stephen Eighteen. The Millwall player boss has experienced his fair share of success already in his fledgling managerial career and now the vultures are flocking.

The time bomb that began ticking from the moment Dennis Wise led Millwall to the FA Cup Final last spring was finally ignited on Friday morning.

It was as inevitable as the spectre of sunset that the moment Ken Bates found himself a new club, the Millwall manager would be the first person linked with joining him as the manager.

Ron 'Chopper' Harris, the most successful Chelsea captain pre-Wise, was the first of many to predict that the newly named Leeds chairman would oust current boss Kevin Blackwell and give the job to Wise.

Everybody knows that Bates and Wise have been good friends ever since the player cheekily greeted his new chairman with "Ello, Batesy" in a Stamford Bridge lobby shortly after signing from Wimbledon in 1990.

In Leeds, Bates now finds himself at one of only five clubs to have won the League Championship in the past two decades, and a stadium that hosted a Champions League semi final four short years ago.

Okay, the club is now in the doldrums with a financial cloud still hanging over it, but with around 30,000 fans attending weekly and Bates likely to have a bit of cash in his possession from the sale of his former club to Roman Abramovich two years ago, the potential is still massive.

However, if the rumours were true, and Wise did decide to consider the move, he could do worse than looking back on his own northerly experiences and consult another close pal of his - Jody Morris - before leaving for Yorkshire.

In many quarters away from the worlds of Millwall and Chelsea, Wise and Morris are considered two peas from the same pod.

They have both had to cope with a fair share of criticism for off pitch activities, and each has been subject to brief, unhappy spells at northern clubs.

Wise's controversial departure from Leicester is well documented, and Morris was the subject of a rape allegation that helped dispel any notions of being popular at Leeds.

The fact that both players were later cleared of the alleged indiscretions matters little to the supporters.

Given Wise's illustrious playing career, it was astonishing to hear him say having scored against Leicester two months after his departure in November 2002, that the goal was one of the most treasured of his career.

In the return fixture a month later, 31,000 screaming Leicester fans roundly slaughtered Wise.

Clearly, the relationship between the player and club provoked a lot of hate on both sides of the fence.

Morris was similarly booed and celebrated just as enthusiastically after scoring on his return to Leeds last month.

The obvious parallel that should be noted within all this is that many northerners struggle to take to Londoners - especially those who may be considered "flash cockneys" or what our locals would simply describe as charismatic.

Why else would Wise make so many friends in every club he has played for in the capital, yet become so hated in his sole assignment north of the Watford gap?

And why else would Leeds' supporters react to the appointment of a man who transformed Stamford Bridge from a Vauxhall Cavalier car park to a regular Champions League venue with so much dismay?

Of course, Leeds has long since passed the age of coalmines and steam trains, and having an ally like Bates up there would help Wise if he did say yes to a management opportunity in Yorkshire.

But it would mean leaving a club where supporters are only too keen to sing his name in gratitude, to a highly pressurised job where it will be a great deal harder to please a far more sceptical bunch of fans.

Then again, Wise has managed to win over the critics wherever he has gone, and may be ambitious enough to think he could pull it off.

Not that any of this may matter. Kevin Blackwell could keep the job or Bates could go for the popular vote and bring in Gordon Strachan.

Watch this space.