Glenn: Lay Off Ell Tel

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Glenn Roeder says he finds it 'extraordinary' that people are talking about Terry Venables as being under pressure at Leeds.

Like West Ham, Sunday's visitors were beaten by lower league opposition in midweek, and some fans demonstrated their displeasure after the game.

But Glenn, who has come up against Venables just once as a manager - his first in charge, as caretaker, against Middlesbrough - says he will get it right at Elland Road and insists:

"I find it extraordinary that a manager that has only taken over in the last few months is being talked about as under pressure - it just shows you the world we live in.

"Terry is a top class coach and I have got first hand experience of that.

"His knowledge is second to none but it is always difficult when you take over a new squad - you are trying to get to know the characters in your team and they are getting to know you as a person and a coach.

"I am sure once Terry gets all his ideas across Leeds will have many successful seasons under him because they have a very fine squad of players.

"I have always enjoyed his company on the training field and have always come away from any practice he took feeling I had learned something - and if you can say that about a coach there is no higher praise you can give.

"I especially enjoyed those away trips on a Friday travelling north on a coach when you could sit with him and talk about football.

"He is a football nut, he lives for the game, he challenges your football brain and asks your opinions of football situations.

"If you come up with what he thinks is a good idea he will take it on board as well.

"I can't think of any player that has come out and said they didn't enjoy working with Terry Venables as a coach.

"Although I was only young when I worked with him at QPR, and still had a long time to play, he sowed the first seeds of me wanting to stay in the game after my career had finished.

"I'm sure he's also responsible for many other players who have played under him going into coaching."

Not that Glenn can spend too much time worrying about his opposite number this weekend, of course.

Still seeking that first home win of the season, he says:

"I think there is only one place to put it right and that is at Upton Park; the mere suggestion to me on Wednesday that I would prefer to play away from home on Sunday was completely wrong.

"I am looking forward to the next opportunity of playing at Upton Park sooner rather than later, and it is a game that we are all looking forward to.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Terry Venables and Leeds are an excellent team full of top internationals.

"But I am not approaching this with any fear and I would like to think none of the players are either; I am very happy to stand tall and get on with the business of winning our first game at home.

"We will stand up and be counted and when I look at the Everton game and Oldham we feel the fans have been tremendous - there is a minority, which is understandable, showing their displeasure, but we accept that and take it squarely on the chin.

"We know we have let the supporters down and ourselves and we are determined to turn it round and put it right with a real battling performance allied to playing good football as well.

"We need to show a lot of controlled aggression and state our attentions early in the game.

"But to attract 35,000 for a live Sky game which we did against Everton was tremendous support and 22,000 for the game on Wednesday, you could argue, was even better.

"The Worthington Cup is notorious for low crowds and that figure was a magnificent effort - and once again, we let those people down.

"We accept the responsibility of anything that is directed at us - and it is only us that can put it right. "We are a determined bunch and we are prepared to go the extra distance if need be to start winning at Upton Park; we have got to do it.

"All games are tough at the moment but we have got to overcome any problems that we might have and get this winning performance that we all desire.

"We have been to Upton Park on Friday and Saturday, the sessions have been good, the ball has zipped around, and the pitch is in excellent condition.

"We have to transfer good practice into a good performance - and it is important that we do that.

"It is a mystery why we are waiting until we lose a goal to suddenly wake up and start playing how we would want to from the start, with lots of tempo and urgency.

"We mustn't keep taking a knockout blow before we wake up and it is up to us to come out of the tunnel and go for it from the first minute to the last."

Explaining his reasoning behind starting the Oldham game with three at the back, he says:

"I felt that I wanted to get Joe Cole in a more central position where I was hoping he could get on the ball in dangerous areas of the pitch behind our front two to create lots of problems for Oldham.

"It didn't really work the way I wanted it to, and it was not Joe's fault; we didn't really get the ball into him early enough, and we built up much too slowly and didn't have enough urgency in our play.

"I decided very early in the second half to go back to what we play most times, the standard 4-4-2.

"It was an opportunity to get Nigel back into the team and Sebastien as well - so we have some different options for Sunday."