Soccer Special

Bates, The Artist, #LUFC, #mot

2012-01-21T09:22:00.005Z

I'm going to see 'The Artist' later on today. Before that Leeds United take on Ipswich at Elland Road. Once this might have been described as 'the artists versus the artisans' but not anymore.

I remember in the 1973/74 season when we went to Portman Road and all of the football commentators were talking about what good passing football Ipswich played under Bobby Robson. Leeds played them off the pitch that afternoon, winning 3.0. Even Terry Yorath scored. People quickly realised that they'd been hasty in their assessment of Ipswich and had failed to acknowledge the recent run of Leeds sufficiently highly. Of course the following season we had the marathon FA Cup tie with Ipswich who eventually won through 3.2 with George Burley scoring the winner. So, maybe Bobby was indeed taking his artisans to a higher level and Leeds were in decline.

This is easy with the benefit of history. With Ken Bates we simply do not know what is going on and never have done. These are the key intrigues: do the players want to play for Simon Grayson or not; does the Chairman want to pay for players or not? We don't want to be a Darlington falling out of existence - we've been there and done that as Leeds City. We just want transparency. We can't go back to the glory days of black and white and, like The Artist, cannot know the ending of this story, only be as emotionally involved as ever and rightly worried about the unknown.

So, we just have to concentrate on supporting the team today to beat Ipswich. We are still Leeds United - not a bunch of carthorses - Ipswich are the enemy as we can all see, so let's not go down to another Suffolk Punch.

Gary Speed: a legend #LUFC #mot

2011-11-27T15:37:00.003Z

I was not only saddened but amazed to hear of the death of Gary Speed today. He always seemed to be so positive and upbeat and whereas others dine out on their reputations with a select few, Gary always seemed to be willing to share his knowledge and enthusiasm for the game with everyone.

For Leeds United in the late 1980's and early 1990's Gary formed one of the most feared midfield quartets ever seen, joining up with Gary McAllister, Gordon Strachan and David Batty. It's no surprise that they were the platform on which we went on to win the last Football League First Division title in 1992. Gary was among champions and he was a champion himself. He was one of the best headers of the ball I have ever seen. Like Frank Stapleton he had the uncanny knack of being able to just hang in the air as the ball was launched towards him.

Wales seemed to have been rejuvenated under his management and everything seemed to be on the up for Gary. Obviously something was simultaneously very much on the down for him. We may never know what that was but we will always remember Gary Speed as a fine footballer and a worthy Leeds United legend.

Bates: Ken or Kathy? #lufc #mot

2011-11-26T11:17:00.003Z

I woke up this morning looking forward to Leeds United's home game against Barnsley. Obviously they are a bit like Leicester and Cardiff in that they've been bogey sides for Leeds in recent seasons but there should be a great derby atmosphere and a real opportunity to expunge the Coventry and Blackpool games from the system.

I then got to thinking about Bates. I like to write and one of my favourite Stephen King novels was 'Misery' which was made into a film starring Kathy Bates. You'll remember the grisly and miserable aspects of the despicable character she played as she tried to effectively become the author of the piece... So is her namesake Ken Bates of the same stock? Is he to be persuaded to write a happy ending for our football club or the ending we think we all want at the moment? I have been one of the many LUFC fans this season who has bemoaned the lack of spend on quality players, accompanied by work on the ground to create the kind of 'executive' facilities that ordinary Leeds supporters like me will rarely ever be able to enjoy. No, we just pay to travel and support the team and our money is recycled into suites and sweets for the fat controllers.

I studied economics in Leeds so that I could go and see the team play regularly and, yes, I do understand that non-match income will help to build and sustain our club in the future. Short-term views are perfectly acceptable of course but can also be immensely destructive, especially when combined with short-term memories. Let us not forget the amount of shit that was in the system before Bates came - so much so that the toilet not only wouldn't flush anymore but was pouring over the rim. He fixed that for us and we now have a system that works. Yes there are murky waters and some brown stains remaining but Ken is looking at growth whereas Kathy wanted amputation.

We're fifth in the Championship with no debt to speak of and looking forward to our team playing this afternoon. Whatever characters like Ken or Kathy bring to the story, let's face it: none of us would want to be supporting Barnsley at the end of today or any other day.

LUFC: solid as a rock with a dodgy end bit #lufc #mot

2011-11-03T16:59:00.004Z

I was at Elland Road the last time Leeds United lost there 5.0. It was thirty one years ago, on a dismal, grey November Saturday afternoon (November 8 1980). Leeds lost to Arsenal that day and yet the fans in the old Lowfields Stand - where I first stood to see the team play - remained and chanted their support until the very end.

It was the similar last night when Blackpool won by the same margin. Unfortunately Paul Rachubka had another home nightmare and probably wished he was at the seaside. Despite the support, he was clearly all at sea and I think the waves are too strong to prevent him being washed away this time.

I did write about Leeds United goalkeepers in a previous post stressing that goalkeepers - especially those that have played for Leeds - were unpredictable. But, I'm afraid last night the goalkeeper was just bad (very bad) and though the support for the team will never waver, it's a team game.

Bluebirds offer lifebelt at last #lufc #mot

2011-10-30T17:07:00.005Z

Just before I turned seven - in 1967 - Donald Campbell's 'Bluebird' crashed on Coniston Water in the Lake District at over 300 mph, while he was trying to break his own water speed record. I can still recall watching the footage in black and white that evening as the terrible news came through. Leeds United were one of the most promising football teams in the country at that time but still hadn't won anything. Rolling the ball forward and into colour 'bluebird' now instantly makes me think of the nickname for Cardiff City - a team we had lost to for the last six consecutive matches until this afternoon's draw at Elland Road. Leeds are once again a promising team and created enough chances to win another six games. O'Dea went off having failed to defend and allowing Cardiff to score early on. This had the happy consequence of bringing Kisnorbo back into the team and I firmly believe this is our best centre-half pairing. O'Dea just doesn't show the defensive anticipation required for me and lacks speed. We always look like scoring but once again it looked like we had shot ourselves in the foot again for long periods of the game today. Campbell didn't lack speed but, unlike on that sad day so long ago, Leeds finally found a lifebelt against the bluebirds. Let's hope we can go on to reach that promised dry land by May.

We may not be Posh but we're proud #lufc #mot

2011-10-23T15:49:00.003Z

So Leeds United travelled to Peterborough United yesterday for a showdown at noon at London Road. It was a trip down memory lane for me because I was born in Peterborough and had watched Posh during the 'Seventies, though Leeds United had always been and always will be my first football love. Both of my sons were there with me and I had shown one of them my Peterborough programme from the Fourth Round FA Cup tie in January 1974 when the Leeds team had won 4-1. I had finally got to see my heroes including Bremner, Giles and Lorimer.

Yesterday represented the latest team of Leeds heroes who worked hard to take the lead twice with great approach work and two excellent finishes. Unfortunately, though we have goals in us all over the pitch, we still can't rely on consistent defending. Twice we gave goals away due to poor defensive errors - especially the second equaliser in the last minute of the match when everyone seemed to be frozen in time, reminding me once again of that perishing winter's afternoon thirty seven years ago.

However, yesterday's programme, with match tickets dutifully stapled to the inside cover will remind all of us of an incredible finish. O'Dea headed over the line before Becchio made sure of our avoiding a Lampard-like investigation right at the end of injury time. Last Tuesday we'd thrown the match away against Coventry at about the same kind of point; yesterday time stood still and then turned back for a moment as Leeds United looked forward to good times ahead.

Goalkeepers eh! #lufc #mot

2011-10-19T15:22:00.003Z

It's not easy being a Leeds United fan when it comes to defending a lead. People say now that once Don Revie's Leeds went a goal up it would be nearly impossible for teams to take that lead away. However, I've followed the team for 42 years and people forget about Gary Sprake. Yes, he could be brilliant but remember him throwing the ball into an empty net at Anfield or that horrendous mistake against Chelsea at Wembley in 1970...

We did have a more solid defence then but Gary could always give us something unusual, as could other Leeds United goalkeepers over the years. John Lukic had an unexpected howler at Ibrox in the European Cup and Casper Ankergren could be as solid as a wall or a colander, seemingly according to the phases of the moon.

This whole (or hole) issue has raised its head again with Paul Rachubka dropping the ball and giving Coventry City an injury-time equaliser in the game at Elland Road last night. It seems that Andy Lonergan may be out for six weeks with a fractured finger so we may well be seeing a lot more of Rachubka. Leeds fans weren't impressed with either the signing of Rachubka or Lonergan, especially after selling Kasper Schmeichel in the summer. However, what we have to understand is that though we seem to at last be tightening up at the back, goalkeepers are unpredictable - especially if they play for Leeds United.

Oh when the birds come home to roost #lufc #mot

2011-08-06T19:11:00.002Z

I had thought that Southampton Away would be a tough game with which to start the new season. Promoted from League One last season they would be sure to want to impress a big home crowd at St Mary's. Unfortunately Leeds United fixed it for their dreams to come true by producing a startlingly inept performance.

A lot has been said about lack of signings to strengthen the team, letting Schmeichel go and spending money on the ground rather than quality players who could take us into the Play-Offs this season at least. Apart from the goalkeeper issue - I thought Lonergan played as well as he could today - all of these worries were there for all to see in the 3-1 defeat.

Our defence - even with Kisnorbo back - looked shockingly ineffective a lot of the time and gave Southampton so much space they must have wondered if NASA had picked our team now that they have little else to do. In midfield Clayton and Howson were good enough but we missed the creativity of a Kilkenny. Brown will be banned for at least half of the season and Snodgrass was either unfit or wearing hidden weights in his boots and shorts. Our attack, on the other hand, was more lightweight than the peacocks' feathers we started our club with and, of course, simple chances were fluffed.

Last season we conceded lots of goals but scored lots. After today, the worry isn't about whether we'll still concede - that much is a given - but where are the goals going to come from until Becchio and Somma get fit again?

King's Road closed to through traffic #cfc #lufc

2011-05-23T09:14:00.003Z

I have been a fan of Leeds United since the late 'Sixties. I can just about remember the arguments surrounding those two late disallowed goals in the FA Cup semi-final in 1967 and, of course, the ruck at Old Trafford in 1970.

We sing our songs at Elland Road and Stamford Bridge and there is little love lost between our two teams. I'm supposed to pour scornful oil on the flames of Carlo Ancelotti's departure from the club immediately after yesterday's game at Everton. But I'm not going to do that. I'm a lifelong Leeds United fan but also a lifelong fan of football itself. The Chelsea fans expect success as we do. They can afford to go out and buy success whereas we can't. We still have the receipts from ten years ago and long may we keep looking at them to make sure we don't go down that route again.

But Chelsea the football club don't deserve success - not because they're Chelsea but because they, like the disgraceful treatment of Avram Grant at West Ham and Chris Hughton at Newcastle simply see the manager's role as moving around a games board until they finally hit Mayfair, or Moscow or, this season, Wembley. There is no understanding that you often have to go round that board several times and winning the Double really is like collecting £200.

The person I feel most sorry for is Ray Wilkins. His sacking back in November was the start of the end for Chelsea this season and, like the loss of Steve Clarke before him, shows that good, honest coaches are far, far more effective than the latest sports car or yacht.

AFC Wimbledon: remember you're a Don

2011-05-22T09:51:00.007Z

I travelled to the City of Manchester stadium with one of my oldest friends yesterday to see AFC Wimbledon beat Luton Town on penalties to join the Football League.

My friend has supported AFC Wimbledon throughout their short history and is an owner, along with many other football supporters in Merton, being part of the Dons Trust. Merton Borough Council never seemed to believe in football in Wimbledon as much as he did, preferring to believe in Sam Hammam instead and watching the club move out first to Selhurst Park and allowing Plough Lane to be ploughed up. In 2002, Sam Hammam sent the club not quite to Coventry, but to Milton Keynes, citing financial reasons for sanctioning the move; that club promptly went into relegation. 'MK Dons' played a Play-Off local derby match at my hometown club - Peterborough United - last Thursday and only took 2,000 fans. Football seems to have really taken off there then.

In 2002 the Football Association declared that it would serve no purpose to the people of Merton for a football club to be formed. With open trials on Wimbledon Common and nobody caring whether they should succeed or not, the future did not look bright.

But the future was bright, and it wasn't orange - as proven yesterday. Five promotions in nine seasons is not just bright, it is a glaring admission of failure by local councils and the so-called authorities and grudging recognition that if the fans care more about football than money, things can work out just fine. Luton have been dealt badly by the FA, as have my own club - Leeds United. The FA is unfortunately far more interested in money than football - witness QPR getting away with breaking the rules and Luton and Leeds, among others, being penalised for being penniless.

Yesterday was a victory for not just football but for people like my good friend who, like fans up and down the country put their own money into their clubs and sometimes have great and memorable days. What a pity that others just want to take that away rather than give.

Seventh place for LUFC

2011-05-08T08:51:00.004Z

So Leeds United finished in seventh place after all!

Following last year's success, at the start of the season my sons and I were hoping for mid-table security and an avoidance of any relegation pressures. Clearly the momentum of the team under Simon Grayson's stewardship meant that we appear to have overachieved, even if falling short of the Play-Off places we seemed to be all but assured of just a few games ago.

If you look carefully though, we have certainly overachieved in terms of goals scored, especially after losing Beckford at the end of last season; however, the goals conceded tally has been abysmal and cost us in the end. You can't lose at home to the bottom club - Preston North End - 6.4 having been leading 4.1 at half-time and neither can you hope to be promoted if you lose to Derby County home and away. No matter that we did the double over champions QPR, it's the bread and butter games against poorer opposition that really count in the end.

So, with a hard-tackling holding midfielder in front of the defence and centre-backs who can anticipate the play and close down quicker than Woolworths, I think we're in with a real chance next season. Let's hope Patrick Kisnorbo moves on from yesterday's brief outing to prove his fitness and inspire the kind of solid defending we saw at Old Trafford in January 2010. If we can manage that, we may well be visiting that and the other top stadia before the end of 2012.

LUFC fail to climb the wall again

2011-04-10T09:39:00.006Z

Has Millwall away become a psychological wall for Leeds United?

If it has, then it must be much higher and harder to scale than the defensive 'wall' we try and hide behind. Leeds United fans have been worried about their defence all season, and the lack of a competent hard-tackling midfielder in front of it. Johnson may score goals but his tackling and distribution is poor; Kilkenny can play the passes but can't tackle, and all of us want to see Howseon linking up with the forwards and scoring goals.

I cannot believe that the management can't see this failing time and time again; that the owner can't see the need for players who can defend properly time and time again, and the coaching staff can't know that they are simply not up to the job of turning our team into one that can not only score goals but not concede them from set pieces and basic mistakes time and time again.

Time is running out quickly: our forwards won't stay with us if the defenders keep going backwards.

April 5th #LUFC #MOT

2011-04-05T16:57:00.005Z

In April 2000, after Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight were murdered in Istanbul I wrote a song about the shocking events. It's never been performed but I go back to it every year, as I did this morning, on the anniversary of the deaths of two Leeds United fans who dreamed of glory and found death. May they rest in peace on this and every day:

April 5th

A young boy waves his Daddy goodbye
As his little sister begins to cry.
Mummy takes them home for something nice for tea;
Just another northern family you see…

And the trains are packed with banners and flags
While the proudest travellers are dressed in rags,
As they cross the sea to where east meets west,
To ‘come home safely’ was a last request…

From the Cradle of Christianity
To the grave of inhumanity.
The flag of freedom was raised again
And burned for reasons I can’t explain.
But all I know…is that
They’re not coming home.

Adventure drawing nearer: they can hardly wait
But even now they’re gathering at the gate,
To wait for news from far away
Of dirt and squalor from the place where they’ll stay…

The food is lousy and covered in flies
And the heat’s so bad that the leaders tell lies,
Pretending there’s no sign of trouble ahead,
All resting peacefully in their beds…

From the Cradle of Christianity
To the grave of inhumanity.
The flag of freedom was raised again
And burned for reasons I can’t explain.
But all I know…is that
They’re not coming home.

Shots in the dark and the hint of steel
Goalposts moving; this game’s for real.
Running through the streets, heads covered in blood,
They’d have escaped if only they could…

Wounds that no magic sponge can repair
Detached viewers with diplomatic airs.
The flag is raised but ‘play goes on’
Tell me, how could we have got it so wrong?

From the Cradle of Christianity.
To the grave of inhumanity
The flag of freedom was raised again
And burned for reasons I can’t explain.
But all I know…is that
They’re not coming home.

As the mists begin to clear over faraway hills
Her tears soak the last of the daffodils
And when the sun finally comes out to play
All of the heroes have been washed away…

She rages at the streets, so dull and drab,
While he remains silent on a freezing slab.
Hollow words – she can see through the bunting -
The trap’s been sprung: the fox has gone hunting…

From the Cradle of Christianity.
To the grave of inhumanity
The flag of freedom was raised again
And burned for reasons I can’t explain.
But all I know…is that
They’re not coming home.

The suits still need to sell this sporting life
But the order’s been cancelled by his desperate wife.
The glorious march became a meaningless crawl
The day that the piper came to call…

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.
He didn’t fear darkness, he’d been taught to trust,
And the young boy whispers his Daddy ‘goodbye’
As his little sister begins to cry…

From the Cradle of Christianity.
To the grave of inhumanity
The flag of freedom was raised again
And burned for reasons I can’t explain.
But all I know…is that
They’re not coming home.

Barnsley bogeys

2011-02-23T13:36:00.004Z

It's amazing how football throws up bogey teams isn't it? Leeds United certainly have their fair share: Leicester and Cardiff immediately come to mind as, to a lesser extent, do Millwall, Norwich and Portsmouth.

However, in recent history, Barnsley are another team we do badly against. Scoring early in the away fixture in the Championship this season we then contrived to lose 5-2. Last night, with a lot of help from Bradley Johnson getting sent off and our 'wall' at a free-kick looking more like a low lying hedge full of holes, we contrived only to draw with them, having led twice and with twenty minutes to go.

I remember us losing to Barnsley home and away in our promotion season of 1989/90 and in our last Championship season we lost there and could only draw at home. As with Sheffield United, we generally do local derbies about as well as the play-offs; though we did beat the blunts at home this season so maybe one day we'll break our consistency in the play-offs of losing every time.

Although we've been on a great run - interrupted by Cardiff as usual - and will create and score lots of goals, our defense is just not good enough for the Premier League where many more bogeymen would lie in wait for us. Until we can truly reach the levels of Charlton and Hunter we'll never be able to shut up shop. One ray of hope though: they had the inconsistency of Sprake to put up with; we do now at least have a decent goalkeeper to build in front of. Maybe we'll learn how to build walls again and send teams back to the South Riding with the empty pockets they deserve...

Joe Jordan was always DC not AC

2011-02-17T10:30:00.003Z

Before Gennaro Gattuso picked a fight with Joe Jordan during and after Tottenham's win at the San Siro on Tuesday evening, he should have done some research first. Not research into Joe's DC (Direct Contact) approach; not research into Joe's brief liaison with AC which was merely part of his retirement planning as a player. No, he should have researched a much earlier encounter Joe had with the 'great' AC Milan.

In 1973, Joe Jordan played for Leeds United in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup against, yes, AC Milan. I listened to the live commentary on our old wireless set in my bedroom. It was to be one of the most appalling examples of corruption in the beautiful game with a referee clearly hit by that era's version of The Sopranos. Milan's own fans booed them off at the end of the game.

So, probably not a good plan to remind Joe of what those black and red stripes really stand for (no coincidence in Berlusconi being the owner either!). For Joe and the rest of the Leeds United team, it was the end of a season of exhilarating attacking football that Gattuso could only dream about. For all Leeds United fans, the nightmare of that evening lives on.

Signs of Somma on a grey winter's day

2011-02-06T20:09:00.005Z

My sons and I attended the Leeds United match against Coventry on Saturday. We'd been to the away game with over 6,000 other Leeds fans earlier in the season and knew we needed another win, not only to do the double over them, but to get our promotion campaign back on track after a series of hard-fought away draws.

Despite there being over 27,000 in Elland Road and only a handful of travelling Coventry City fans, the atmosphere was strangely subdued and that was also reflected on the pitch for a while. It felt as though Simon Grayson had still had one ear on Ken Bates's remarks that the team might be too gung-ho and needed to focus a bit more on building from the back. The result was one of those games when the crowd and the players feel so assured of victory that they don't quite have the respective bark and the bite to actually convince observers that it really is going to happen.

Much of Leeds's approach play was awesome, especially from Gradel and Snodgrass, but the finishing wasn't sharp enough and final decisions often individual rather than team ones. Johnson battled away in midfield and the defence fought well for everything, rightly earning a clean sheet against a very poor Coventry side.

Leeds should have had the match wrapped up by half-time but were ahead through Somma early in the second-half. Last season we might only have drawn games like this or even lost them to late sucker punches. There is more resilience now and certainly quality all over the pitch. Sometimes not all of the connections are made but Leeds are certainly alive and should remain on track for the Play-Offs, though I think automatic promotion remains beyond us his season. ( #lufc #mot )

Birmingham v Barcelona

2011-01-27T14:16:00.004Z

Looks odd doesn't it? As we now know, Birmingham City will face Arsenal in this year's Carling Cup Final and Arsenal will then be taking on Barcelona in the Champions League. That seems much more plausible in 2010 but if we look back fifty years, as I did this morning via the paper version of The Guardian, the football world was a very different place - and one which I think Richard Keys and Andy Gray would have fitted into well.

I was born in 1960 and, when I first became interested in football later in that decade I obviously wanted to know who the leading clubs were at the time of my birth. You say 1960/61 and, of course immediately think of the great Tottenham Hotspur double-winning side. And yet, these same years were amazing ones for Birmingham City supporters too. In 1960 Birmingham became the first English club to reach a European final - the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in which my own team - Leeds United, yet to emerge - did so well some years later, winning it twice before they re-named it the UEFA Cup. Birmingham played Barcelona and drew the first leg before losing in the Nou Camp. In 1961 they were runners-up again, this time to Roma over the two legs.

Of course City fans will probably prefer to talk about their only major honour which was when they won the 1963 League Cup in the Birmingham derby against Aston Villa. This was very nearly the line-up again in the same competition in 1996 but Leeds beat Birmingham in the semi-finals that year and then failed to show up in the final which Villa won easily and showed us all that Howard's Way wasn't working any more.

History also proves that in 1975 and 2000 Leeds United were a match for Barcelona; perhaps Birmingham v Barcelona will happen again one day and Birmingham beating Arsenal in the League Cup final this year will be the springboard for them that it was for Leeds in 1968?

Scott leaving West Ham? Call International Rescue

2011-01-26T22:33:00.006Z

I felt so sorry for West Ham fans this evening after watching them lose to Birmingham City at St Andrews and not make it to the League Cup final after all.

When Carlton Cole scored his superb goal in the first-half, West Ham looked superior in every department and that confidence that had been so lacking in the league was cursing through each player's veins apart, curiously, from Scott Parker it seemed. His celebration of Cole's strike seemed subdued and he played like a man with more (or less?) than Wembley on his mind. He's one of my favourite players but rarely have I seen him have such a poor game. I think he might be leaving.

Avram Grant always seems to have been leaving - even since before he arrived. His team talk at half-time was obviously more difficult than Alex McLeish's was for his Birmingham City side that could only get better. And they did. You knew the game was running away from West Ham when they brought Kieran Dyer on. Of course he was dire and promptly missed a sitter just before the end of the first half of extra time that would have put West Ham through on away goals. Just before the end of the match we learned that Dyer was off the field needing treatment. Don't waste any more bandages would be my advice. Spend the money on cotton wool and keep Scott Parker wrapped up in it.

Pompey chimes with the times

2011-01-24T13:44:00.003Z

After last Wednesday's FA Cup game with Arsenal I think all Leeds United supporters would have been happy to get anything out of the away game at Portsmouth on Saturday. As expected the players were sluggish and failed to get into their stride in the first half and, if we had gone 2.0 down before half-time, the game might effectively have been over.

However, Luciano Becchio came to the team's rescue yet again and Davide Somma equalised for a second time after poor defending to allow Portsmouth in front again. Just as it looked as though Leeds were going to go on and win the game, with about half an hour remaining, the electricity board cut the power to the floodlights and the game eventually ended in a draw - which still represented another point, however gloomy it may have looked at the end.

I think it unlikely that, last season, we would have come back twice to equalise. I remember another game on the south coast - at Southampton - when we went 1.0 down and never did look like getting anything out of the game. So, while the defence looks dodgy again without O'Brien's experience, we do have plenty of spirit and simply don't know when we're beaten: something the old Leeds teams had even when playing against the backdrop of the three-day week and unexpected power cuts!

Wails all round but it doesn't end there

2011-01-05T17:23:00.005Z

There were wails all round our house last night when my son and I saw Michael Chopra's goalflash appear on Gillette Soccer Special just eleven minutes from time. Leeds United haven't beaten Cardiff City since 1986 and we can't blame it on gypsy curses or any other fatalistic nicety.

At Ipswich earlier in the season we lost 2.1 after seeing two bad defensive mistakes and a goal from Robert Snodgrass that gave us temporary hope. It was exactly the same last night when, having survived a battering, Leeds got back in the game only to throw it away.

I do remember Leeds beating Cardiff away in the fifth round of the FA Cup in 1972, on the way to winning it against Arsenal. The previous year, though, we eventually got past Rotherham after a replay and then demolished Swindon before that dreadful game at Colchester. The Emirates stadium is a bit more glamorous than Layer Road, and Highbury for that matter, but I fear that history offers us no defence.

Went to Coventry

2010-12-28T14:20:00.003Z

I watched the last few minutes on Sky of today's game between Coventry City and QPR. QPR looked dominant, thought the spirit had clearly gone out of Coventry by the time I tuned in.

What really surprised me was the number of QPR fans at the match. For a team leading the Championship, not to mention it being a Bank Holiday fixture, I thought they would fill one end of the Ricoh Arena as Leeds United did when I travelled there for our away game. We took over 6,000 that day, giving Coventry their record home attendance. Another 3,300 Leeds fans made the journey to Leicester on Boxing Day in a crowd of nearly 31,000, and today's game against Portsmouth at Elland Road is a sell-out at 32,000, with the Upper East Stand remaining closed - though not for much longer I suspect.

I know that Leeds fans travel in vast numbers and that Coventry can rarely fill their own stadium by themselves but I would honestly have thought that more would have left their own TV sets behind in West London to get behind their team who are clearly doing everything then can to get back into the Premier League.

Enzo Bearzot managed

2010-12-22T14:02:00.003Z

I was really sorry to hear about the death of the Italian World Cup-winning manager, Enzo Bearzot as reported in today's Independent. I remember watching a number of the matches in that 1982 World Cup and also wrote about my own experiences in my World Cup Recollections.

All eyes were on the Brazil of Zico and Socrates; that is until that famous game against Enzo Bearzot's Italians when Rossi scored such a fantastic hat-trick to put the favourites out. I think most neutrals then wanted them to beat Germany in the final, especially after their goalkeeper Schumacher's violent behaviour in the previous game, even though it was against Platini's France. When Italy did win there was an explosion of joy that the beautiful game had defeated hardened pragmatism and Bearzot's team absolutely represented football as it should be played.

Bearzot was Italian manager from 1975 to 1986: an unusually long term for any football manager. I was thinking about this when reading about Rafael Benitez being sacked by Inter Milan after just six months and Sam Allardyce being sacked by Blackburn by a group of headless chickens. If managers aren't given chance to prove themselves - and Allardyce and Chris Hughton also suffered this fate at Newcastle - where is the long-term gain? Bearzot never managed a team in Serie A; had he done so, his cv might have become so blotted that he might never have been considered for the Italian national team and 1982 might well have been remembered now for samba rather than spaghetti.

Second-best?

2010-12-19T13:49:00.004Z

So Leeds United are second in the Championship table and yesterday they proved that they certainly weren't second-best to the league leaders - QPR. Good also to see Neil Warnock pursuing his annual 'worst loser ever' award, the day before honest sports personalities are championed by the BBC.

It was one of Leeds's best home performances of the season - possibly only equalled in terms of effort and organisation by the Millwall game. It reminded me of a home game against QPR some 37 years ago when we were on our way to becoming League Champions. It was a similarly cold and snowy Elland Road and we won 2.1

Yesterday we lost Alex Bruce very early on due to a hamstring injury but Leigh Bromby came in and the defence failed to concede. I must admit I was worried about the pre-match injury to O'Brien who has had such an impact on the defence in terms of his organisation and experience, so it was particularly encouraging that neither injury resulted in a goal from such a prolific Rangers team.

We've gone unbeaten since the home thrashing from Cardiff and that's why we're second. I still look to the other end of the table to see how far above the relegation places we are as that remains the aim for this season I feel: safety. However, we are marching on together in front of huge crowds, Luciano Becchio has signed a new contract and Leeds United may yet roll away the years and do even better.

FIFA defy reason

2010-12-07T11:07:00.005Z

I check out thefootballground several times during the day. It offers a mashup of breaking news from key football sources on the web.

Many words have been written since last Thursday when FIFA (Football's Incompetent Fools' Association) awarded the World Cup to Russia. I heard the result via a text in a restaurant during an early Christmas lunch. After receiving the news, I declined the Christmas pudding: I'd had enough.

Like most people in our country I was hugely disappointed. I may be seventy before my sons and I can have any realistic hope of going to World Cup matches in England; I was disappointed that Leeds United would not receive FIFA help for upgrades to Elland Road, though the Rugby World Cup competition requirements may mitigate that a bit, and finally I was deeply disappointed that my natural instinct had been proved right.

I suspected all along that a media that dared to challenge FIFA on corruption grounds would be a democratic step far too far and play into the hands of that bastion of democracy - the free, unhindered market economy of Russia. No matter, perhaps, as David James wrote over the weekend, we can finally now have a proper review of grass roots football and channel resources into that instead. Unfortunately my natural instinct suggests that the Football Association (whose alternative FA acronym you can easily guess) are merely a Little Englander of FIFA and very little will change.

I was spectacularly unsurprised by the Guradian's piece this morning where FIFA are refusing to change their voting system. Of course not. They would have eaten the Christmas pudding as though nothing had happened outside of the restaurant. If they can miss the reality and the significance of Frank Lampard's 'goal' against Germany in the last World Cup they can most certainly continue to miss the point.

Chris Hughton - it's there in black and white

2010-12-06T17:02:00.004Z

I never much rated Chris Hughton as a player and was even less convinced about his abilities as a manager. He always looked to me to be too small of stature to deliver the lofty expectations of the Newcastle United 'management.'

However, he has clearly done his best as 'second choice' after the next coming of the Shearer episode and the prayers for success that won't go away from the pulpit of Kevin. Hughton was also a decent man who was honest in his assessment of his and his side's capabilities and failings.

So, problem with the league position: answer, sack the manager. Of course...not. Problem with the league position: not really, re-adjust the management expectations.

Yes they can't defend and yes they're missing key players and yes Carroll won't always be the saviour. But the Newcastle United 'board' do not deserve any kind of success, even if their fans surely do. Their subsequent treatment of almost every appointee they themselves have put at the helm is scandalously short-sighted.

Kevin, Kenny, Ruud, Glen, Alan, Chris and, of course, Sir Bobby were passionate about football in the north-east. The ridiculous egos and associated incompetence of those pretending to run the club will mean that there are many more names to come before the fog clears on the Tyne and perhaps then, and only then, will an honest job be recognised by honest employers.

Why we love football

2010-11-11T09:46:00.004Z

Whether you play the Football Pools or I Know The Score, you are doomed to failure.

This isn't just due to the fact that the odds are always against those who bet - otherwise nobody would provide the betting platforms in the first place - it is because football has to be the most unpredictable game ever.

While the bore draw in Manchester last night might have been a distinct possibility, Jermaine Beckford's late, late equaliser for Everton was as likely as Ferry across the Dee or Fog on the Tees. Great to see him score again though having performed so well for Leeds United - I'm sure we all wish him well.

How did Bristol City - struggling in the Championship - manage to beat Swansea City who themselves beat Cardiff City at the weekend. Perhaps they would have re-named themselves Inter City if Inter had managed a win in Italy in a season which just isn't happening for them. We play Bristol City on Saturday so let's hope Jon Stead remembers how not to find the net again.

Both Glasgow clubs losing to Edinburgh teams in the same week - Celtic 2.0 at Hearts and Rangers 3.0 at home to Hibernian: when was the last time that happened?

Liverpool beat Chelsea then throw it away at Wigan. Blackburn win an away game.

Wolves lose at home to Arsenal - OK sometimes the odds aren't so high.

Sent to Coventry but singing loud and clear

2010-11-07T17:44:00.003Z

I'd not visited the Ricoh arena in Coventry until yesterday when more than 6,000 fellow Leeds United fans and I descended for the nPower Championship game with Coventry City.

As usual, we all sang our hearts out before, during and after the game and Coventry's fans behaved as though their own team had sent them to Coventry: silence and no rapport between team and fans.

Leeds were good for their half-time lead but the defence still panics and, in the end, only Max Gradel's penalty separated the two sides. However, Leeds played the better football and carved out some excellent chances as against the long-ball game of their opponents.

It will be good to have Kasper Schmeichel back in goal as we need a goalkeeper with far more command of the area. Tony Warner did well enough but he is just glued to his line and the defenders in front of him were clearly about the gaps between them and the goal.

The bigger spaces were on the Coventry terraces though even though there were five minutes added time. Why would any football leave early? Leeds United's fans are there to the bitter end and beyond and it was another great day out.

There'll be Bluebirds all over the place

2010-10-26T10:57:00.003Z

The Bluebirds of Cardiff City dominated last night's match at Elland Road against Leeds United, which they won 4.0.

Although Leeds started well, battling and closing down Cardiff attacks at source, you got the impression that it was only a matter of time before Cardiff would score. Once they did so, it seemed that they could do so at will - and they did.

Of course, Leeds had to give Cardiff a helping hand - or boot - with the first goal and the second was quite clearly offside. Having said that, Leeds United were outclassed in this their third successive home defeat. Simon Grayson is bemoaning mistakes yet again, as I did in a previous post.

Even with different defensive personnel last night, the Leeds defending was, at times, laughable; has the Kevin Keegan school of defending somehow penetrated Thorp Arch?

For those Leeds fans demanding at least a Play Off place this year: watch the recording of this match over and over again until you get the message. We are not good enough for the Premier League - nowhere near - and we would be facing teams like Cardiff every week and being soundly beaten. We have to strive for a mid-table finish this season and then look to push on again over the next couple of years.

Feyenoord lose 10.0

2010-10-24T18:32:00.004Z

My Uncle Dick came from Rotterdam and Feyenoord was his favourite team.

On his first trip to England he tried to persuade me that they were the greatest team on earth and much better than Ajax of Amsterdam. After Celtic had beaten Leeds United in the semi-final of the European Cup in 1970 - the third trophy that would elude us that year - I dearly wanted Celtic to repeat their 1967 Final triumph. But Feyenoord prevailed in black and white on our television and in pouring rain in real life.

Ajax, of course, went on to define the 'total football' of the Dutch by winning three European Cups in the three years that followed Feyenoord's win and the Netherlands nearly completed that period of domination by winning the 1974 World Cup.

My uncle died a few years ago and he would have been disappointed by the Dutch team's playing methods in this year's World Cup final in South Africa. But today's record defeat - to PSV Eindhoven whose players are on top of the league and no doubt the world at the moment - would have hurt him much more.

Mistaken for defence

2010-10-20T07:56:00.003Z

In almost every piece I read about Leeds United, Simon Grayson is bemoaning the mistakes his team are making and thus throwing away points. Perhaps he is mistaken for thinking that sooner or later everything will magically come right.

Again last night, Leeds conceded two goals at home to a team - Leicester City who were in one of the relegation places at the start of the game. Leicester had already beaten Leeds at Elland Road this season in a Carling cup tie in which Leeds had led before capitulating via, yes you've guessed it, defensive mistakes.

We've had the humiliation of big defeats away and at home but even more galling are those seconds in a game where our defenders just switch off or make entirely the wrong choices. I'm sure the Leeds United coaching staff are working hard on this and clearly the Championship teams are going to punish mistakes whereas perhaps the team could have got away with it in League One.

However, there is no Grayson magic wand. He can only work with the raw material he has and any strategy will fail if mistakes are consistently made. At the moment I see no sign of correction and other teams will be ever more confident of a result against us - however late in the games they find themselves in. I remember this feeling all too well from our last season in the Premier League where it was just a matter of team before we'd concede.

If the players cannot adapt then they must be replaced or perhaps the coaching staff aren't really up to it?

Bye Bye Boro'

2010-10-16T18:53:00.005Z

I thought Leeds United thoroughly deserved their win against Middlesboro at The Riverside this evening. Davide Somma and Luciano Becchio took their goals well and both ran and ran for the team, as did everyone else.

Middlesboro' players simply weren't good enough and had to resort to fouling with heavy challenges to keep Leeds out - the tackle on Sanchez Watt that forced him off being a case in point.

It looked worrying at the start of the second half when Boro - no doubt after a rant from Gordon Strachan - got right back into the game with Richard Naylor failing to defend properly (again) and Kris Boyd equalising.

However, for all that Middlesboro were poor, Leeds never stopped harrying when not in possession and getting the ball down and playing it well when they were - something missing in the last game at Ipswich.

As usual, the huge contingent of travelling Leeds United supporters sang their hearts out but Middlesboro' fans were eerily quiet. They are right to be worried by another lacklustre performance but they need to get behind their team and march on together as Leeds do; otherwise, it could easily be bye bye Boro.

Mansfield Park?

2010-10-13T09:54:00.005Z

I was reading about the possible dilemma for Mansfield Town, should Mansfield have its status upgraded to a city. Apparently this Nottinghamshire town hasn't had so much excitement for years. My train used to stop at 'Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway' when I was a student in Sheffield but the Alfreton bit was dropped some time ago. Perhaps this was part of the grand plan to achieve city status and really lord it over their suburban neighbours?

So will they re-name the football club to 'Mansfield City?' I suppose rich people from Abu Dhabi might start attending games by mistake or even start pouring money into the club for no apparent reason. That would be a good strategy until they start asking awkward questions about why Tevez never plays?

Swansea Town changed their name in 1969, when they became Swansea City, as did Stoke FC, when Stoke officially became a city in 1925. My local town of Cambridge became a city in 1951 and Cambridge Town became Cambridge City with Abbey United becoming Cambridge United; not that it has done either club much good as both languish in non-league football. Sunderland resisted the temptation to change to Sunderland City while my beloved Leeds United would rather forget about their beginnings as Leeds City.

Back to Mansfield: why don't they call it Mansfield Park? It would do wonders on search engines around the globe and put Mansfield's Field Mill ground on the map far more effectively than achieving city status ever could.

Leeds United find a Hill to climb in the Suffolk flatlands

2010-10-03T12:10:00.005Z

I travelled with the 3,000 Leeds United fans who descended on the Suffolk town of Ipswich for yesterday's Championship game.

After Tuesday's horror show against Preston, changes were expected and it was equally no surprise that Naylor and Bruce played against their old club. It was great to see the reception both players got from the Ipswich fans but after that, like the landscape outside of the ground, everthing was so flat: the Ipswich fans made practically no noise at all. Had Leeds fans not sung their hearts out from start to finish Patrick Moore might have been called upon to test whether an atmosphere actually existed.

However, cometh the moment - the referee, Keith Hill, obviously saw an opportunity to prove that his relegation from the Premiership was unjust and was determined to blow his whistle at every possible moment so that he could be noticed. Perhaps he was ostracised as a child? He certainly was yesterday as he endeavoured to spoil the game which wasn't allowed to flow at all. In a hapless display Mr Hill booked Leeds defender, Alex Bruce, for getting to the ball in a tackle and, it being the second phantom yellow card offence, sent him off. Having just got back into the match, Leeds were then unable to defend a late cross which gave Ipswich the game.

Faye was a welcome introduction in midfield for Leeds and broke up much of the Ipswich play while Johnson played much better with McCartney down the left side. Snodgrass played in the free role which effectively got him his goal and will improve with fitness. Unfortunately the referee played as though he had been consuming Toby Cobbold pints, from which our Stand got it's name, and from which we could see quite clearly that he was unfit to referee any football match.

6.4 million dollar question for Leeds United

2010-09-29T12:47:00.001Z

The 64 million dollar question originally came from a CBS radio quiz show in the 1940's. The show was originally called 'Take it or Leave it' and each question became increasingly more difficult but, if answered correctly, the value of the next question was doubled until they got to the seventh and final question - worth 64 dollars - where the choice remained that the question could be answered or the money could be taken...

I was thinking about this last night as I followed the Leeds United versus Preston game. The questions for Leeds this season are all about consistency and how to achieve it, both for individuals and as a team, but the 64 million dollar question is probably about whether they really want success for the club, the fans, the city or are happy just to take the money.

For a team that is playing at home and 4.1 up approaching half-time to then concede five goals without reply is incredible, even now after some hours of reflection. It smacks of a Pakistan-style match-fixing scandal and is, well, a scandal. Leeds fans turn up and travel in vast numbers, paying money they can't really afford to watch the team play. Can the current crop of players afford to just take the money and run any longer?

Dying Swans

2010-09-11T21:58:00.003Z

Swans finally died in Leeds today but they threatened to fly away with the points for much of the game.

Richard Naylor - the Leeds United captain - once again showed how holding his head high can cause it to be lost in the clouds as he gifted the first goal to Swansea City's Stephen Dobbie. However, others had their feet firmly on the ground throughout and Leeds never gave up. As Peter Lorimer once wrote, "Keep on Fighting" was the motto of Leeds United and Simon Grayson appears to have reminded them of that some 25 years on.

Why we have to keep giving an early goal away is beyond me (and our goalkeepers!). Against Derby, Forest, Millwall and now Swansea we decided to make a game of it. I'm all for having fun but this is getting serious...

Hit and run in Watford's backyard

2010-08-29T10:37:00.001Z

Along with 2000 other Leeds United fans, I was at the Watford away game yesterday.

Leeds got an early goal and then spent most of the match trying to give away that advantage. On a hot afternoon, Becchio ran and ran until he reached physical exhaustion by the end; Collins was immense at the back and didn't miss a single ball or fail to make any vital clearances; Schmeichel, clad in orange, showed that his and our future is bright but let's pray he doesn't get injured.

Apart from those three the team were poor. They didn't really impose themselves or control the game at any time and failed to move on from the early advantage they'd secured. Bessone was so awful he had to be replaced at half-time; Sam never looked like beating any player on the pitch or even trying to; McCormack looked like the genuine attacking article when he came on but will have to work much harder if he's to win the respect of Leeds fans - especially with Becchio chasing every lost cause. But Johnson was the player who manager Simon Grayson really needs to take out. I thought he was in and out last season but his positioning, touch, passing and shooting are just not up to Championship standard. You can't rely on a player who wastes two crosses out of every three and we can't afford passengers in this or any other league journey.

Watford were truly dreadful - apart from Michael Taylor at the back whose name derives from mountainous terrainous - and it was more than ironic that Leeds United, rather than controlling and passing, should play a hit and hope game at Graham Talor's spiritual home.

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

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I think we can now see the trees

2010-08-15T16:45:00.001Z

Leeds United were thumped in the first 15 to 20 minutes of their match against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground today. Forest capitalised on their movement and possession to score after just nine minutes but Leeds then started to do what Forest had been doing throughout last season and closed their players down. They eventually cut off the midfield suppliers and Lloyd Sam scored a great goal from Bradley Johnson's cross to send the teams in all square at half-time.

I thought we had weathered the storm and so it proved with Leeds being the far more inventive side in the second half. The sun had moved round the ground and it was Forest's turn to chase shadows, often resorting to dirty tactics to stay in the match, including a deliberate stamp on Sanchez Watt's foot which just proved how far they'd lost the psychological battle. Johnson forgot about how good his first half cross had been and proceeded to prove how dreadful he could be, while Becchio fell over at every opportunity of course. Having said that, Leeds looked much more likely to score and win the game.

How great it is to have the football season back and Leeds United's away fans who sang their hearts out throughout. We have an away point from one of the favourites for promotion and, as against Derby last week, look to have a real scoring threat, with much of our forward line still missing through injury or suspension. Not at all impressed with Adam Clayton yet; perhaps he needs more time to show us what he can do or he'll be back on City's bench rather than our's.

Millwall next and they of course have started really well but I think Leeds will take great heart from today's game and can at least see a clearing in the trees which form a more penetrable forest than we might have feared - especially after about nine minutes today.

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

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Leeds lose opening game for first time in 21 years

2010-08-07T19:30:00.001Z

Leeds United haven't lost an opening game of the football season since 1989 - the season they climbed back into the old Division One.

I don't see them repeating that feat this season though. They had plenty of the play, crafted some good moves and certainly the work-rate was excellent throughout but they still have problems as a defence, despite the new signings. I thought the new players - especially Collins - played well but that decisiveness in positioning still isn't there. I don't blame the new recruits but I wonder if our defensive coaching is good enough. In pre-season Leeds conceded some odd goals and they will be punished greatly this season if the anticipation and proper covering runs aren't made much clearer. Schmeichel played really well but should he have been left as exposed as often? No. of course not.

Our defence won't be good enough to see us challenging but I think our creativity in attack will ensure safety. Mid-table security will be fine and Robbie Savage's post-match assertion that Derby battered Leeds may well turn into a lost sole. I thought Derby's fraility was greater than that of Leeds and once their runs from midfield were halted in the second half, they offered little. Clough Junior will be happy tonight but I don't think Clough Senior will be opening any more champagne than usual.

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

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Leeds United v Derby County

2010-08-07T14:00:00.002Z

What memories this fixture brings back - probably more so at the old Baseball Ground than Elland Road but plentiful nevertheless. We weren't damned or dirty: we were winners; and many of our contemporaries were just bad losers.

Finally, the new football season is upon us and Leeds United can begin the next chapter in its football history as a Championship club. It seems such a long time ago that we were returning from that momentous match against Bristol Rovers when promotion from League One was finally achieved. But we now we need to move forward again and find our feet quickly. Few people are giving us even an outside chance of promotion but we're not expected to struggle either. For me, a comfortable mid-table finish this season, playing good football would be a fair result. I do think we'll need to consolidate now and would prefer to think about the Premiership next season than get ourselves promoted again and be looking at an early return to the Championship.

The television companies obviously think we are going to be good box office, as we always are, and it will be great to watch on Match of the Day with Nottingham Forest on Sky next Sunday. Unfortunately with Paynter and Snodgrass on crutches and Somma and Gradel suspended, it's going to be hard to see where we are going to get goals from until September or October. However Becchio is always chasing where Beckford used to stop and wait, and Grella may now finally get the opportunity he's been looking for.

I wonder if Don Revie and Brian Clough are sharing a cloud in their elevated commentary position or whether they are still at opposite ends of the universe?

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

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The 'me' in English football media

2010-06-20T12:06:00.001Z

In 'Mike Bassett: England Manager' there is a scene where a boffin tells us in a string of German-scientific babble that 'to control the ball, you must first become the ball.' This in essence is what has happened to large parts of the 'professional' English football media over my lifetime. They have become the problem not part of the solution.

England v Algeria was, indeed dismal. The team looked terrified, tired and lethargic and lacking basic footballing skills. As Capello said after the game, it was not the team that he - or we - knew.

So what do the media do? What they always do. Their supposed wide-ranging search for football news, comment and analysis is as pre-arranged as the World Cup Carling ads, each version of which is dependent on the score in the match that has just preceded them. They had tried to blame the ball - laying down the foundations for others to join in; destroyed Rob Green's confidence even further; blamed Emile Heskey for everything in the known world including why the sun wasn't shining in Leicester on the evening of the game; continued their 'suspicions' about Capello's ability they would have lauded if option A (a win for England) had come to pass; vilified Wayne Rooney for having an opinion and continued with the Steven Gerrard out-of-position debate of their own making.

I thought Heskey was the only player who did as he was asked - laying off for players who looked as if they had been, well, laid off. Rooney cannot be fit. If he isn't, don't play him. If he is, don't play him. The psychological message to other teams of having Rooney in the England line-up has been returned, unopened. Gerrard has, in my opinion, rarely played well for England and the positional 'analysis' is a smokescreen for this. He is probably just as distracted by being captain of the team - like the psychotic in charge of the deranged - as he is by where on the pitch the ball is likely to be. John Terry - who thanks to Wayne Bridge's desire to drink with the media devils - was stripped of the English captaincy, looks like a player who was stripped of the English captaincy. Frank Lampard just looks dreadfully tired.

But I don't work for the professional English football media. I just love football and have an opinion and it is that there may be many reasons for the England's team failure so far. Unfortunately this is much too far for those that are paid to 'know' and 'understand' and 'interpret.' They have to do the English thing and lazily find a single cause of all the problems. Today's papers report that it is all due to a rift between the players and Capello.

Of course it is! We should have known the manager would somehow get it and what an easy target, even the 'qualities' couldn't miss. I remember Bobby Robson being slated before, during and after Euro 1988. I remember the knives being sharpened for Alf Ramsey and Bobby Moore after Lubanski and Poland beat us in Poland in June 1973, before Bryan Clough had even thought up any jokes about goalkeepers. All England managers are to blame for everything (Emile you have a reprieve for today at least) except when the nation sees through it over time and then these greats are great (perhaps even greater?) again.

We may not need a Gary Wackett to inspire the team through fear but perhaps a Gary Delete it or Gary Open-a new-window might be more useful?

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

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Edgar, Patrick and Gareth: your answer to insomnia

2010-06-16T08:46:00.001Z

The Brazil v North Korea match didn't really catch fire last night. ITV did their normal hapless thing of reporting on an item and not then following it through. They interviewed a a couple (well, only the man because ITV have decided football is for macho men only) from Portsmouth who for some bizarre reason are die-hard North Korea fans. If you came from Portsmouth you probably would be too. Of course ITV lost their tape before someone brought it back in from the van outside - perhaps it had been recorded on Beta? Of course, they didn't then point them out in the crowd to finish the tale, though there were so few people in red North Korean tracksuits, it would have been very difficult not to spot them - even ITV of rainy camera fame.

Kaka looked bored by the whole spectacle throughout. Perhaps he was vaguely afraid of being torpedoed? Jong Tae-Se looked strong up front for North Korea until he got tired but with five men permanently at the back, and many voices from the radio transmitter in his head, there were little opportunities for him to show his individual skill. Indeed, only two pieces of real skill from Brazil unlocked North Korea's collective secret. South Korea take note.

Back in the studio, Adrian Chiles had three chums round for tea to discuss his Hawthorns programme collection and whether Remi Moses could have been Edgar Davids had he not moved to Old Trafford. Edgar himself probably wished he was in some Manchester hotel room watching TV alone, such was his inability to communicate anything of any interest in an interesting way. Patrick Viera was very, very sensible and probably had a clean hanky in his pocket. Gareth Southgate wasn't going to miss any more penalties, immediately soliciting the views of the un-dead beside him whenever Chiles begged him to change the lightbulb.

ITV may have gone for the ethnically-pleasing muscle mix but route one is just so dull.

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

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Yankee doodle handy

2010-06-12T21:13:00.001Z

It was always going to be that kind of an evening. From the moment Patrick Viera played the role of an avuncular, quietly spoken pundit between Gareth Southgate and Kevin Keegan, form was going to count for nothing.

Adrian Chiles was more on edge than a razorblade and yet fairly blunt at the same time.

Then it happened - England scored. Except that those of us who had been persuaded by ITV to watch in HD missed it. Cutting to an ad break before proudly displaying the ITV HD logo was strange enough but to time it exactly with a Steven Gerrard goal for England was unbelievable.

I felt sorry for Rob Green, whose fumble the ITV executives did think we should see - hundreds of times - but then I'm fifty now and World Cups may be running out for me. As a Leeds United fan I'm used to my team making it as difficult as possible for themselves before eventually coming out on top. Let's hope it's all just a clever Capello ploy to avoid Germany in the knockout rounds.

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

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These steppes won't lead to Heaven

2010-06-12T16:16:00.002Z

So Argentia beat Nigeria in the end but only because Nigeria seemed to barely know which end they were attacking.

The African's team play throughout was dire, from an inablity to throw-in properly through abject passing and woeful shooting. Their nickname is the Super Eagles but their footballing ability was more akin to Crystal Palace's faceless administrators

Argentina flattered to deceive though, frankly, just running around a bit and occasionally attacking the goal would have been enough. This was hardly a test for them. Tiredness - or was it sheer boredom - seemed to set in towards the end and we learned little of their real ability other than Messi's sheen and Mascherano matt finishing of anything remotely creative.

Mick McCarthy, co-commentating for the BBC, was obsessed with 4-4-2 as against 4-3-3 and went thankfully quiet only when he found to his amazement that both sets of figures added up to ten.

The bearded Maradona lurked moodily on the touchline - a rotund little man who reminded us of the ex-husband from the 'Sixties who goes off to 'discover nature' and returns to attend his daughter's wedding, having presumably discovered and consumed a rare species of mushroom in the intervening years.

Argentina get the points but difficult to award prizes.

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

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Dull points

2010-06-11T21:10:00.002Z

I watched the France v Uruguay football World Cup match this evening and, after the exciting end-to-end game between South Africa and Mexico this afternoon was looking to a similarly entertaining match on this the first day of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

How stupide was that! I'm so worried about Ray. If he wore glasses he'd be Alastair Darling; without them he is just Domenech the Dumb. France are famous for Gallic passion but tonight was just one long sulk. Franck Ribery - who could have followed the same fitness regime as Tomas Brolin - was dreadful from beginning to end. Misplaced passes and so slow! Apparently he is frequently the target of Premier League clubs - presumably they need someone to fix the brakes on the team coach and Franck's the man for the job.

Abou Diaby at least tried to play to his own height but Ray had only included him in the squad because he thought there might be some Middle Eastern money in it so did nothing to cahnge the football formation in order to prosper.

As for Uruguay, their defending was packed rather than just poor. Everyone knows Lugano is a lake in Switzerland and the entire back four looked as though they could drown at any moment. Suarez up front obviously thought the offside rule had been put to one side for the duration of the tournament and Forlorn sported another interesting piece from his hairband collection.

Amazingly Uruguay lasted nearly an hour without a booking, before remembering who they were. Hilariously they brought on a striker to win the game but saw red instead and resorted to the ugly game to avoid losing.

It may not have been null points but it was certainly dull points

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

Catch all the latest football news at http://www.thefootballground.co.uk

Kenny Jackett

2010-05-30T17:02:00.001Z

When Leeds United lost to Millwall in the Play-Off semi-final in 2009, I was inconsolable for a while. A careless defensive mistake at The Den had effectively consigned us to another season of League One football as the draw at Elland Road - after Luciano Bechio had given us the lead - was quickly cancelled out.

Kenny Jackett's men played really well that night and I remember him being extremely generous in his comments towards our club. We have a lot of history with Millwall but I can't say that I was delighted that they failed to go on and win at Wembley. I felt the self-effacing and completely humble stance of their manager was humbling in an arena of galactico egos and tribal warfare.

Millwall beat us both times in the season just finished so I can't say that I savour the thought of meeting them again in the Championship, but I was pleased to see them go up with us. They came third so there is some justice and I imagine our own fine manager, Simon Grayson, will have sent him his own personal congratulations too.

Roll on next season...

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

Leeds United: marching up together

2010-05-10T11:03:00.002Z

Saturday 8th May 2010 will go down as one of my happiest days ever.

After my 41st season as a Leeds United supporter, I proudly sport my tattoo as finally we seem to be on the road to recovery. My sons are both keen fans as well so our family has revisited many of the lows I experienced as a child - often so near but so far.

As my younger son and I headed north on the A1 on Saturday, I told him this could be a great day or it could be another missed opportunity, but that nothing could be worse than that journey home from Cardiff.

Thankfully the wait is over and yet, as I watch the highlights (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8671539.stm) over and over again, I still feel sick to the bottom of my stomach as first Gradel is sent off and then we concede so early in the second half.

The road home was awash with delirious Leeds United fans and, right now, we can smile again and know that we are marching on and up together.

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

Defences breached at Gillingham

2010-04-18T08:44:00.003Z

No, the estuary banks of the Thames weren't breached yesterday but the Leeds United defence was - three times. The Priestfield Stadium at Gillingham has never been a happy hunting ground for Leeds and I was apprehensive anyway because of their need to gain valuable points in their relegation fight.

I was also wary of the historical curse on Leeds United whereby they get themselves in the perfect position, playing great football and seemingly overcoming adversity, only to fall at the final hurdle. With Millwall losing on Friday night and all other promotion rivals failing yesterday, this was precisely such a football scenario. However many times have we seen this over the years?

Our defence clearly hadn't read the script and so allowed Gillingham's strikers to cause early chaos. Simon Grayson clearly hadn't read the script or he would have realised that occasions such as this are often coloured by less than black and white refereeing - perhaps he doesn't remember Ray Tinkler or the European cheats in 1973 and 1975 - and he could have tried to prime the team for it?

So there we have it. Are we going to struggle over the line or trip up again? It's in our hands - so they say - or is there still a higher, darker power at work, doing its very best to banish the hopes of the Whites wherever we may be?

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

Why John Terry?

2010-04-11T17:14:00.002Z

Years ago, a fellow student had to write an essay on the subject of 'Is a dog?' She wrote one sentence: 'Why shouldn't it be.'

I was thinking about this yesterday when I cleverly tuned into the FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Aston Villa just in time to see all three goals but also one of most blatant 'hacks' ever. No, this wasn't a cough sweet being projected from John Terry's mouth, rather his studs being projected at James Milner's future as a footballer. And the projection wasn't good. In fact I thought white space might be the result. Not only was it not necessary in the context of the play at the time, but it could never have been necessary when the words 'professional' and 'footballer' are joined together without any in between.

Though clearly loathsome and playing for the same Chelsea we all love to sing about at Leeds (Wash your mouth out, son!) I actually supported Terry's right to play for England. His private life is presumably as dirty as his challenges (via mouth and foot) but I genuinely would prefer John Terry to be in our back four in the summer over, say, Matthew Upson, in the same way as I would always have wanted Terry Butcher over, say, Mark Wright (something about that man's alarming freckles that wasn't quite right). But a tackle like that will receive an instant red card at the World Cup and therein lies the worry, quite apart from the career-breaking consequences of getting things wrong.

Hopefully James Milner will be able to forgive him and play in the same team? I saw James score a fantastic goal against Chelsea at Elland Road when he was just 16 years old, curling a shot around their defence from the edge of the area, in front of their thuggish hordes in the South Stand. Perhaps John Terry hasn't forgotten it either.

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

Funny about Ferguson

2010-04-08T09:28:00.001Z

I take no pleasure in Bayern Munich winning anything, especially after the 'refereeing' incompetence of 1975 which gave them an undeserved European Cup win over Leeds United. Their arrogance and posturing against Manchester United towards the end of the 1999 final was justifiably turned schwarz.

However, I do find it hysterical that Alex Ferguson, having done the Scottish/Argentina thing of trying to sabotage England's World Cup hopes, by playing Rooney last night, is now complaining about the behaviour of the Germans.

Bayern Munich won't win the Champions League unless their country decides to annexe Catalonia and call in some old South American favours, but it's funny to see the Red Devils assuming all others are diabolical.

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk , pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com and business at http://www.burweb.co.uk

April 5th: a day to remember, lest we forget

2010-04-05T21:57:00.003Z

It's been difficult being a Leeds United supporter these last few weeks. The team had lost four games in a row and not scored in that time, plunging from second in League One to equal fourth. They won at Yeovil today but are clearly running on confidence and when that runs out, the team stops playing as it can. Tonight they are equal fourth again and either Millwall or Swindon are now favourites to go up with Norwich.

Tonight I watched 'The Damned United' for the first time. We've had the disc on Blue Ray - our first - since Christmas and my sons were keen to watch it at last. It made me yearn for days gone by, when Leeds really were a big club and, despite the negative connotations throughout, the thought of them being in the third division was ridiculous

This afternoon I went for a beautiful walk in the peace and tranquility of the Cambridgeshire countryside.

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the murders of Leeds United fans: Christoper Loftus and Kevin Speight. Ten years ago I wrote a song lyric - called April 5th - about the tragedy. It's never been performed or read but it expressed the sorrow I felt and shared by so many: http://www.fencreative.co.uk/poetry.html

So it doesn't really matter if we fail again in the play-offs. It doesn't really matter that we've been relegated twice since then. Christopher's and Kevin's children will never again sit down to watch a film with their dads nor their wives make them tea after a long walk.

They're not coming home and we may be getting nowhere fast, but we will always march on together.

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk and pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com

Coming from behind

2010-03-09T09:24:00.000Z

On my way to a client's office this morningI was reading Metro's piece about Arsenal's return match against Porto tonight. Apparently they haven't come back from a first-leg deficit in European matches since a Uefa tie in 1977-78, against Hajduk Split ( a real blast from the past, that name!)

I was very surprised to hear this, taking us back, as it did, to the era of Graham Rix et al and fond memories of Tony Curry and Arthur Graham playing for a Leeds United side that was still feared in the Uefa Cup.

I was trying to think of great Leeds comebacks and the one that still sticks in my mind is the Derby game when Lee Bowyer scored close to the end to complete a 4-3 win after being out of the game at half-time. There was also the 'Mark Viduka' game against Liverpool of course, which we also won 4-3

Mark Rasdall

Fen Creative: Views from Cambridgeshire, in words at http://www.fencreative.co.uk and pictures at http://www.fencreative.shutterchance.com

United Nations disunited

2010-02-13T14:31:00.004Z

I was feeling nervous this morning about Leeds United's trip to Leyton Orient this afternoon. I had a friend who lived in Leytonstone some years ago and the streets were narrow and grim. But it was more the thought of our throwing away the lead as we did last season that concerned me.

To take my mind off it I tuned into ITV1 to watch the FA Cup tie between Southampton and Portsmouth. Apart from the shock of seeing panelist Mark Hateley without hair there wasn't too much to be electrified about in the first half. In the second, I took more notice. David James had done his normal Jekyll and Hyde thing in the fist half, with his own Portsmouth defenders clearly unsure as to whether he was brilliant or just bizarre. He always gives me the impression of a man who has wandered down to the corner shop at half-time and forgotten to return. Then he discovers a two-for-one offer on goalkeeping heroics and you realise that, at 39, he's probably a bargain after all. Not sure about England, but who else is there?

Portsmouth's Algerian players were quiet in the first half but came alive in the second as did Owusu-Abeyie and, incredibly, Dindane. Let's hope they stay half asleep in the summer. In fact, the sunshine seemed to wake lots of players and fans up in the second half. The blue rinses of Hampshire seemed bemused that they too had African players in their team. You could almost hear them whispering over the flasks and headscarfs 'Is this what we've been paying Tear Fund for all these years?'

I haven't much time for Southampton, even though the loathsome Rupert Lowe is no longer there, and hope to go to the waway game there in March. I don't care about Portsmouth either or the fact that they've been caught out for cheating the taxman i.e. all of us for years. Why are we now seeing sob stories all over the popular press? Why would other chairmen put their podgy hands in their silk-lined pockets to help? The likes of Lowe and his cronies were determined not to help Leeds when we appealed our 'punishment' which wasn't for doing anything illegal, just very bad financial management from you know who.

OK. Match has kicked off. Time to switch from ITV1 to Sky.

Wycombe, Wysaw, Wy nearly conquered but not quite

2010-01-09T18:33:00.003Z

No doubt people will be saying that Leeds United were suffering a hangover from last weekens's massive result at Old Trafford and that the players couldn't get up for an ordinary League One match against Wycombe Wanderers today.

It seems that Wycombe, far from packing the defense and hoping to go home beaten but not too bruised as so many teams do at Elland Road, came to make a game of it. Certainly their performance belied their low low league position and Leeds just could not find that higher gear.

There will be games like this and I don't think the FA Cup win or timing has anything to do with it. Let's just accept the point, retain the fabulous unbeaten record and home resilience, and move on. Only a couple of seasons ago we'd probably have lost this game.

On a final point, had all gone according to the form book today, Simon Grayson and the Leeds United coaching staff might (only might!) have been more confident with the squad and been less inclined to look for players that might be needed to give us that spark - that something different - in the season's run-in?

Marching on

2010-01-03T17:29:00.004Z

I haven't posted this season as so many things have been happening off the field but today marked a watershed moment, one that we'll remember as long as Bryan Flynn's goal.

I watched today's game against Manchester United, hoping we'd give a good account of ourselves and letting everyone know that the game against Liverpool in the Carling Cup was no one-off. I wasn't too concerned about the result. We want to get out of League One not have a long FA Cup run that could interfere with our promotion campaign, but what a day to be a Leeds United fan!

I can clearly remember Bryan Flynn's goal at Old Trafford as it was my friend's 21st birthday. We'll both be 50 this year so it just shows that important events in life stay focused in the memory! What's so good about the victory though is that we played like a team that deserved to win by playing good football and battling through every challenge.

The last great Leeds United teams of Wilkinson and O'Leary failed to win at Old Trafford (though Mark Viduka's goal took us agonisingly close) and neither of those managers presided over one home league loss in a calendar year. Simon Grayson has us playing like a big club rather than baying to be considered so. We march on but forwards not sideways, and certainly not backwards

Bobby Robson

2009-07-31T11:12:00.003Z

The death of Bobby Robson seems to have been coming for a long time now but now that the great man has gone it hardly seems possible. His battle with cancer was truly heroic, as was his struggle with Newcaste United 'directors' whe were never worthy of being on the same map as him.

As David Lacey reports in today's Guardian "Under Robson Newcastle finished fourth, third and fifth in the Premier League, so naturally they sacked him."

I have always felt a certain sympathy with the Newcastle fans who have won nothing for nearly forty years, and hope their descent may be turned around next season. But, as with Bobby, the clubs disgraceful treatment of both him and other recent managers, suggests that their decline too has been coming for a long time now.

Rest in Peace, Bobby, from myself and many other Leeds United fans across the world.

Burned by Burnley

2009-06-16T08:19:00.002Z

I was reading a piece this morning about the 1968/69 season when I first started supporting Leeds United. We won our first League Championship that year, losing just two games - one of which was a thrashing 5-1 by Burnley. When we won the title again in 1973/74 I remember us losing 4-1 in a shock home defeat to...Burnley.

I wonder whether Simon Grayson's thinking in playing Burnley in a pre-season friendly is to fight the fires as early as possible?

Discuss Leeds United

2009-06-10T16:45:00.002Z

I've only now got over the Millwall game. My sons and I leapt out of our seats to sing the Luciano Becchio song (meaningful if not very deep lyrics) and were then pinned to them until the equaliser. Two years running and still we're in League One. The Play-Offs will never work for us - maybe they were originally sketched out on Don Revie green paper?

Anyway, onwards and hopefully upwards now. I discovered this site today via being followed on Twitter: Discuss Leeds United. I'll be a regular visitor.

Stockport sinking

2009-04-30T17:25:00.004Z

I was really sorry to hear the news today that Stockport County have gone into administration. I hope their 10 point penalty doesn't push them into relegation at Brighton on Saturday. Few people were sympathetic to the fate of Leeds United when 15 points were deducted at the start of last season and it would have been great to have got promoted after being so handicapped. But it wasn't to be. Hopefully we'll do it this season but Millwall (I'm sure it will be them) will be really tough, especially with their away record and the pressure that will be on the team at Elland Road.

Back to Stockport. I wrote in this blog last year about a visit to see Stockport play Peterborough United.

What a difference a year makes! Peterborough have gone straight through League One, having, like Stockport, only been promoted last year and will be in the Championship next season. Leeds and Stockport have had some good matches this season and I genuinely hope they survive.

Here's Jonny

2009-04-11T17:03:00.004Z

Thank goodness for Jonny Howson. He scored after just nine minutes today and it proved to be the winner at Elland Road against Stockport County. I saw Stockport at Peterborough United last season and, though both teams eventually got promoted from League Two, Stockport were much the best team on the day. Although Leeds United dominated the match today, the away team could easily have snatched an equalizer and it was clear that this was in United's minds after giving away a two goal lead against Leyton Orient in mid-week through carelessness. However, today they saw the match out and, though I think automatic promotion is still beyond us, the Play Offs beckon again. I was thinking that Millwall would be the toughest opponents we'd be likely to face but their poor home form and surprise defeat at Yeovil yesterday does, as ever, make me marvel at football's unpredictability. We've now won our last nine matches at home - not seen since Howards's day - and I wouldn't have expected that either.

Why we love football

2009-04-09T16:43:00.002Z

Phil McNulty's BBC blog today really sums up for me why we love football. Chelsea's win over Liverpool at Anfield last night in the Champions League was not only unexpected in the margin of victory but also because essentially the same team performed so much better than the last time they played there; hard to believe it was the same season.

I'm not sure if it was Guus Hiddink's arrival that has marked the change or that Chelsea might have felt the underdogs going into the tie. Whatever, it just shows that you can take nothing for granted and why the sheer unpredictability of this game keeps us hooked.

I'm still grieving over Leeds United condeding a 2.0 lead to the 10 men of Leyton Orient on Tuesday night but, as last night showed, who knows what will happen in the next match?

Colchester layered to rest

2009-04-05T16:09:00.004Z

It was our first visit yesterday to the Weston Homes Community Stadium to see Leeds United beat Colchester United 1.0. It is a strangely distant setup in literally green field surroundings and feels a little like toytown. Leeds fans occupied a third of the stadium to give the home team their record attendance and a fantastic atmosphere.

Becchio's winner was a well-taken strike but no less then Leeds deserved as the team totally dominated the match from start to finish. Beckford could have wrapped it up before half-term but it was another fairly lazy and lacklustre performance from him, though he was the focus of most of Colchester's defensive prowess. However, we played some excellent passing football but were also resilient at the back and refused to be intimidated by Colchester in the second half when they seemed determined to kick us out of our stride. So, the winning run goes on and, going into the Play-Offs, that's exactly the time to be in good form.

Unfortunately the first announcement over the tannoy referred to that dreadful day at their former ground at Layer Road in 1971 when we lost 3.2 to Fourth Division Colchester in the FA Cup - certainly one of the worst days of my life and I was hoping that yesterday would offer some kind of resolution. I came home happy with the result but watching Ray Crawford and his team mates from that day come on to the pitch at half-time meant that the memory lingers on.

However, as the shuttle bus took us back to the station after the game Leeds fans were walking alongside Colchester fans, one of whom held his son's hand while the other clutched a teddy bear tightly. Memories may linger in isolation but hopes march on together!

Alan Shearer will be sheepish

2009-04-01T08:04:00.004Z

Despite Alan Shearer always seeming to score against Leeds United (as well as most other teams) during his playing career, I admired him enormously as a player - not just because of his natural ability but sheer belligerence in the face of adversity. Obviously the nation came together to applaud this whenever he played for England and look at the stories this week when Peter Crouch appears to be the best we have now that Darren Bent is injured!

The papers and online sites are full this morning of his appointment as Newcastle United manager until the end of the season. He will need every ounce of that stubborn nature if he is to survive the Mike Ashley school of mismanagement or anyone else foolish enough to take over. It's one thing for Shearer to be critical from outside the club, quite another when saddled with collective responsibility.

I'm certain there will be sheepish statements to come when yet another 'legend' is forced to capitulate to a group of 'passionate' failures who resent his attempts at management rather than support them.

Beck foot forward

2009-03-14T17:52:00.003Z

Thanks goodness for Jermaine Beckford of Leeds United. Yet again he made the difference in today's game against Swindon Town who were pointless in their approach and pointless in their exit.

I suppose a team in Swindon's position was always going to pack the defence and try to frustrate Leeds but, in the end, as Beckford indeed lost his head, so Swindon lost the battle. He headed in the only goal of the match just three minutes from time. Job done.

With home records falling, so the white mist fell but it will clear again and the Play-offs look that much closer this evening, though I suspect our newer strikers will want to make the most of opportunities that will come their way too.

ITV FA Cup coverage: did you miss it?

2009-02-05T08:49:00.003Z

The Guardian are running a story today about ITV missing the goal last night. Instead of seeing the dramatic winning goal from Everton against Liverpool in an otherwise very forgettable Merseyside derby, we were switched to an ad break; not once but twice.

My son and I were watching the match on Sky+ having paused the lack of action on the pitch to get some real action from the kitchen toaster and kettle. We thought at first it must have been something wrong with our digital box and beggars belief that at precisely the moment when Everton fans across the globe should have had an indelible image implanted on their brains, ITV did their very best to blank it out.

The FA Cup game at Histon earlier this season is indelibly planted on my brain because of Leeds United being beaten but also ITV doing everything they could to hide the action behind blurred camera lenses. It isn't a blur to me, it's still very clear but I suppose they did their best for Leeds fans everywhere.

In these days of massive rights negotiations and digital delivery isn't it incredible that nobody appears to be able to keep their finger on the production button?

Post Walsall

2009-02-04T08:49:00.004Z

I know that football isn't an exact science and probabilities are doomed to fail because of unlikely circumstances on 'level' playing fields. But how can Leeds United fail so dismally on Saturday and then Leicester City go there and win 4.1 last night. With MK Dons winning as well that automatic promotion place looks less and less likely.

Are we really so much poorer than Leicester who have set the League One pace this season; do we still kid ourselves that we're a big club and therefore have some divine right to be at the top of the league? Or did Walsall raise their game on Saturday and run out of ideas last night? Did Leicester play as well as we played badly?

So, will we make it to the Play-Offs and then make it four defeats in four finals? Too many unknowns, hopefully, for that one to be predicted.

Mike Grella

2009-02-02T15:19:00.004Z

I've been on the Leeds United website off and on all day to make sure we haven't sold Fabian Delph or Jermaine Beckford - or even Jonny Howson. If the 'authorities' can extend the January deadline into February then Ken Bates can turn white snow into grey slush.

No news so far apart from a fairly cryptic message that this will be a 'busy' day.

We've bought a young American stiker - Mike Grella - who looks a prospect at 22 but let's wait and see.

Waiting seems to be the name of the game today and we've got to wait until next Monday against Millwall to get the pain of Walsall out of our systems, with tomorrow's game at Orient postponed.

Fabian Delph

2009-01-18T19:01:00.003Z

I watched him score Leeds United's second goal against Brighton and Hove Albion on 'The Championship' this morning but for those who didn't, check this out: http://www.football.virginmedia.com/page/LeedsUnited/Home/0,,12555,00.html

As I said yesterday, I do worry about this January window, especially knowing that Manchester United allegedly have a bid in for him to eventually replace Paul Scholes. Ken Bates publicly denying that we'll listen to offers is much like a vote of confidence in whoever our manager is this week.

We have to build our new team around playrers like him or the future is League One obscurity. This was brought home to me again yesterday when seeing James Milner score for Villa!

Seagulls depart

2009-01-17T17:19:00.003Z

After all the troubles Leeds United have had at Brighton and Hove Albion's Withdean Stadium, it was great to win there this afternoon. In fact it's the second consecutive victory there so let's hope the sea winds have changed for the better.

Good to see Lee Trundle scoring and hoping it's the first of many to get our promotion campaign going. Great also to see MK Dons let a lead slip and getting beat at Carlisle (what a good team they are after all) and also seeing Scunthorpe come up against the buffers at Crewe.

Obviously Fabian Delph's wonder goal will make the headlines today. I hope that isn't a double-edged sword with the vultures hovering over us until Jan 31st.

The best thing for me today, though, was our not conceding a goal - the first time since November 1st 2008. It seems the defence were better organised and played far more like a unit. Will this mean Michalik flying off across the channel?

Simon Grayson

2008-12-23T12:19:00.003Z

So Simon Grayson is the new manager of Leeds United. I remember him playing for Aston Villa but little else - I certainly don't remember him as an apprentice at Leeds United in the early 1990's. Was he released because he didn't make the defensive grade? I hope not, because that is what sunk Gary McAllister.

We played some great attacking football but never got set for set pieces. I've seen Michalik and Marques this season and they've obviously gone missing big time. I always advocated Marques but, apart from that goal against Plymouth in the Championship, never found anything in Michalik's make-up that made me think he was good enough for Leeds United. He certainly seemed unable to read basic parts of the game much of the time.

Following six years at Blackpool, Simon Grayson will know all dangerous rocks around the coast. Hopefully he'll now be able to move our defense from being all at sea to the safety and security of dry land.

Another good win over Hartlepool

2008-11-22T17:13:00.004Z

this afternoon and good to see Jermaine Beckford is continuing to score after his hat-trick against Northampton in the cup on Monday. Also good to get last Saturday's Huddersfield disaster out of the system.

I remember the away game at Hartlepool last season when we were briefly top of the league after a draw. However, that really marked the beginning of the Wise period. I can't help feeling that the wise man we now have in charge will bring us more gifts going forward.

Football supporters have very long memories

2008-10-20T12:36:00.005Z

I was reading at the weekend how Sunderland supporters at the Fulham v Sunderland game had booed Jimmy Hill. Hill had come on as part of the tribute to Fulham great, Johnny Haynes.

The booing related back to 1977 when Hill was the chairman of Coventry City. He delayed the kick-off between Coventry and Bristol City and made sure that the teams were told the score from that day's Sunderland game so that the teams played out a featureless draw and ensured their survival. Sunderland were relegated.

It sounded amazing that such anger should remain after so many years but then I still remember Leeds United's games against Chelsea in the late 1960's and 1970 and, of course, Ray Tinkler in 1971...

Mauled at The Den

2008-10-20T12:31:00.002Z

I don't think Leeds United played especially badly at The Den on Saturday but Millwall were obviously really up for it, like Peterborough United were when they played Leeds two weeks earlier. I felt on that day that our defence was never going to be strong enough for automatic promotion this year and we just seem to be vulnerable a lot of the time. I don't know whether this is basic organisational problems at the back or low confidence.

As witnessed on Saturday, we'll always create chances and score goals - Luciano Becchio's was a great strike - nut we have a soft underbelly at the moment and it doesn't take lions to gouge it out.

Yo'l laugh at this

2008-10-05T15:57:00.004Z

I was reading the Sunday Times earlier today and, of course, waded through the hundreds of supplements in order to find the Sports section.

This section was worth the search as it included an article about Martin Jol and how he has had early success with SV Hamburg in Germany. He seems to have found real support and understanding and comes over as the same level-headed coach with a sense of humour that he did at Tottenham Hotspur. Unfortunately his conssecutive Top 5 finishes in the Premier League and Spurs's best league position for 25 years weren't considered good enough. But then level-headed isn't really what they do. Big-headed and arrogant is much more their style.

I hope that Leeds United will persevere with Gary McAllister as their manager and not look to short-term 'success.' We may have had a blip at Peterborough United yesterday but I do think we are building for the longer-term.

Tottenham Hotspur clearly didn't back Martin Jol in the same way and, given that they've lost at home again today - this time to Hull City - it's nice to see him laughing again.

Too posh for us

2008-10-04T18:14:00.004Z

I was one of the 4177 Leeds United fans to descend on Peterborough today to watch the home team win 2.0

I was brought up near to Peterborough and used to go and watch 'The Posh' in the mid 1970's and I've always looked out for my hometown club's scores. Peterborough United got promoted into League One last season and they certainly play a good passing game, as do Leeds.

This is my 39th season as an obsessed Leeds United fan and it was odd to see the two teams do battle in the same league. I attended one of the previous meetings there in January 1974 when the great Leeds side won 4.1 in a 4th Round FA Cup tie. The battle was very one-sided that day, but not today.

0.0 at half-time and Becchio had wasted Leeds's best chance, although I thought he looked much improved since the last time I'd seen him play. Beckford had a very quiet game and was almost subdued, despite the home crowd holding their collective breath each time he got anywhere near the ball.

Peterborough scored immediately after half-time and, apart from Douglas, Leeds seemed to just lose their shape and their belief and, apart from an offside 'goal' late on, lacked real penetration to go with their neat approach work. Peterborough sealed it in injury time and I have to say that Leeds can have few compaints.

It's worrying that Leeds's resilience seemed to crumble right in front of us and I do feel that Prutton would have been a good choice to add that extra bit of nous in midfield, though Kilkenny did pretty well when he came on.

We were the poor relations today and will have to do much better when the teams meet again at Elland Road in January.

Tevez is, are you?

2008-09-23T18:12:00.003Z

Interesting that an independent football tribunal has today ruled against West Ham United over the Carlos Tevez affair and will now agree a compensation amount to be paid to Sheffield United.

I'm pleased that bias is only selective against teams from Yorkshire and genuinely hope the Blades get what they deserve, having been relegated as a result of Tevez's goals at the end of the 2006/2007 season.

However, while the rest of the world could see the justice in Sheffield United's claim, and also the total injustice of Leeds United's draconian points deduction last year, how come the independent tribunal in our case chose not to see the blatantly obvious? Leeds are still suffering financially as a result of being in League One, despite our best efforts and against the massive odds last season.

Ah, but, all those fellow chairman who collectively voted against us can't be wrong...can they?

Five-star worries

2008-09-06T16:18:00.003Z

I watched my home town club, Peterborough United, play Bristol Rovers on Sky this afternoon. They scored five goals but did their best not to win the game by allowing Rovers to score four. It was a game of poor defences and good, opportunist, striking. Rovers took advantage of Leeds falling asleep last week and did the same again today: certainly they are going to be one of the most difficult teams to kill off in League One this season.

Meanwhile Leeds United beat Crewe by five goals to two. It seems that Leeds were cruising and completely dominant until injury time when, couled with Michalik's sending off, Crewe scored two late goals to take the gloss off of a comprehensive vistory.

It's not often you end the day having scored five goals and being a bit worried but, in both cases, defences have to improve and not be allowed to doze when the team is winning; if this doesn't happen, sleeping sickness will turn into sleepwalking rather than marching up the table. Leeds are in the Play-Off zone tonight but, as we all know, that doesn't work for us so we need to try even harder.

The right blend of age and experience

2008-07-23T19:21:00.002Z

I was reading in the papers this morning about Alex Ferguson dismissing Chelsea's Premier League chances next year because their squad was too old. While having experience in depth, he felt that they wouldn't be able to move up a gear. Elsewhere there was talk about Robinho, the young Brazilian striker. moving to join up with Scolari at Chelsea.

In a tiny piece at the foot of another column, Leeds United were linked with Dean Windass, 39, of Hull City - which both parties denied. Now, I know Dean has scored regularly at every club he's played for but why would he want to turn down Premier League football for the third division...and why would we assume he had a role to play for us, just because Dougie Freedman did such a good job up front last season? They are totally different players and we'd end up just upsetting Beckford who we probably only have for one more season anyway.

Leeds United: better but still not good enough

2008-05-25T16:40:00.004Z

So Leeds United lost a big match again today. I thought Doncaster Rovers played well but if we had gone a goal up, our fitness levels would probably have carried us through. Certainly it was better than Cardiff two years ago and the Wembley disaster of 1996 - but still we haven't scored.

Leeds United have got to the final stages of the Football League Play-Offs three times now and failed each time. It reminds me of the Revie years where we so often fell at the final hurdle. In fact (maybe it was Doncaster's colours) today reminded me of the Sunderland game in 1973 more than any other.

So we stay in the third division and everyone will say we need to get automatic promotion next season and definitely not the play-off route. Play-offs to Leeds United are like penalties are to England. One day we'll get past them but nobody should assume it will be next season or the season after that. We were better today but still not good enough

Football League failure

2008-05-02T17:38:00.003Z

So Leeds United failed in their appeal against the 15 point penalty that was handed down to us at the start of this League One campaign. We won't be promoted automatically but will have to go through the Play-Offs. Sections of the media and other clubs - such as the small-minded chairmen of Doncaster and Carlisle - seem to think we would have somehow cheated if the points had been handed back to us at this stage of the season. They do not think that cheating us out of five wins and doing their best to relegate us when they had their chances is the same thing at all. Woe betide them if the same injustice is applied to their clubs in the future.

But the real culprits are obviously the Football League. Asking fellow chairmen whether or not they thought Leeds United should be deducted points was weak-willed and Lord Mawhinney had a golden opportunity to admit that he just might have been wrong over all of this. To say that our appeal was lodged too late is obviously ridiculous when the decision was first challenged back in August 2007. Why football authorities across the world are so inept is remarkable, especially in the UK when we set the standards on the pitch if not off of it.

Critics of our chairman, Ken Bates, will no doubt be delighted by the decision. Well, no matter, we fight on against forty years of contempt for our club and, thanks to Ken, are still around as a club to challenge for everything. To be in the league position we are is nothing short of remarkable - especially given the desertions of Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet which could so easily have sent us off the rails. We are proud of this and our pride will outlive Mawhinney and his cronies, not to mention the little people at relatively unknown clubs.

Stockport on the up

2008-04-13T18:07:00.003Z

I took our two boys to watch Peterborough United (Posh) play Stockport County in a League Two game yesterday. Both teams have had good seasons and Posh needed to win to gain automatic promotion. Stockport were fourth and the only team likely to prevent Posh going up. The occasion really got to the home team and Stockport won 1.0. It was a good afternoon though, with Peterborough playing the better football but Stockport robust at the back and lively on the break. What impressed me most was the Stockport away fans who really got behind their team and sung their hearts out from the opening whistle onwards. It made for a great atmospere in a crowd of over 10,000.

Peterborough could have clinched promotion if they'd won but at least have a definite play-off place. I'd be surprised if they don't go up but I have seen them in real promotion contention before - back in the 1970's when I had a season ticket, Peterborough being my home town - only to blow it quite spectacularly. Hopefully they won't do that again this season or they'll be nothing for anyone in the area to sing about.

My parting thought was that we sat in the 'South Stand' which is a modern cantilever stand. When I used to watch from either the North Stand or the London Road end, the South Stand was a large open terrace known as Glebe Road. Good to see that the row of houses is still there, which makes you feel like you're leaving via a series of back gardens. I suppose it's still home to those people and, in a strange way, to me too.

Walk tall

2008-03-22T20:09:00.003Z

Leeds United can walk tall this evening after a fairly comfortable win over Walsall this evening. Certainly, Walsall were more adventurous at the start of the second half and could have equalised, following Jermaine Beckford's earlier strike. However, we rode this tricky phase and re-asserted ourselves in midfield. Neil Kilkenny was the difference between the teams as much as Beckford and Dougie Freedman. For years we have been lacking real creative vision in the midfield and he certainly has it.

When the children and I went to the Oldham Athletic game on New Year's Eve we witnessed the 'Dennis Wise id bored with all this now' episode and the 'Dave Bassett hump it in the air' combative approach that was dull to watch and ineffective. I know that League One may not be the place to get the ball down and play but, once the players are confident with that approach - as they were today - then it is altogether more exciting and more effective.

If we are to progress this year, playing football will be a much better base for take-off than physically grinding out results.

Arsene winning

2008-03-08T16:05:00.005Z

I often buy The Independent at the weekend - more often the Sunday Independent but, today, as we were walking round Newmarket I spied a feature section on poetry - which is another of my passions. You can see my Poem of the Month via this link.

The Independent wouldn't be my first choice of broadsheet or online edition - that would probably be The Times or Guardian - as it always has been, but their journalists do write superbly about sport at the weekends and especially football. I read a piece about Jermaine Beckford and how he admits that the players at Leeds United became complacent after getting past the 15 points deduction and moving to the top of League One. I actually think it has far more to do with Gus Poyet leaving when he did and Dennis Wise caring more about his own bank balance than that of Leeds.

What I was really writing about, though, was the piece about Arsene Wenger when he again repeats his subscription to the view that there is more to football (and life) than winning. We've heard this before and, even for a lifelong Leeds fan who was thinking only yesterday about the cup finals we lost, I do find this refreshing. Make no mistake: Wenger's touchline activities, not to mention his embittered range of visages des Francais do give the lie to anyone who assumes this means he is anti-competitive. But I was thrilled that they beat AC Milan in the week and, as my barber hear in Burwell attests, if there was any justice in football, they would now go on to win the Champions League final. Certainly Arsenal's emphasis on flowing, passing football is great to watch and, I imagine, play. I do worry about the future of their youth players though as David Bentley cautioned Theo Walcott again this week

Sadly also there is no justice in football. I still remember 1970 as though it was yesterday; not to mention 1971 and, of course 1973. I actually hurt just as much after our Cup Winners Cup loss to Milan as the other one. Maybe that's why I was so pleased that Arsenal beat them over there, even though it isn't just about winning.

Oldham - Old Story

2008-01-03T20:14:00.000Z

Our sons and I travelled to the Leeds United v Oldham Athletic game on New Year's Day.

I've been to a lot of 'festive' games in the past when the jelly's gone hard or the mince pies have cooled. The Oldham game was no exception. People around us called it a freak result as we went three goals behind in the first half and eventually lost 1-3.

Too many Leeds players were just poor. You can call it 'mentally tired' or 'under pressure' but I prefer poor. Except they aren't are they? We are the poorer for spending the time and the money. On Tuesday's display too many Leeds players felt they just needed to turn up to win and, never mind that, pocket more than I will probably earn in the next six months.

It won't stop me supporting Leeds; nothing could. In the shop afterwards, our eldest son, Nathan bought a new shirt "ready for next time."

Yes, the first Oldham goal was one of those that could have gone out of the ground, yes the third was just laughably Pantomime. But the second was just because there was no marking from the Leeds defence. Not bad marking, no marking.

Tresor Kandol was as poor as when I first saw him last season. I was really looking forward to the transformation of this player, but he was just inept. Frazer Richardson is not a full-back. It isn't that Gary Kelly at 101 would be better than him, he just cannot defend. Time after time - especially in the second half - he was just outwitted and Rui Marques had to cover. How is he going to be able to do that from Africa in the next six months?

David Prutton tackled but couldn't pass. Alan Thompson passed then argued with Matt Heath then forgot how to pass then left the field. Kishishev went off but nobody noticed - he is just past it and debatable as to whether he was ever in front of anything at all.

Andrew Hughes and Jermaine Beckford showed real spirit throughout.

My biggest worry, though, is that with Gus Poyet's departure and Dave Bassett's arrival as Assistant Manager, we have become Wimbledon. All Leeds did throughout the whole game was hoof long balls up the middle of the park in the hope that a tall striker would somehow get their head on it. Beyond that, nothing.

Sunnyset

2007-10-06T18:52:00.000Z

As the grey sky gave way to darkness, the floodlights still shone over Elland Road this evening as the second biggest crowd of the season dispersed into the night. Most of them were smiling, some with relief, some just enjoying these moments while they last.

Leeds United left it very late today to win yet another game, this time against Yeovil. The men from Somerset defended as a well organised unit but the difference this season is that Leeds don't give up. The team attacks and defends to the end (as we saw at Gillingham last week after the referee had done his level best to ruin the game. Not only is this a new mental strength but also physical fitness. Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet have obviously turned things round in training and the pre-season set the team up to run and run.

I wonder now what would have happened if they'd been installed before the season started last year. We could definitely see things coming together but they just didn't have enough wins in the end. Even in a dull and tense game quite late on against Plymouth when we were losing, we still found extra strength and willpower to turn it round and win.

I am enjoying the moment as are our two sons, Sam and Nathan. The bubble will burst at some point but hopefully when the sun finally sets on this season, we'll still be singing and the shadows of League One will be a distant memory.

Leeds United - Top of the League

2007-09-15T10:06:00.000Z

So Leeds United are top of League One. Well, not officially as the fifteen point deduction still stands at the moment. I don't hold out much hope of the appeal process as the FA and others don't really want us to be part of the 'football family' despite all footballing creditors being paid back during the summer. We're rather like the black sheep of the family; always have been and always will. Ironic really, given the shirt colour Don Revie chose for us when launching us on the glory road to become the English Real Madrid.

Yet again at Bristol Rovers last night, our three nil win showed strikers with confidence, taking the chances that came along. However, the defending of Matt Heath in particular showed that we know how and when to defend as well. It's Swansea at home next weekend. I still have a distant memory of a thrashing away at Swansea and, of course, Cardiff...

Here's to seven in a row. In the great season of 1973/74 our 100% win came to a halt after the seventh game when, in the eighth, we played Birmingham City at St Andrews and got a 0-0 result. It would be great to equal that record though!

We may not be top, but we're not bottom either.

Funny old game

2007-09-02T16:56:00.001Z

So Emile Heskey has been recalled to the England squad and Zat Knight scored on his debut for Aston Villa - and at the right end too. I came online a few moments ago and these were the 'facts' presented to me. Could I have been in the garden for too long or was that ginger beer more beer than ginger?

I appereciate Steve McClaren's injury problems but didn't realise they extended quite as far into the memory bank of his brain as was first thought. Heskey is not a striker of international standing and Michael Owen is missing more than he is scoring at the moment. Great, let's laud the fact that they might now be spearheading our attack against mighty Israel.

Is this really the most imaginative solution we could have come up with? I've just walked past an old donkey, grazing in a field, with a dalmation running alongside, trying desperately to catch flies. Yes, you get the picture...

Kandol can do for now

2007-09-01T18:18:00.000Z

As readers of this blog will know, I haven't had a lot of time for Tresor Kandol. But, hey, he scored again today - three in four games - as we continued our 100% start. He also missed a good few chances again but then at least he's managing to get into positions. I don't think he'd really make it a higher level but we're not at a higher level: we're a League One team and his efforts are to be welcomed by every Leeds United fan.

And there are lots of us - more than 26,000 again today. No matter how hard the authorities and media try to break us, Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet have got the young lads going and we never really looked troubled. Youth and fitness may well be our twin towers as we strive to build our own new Wembley again. Feeling good on a Saturday evening. I'd almost forgotten what that was like!

Ashley Cold

2007-08-29T07:42:00.000Z

I was reading a comment, supposedly by Ashley Cole, in Metro yesterday when he spoke about the 'disgraceful' booing of Frank Lampard when they played for England against Germany at Wembley last week.

On the face of it, I agree that booing is unwelcome, whatever the circumstances. I don't like booing and jeering of others' national anthems either - even if it is Germany. I don't think it's necessary and would rather my team make their point on the pitch.

This is where Ashley Cole just doesn't get it. Frank Lampard has repeatedly whinged about his lot in public - or his out-of-control publicity agent has. Lampard did not perform well for England in the World Cup and often 'goes missing'in big matches. He isn't the first player that can't play at the very highest level and he isn't alone. However, when people pay enormous amounts of money and spend much of their lives travelling on poor quality public transport or congested motorways or cramped aeroplanes, they do have a right to express their opinions. Yes, it is a poor way to do so and probably unwelcome, but it is understandable.

Ashley should remember that, were it not for his being in the right place at the right time, his career might never have taken off. Most people are not in the right place at the right time and therefore have to spend a fortune on instead of earning a fortune from football. Ashley is not as worthy as he thinks he is, neither is Frank. Perhaps they should consider the effects of bad PR because the P stands for Public.

We've started but can we finish?

2007-08-28T12:22:00.000Z

So Leeds United have had their best start to a season since 1995! Remembering back to those days, the First Division Championship had been won just three years earlier and the O'Leary era was yet to kick in. The backpass rule had found our defence out in 1992/93 and we had the Coca Cola debacle to come in 1996, and Howard Wilkinson's subsequent departure.

Obviously we needed to start well in order to try and deal with the 15 point deduction imposed by rival clubs, conveniently, via the unsupportive Football League. I'm delighted with progress, especially seeing Tresor Kandol scoring, as he didn't ever look likely to do that last season. But, as my son asked on Sunday morning "Is it because we're playing easier teams now?" I assured him that games were still for the winning and everyone still hates us and wants to beat us. That much hasn't changed.

But, we'll see. Tonight it's Portsmouth away in the Carling cup. Still begins with a 'C' but a long way from both 1996 and that 5-1 disaster when we were on our way out of the Premier League. Dennis Wise intends to give younger players an opportunity this season but I think that other 'C' word - Cash - might put more pressure on them than is really needed.

A fraud or afraid?

2007-07-06T16:31:00.001Z

So, like all Leeds United supporters, I was beginning to come to terms with last season's relegation when the taxman reared his ugly head. Or is it the taxman that represents ugliness at Elland Road or someone or something else?

We spent last summer getting over the Play-off debacle and then the whole financial and management problems reared their ugly heads again. But we went past that, living in hope and still some expectation that we were moving forward and building for the future.

Is it the builders who have got it wrong or were they just managing with the materials they had left?

Something is still very wrong with our club and tomorrow's match with Shelbourne has nothing to do with it. Whatever happens on the pitch, it seems to be occurring in a parallel universe. The glib corporate messages being posted on the 'official website' remind me hugely of those we were targeted with when the club was first failing to admit to meltdown.

So, we may be marching on together, as we always will, but what does the enemy really look like?

Trevor Francis and the dying swan

2007-05-23T16:27:00.000Z

I was just on the 'phone to our web development partners - Senior Internet - in Nottingham. My contact there was lamenting Nottingham Forest's failure to make it through to this year's League One Play Off Final, whilst looking forward to tonight's Champions League Final. We discussed the Leeds v Forest fixtures next season and, obviously, how far our teams had fallen.

I was minded of the day, twenty eight years ago, when I sat the last of my first-year Economics exams at Leeds University and then headed off to the 'Swan with two nicks' pub to watch Trevor Francis head the winning goal for Forest in their European Cup final win over Malmo. It was a great way to celebrate the exams being over and a glorious June of beer and cricket and music still to come before a long summer holiday.

How long ago that all seems now and almost impossible to believe in footballing terms? My final exam was 'Economic Statistics' and that's what my club has become; just another economic statistic. Hopefully both Leeds and Forest will start to climb the leagues again soon so that we can turn lament into real anticipation.

Moore like Ian please

2007-05-12T09:52:00.000Z

I was sorry to read this week that Ian Moore's contract is not going to be renewed by the club. Whenever I saw him he was lively and full of running, especially off the ball. I felt that he never really got the run in the team that he deserved and, unless he is injured, was surprised that he was being released.

I was also disappointed not to read of Tresor Kandol's imminent departure instead. If ever a player was the opposite of Ian Moore in terms of honest effort and ability, it is surely him?

Down in the murky depths

2007-05-07T10:11:00.000Z

I wrote some time ago that I thought Leeds United would be relegated this season. Even when we were battling well and even scraping wins, you cannot leak as many late goals as we did and, quite frankly, lose as many games and expect to stay in the league you're in.

Let's forget about being in the Championship. Let's forget - as so many of us tried to do on the long journey home from Cardiff last year - that we were so close to the Premiership. These are just names of leagues, featuring teams that play each other week in and week out. Let's remember that we have had a glorious past; let's remember Don Revie and Howard Wilkinson, Billy Bremner, Lucas Radebe and all the rest but never forget that we are talking about the past.

Last season we were simply not good enough to remain in the league we were playing in. Whether we were/are a big club is completely irrelevant, as is the name of the league. We were not good enough to win football matches last season and, though the name of the league changes, we have to get that winning capability and mentality back again.

Like many people, football fans or not, I have a really challenging and busy job. For the most part I enjoy it and therefore things are generally successful; but only because I break things down into achievable chunks - things I can influence directly or make a difference over. If I really thought about the past, about who I was and what I could have done, or about the daunting challenges to come and their uninvited relations: expectation and necessity, that all sit on my shoulders at the same time, I would be paralysed into worry and fear and self-doubt. In short I'd stop winning and things would stagnate or go backwards.

Leeds United need to be given the chance, financially, emotionally and technically to break free of this straitjacket of the cracked mirror. What we see before us is what is: not what might have been or once was but not what could or should be either. This is the here and now. Of course we want to start winning again and moving through the leagues. Of course we want to hear successful team results and reports on Saturday evenings or share positive things on 606 on the way home from a game. But let's just settle for that, for now.

Hopefully the creditors will give us credit for what the new owners are trying to do. Whether we like Ken Bates or Dennis Wise or even whether or not we trust them is really immaterial because we cannot influence what they do and neither do we have options available. Let's not stress over anything other than turning up for that first game in August and cheering the team to one victory in one game; then let's do the same for the next one. Let's get the RAC routeplanners out, discover new places and put ourselves back on the map. Others have done it and so can we. Again, we don't have any option. But let's just focus on winning three points: there's no point in doing anything else.

Alan on the ball

2007-04-26T07:53:00.000Z

When I first became interested in football at about six or seven years old, I remember reading a small pocketbook about the 1966 World Cup. It featured articles on the great Eusebio, pictures of the unlikely North Koreans and a match report on the final. Alongside the ubiquitous shots of Nobby Stiles and Geoff Hurst was a picture of Alan Ball. I remembered him from that moment on for the colour of his hair and for the comment that he was the youngest player on the day but covered the most grass.

Now, I knew that Alan Ball wasn't a new lawnmower - because they required petrol and looked different - but little did I realise then what a fantastic footballer he was. I vaguely remember the 1966 final, with my father and grandfather sitting in front of a black and white world which changed to brown as the ale was poured (at teatime!) and the live action turned to a moment of history. Only when Everton's Ball, Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey destroyed Leeds's chances of the League in 1970 did I come to respect Alan Ball and believe what everyone had said about him.

He showed up in the FA Cup Final in 1972 as well, when Leeds beat Arsenal and I remember Paul Reaney saving one of his bullet headers on the line. Thanks for that Alan; a kind of justice was done for Leeds fans everywhere.

And that's it. Our paths haven't really crossed since but I'm sure they will again one day when I will sit in a corner, reading my never-ending football books and he will be out on the field, running: always running.

North End, South Stand

2007-03-31T08:47:00.000Z

Preston North End were beaten last nightby Leeds United in front of Elland Road's South Stand. Of the 18,433 people there, a few loyal fans in the South Stand stood to confirm to the Kop that, yes, we had scored two goals and, yes, we'd won another match. This was Leeds United's fourth game without defeat, their second consecutive home win and the first time this season we'd come from behind to win a game. It also lifted us a point off the bottom of the table.

After suitable celebrations last night including ten green bottles that hung on to form a wall, I woke up this morning with a smile and replayed the match in my mind. I was impressed with the way Leeds battled against a Preston side seeking automatic promotion. There were some dodgy off-side decisions given against Preston but nobody takes any notice when Leeds fail to get the rub of the green, such as the blatant penalty not given at Southend last time. Leeds created some good chances throughout and the statistic of seven shots on target from seventeen attempts is far better than I expected against a team of Preston's calibre.

However, let's not get carried away just yet. While Michael Gray was excellent on his return, Frazer Richardson is never going to be a great defender and should play as an attacking midfielder. I know we need him there at the moment but let's take note now and not do an Ian Harte. Lubomir Michalik and Matt Heath were rank bad throughout, especially Michalik who reminded me rather worryingly of a certain R Junior. For a club that can boast Jack Charlton, Norman Hunter, Gordon McQueen, Jonathan Woodgate and so on, it's a tall order to be a centre back at Leeds but why do we keep bringing players in who think that defence is some kind of static wooden structure? Our defence will not survive another Championship season, if we're given the chance, and would prevent an early return from League One which no doubt everyone assumes would happen. I'm not convinced by Casper Ankergren in goal either.

On the bright side, of course David Healy and Robbie Blake scored but I thought that Jonathan Douglas had a storming game. My man of the match would be Richard Cresswell for his non-stop running and application to the game in hand rather than his former teammates: a pity his first-half header didn't go in, but thankfully it didn't matter in the end.

Not today anyway.

Half empty cup

2007-03-08T08:13:00.000Z

I passed the Emirates stadium this morning, as usual, and thought how it could be perceived as a giant latte cup. I imagine that Arsenal are this morning feeling that it should be half full rather than half empty.

Following domestic cup defeats against Chelsea and Blackburn and last night's excruciating defeat to Ronald Koeman's (no, I still haven't forgiven him either) PSV in the Champions League, Arsene Wenger is widely reported this morning as saying that their latest defeat was cruel.

Without wanting to cite real-life examples of cruelty by way of contrasting word definitions, perhaps we should concentrate on another 'c' word: chances. Arsenal had so many that they didn't take over the two legs - perhaps they were too easy or 'ugly chances' that didn't fit the beautiful script? Either way, the coffee has long since gone cold as those of us who could smell it, knew that it would.

Nicholls not worth a nickel

2007-03-05T19:18:00.000Z

I wondered why Kevin Nicholls had been left out of our 'must win' local derby game against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. For the club captain to miss any game is unlikely enough, especially now that we're rapidly running out of them (captains not games? read on...). I assumed another 'top professional athlete' had also succumbed to injury.

Imagine my surprise this morning then when I read that Nicholls had approached Dennis Wise and asked to go back to Luton as soon as possible, citing his move to Leeds as a big mistake. Luton are in the mire with us and, funnily enough, are our next opponents at Elland Road. What did Nicholls think Wise would do: allow him to go back just like that and presumably help his 'new' club to achieve Championship safety for next season so that he could have a good summer off?

Even in the disloyalty club that counts so many players among its members, this really does beggar belief. Even in the farce that is Leeds United, when David Livermore was signed last summer and then quickly transferred to Hull City because 'Nicholls was better' this has to be a first. The club captain shows that captaincy is just a label to be thrown away and trodden into the mud. The only word he can spell reliably, beginning with a 'c' is cash.

It wasn't as if he was any good. If he thought his move then so must many Leeds supporters who saw him taken off in the away game at Norwich because he was arguing and causing disruption among other Leeds players. What would Billy Bremner have made of it?

Pointless?

2007-02-28T13:14:00.000Z

From the various online match reports of Leeds United's game at Birmingham City last night, it seems that we were unlucky not to get something out of the game. A 'goal' was not awarded despite commentators, players and Dennis Wise consistently claiming that the goal had crossed the line in the first half. We were already one-nil down by then and to go in on level terms at half-term would have made a massive psychological difference, if only a small one numerically.

We appeared to have battled well (again) but failed to score (again). The cliches about 'things not going for you when you're at the bottom' are already getting an airing but at least we're 'creating chances'. For my part, with eleven games to go and our inability to turn battling performances into points, coupled with the long list of injuries to key players (Ian Westlake appears to be the latest), we're definitely looking at League One in August. If things remain uncertain behind the scenes financially, the certainty is that they'll be front of house by the summer months.

My head tells me I'm right; my heart clings on to mathematical possibilities.

Away and pointless?

2007-02-22T13:08:00.000Z

I was away in Rome for a couple of days this week and returned to find stories about Leeds United's record crowd of the seaon for Tuesday night's game against QPR. Obviously 29,593 is a fine crowd for a Championship game and a pity they didn't see us score.

I can see why this story would appear on the official club site, with Dennis Wise duly thanking the fans and hoping they might repeat the exercise against Luton Town when ticket prices will similarly be reduced. Therein lies the ambiguity. Ken Bates came under a lot of pressure when he hiked up season ticket prices and left views of empty seats throughout Elland Road as a result. Surely this can't be a kind of back-handed dig at him on a site whose content he no doubt controls with the same scrutiny as his cash?

Given the way the team has performed in recent times, it is doubtful whether the ticket prices are the key factor anyway. We were at the Play Off first leg last season when the place was packed to the rafters and, similarly, at Cardiff we could have sold many more tickets than were available.

Roma were at home in the Champions League yesterday and the centre was packed with Lyon fans. The game ended 0.0 but attracted 55,000. Maybe it really is only if we're playing in a higher league or bigger competitions that we could sustain a higher attendance. Certainly the fan base is always there - as Howard Wilkinson and David O'Leary both discovered in more recent times. Price cuts must help, but cutting out the mistakes, goals from visitors and excuses must be the only way back to any kind of intimidating Elland Road 'fortress.'

Cardiff baying

2007-02-16T16:46:00.000Z

So we're off back down to the city of Cardiff tomorrow. Our recent record is consistently bad in that we've lost against them almost every time since that ill-fated FA Cup tie when they should have been thrown out of the competition, given the behaviour of fans and so-called Chairman.

Of course Peter Risdale now has his feet under the table there; presumably it is gold-plated and he's moved up to an aquarium of sharks. After the fiasco over whether or not he was thrown out of the Directors Box in this season's home game at Elland Road or not, there will no doubt be a PR story regardless of what happens on the pitch.

For Leeds United fans who were last at Cardiff in May it does offer the hope that we might be turning the corner at last, albeit as slowly as though we were performing a three-point turn and unable to take our eyes off of the rear view mirror. Kevin Blackwell's lack of tactical nous was revealed at the Play-Off Final and he should have left during the summer. We can take any amount of baying from the crowd but have we now got what it takes to really turn things round?