Same old, same old

Posted by on Nov 11, 2022 in Blog | 0 comments

Well folks, it’s Cup football week and sadly, it’s the same old, same old AGAIN.

You may be asking why I would think anything different would happen this season. After all we’ve got a gruelling run up til Christmas of non stop long aways and we’re down at the bottom of the table, lower than our opponents, Wolves, so why would it be any different from any other season? We need to concentrate on the league surely, because we have had so many injuries at the start of the season and our players are exhausted after the intensity of the summer’s international tournaments. Right?

What’s that?

We don’t have an imminent terrible run of long aways? No one told me that after Spurs there was going to be a 6 week break for most of the team because of some tournament? Really? 6 weeks more or less of no games? Has anyone told Leeds United about this?

But surely our opposition on Wednesday were better than us and we wouldn’t stick a chance?

What???

Are Wolves below us in the league? Wolves don’t even have a proper manager? That one has passed me by. Nah, that can’t be right. Wolves have got a worse record than us since the start of the season? Eh? But haven’t we had a horribly depleted team full of injuries because Murderball and Bielsa is too much for them? Bielsa got sacked in February?

WHAAAT?

On paper we should have won that game on Wednesday. The Wolves fans were thinking that they were going to have their arses well and truly  whopped before the game.

What did we do?

We lost.

But “nevermind guys, it was a good performance, and we were really unlucky”. “They were a far more experienced team. The young guys played really well”. I think Ayling, Harrison and Klich might have had some experience getting us promoted to the PL, or did Take Me Home get that wrong? Mind you – they were playing in their right positions for most of that time.

These are the line ups

And these were the subs. Pay extra attention to the two Wolves subs who got played, shirt numbers 77 and 81

Vastly more experienced team? You are having a giraffe.

This was the subs bench at the Citeh v Chelski game

Do you notice anything different?

I admit, they have bigger squads, but how many of those players will be representing their country in the Slavery World Cup too and have been having that extra pressure on them? Citeh have Brentford and Chelski have the newly resurgent Bar Codes tomorrow. But they still put out a decent bench and Conti played Kane, even though he’s had his work cut out since Son has been injured.

In summary, we had an unusually winnable game at Wolves on Wednesday.

Unusually, there were plenty of tickets for the game on Weds, because it wasn’t a massive “glamour tie”, so parents and kids hoping to see their heroes, were able to get tickets. Judging by the number of unfamiliar faces I saw on Weds, there were quite a few there who had been lucky enough to get a ticket, that don’t normally go away.

Unusually, the game came on the back of a bit of a good run. Despite people on the day of the Liverpool game actually saying they wanted Dyche, after our win, it was all BRILLIIIANT again. Even though Liverpool were less than ordinary and are still suffering from the departure of Mane to the Bundesliga.

Even betterer, we then go on to beat Bournemouth, after overturning a 3-1 deficit, with …. wait for it ….. substitutions which changed the starting formation! A novel idea if I ever saw one. How refreshing it was to see a corner being taken without two grown men whispering to each other like characters in a Jane Austen book. Honestly, sometimes I think all it would take would be a couple of ribboned bonnets and corsets, Colin Firth to come striding out of the North East Corner in his undies, topped off with Emma Thompson overacting, and it could be Pride & Prejudice or set piece Sense and Sensibility. Oooh Mr Darcy!

So SkinnyJeans has been catapulted, as they say in the USA, from zero to hero. The inspired subs of Willy “he’s not ready for the PL until at least January” Gnonto and Greenwood have propelled us to a massive 12th. 15 points already and only another 24 points needed to secure us PL safety ( I hope). Over a third of the way there, and it’s not even Christmas – with a game in hand.

With Wolves and Forest thankfully having a truly terrible start, we are sitting pretty on top of the 6 remaining relegation fodder teams, PLUS we have that game in hand. So what was wrong with at least trying to get a couple of cup games in, and maybe get a decent home draw to make some money in before Christmas? A full house a ER in the run up to Christmas would have got Leeds some money in from all the kids wanting extra tat in for Christmas. They could have sold a load more of those mass manufactured Xmas jumpers made in the sweatshops in the Far East, and probably raked in a bit more in food and drink to boot. Maybe add a few more £75 memberships and a few more onto that season ticket wait list. £££s or should it be $$$?

What’s wrong with gaining a bit of winning momentum? Three wins in three?

But he just couldn’t do it though. And the keyboard warriors all just went along with the narrative of “let’s stay focused on the league”. 

What have our miserable failings due to fielding weakened sides done for us in the last 20 years? I can forgive Bielsa to an extent because his job was to get us promoted. Apart from the last season where the Board probably were wanting him to get dumped out of the domestic cups sooner, to give them an excuse to give him the boot quicker.

What have our early exits achieved in the last two decades?

Jack all. Apart from managing to piss off every fan who dragged their sorry arses (when they could get tickets because the ground-hoppers were desperate to tick a box) to the likes of Histon, Sutton, Newport etc. 

“First it was the League Cup and before so very long”

Well at this rate, it will be another 50 years before we get to Wembley in a Cup final. Realistically, how else would we get into Europe again? We can’t match the moneymen in the Top 6 for a Chumpions League spot. A win in the Cup could get us to playing Sc*m in the heady heights of the Europa League Final. If we could be bothered that is. This season we could have done a bit more, but same old, same old.

What is wrong with a bit of aspiration? What is wrong with a bit of pride in yourself and passion for the game?

Where would the world be without people who dare to be different, break away from the shackles of normality and put their heads above the parapet? You’d like to think that there are parents and teachers out there who inspire and encourage the young to better themselves. When I was little, it was drilled into me to not just accept stuff without question because I was told to do it. That to simply follow the crowd and accept what was going on wasn’t good if it felt was wrong. I was taught to fight for my beliefs and challenge those who would try and convince me otherwise.

Not to be though, and the keyboard warriors just toed the line and defended everything. And when they couldn’t defend it anymore, they just started with the name calling and insults.

If there is anything that annoys me, it is those Entitled super-fans who feel that they are “more Leeds” than others. No one is any better than anyone else. We are all just Leeds. In some people’s heads though, some are more Leeds than others. 

These are the ones who without any thought or consideration like to chuck insults around to anyone who dares to disagree with them. They have no accountability for their actions or comments, and are just as likely to be screaming for the managers / boards (delete as appropriate) heads one week and then claiming them to be the best thing since sliced bread the next. There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind, but no doubt the ones for example who were sending death threats to players a few seasons back and claiming that none of them were fit to wear the shirt, were all at ER at the open top bus thing celebrating along with Amazon when we got promoted. Similarly the ones wanting SkinnyJ out before Liverpool, probably posted that hugging heart emoji on the video of his post match interview pledging their undying allegiance to him.

Some idiot was laughing at people who went to the game (stupidly) thinking we would win. This fool clearly has no idea that there is a cost of living crisis going on, where every penny counts. And clearly has no empathy for any poor parents who have forked out hard earned money to take their kid to watch their heroes play football. Only to see that disappear in a cloud of complacency and apathy. It is still difficult to get time off work, it is still difficult to get an away ticket. Unless of course, you have the luxury of having enough money to do whatever you want. But you’d think if you did have all that, you’d be a little bit mindful of people less fortunate.

The only thing that riles me more than these imbeciles, are the ones who deliberately stand in your seat at away games and refuse to move on when asked. The ones who “are Leeds United and we’ll stand where we want”. Pushing old people and kids around so they can stand with their mates on their big day out until we start losing. Then they skulk off down to the bogs to do whatever it is that they do in there. The ones with complete disregard for anyone else who actually just wants to watch the game. Because they think that everyone should be like them or they ” aren’t proper Leeds fans”. Even though some of us have been going to games before these were managing to get through the night without wetting the bed. 

We turn up. We watch the game. We celebrate if we win and moan when we lose. It is just how it always is. We pay our money, we have a right to disagree. No need to take the p*ss out of people who just want to see us win, because ultimately, surely that’s what we all want, isn’t it?

Here’s to a FA Cup run in January. Fingers crossed. Unless it is the same old, same old

 

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Life Imitating Art

Posted by on Nov 9, 2022 in Blog | 0 comments

After the weekend, I had no choice but to write this. Because unless you weren’t at the game and couldn’t hear the South Stand, or haven’t seen the video already (which I am not going to share – cos it’s a bit sensitive), it was life imitating art (sort of). I wrote this (see below excerpt) in the last blog, and there it was on Saturday. We start scoring more than two goals in the game and someone starts a song off about Willy Gnonto

I had to laugh, because this may well be the new song for the rest of the season. That is of course, if someone doesn’t report it for being offensive and un-pc, leading to it being cancelled. And rather than it being a small section of the crowd, most heard it and joined in with it (apart from the Offended). And the supposition that Gnonto drinks moretti, eats spaghetti and …. I just can’t write it … was shared over social media. I think we have the Gen Z Enoch Showumni!

Praise to the South Stand from me is rare, mostly because you know my opinion of the “limbs” thing. But whether or not the instigators of the song had actually read my last blog, or whether they just have the same bizarre culturally misappropriative mindset that I have, it was too much of a coincidence. It was life imitating art. Should you find that sort of thing funny – it was funny.

However, if he stops scoring (unlikely) or if the higher powers that be decide that it pushes the boundaries a little too much (more likely) – that may well be the last time we hear that song. But well done. A sturdy pat on the back to you – whoever you are.

The song, like parts of the second half, harked back to some semblance of the days of football past, when we played proper football. I’m not saying that Gnonto and Summerville are the finished article, far from it. Anyone who has spoken to me recently knows how much I think there are bits of Yeboah about Gnonto already. No, I am referring to when we used to be able to pass a ball to one another, in fact string a few decent passes together.

It took the despair away from the mighty mess which was the 1st half at least. I know I have moaned about Leeds fans being fickle, but it was a challenge, even for me, to see any positive in the first 45 minutes. We were dire.

Like we have seen many, many times before we were ridiculously narrow, no wide options to pass the ball to going forward and our midfield, again, were none existent when they hit us on the break. We gifted the equaliser and the second goal, well, no comment. A fair few missed the stroll up the park which was the 3rd goal, as they were too busy enjoying themselves in the bar. Thankfully Greenwood coming on made a massive difference. The rest is history as they say.

We won, and after beating the Scousers and smashing Dick Van Dijk’s defensive record, it seems all is forgiven and we are, once again, heading for a place in Europe.

The master-plan is back on track and everyone who was hoping for Dyche before the Liverpool game, has now been convinced that SkinnyJeans is our next big hope again for Premiership glory. This is all good news for the board, and of course, SkinnyJ. He has got his reprieve, and despite the pre Liverpool panic and doom, it is all back to the rose garden. Everyone is smiley, smiley again.

Unfortunately for Harrison, the disassembling and dismantlement of the Bielsa Boys legacy is also back on track. If only Rodrigo would just stop scoring, that would be the next step complete for the transformation. He remains our top goal scorer, so no chance of that anytime soon.

Whilst Gnonto and Summerville ascending is ultimately brilliant for the club, it spells the end for Harrison and Rodrigo. Harrison will go to Newcastle, where Howe will play him as a proper winger. With a proper defence behind him and a target man and a number 10 at Newcastle, Harrison will do well. He may not be as young as Willy and Crysencio, but he has a good footballing head and when he plays in his correct position, as in the Bielsa team, he will be an asset.

Rodrigo is a brilliant player, but he is not a fans favourite. He will hit as many wayward crosses and miss as many shots as the Aaronson / Adams / Rasmus combination will, but Rodrigo will be slated for them, unlike the others. He will be subbed, even when he doesn’t need to be, when others won’t.

Whilst everyone will complain that he is rubbish and the defence is crap, it will continue to deflect from the truth that midfield is our weakest link. Even though Struijk isn’t a left back, he has done a cracking job. Even though our backline has supplied the large majority of our crosses, and even Coops has scored a goal, they are still at fault for our losses. The fact that they are encouraged to go so far forward, therefore resulting in them having to leg it back when we get hit on the break, escapes the attention of most. We have no defensive midfielders. No Phillips, no Batty-esque players, so why are people surprised that we hand goals to the opposition on a plate?

But this is how we play now, and it has worked because we beat Liverpool and Chelsea and Bournemouth. Hasn’t it? Who cares about our defensive line, because we are winning. Correct? Who needs a team with one touch passing and creative midfielders? Who needs a solid back four? Like Bonnie Tyler – we just need a hero.

Unfortunately this means that we will be watching sport how sport in the movies is played. This is when the hero gets the ball and heads towards goal with “Chariots of Fire” being played in the background. The scorer has to the goal in sight, his team mates around him throwing themselves at the opponents to stop them getting to him, and finally after the epic run, he shoots – he scores. Everyone runs to the hero. Glory Glory Hallelujah! Limbs all round.

It is formulaic and it fits the narrative.

Give me Lee Chapman any day of the week.

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