In the immortal words of The King in Blue Hawaii “wise men say, only fools rush in”.

These words however, we conceived by another goliath of art, Alexander Pope. The saying was coined in 1711 and is also the origin of the term “Where Angels Fear To Tread”.

thanks to Grammarist for the pic: https://grammarist.com/proverb/fools-rush-in-where-angels-fear-to-tread/

Elvis however, is The King and he did it better! He knew that “wise men say, only fools rush in, but I can’t help falling in love with you” is the mantra of most , if not all, Leeds  United fans.

Edict, belief, faith, religion.

Call it what you will. Whichever word you use to describe it, it is the same. It is the thing that drives us to do what we do, and ultimately drives us mad. The phenomenon that is Leeds United.

Not only are the fans affected, the madness also afflicts our owners and managers alike. Like Sergeant Wilko, we start off as sane as the next man, often achieving greatness at times. Then it all goes downhill. Nay, plummets. Like a sack of spuds. The affliction subsequently transfers from our leaders to the team on the pitch. Resulting, ultimately, like in 2004, to a dramatic descent down the leagues.

Reliably, the affliction got to our most recent owner, Mr Radrizzani. No one is spared. No Quarter, as the phrase goes! To be fair to the guy before him, he was already as mad as a box of frogs anyway. Cellino was an entity in himself. The ones before Massimo? I won’t even go there.

In Star Trek terms, Cellino was the epitome of that cloud of mysterious, mischievous dust that flummoxed James T Kirk. He’d be voiced of course, by Roddy McDowell, should Massimo have been there in the 60s and Marcello Mastroianni not been available. The perfect misunderstood bad guy, Roddy McDowell. They don’t make actors like him anymore. There will never be another Cornelius. Truly, the Golden Age of acting. (Planet of The Apes, in case you don’t know what I am on about).

I digress, Radrizzani, like Ridsdale started off ok. Both experienced good times at Leeds United, although, only Peter “My Leeds United” Ridsdale got us into Europe. I cannot fault him for what he did in that very challenging time in Istanbul. Radrizzani never had anything like that Turkey moment, but, as sure as eggs are eggs, there is the potential for a goldfish tank moment. Who knows what the 49ers might find when the finally get into the offices are ER? There might even be a racing car garaged under the East Stand.

The Madness of Leeds United

Like many before him, Radrizzani just went a bit cuckoo. He got caught on the crest of a wave of success and got carried away, along with the rest of us.

Well, some of us.

Not me. Too long in the tooth for all of that nonsense now. To be frank, I expected more of us to be just as cynical as myself. Don’t get me wrong, I was enjoying being enthralled by Bielsa. That period in our history, was some of THE best football I have ever had the displeasure of not seeing live. We were lucky to see what we did until the world went mad and our global elite locked us away. That 1st season back, when we were deprived of our liberty and humanity, was one of the few things to look forward to. Albeit sometimes via dodgy firesticks and bein sports!

The Brolin

The 7 deadly sins; pride, avarice (greed in 20th centuryspeak), gluttony, lust, envy, wrath, sloth (not Casper). That list sounds like the pre requisite skills for any job in the Premier League and FA, doesn’t it? Pride and greed are the ones which are most to blame for terrible decisions at Leeds United. Pride comes before a fall, is how the saying goes. The pattern is that the Club start doing well on the pitch, and then someone takes their eye off the ball. Football for 90 minutes once or twice a week, becomes less important and fame or publicity takes priority.

Random signings once the Club start doing well, also known as the Brolin Phenomenon. Wilko (and Silver) had the inaugural Brolin moment. After Euro 1992 success and a storming World Cup in 1994, Tomas Brolin came to Leeds to join Yeboah up front. Those of you too young to remember, or those who have conveniently forgot, 1996 Coca Cola Cup Final. That is all I need to say. Coca Cola Cup Final. Oh, and Ian Rush. Tomas is now the leading vacuum cleaner salesman in Scandinavia.

Ridsdale and O Leary had their “Brolin” phase with Seth Johnson. Seriously, we could have bought John Arne Riise. But we didn’t. Because, Seth Johnson was the better choice. Seth Johnson. £7 million quid for Seth Johnson to Derby and we paid him upwards of £35 grand a week. After all, what could Riise do? Did he ever amount to anything at , er, Liverpool? Enough said. Oops, nearly forgot, Robbie Fowler.

Radrizzani? Well, under Bielsa – we had such a small squad, history would have us believe we never bought anyone. Of course, he got rid of Bielsa and all of a sudden, Leeds were free to buy all the players that they wanted. Because Bielsa held the purse strings and refused to buy anyone remember? Just think, without Bielsa, we could have got Aaronson, Roca, and McKennie so much sooner. Oh sorry, that’s not correct is it? It was Orta who stopped us buying “quality players” sooner.

If only Radrizzani listened to the real fans on social media in the first place. Had Radrizzani bowed to the pressure from the proper football managers, tippy tappying on their keyboards sooner, we wouldn’t be in the EFL now. That’s for sure. If only Radrizzani had listened to the “real” fans he would have known that all our players ignore fans all the time, especially children. The “real” fans should never have been forced to go on social media and the press to tell the board that Leeds fans had lost faith in them. Because fans would be able to do the job better.

A bit like in the Bates era where the “real” fans engaged (allegedly – I think I have to say that) with potential buyers to get Bates Out. Well that worked out really well didn’t it? The most skint people of middle eastern background ever. I think that is how I have to say it now, in case I am accused of breaking some sort of protected characteristic law.

Football by keyboard

Ridsdale, thankfully didn’t have to deal with social media. In the early 2000s, football was mostly played out on the telly or on the pitch. Football discussion was done in the pub after the game or at the ground. Agreements (and disagreements) were dealt with by talking face to face with people, or phone ins on the radio. Fools did not rush in to any of those conversations in the pub, I can tell you. If you ever said anything really stupid, people would just point and laugh at you. If any one of these keyboard warriors who chuck out death threats to our players did that in a pub, they wouldn’t be saying it twice, I can tell you. They’d have had a bunch of fives in their face.

22 and a half hours

Nowadays football is played out on social media. Actually, football is played on the pitch, but the 90 minutes of getting a ball into the back of the net comes second fiddle to other 22 and a half hours in the day. What actually happens on the 76,000 square feet of green stuff, is at times, completely irrelevant to the volumes of discussion on social media. Where angels fear to tread? Nope. Social media is where no one but fools rush in. Quick to accuse. Quick to confuse. Those tippy tappy fingers are responsible for some of the most hateful, intolerant abuse that footballers, managers, Chairmen and football fans alike, are subject to nowadays.

Why are we waiting?

As it stands today (Monday 17th July) we still do not have any official owners. They are still yet to be ratified by the EFL, apparently. It is a bizarre set of circumstances, isn’t it? The 49ers, as I understand, were already part owners when we were in the Premier League. Now we are in the EFL and the 49ers want to buy out Radrizzani (seeing as he is in Sampdoria – allegedly), they aren’t fit and proper? Do the EFL have a higher standard than the PL? Do the 49ers know what they are letting themselves in for? Have they researched this through properly? Surely they did their due diligence? Wise men say, only fools rush in … yikes.

I think it is something to do with the number of new investors into the 49ers group. Don’t quote me on that though. I suppose it is there to stop anyone of any disrepute being able to use their ill gotten gains to influence football. After all, it’s not like Sepp Blatter and Platini did anything wrong with £2 million quid. It’s not like big tournaments have ever been handed to random countries without thought for fans, is it?

What is going on? If only the “real” fans could be contacted to see if they could broker a deal with the new foreign owners. Oh wait, that has already happened once upon a time, a long time ago, allegedly. Lightning surely cannot strike twice.

Nearly there.

Nevertheless, the season is starting, new owners or not. The fixtures are here, and if the news is correct, it may be good news for the travelling fans. With the PL cap set at £30 for away tickets now a distant memory, our travelling support were fearing the worse. Namely £49 quid for Hillsborough and the rest. But if the gossip is correct, the Club have agreed a reciprocal ticketing policy for away fans. They have listened to the fans. The Twentys Plenty thing was never realistic, but £50 for a ticket for 90 minutes is just absurd.

Having sat through the Wimbledon Men’s Single final at the weekend watching two blokes compete for the best part of 4 hours (apart from that toilet break), you can understand getting what you pay for. Don’t ask me about the ladies final. The classic 11 hour game between Isner and Mahut was epic.

But realistically, some games of football are utter dross of two teams going through the motions for 90 minutes. Some are 90+ minutes of cheating, diving, fouling aka game management in 21st Century speak. There are some games where most of the entertainment is found in the concourse, or, if you are that way inclined smoking in the bogs.

We cannot help that at ER the away fans are sat in the West Stand. That is the legacy of money grabbing Bates. He moved them from the South Stand because at the time the rules were that you couldn’t charge away fans more than the price that home fans pay in the equivalent stand. For me, they should stay there. Separated from the South Stand by the scoreboard, with little if any, interference from the corporate West Stand. No fools rushing in from the posh seats.

With bated breath, we await confirmation that we have new owners. Without a sign of fools rushing in

July 2023’s update including AGM highlights.

Well it’s July 2023 and we finally have a new manager – Daniel Farke. I’m sure the whole branch would like to extend a heartfelt handshake to the guy and wish him all the very best.

All we need now is EFL to ratify our new owners and with it confirmation of who owns ER. Yeah, I’m aiming high, but honestly, is it really too much to ask to know who owns the club and who owns the pitch and/or stadium? Seriously? Is it too much to ask?

Anyway, back to the July 2023 update.

Thanks to all who attended the AGM on Sunday 2nd July 2023, and all those branch members who attended the LUSC AGM earlier in the day. It’s been a bizarre end of season and pre season but I’ll digress further in the up coming blog. The branch is about our members. We are a not for profit organisation with all monies made being churned back into the branch with the odd donation to St Michael’s Hospice and the Firestation Christmas Food drive. There is an awful lot of work going into the branch to keep it going year in year out. But, despite all the obstacles being chucked at us, we are still going.

The branch managed to run a bus to every game last season, despite growing issues with away tickets. A number of games ran at a massive loss. Some games broke even due to help from other supporters travelling on the bus, and some managed a surplus. Thanks to all members who travelled with us. Thanks to all those who did their part by securing their own tickets. Some of the trips were long and fruitless but it isn’t just about the 90 minutes on the pitch is it? It is about the day spent with friends and fellow football fans.

Memberships were slightly down last year. But given the cost of lockdown crisis and the ridiculously high energy bills etc. we have done well to be the fourth largest UK LUSC group. Let alone managing to run a bus to every fixture.

The 40th anniversary do was very well attended last year, thanks to all attendees. Our monthly branch meetings are still going ahead, fixture changes notwithstanding.

Branch members turned out in force for the LUSC Annual Quiz held at ER, along with a team from Ripon. It is highly unlikely the branch are ever going to win the quiz. Especially given there are so many questions about Leeds United, but we do turn up in good numbers. Any branch member is encouraged to attend. It is a good event and the pork pies are tasty! You get to meet up with other LUSC members for a chin wag. It’s just like an away day but less people are pissed and there’s no 90 minutes of football to ruin your day. There is also a trophy at the night.

We are still attending the LUSC branch meetings at ER and on zoom, and will continue to do so. Any member of the branch is welcome to attend the LUSC face to face meetings at ER, only branch officials can vote though.

Our members continue to vote in numbers for the monthly Player of The Month. Congratulations by the way to Player of the Season 2022/3 Jack Harrison. Please stay and help us get promotion out of EFL, thank God we stopped you leaving. It’s a shame Klichy got kicked out before we could save him too. We might still be in the PL if he’d have been in our midfield. Seeing as he didn’t mind passing the ball forwards, as opposed to backwards or sideways.

Our sponsorship of Joe Gelhardt was abruptly halted when they sent him out on loan to The Mackems, where he did quite well with some Mackems actually wanting him to permanently stay. During his absence we were given Ain’t Nobody like –  Weston McKennie. Plays with Adams – for the USA. He’s gone back to Juve now, so hopefully we get Joffy back. As soon as I know, you’ll know. That song, by the way, was truly terrible. If the sponsorship price increases to beyond our means, we will organise an extraordinary meeting to discuss what our options are. Unless it coincides with a monthly branch meeting.

Renewal forms have been emailed out to everyone on the emailing list and posted out 1st July 2023. £1.10 for a 1st class stamp! can you believe it? Anyone who hasn’t received one, please email pjmcmanus2011@yahoo.co.uk . Renewal price remains the same as last season, and seasons before. It seems a little unfair to increase it given the cost of living has gone up so much. Unlike Leeds United, we have not put the prices up but promised to give you all some money back if we didn’t stay up. Oh, and only given you another 10 days for you to remember your password and get the refund back.

The website https://www.harrogatewhites.co.uk will continue to be used, as it still a good tool for new members. Anyone who possesses a working knowledge of WordPress is most welcome to join. We still have photos waiting to be put up in the gallery for anyone who can do it better than the GDB.

We will not be running any transport to any of the pre season fixtures. Apologies, we were not aware the trains would be on strike – again. Safe travels to all who can afford the time and money to go to Norway, I’m sure it will be a great, albeit expensive, trip.

Monthly branch meetings will continue to be held on the 1st Sunday of the month, unless we are playing. Our August meeting will be held on Sunday 13th, seeing as we are playing on the 6th.

It took us a long long time, and a dip into Division 3, last time we got relegated. Fingers crossed, it will be a quicker return this time round. I never saw us get promoted last time due to the clownfest that was lockdown. The open top bus round town that was promised, never materialised. We better see it this time round! Oh and I want to see the panda again

(thanks to googlepictures for this)

On On On

Yep, this blog will give no quarter to those who have inflicted the same to my beloved club.

No quarter.

This term was derived I think from military combat, where enemies of war would be treated harshly, with no mercy, no pity, no clemency. Killed rather than being taken prisoner.

Coincidentally, it was two of the 380 words spoken by Keanu Reeves in the latest John Wick film, John Wick Chapter 4. 2 hours 49 minutes of classic  John Wick – go and see it if you haven’t already!

https://www.insider.com/keanu-reeves-john-wick-chapter-4-dialogue-380-words-2023-3

No quarter.

Part of the appeal of the John Wick films is that there is so little dialogue. The mainstay of the John Wick films, is that actions speak louder than words and all actions have consequences. Keanu Reeves’ character is strongly resolute. He is accountable for all his actions. Whether purposeful, misguided or unintentional, he takes full responsibility for what he has done. In the context of John Wick 4, the scene is where they select the way that they choose to fight the final duel. Pistols – no quarter. 

This weekend was, unfortunately, one of no quarter.

Bournemouth

Once upon a time, a long long time ago – ok – 33 years ago, Leeds went to Bournemouth, and  our fans showed them no quarter.

This weekend, we went to Bournemouth and Bournemouth showed Leeds United no quarter. With two right backs, no left back and Lord Bamford on his own up front, it looked like we were just hoping for a lucky draw. As in the home tie, our team of lightweight midgets (McKennie not included) just could not compete with the giants in the Bournemouth team. Out jumped, out tackled, out challenged and out cheated by the ridiculous diving and biased refereeing. We didn’t stick a chance. Even with Gnonto starting, our back 7 just could not cope with a Bournemouth team playing for the 3 points which would basically guarantee them PL survival.  Ultimately, Bournemouth, players and fans, wanted it more.

After the game, some of our fans showed no mercy. Booing and hurling insults at our players who hesitantly came towards us in the corner. Those of us who were still there, that is. The ones who hadn’t stormed off in disgust, not willing to stay for the full 90. Some of the players were wishing that they hadn’t stayed for the full 90 either.

Some of our fans were livid. Quite rightly so. The display was shocking. No fight, no passion, no commitment. Some of them just gave up. They didn’t chase the ball down, they didn’t challenge for the headers, some didn’t even look that interested in passing to each other. At times, the ball was in the air so much, you could have mistaken it for Sunday morning five a side.

As you would expect there was lots of booing. Lots of shouts of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” and “sack the board” , “Orta out”. The usual then. Granted, it was a little more fervent, fuelled by a Bank Holiday weekend of drinking , no doubt. No one can blame the fans for shouting and screaming. We have paid our money for the ticket and travel, we deserved to see a bit better than what we did.

I was just despondent. It looked like we had surrendered. Surrendered without a fight. Not like the Leeds of old. No surrender, remember?

Whereas I wouldn’t boo the team, I wouldn’t tell them they weren’t fit to wear the shirt, and I certainly wouldn’t sing “sack the board”, I wouldn’t begrudge anyone else. I did get very near to it once though, at Rochdale away in the Cup in 2014. The only time I can remember really going against my Club was when it was at the mercy of Bates. Get out of our Club, get out of our Club. You Chelsea Bast**d, get out of our Club. Bates Out! I think it went.

Oh don’t worry, at the time, I certainly complained about the pitiful passing and failure to hold the ball up. Sh*t corners and wasted free kicks. At the time, I was unremitting in the “f**king useless” , “what the hell was that?” , “who the f*ck was that to?”, “f**cks sake”, as I always am. But that is pure emotion and passion. It passes and We All Love Leeds again. Never have I been moved to run down to the hoardings and hurl abuse at the players at the end of the game. Never. 

When they sacked Bielsa, I was fuming, but even then I still never sang “sack the board”. I said the Board were clueless and they’d regret it (and they were and they have), but at the end of the day, this is MY club, not theirs. They are temporary custodians, I am Leeds for life. Luckily, we live in a country where we are allowed to express our views still, and luckily Leeds United haven’t seen it fit yet to punish me for mine! Woo hoo!

Every game a Leeds fan travels to, is a game where we are the ambassadors of the club. The fans represent what it is to be Leeds. Granted in the 80s and 90s, we weren’t the best ambassadors, but that was then, this is now. Some of our fans are less than models of perfect football etiquette, but that is just how it is. As much as Leeds United has put me through some of the worse times in my life, ultimately, I will never give up on it and I certainly wouldn’t deliberately besmirch it.

To find out on the way back home from Bournemouth that a group “representing” Leeds supporters had written a letter to the Club telling them the fans wanted the whole lot of them out was pretty unbelievable. Who they hell are these people? They aren’t representing me. They might be representing someone, but unless they have had a season ticket for 30+ years, watched Leeds home and away for decades, watched the total dross that was division 3 football (and the rest), they don’t represent me. If they turned up at Cardiff away that freezing cold night in 2018, or that night game at Villa 17/18 where you couldn’t give a ticket away, I would grant them some concession, but otherwise  – no.

No one has the right to tell the Chairman / the owners what to do with their money. Apart from the B*tes era of course, but that was a long time ago, football was different then and B*tes screwed the fans over. Radrizzani however, has pumped so much money into this Club, frankly he can do what he wants. He can sack who he wants and hire who he wants. It is his money. As it was with Cellino, he who stumps up the money, does what he pleases. It doesn’t mean we can’t criticise him, but there’s criticism and then there is conceited, egotistical, self serving, narcissistic petulance.

“Orta Out”.

A far cry from when Victor was the fans best mate after the whole Derby debacle and Fat Frank. The picture of Orta doing the spying thing was made into T shirts, everyone shared it on social media. People had that as their profile picture. Everyone loved him. Without Orta there would have been no Bielsa. No Bielsa – no return to the PL after 16 years in the wilderness. Some folk have very very short memories. I’m not saying Orta has never done anything wrong, but he has done quite a bit right. 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/9083384/leeds-victor-orta-scarves-elland-road-derby/

Remember that Jack Priestley4?

How about this one after the Spygate scandal and those infamous binoculars?

https://twitter.com/SkyFootball/status/1284891571104735232

Orta was everyone’s favourite mad uncle not so long since, wasn’t he?

Stop crying Frank Lampard.

Orta – once with the highest accolade of the master of sh*thousery (this is some millenial thing – yes?) has fallen in the graces of the social media class of Leeds fans.

https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/6-times-leeds-united-director-victor-orta-has-been-a-superb-shthouse/

How quick we are to forget. For Victor has gone. No quarter.

This falling from grace thing isn’t a new thing. Older fans will remember when Wilko went bonkers and bought Thomas Brolin. Sgt Wilko, won us promotion and then we won the league and then he just lost it.

The trouble with 21st century football is that it is played out on social media as well as on the pitch. Social media has the ability to blow everything out of proportion, and the discussions that 30 years ago were had in the relatively private confines of the pub, now go global. In my opinion for the worse. 

Exaggeration and character assassination.

You know what I am going on about. I’m not going to put that little boy and his family through any more shenanigans. It must have been bad enough being forced onto ITV to tell the truth regarding those Tw*tter posts from Piers Morgan and Jeff Stelling. The initial accusers were quick to condemn a video without the customary 21st Century “fact check”. Then, social media took over and the usual suspects who take offence on behalf of someone else blew everything out of proportion. Quick to slam the team and pile more manure on the sh*t pile. No quarter.

Back to John Wick. Every action has it’s consequences. The consequences of this viral video were that some of our players were subject to abuse and Leeds United were slated on social media and mainstream media. In the end, it was a load of bollocks. Yes some of the younger players did walk past, but realistically this is what the younger generation do anyway. Swagger past, headphones on, ignoring everyone. Grunting replies and casting disdain on anyone older than 25 because they are irrelevant. Gen Z. The most self important generation ever. I’m not defending their behaviour, but ALL footballers do this, not just Leeds.

Realistically, these players are just young adults with massive wages. Some with so much money, they don’t know what to do with it. Bear in mind, they probably haven’t actually paid for these headphones. Their agents have probably been given them as a freebie in order to promote the brand. What better than a walking talking advert for your products? Look what those quaver shoes did for Kalv. Agents are not stupid people, where they can see a way of making more money, they will do. Brand ambassadors. That’s what these influencers do on social media isn’t it? They don’t have proper jobs. They just make money by going on social media and using products that companies send them. And they do make money.

What the accusers didn’t know was what happened before the video was taken. But once they found out, where was the apology? I hope there were immediate retractions and cringing, embarrassing hand wringing apologies all round? I’m not sure there were though. Where is the responsibility and accountability?

What happened to all that hashtag bekind stuff? How do they know if the players had just received a bollocking of the manager? Maybe they’d just had some bad news. Maybe they were listening to a self confidence tape. Who knows? Whatever it was, the footage should never have been used by Leeds fans to damage the Club. What sort of supporters would deliberately do something to harm the Club? Not people who represent me.

I’ve said in an earlier blog, the fan base has been polarized. Some of it is quite, quite poisonous at times. Thank God we don’t have fans on the board. Can you imagine if one of them has a hissy fit? Fan representation on the board isn’t good, unless that fan has injected 100s of millions of pounds into the club of course. He can have as many hissy fits as he wants then.

I think the owners should engage with the fans, don’t get me wrong. On certain things and not others. As a matchgoing fan, I’d like better, cleaner facilities, maybe the Pavilion back? I’d like reasonably priced refreshments and more than one cash till at the bar. I’d like my season ticket card back please, and the YELLOW away strip, with a blue / white / yellow combo for the third strip please. Oh and the massive puddle at the NE corner to get another layer of tarmac on it. I’d like fan input into the development of ER, seeing as I will hopefully be going when it gets done. I’d like considered investment in the team not knee jerk panic buying.

I don’t want another 10% hike in my season ticket again. I don’t want the Club to waste money at the expense of lack of player investment. I don’t want any say into how the owner chooses who buy in the transfer market. It is their money, not mine. As a matchgoing fan, I will stick to what I know, and leave the rest up to them.

Whoever the Club chooses to engage with next, let’s hope they make a better choice than the Entitled lot who wanted everyone sacked and publicly slagged our own players off for something that never happened. We’ve four games to go, the last thing we want is so much unwarranted negativity.

Leeds and proud of it

It’s been over a year since Bielsa was “discharged of his duties” and more than enough harsh words have been spoken in the last 12 months.  In fact, many harsh words have been spoken in the last few years, too many for my liking.

Someone told me that since the pandemic, people seemed to have got a lot more selfish and less tolerant. Another unseen consequence of lockdown? Perhaps.

Too much time spent locked away from friends and family, and other people full stop. We humans are social creatures. Hence the creation of  “social” media. The trouble is, “social” media is actually far from it. Especially if you subscribe to and read noseybook / tw*tter / CCP run T*kt*k etc.

If you have been unfortunate to have been engaged in posts with other Leeds fans, particularly those who have a different opinion to yourself, it wouldn’t be too harsh to believe the term should be reclassified as “unsocial” media.

Shakespeare said “many a true word hath been spoken in jest” (King Lear), so does that mean many a harsh word has been spoken in derision? Perhaps.

I think I can safely say that many Leeds fans have been unhappy with the way that the Club has been run lately. It hasn’t helped that we are languishing at the bottom of the table at present. But, from the second 10% hike to season ticket prices in the last two seasons, continued long queues at the turnstiles, problems with the digital tickets not working, high prices for refreshments, lack of stadium cleanliness, difficulty with buying tickets, high prices of the corporate packages in order to get a guaranteed seat etc. etc things aren’t so good for Leeds fans at present. It is clear by the social media posts that fans have not been happy.

It was clear by the “sack the board” / “what the f**k is going on” chants of late, that the match going fan base was not happy. 

Admittedly, we hadn’t been doing so bad. Things have perked up somewhat, but now after seven or so leaked goals, it’s taken a downward turn again. When there was a reported bomb scare at ER a few weeks back, some of the comments on facebook were unnecessarily  atrocious. Comments saying that the staff at ER deserved something bad to happen to them were completely out of order. Some comments about Orta and the board were quite uncalled for, quite a damning testament for the state of club and fan relations at the moment.

It probably didn’t help that the person responsible for the wording regarding the season ticket renewals, was less than sympathetic towards renewing fans who might be struggling in this current cost of living crisis, to renew on time. 

Effectively saying that if you don’t get your renewal in, tough s**t, there’s 21,000 people after your seat, is poor form. There used to be a day when loyal fans were lauded for their staying power. Not now though. Loyalty is a dirty word when your are sitting safe in the Premier League. Not so when you are staring at Championship football on an annual basis.

A far cry from this in April 2021.

This is the link, in case you think this was fake news. https://www.leedsunited.com/news/club/27928/leeds-united-receive-positive-feedback-from-fan-survey

Oh the days!

And this is where we are now.

https://www.leedsunited.com/news/club/31090/supporters-advisory-board-february-meeting

Try to read the pdf, but if you can’t , just look carefully at this bit sitting front and centre. It says it all when the phrase used is, “a voting mechanism will be used to push through decisions”. Does this suggest that not all decisions made in this “group” are actually agreed by everyone in the group? Surely not?

11 “representatives” of our fan base have been meeting the Club for the last year in an “advisory” role to help the Club communicate the fans. Do Leeds fans feel as positive are they felt in April 2021 (position in the table notwithstanding of course)?

Yes, we are in the relegation zone, but as fans, do we feel that the Club are listening to us? After all, as in 2021, the Club have spent big money on players. It doesn’t matter where we are in the table though, does it? After all, the song goes “stay with you forever, at least until the world stops going round”. We are Leeds and proud of it, win, lose or draw.

I’m being silly of course, you know the answer as well as I do. I don’t think we are being listened to. At least, as a matchgoing fan, I don’t believe that I am being listened to. The Club are obviously listening to someone though.

But, Leeds fans are fickle, fickle creatures. Am I surprised that the Club aren’t listening to us? Fans moan that we don’t spend enough on players, then moan that the players (including a £35 million forward) aren’t good enough. They moan that they can never get an away ticket, then embarrassingly don’t sell out the Fulham allocation. They moan that they can never get a home ticket, but then don’t snap up the ones that people sent back for the Brighton game.

It’s not just this season. Remember the other season when people thought we were going to get promoted at Ipswich, so booked hotels etc for the last game? Then when we lost the last two penultimate games, they all sent their tickets back. Lucky for some, cos those ones were snapped up by people who did actually want to watch us then. Win, lose or draw.

I, along with many others, have been scathing to the Ipswich returnees and their like. Either you want to go to all the games, prioritise Leeds United and sacrifice everything to make sure you go. Or you admit you only want to go to selected games, can’t be arsed to go to the less glamorous ones, and accept that this is where you are.

Should the ones who bicker on social media, with no justifiable clarification for their comments, just accept that some people know a bit more about football than others? Can we just accept that some have watched them in the flesh for 40 years and have seen it, and got the T shirt and probably a bit wiser than most?

Some have only ever watched on the telly, but still have opinions as equal as those who are lucky enough to go to games. There’s some people who just study the form books, watch every interview and analyse everything the manager says and watch all the highlights. Some folk have no interest in anything but the 90 minutes on the pitch. We are all different. But we are all entitled to our opinion. Until the name calling starts of course, escalating to something uncalled for when the bickering gets nasty.

My feeling is that, we just need to draw the line under this.

We, as fans, just need to accept that not all Leeds fans are going to agree with each other. Fact. Accept it and move on.

When the words change from disagreement to harsh words to swearing and name calling, the argument is lost. It is awful to read some of the vitriol, so much so that I don’t bother much. I don’t bother with Tw*tter at all, as I have heard that this is worse than noseybook. It’s fine to have a vent every now and again. We all condemn players, managers etc. when something goes wrong. But when people start wishing eternal damnation, brimstone and fire, death, destruction and total annihilation, it has to stop there.  

I am guessing that the more inflammatory the comments, the more likes/dislikes/retw**ts happen and then the higher the “global presence” and subsequently the more publicity for the  global brand. So, is the division and polarisation actually a good marketing technique? Maybe someone should ask the PR department at Leeds. Is there any such thing as bad publicity?

Certainly the polarisation of the Marsh in / Marsh out was most prominent before (and even after) SkinnyJ got the boot. It didn’t help that after SkinnyJ got his harsh words, no one wanted to come to fill his shoes. Poor planning or just simply misjudging the managerial  marketplace?

The conversation eventually descended into a mini culture war of Pro and Anti US sentiments. NOTHING to do with football. NOTHING to do with the tactics, team shape / formation (or lack of it). NOTHING to do with individuals contributions and constantly playing players out of position. NOTHING to do with bizarre press conferences, pre and post match interviews and motivational speaking. NOTHING to do with our position in the league.

The blame for SkinnyJ’s demise was laid at the feet of the xenophobic Leeds fans. At least, that was what social media wanted us to believe. It was us versus the US. Recent results have said otherwise since the arrival of Gracia.

Gracia had a few good games (or at least a couple of good 1st 45 minutes) but again, it has all turned sour. I have to say though, it isn’t over til the fat lady sings though. For however long our place in the PL is still in our hands, we still have a chance. Once it is out of our hands, and dependent on others, that my friends is when we need to panic!

Last night’s game against Leicester at first seemed like a turning point. There was the acknowledgement that we probably should play with two up front. FINALLY. When Patrick and Rodrigo rocked up, looming large and menacing, we looked ok. Both chasing down the ball and both pressuring the Leicester defence. It looked like he was going for a flat back four, and at times, it did look as if we had four across midfield too. I have never been a fan of new fashion of two midfielders playing just in front of defence. Under Bielsa, Kalvin was THAT midfielder just in front of the back four. No one else can, or even should do that that.

So for 60 odd minutes, we looked ok.  A goal up and looking like a clean sheet for Meslier. Despite one of the worse refereeing displays, lots of cheating from Maddison and others, and 3 yellow cards, we were holding on. Sini had been taken off with an injury already, but all that was needed was the right substitutions. Several of our lot were already on a yellow, and Rodrigo had run his socks off.

The right substitutions would have saved us. Forshaw and Gnonto were chomping at the bit to come on. But we needed to shore up and keep that clean sheet. As much as I wanted Gnonto to come on, slot another goal in to put the game to bed, I was ready for Forshaw to come on before Rodders got sent off for a second yellow.

What did he do? Neither of the above.

Despite harsh words from the crowd, certainly the Kop end at least, no aggressive attacking  Gnonto. But no consolidation in midfield either. He put on Aaronson. 

As I said earlier, I don’t do Tw*tter. The idle gossip about fighting at half time against Palace, and this latest spat about McKennie is – just idle gossip on unsocial media. But it looked like McKennie and Roca were being professional for 65 minutes on Tuesday night. You don’t have to like each other on the pitch, as long as you are professional for 90 minutes. McKennie and Roca were doing ok. Then Aaronson came on, and it just went all wrong. Then it descended into us V the USA again. Right into the hands of the “us v them” brigade.

The question should have been why didn’t he put young Gnonto on though. Young Willy was seemingly desperate to come on. What was going on? I can only conclude that Aaronson is in Gracia’s fantasy league team and he needed the points? But coming on at 70 minutes wouldn’t even have got two points, unless he was going to stick 3 goals in the back of the net. Which he is never going to do. The only other option is that whoever has bought Gnonto doesn’t want him injured? Woo…. speculation.

Instead of consolidating our victory, the effect of Aaronson, whether intended or not, was just to upset the applecart.

Unfortunately what is lacking from our team is concentration on the task at hand. We need to be focused, diligent and 100% committed to a result. Like the Palace game, we were the better team for 45 minutes. Same with Bournemouth and to some extent Spurs. But the last 45 minutes, 20 minutes against Leicester, we’ve just bottled it.

Where the defence was holding the line for the offside trap reasonably well in the first half, it just fell apart. Whilst Lord Bamford and Rodrigo were chasing down the ball and putting the pressure on the keeper, they couldn’t maintain the pace for the last 25 minutes. The ref had brandished cards to most of our players. Thanks to the cheating and diving, we were at risk of going a player down just about every other challenge. We had started to play narrow again, players tripping over each other and getting in each others way. 

Our team lack the discipline, the concentration, the stamina and fitness in general to play for the full 90 minutes. The determination to win every tackle, close down every player and win every ball, just isn’t there anymore. Harsh words, but true nonetheless. We have potential, you can see glimpses of it, like the first half against Palace. But the team either can’t, or won’t maximise on it. The manager needs to harness it, the way Bielsa did.

The Bielsa way was hard work, there is no denying it. But it got us promoted and 9th in the league that first season. There is no denying it. He took a bunch of ordinary Championship players and basically made them do their job. And they did it, because he gave them belief.

Whilst people go on about footballers being role models, and being voices / representatives for good causes etc. that’s all well and good when you are top of the league and guaranteed PL football year on year. Rashford can do what he wants to help school dinners. The likes of Milner and Sterling can be Nivea and shaving product mannekins, that is fine. But we don’t have that luxury. Kalv can be the face of JD sports from his cosy spot on the bench, but our team and squad need to concentrate on football, and football alone.

Gnonto will undoubtedly shine at Arsenal with the likes of Odegaard distributing the ball where he wants it. If he passes his driving test, he could be the face of Bill Plant in the latest shiny green stickered 2 tonne EV, tearing up the streets around the Emirates. Eats spaghetti, drinks moretti, drives 4 Pirellis, one two three four.  

The thing that has scuppered us, and by us, I mean the Board, the manager (ALL of them temporary included – 3 amigos!) , the team and the fans is our arrogance.

Arrogance.

The arrogance of the Board who felt once we got promoted, we deserved to stay in the PL. The arrogance that saw them happy to sack Bielsa and install an Unknown to English football, and allow him to bring in players, also unknown to English football.

The arrogance of that manager who thought he could just play anyone anywhere, regardless of them being out of position or not. His arrogance in ruthlessly culling the old Bielsa players to install his own unproven (in this league) old boys. Without Harrison, we’d be with Southampton at the bottom of the league right now. If we’d have kept Klichy, Cresswell, James, Drameh and maybe even Joffy, who knows where we would be. 

The arrogance of our players who thought they didn’t need to train as hard as they did under Bielsa. The ones who thought all they needed to do was turn up. The ones who just assumed that they were good enough to be in the PL. No one should be taking their place in the PL for granted. Ok, apart from Haaland, he can do what he wants.

The arrogance of our fans who STILL think we are a massive club and deserve to be in the PL without fighting for the full 90 minutes. The arrogance which sees every fault laid firmly at the feet of Orta, Meslier or whoever, rather than accepting that we have been punching above our weight for the last 18 months.

The arrogance that still sees some thinking that it was SkinnyJ who kept us up, rather than Wolves going down to 10 men, Brentford going down to 9 and Newcastle having the decency to field a proper side in that final game against Burnley. The same arrogance that gave SkinnyJ a stay of execution at Anfield when he should have been turfed out. Ultimately, the delay in sacking SkinnyJ cost us a decent manager. Who would want to be a manager at Leeds with such an indecisive board? 

Harsh words?

Yep, but it needs saying. 

Sometimes harsh words need to be said out loud. Whether or not it makes any difference in the long run depends on the listener. You can listen and learn or just refuse, get angry like the little red creature from Inside Out, and go ahead and push the red button. Up to you.

Me? It makes no difference to me what you think. Unless you get so worked up that you send someone round to try beat me into submission and get me to think your way. 

It’ll never happen though. But at least I will never try force you into thinking the same way as me. Each to their own. 

As embarrassing as our embattled search for a new manager is, it gives me a great opportunity to quote yet more Shakespeare, and draw a parody / parallel from one of my favourite film franchises, Indiana Jones. This time, the film is Indiana Jones – The Last Crusade – i.e. the search for the Holy Grail and the scene where he drinks from what turns out to be, the Poisoned Chalice. His poor choice as the ancient Crusader says. Two of my favourite actors Harrison Ford and Sean Connery

Or if you prefer the full clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVGGo7T5oFo

Cinema magic. I seriously want to put something in from Monty Python and The Holy Grail, but it is completely irrelevant to my piece today. I’m doing it anyway, because am so obsessed with this part in Life Of Brian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lc86JUAwwg

It’s the first thing I think of when our number 39 runs on the pitch. How very childish, I know.

Back to it now. How did we ever get from Holy Grail to Poisoned Chalice? This is the quote from The Great Bard

https://www.enotes.com/topics/macbeth/questions/this-even-handed-justice-commends-the-ingredients-2432902

We got to the Promised Land and The Holy Grail of the PL under Bielsa. The rest is history. Once again, we find ourselves just above the relegation zone and managerless. Or Head Coach-less as they say nowadays. This time, there is no one waiting in the wings. There was no pre-planned head honcho to come and take the hot seat this time. Worse still, it appears that no one actually wants the job. The role that was so vaunted, is now just a poisoned chalice, it seems. I don’t think the Board expected this, did they?

How has this happened?

Why is this the Poisoned Chalice? I bet The Club are asking the same question.

To me, the answer is simple. There is an obvious internal struggle at our Club. An infernal, internal struggle over who is actually in control. It seems it is a fight to the death between Radrizzani v Orta v The 49ers v The Fans who the Club listen to. I added the last one for fun, they just want the bragging rights…

To me, there are a few reasons to why no one wants to come and manager the Club.

1) Why would anyone want to come to a Club that treated Bielsa with so little respect? I am biased, obviously, but given the way that Bielsa was dismissed, is there any self respecting manager who would be willing to take the risk of being sacked which such disregard? There were probably managers who would have taken this job, maybe because they didn’t like Bielsa. Dyche probably would have come, but that horse has bolted. The chance of Pochettino coming here is about as likely as me winning the Eurosquillions. But there’s always hope!

2) The noises from the Club were that they were fully behind SkinnyJ and he was never going to move on. Whether intentional or not, it looked like the investment into his style of play, his former RB players and his USA connections were going to keep him here and keep him safe. The massive investment into this squad showed a statement of intent. The songs for the players even though they hadn’t necessarily demonstrated their worth, the PR stuff, the planned pre season tours etc. All of this a show of common purpose, a full on commitment. So something pretty serious must have happened to turn the tide.

What message does that send to any prospective manager? It says that despite the millions of investment and vocal support, we will drop you like a stone if it comes to it.

3) Our fickle, fickle fans and the toxicity that is on social media. Some of the stuff I have seen is palpably poisonous. The most bizarre thing about it is that, as I was reminded early this week, we have always had fickle fans. Even back in the 70s and 80s. However, (un) social media has got a lot to answer for. As someone said a few days ago, there is no healthy debate anymore, just lots and lots of endless abuse dealt out to people who disagree. Much of this is down to managing expectations. Many many people were caught in the euphoria of getting promoted and then that fine 1st season up. The trouble was, once it looked like we were going to struggle, the exhilarating exuberance turned to melancholic misery. Those who were faint of heart and not necessarily used to the obligatory ups and downs of being a Leeds fan have struggled. In their struggle, harsh words have been spoken. Every day almost. Plus, it’s not even the newer Global audience fans who have been so outspoken, some have been longstanding fans who have just exhausted their tolerance. Who would want to be the manager of a Club with fans with such bitterness towards each other?

Me, if I was asked, I would baulk at it. 

The Answer

My choice would be someone with PL experience, either playing or coaching. Given serious lack of investment by the PL / FA over the last 30 years into getting ex PL players involved into the coaching side, there is little chance of that.

This week the FA / EPL have done a massive press release promoting inclusivity and diversity. Which is great, but what has been going on for the last 20 years? Given the breadth of talent in the last 30 years, why haven’t masses of the old PL players made it into coaching full stop, let alone any of an ethnic minority? If you think about how many of the formers stars (of colour or not) have made their money in the punditry business, why hasn’t anyone really  succeeded as a manager? If they have so much technical nous, why are they just sat spouting drivel on the box?

Is it money? Probably. The True Gods of Football at SkyTVisf**kings**t and BT are loaded. Most of the time the pundits are sat indoors, warm in the cold weather and airconned in the summer. They are shielded from the verbals unless they dare go pitchside. Travel and expenses paid for by the puppet masters.

Is it that the richest, most exciting league in the world isn’t really bothered about future  development in coaching skills? Are any players encouraged to go down the coaching route at all towards the latter stages of their careers?

I think it is all about money. The FA and the PL earn it. Players earn it. Greedy agents earn it. The Clubs earn it, but then end up splashing it all on players wages and agents fees, and the massive transfer fees of course. How much of the money goes back into grass roots football and investment into the community?

Here is an example of a PL club investing in it’s money in it’s community

https://www.charitytoday.co.uk/how-manchester-city-supported-its-community-during-a-record-breaking-season/

Strange then that Citeh is being pilloried by PL and the FA. The facilities for match going fans at Citeh rank amongst the best in my experience (almost on a par with Accrington – they took cash!). If you think about New White Hart Lane and how unfriendly that ground is with regards to parking and facilities for less abled fans. There’s no need to comment on Chelski’s ground after last season. Old Trafford looks like a crumbling relic from the 70s (not as bad as our West stand though) and Livarpool probably spend a lot of their funds on VAR and referees / linesmen. As Pep said, it’s mostly because they are jealous. I hope Citeh’s lawyers take the PL to the cleaners.

Back to the Holy Grail and Poisoned Chalice. 

We are no longer a “big” club, despite what our PR says. We are relegation fodder. It’s my belief that this stems from the infernal internal disputes at our club. At least under Cellino we knew who was in charge. Who the Big Kahuna is now, is anybody’s guess. Until this gets sorted, who will come to Leeds?

The new manager, or any new manager worth his salt will want to be in charge of who he picks. Any new manager should be able to pick the best 11 men and subs for the game. This is essential. For however long he feels he is unable to do that because either the Board or the fans are whingeing, no one would want to come.

No players should automatically assume they will be picked. Regardless of how much they cost the Club, which country or previous club they played for, or if they have a good song or not. There is not one player who deserves to be played because it’s good for the Global brand. If a player isn’t fit, he shouldn’t even be in the dugout. If he can’t last 90 minutes, unless he is the next Solskjaer or Tore Andre Flo, no player should be on the teamsheet.

The facts

We have 16 games left. Our team need to be fit to last 90 minutes, or at least know that they need to be attacking and winning every ball if they get on for the last 20 minutes. Our new manager needs to be scrutinising every opponent so we can exploit their weaknesses and capitalise on our strengths. There does need to be a Plan A, B, C, D and E – whatever it takes. Social media critique needs to pipe down. Just say your piece and be done with it. When people start swearing and abusing each other, the argument is lost. Each to their own opinion, it is all valid. We are all individuals not sheep. No one needs to be told what to think. It is not 1984.  

The facts are:

1) We give the ball away far too much.

2) We cannot hold the ball up, especially under pressure

3) We pass sideways and backwards too much, especially in the 2nd half when we are losing.

Fans whinge that the defence is the problem. If we only ever conceded goals from corners or set pieces, I would accept that. But how many goals have been handed to our opponents, on a plate, in the middle of the pitch from a lazy casual flick or a panic pass? Too many. It is part of a bigger problem. We don’t play measured football anymore.

Under Bielsa we played a fast flowing, slick passing game when it worked. The last 12 months has seen what can only be described as panic passing. It’s fast, but it is uncontrolled, frantic and frenetic. Everyone clumps together like cold porridge. It’s like watching a pinball game with the ball pinging all over the place and everyone tripping over each other with their heads on fire.

Like all teams we have strengths, like Gnonto’s speed and drive and weaknesses. But with a resurgent Firpo and Wober looking better and better each game, our defence is starting to take shape. As seen in the last two games, Harrison and Bamford work hard and cause trouble, which aids the running of Willy and whoever else is out on the wing. Our central midfield needs work to link it all up.

For me Rodrigo’s absence is a key factor. If he had been there for Forest and the last two games against Sc*m, we would have won 2 and possibly just drawn the last one. He shouldn’t even have travelled given we had Rutter, Perkins and Greenwood available to support Patrick up front. Coming on at Accrington is the thing that has hurt us the most and possibly was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Ultimately, I think the ridiculous decision to bring him on at 3 -0 up cost SkinnyJ his job, let’s hope it doesn’t end up costing us a PL spot next season. 

Let’s hope we can find someone who will take on the poisoned chalice and turn the tables on it, and see us back to the Holy Grail.