Solid – Solid As A Rock

Posted by on Sep 19, 2016 in Blog | 0 comments

..And now we’re solid – solid as a rock

The immortal words of Ashford and Simpson October 1984 transposed nicely on Saturday by Messrs Kyle Bartley and Pontus Jansson. One of the best displays our defence has seen in many many years. After the pasting of the poultry farmers on Tuesday, courtesy of a cross from Hadi Sacko deftly turned into the net by Big Chris Wood, and then that header from Bartley from a free kick, it was onwards and upwards for the early morning trip to South Wales.

Due to lack of interest / apathy following Huddersfield / long distance to travel / allergy to Wales / early kick off due to “Skew” Sports / the prospect of a heavy-night-of-drinking-instead-of -going-to-bed-and then-a-full-day-out (delete as appropriate), there was a select group of travellers who turned out bleary eyed in the early hours of Saturday. The passengers who perhaps were looking forward to a nice bit of kip after being out since 9pm and ending up at McDonalds feasting on a Big Mac Meal at 2.30am, were sadly disappointed as the Battlebus rolled on into the night courtesy of DJ Tim The Driver and the 80s Smash Hits Mega Mix cd.

However, after a (brief) refreshment stop, it was wagons roll onto Junction 33 and then onwards to Cardiff stadium, sans the unlucky two (apologies, but when the Boys In Blue say we gotta go – we gotta go! See Fanzine Issue 11, page 11 for further reference). We were greeted by bright sunshine and all was good in the Land of Sheep and Bluebirds-not Red Dragons.

The goalkeeper keeping his Kisnorbo headgear, perhaps channelling the inner spirit of Tuesdays storm up the table, and new Captain Bartleys’  good account pre match, gave us a positive edge.  What appeared to be a non event from the stand, of Luke Aylings’ tackle in the first half, actually looked like a two footed lunge on the replay – oops, and the first half could be summed up with neither side having bragging rights really… then out came the sunshine. Well, out came an arm, crashing down on Jansson in the box, and Wood dried up all the pain/rain with his cool and calm penalty. On the telly (yes – I recorded it), there was much discussion about the “new rules”, albeit not so new, actually rules that have always been there but are now being “focused on” this season by referees. Which begs the question, are all rules meant to be ignored until “focused on” by referees? Last season, it was “excessive response to gain advantage” or in normal speak “doing an Ashley Young”. However, as much as I disdain the Japan 2020 Olympic Pool hopeful (sorry Tom Daley), the truth is that most footballers do this, even our players, not just in the PremierInnShip. We all laugh at the replays that the social media-ites post for us, and pour scorn on the likes of Costa yet ignore the fact that Becchio and Beckford were guilty of the same, as were Viduka and Kewell, but the less said about that traitor the better really. Both teams were guilty as charged for wrestling in the box, but having just been warned by the referee for handbags-at-five-paces, Paul Trollope was on unsteady ground moaning about the unfair decision on Connelly.

Back to the game, one – nil up, two shots off Green’s post with help from the “you’ll never beat Kisnorbo” bandage and some storming defending by newbie Jansson stamped our authority on the game. Hernandez greedily shot wide despite a fantastic Wood run into space but then redeemed himself with that cracking shot, which I believe was Skew Sports News HQ’s Goal Of The Day. Cut to shot of the Secretary looking rather peeved that the customary Leeds-to-win bet hadn’t been placed and there you have it. Winner winner – chicken dinner. Pontus Jansson and Captain Bartley chased round the pitch by a cameraman at the final whistle, hey presto –  finish where we started.

Well done Garry-with-two-Rs! The team look like they are gelling, the Ayling Bartley Jansson trio at the back seems to be getting better and betterer. Stuart Dallas giving us a bit more of an option in midfield and Kane making a good start. If we get a whole season out of Wood, who knows where that will take us. Blackburn tomorrow, perhaps Monk will keep the faith with Tyler Denton and the team that took it to Luton Town, who knows. Either way our defence is getting stronger, the foundation to Fortress Elland Road.

Cheers

MPO

jansson

 

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Will you remember… September

Posted by on Sep 12, 2016 in Blog | 0 comments

In tribute to the great Nile Rodgers, will we remember… the 10th afternoon of September? Could this be the turning point of the season? The crowd turned on Monk after the disappointing display against the Top of The Table Chihuahuas, and although I didn’t bother with the radio interview, I believe that was not received well either.

So what can I say? The new boy Pontus Jansson put in a good debut, the Kop needing some prompting to get behind the team in the first half. It was a slow start, but I was pleased that we hadn’t conceded a goal at half time, especially given our recent form. I was surprised with the captaincy going to “back for good” Bridcutt, but I suppose Cooper is out of favour with the Forest shenanigans and granted the choice between our long(er) established players is a little limited. Could giving Mowatt the Captaincy and playing him in the middle of midfield, instead of switching out on the wings with Hadi, which incidentally completely threw me, be the making of Mowatt? I still think that Murphy and/or Big Dave would have made a difference, especially dealing with that Mooy bloke. In fact either of them would have dealt with him quite efficiently, seeing as he was the main cause of concern. The rest of the ankle biters did more nibbling than snapping. Yes, we did keep them restricted, if that was Monk’s game plan, however, once they scored, we didn’t create very much. We had one good deep corner from the young lad, Phillips, the rest of the deliveries unfortunately failed to get past the first defender, so bit more consistency needed there, but there’s potential in him. After the game, all you could hear was negativity, not unfounded of course, but Mowatt did technically have a couple of shots. One that ballooned comfortably into the upper tier of the South Stand in the first half and then the little toe poke at the death. I don’t think he expected the ball to come to him to be fair, and even Kevin Be Bruyne failed to put a similar chance in the back of the net at Salford, so at least he had a try. He also supplied the cross to Woods’ header, which should have been met with more conviction. Antonsson also went down under a challenge in the first half at the other end of the ground, which I couldn’t see properly.  However,  given that we seem to be burdened with “Premiership” referees, whether it was worth a penalty shout or not, would be here nor there. The tackle by Mooy on Bridcutt in the first half, was waved off by our hard-as-nails captain, but it was clearly a two footed lunge and should have been a sending off. Even the German Huddersfield Head Coach admitted that it would have been a red card in Germany – but alas the rules in Premiership football are obviously different, must be why England haven’t won a tournament since 1966 – we have different rules over here! Probably the same thinking with goalkeepers, ex England international v Silvestri, I know which one I would pick.

So to the game tomorrow… I will be there and so will the other 14,000 season ticket holders – that’s what the stats will say. Come on Garry with two Rs, we are at home, we should be playing a starting 11 who are willing to thrash the opposition 4 -0. If we win and then get a result in the 3rd round next week, we are looking at 4th round in the League/Milk/Rumbelows Cup (deleted as age appropriate) and then we certainly won’t be remembering…

MPO

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September 2016

Posted by on Sep 5, 2016 in News and Events | 0 comments

Autumn – the season of mellow fruitfulness, and September – the proper start to the season.

Monthly Branch Meeting

The monthly branch meeting was held yesterday with a good number in attendance, thank you kindly for your presence (eventually Dave Poole before the search party got sent out). Amongst discussions were the acceptance of the Co Chair decision for the role of the Chairman for the LUSC, the Annual LUSC dinner (see below) and away games. There was a brief comment from Andy Yates regarding Graveleys which we will mention to the LUSC Secretary.

Annual LUSC Dinner

The date has been confirmed as Saturday 29th October 2016, after the home game against Burton, and will be held in the old Banqueting Suite ( now called The Norman Hunter Suite). The tickets for the event are £37, which includes a four course meal and disco. Presentation of our Player Of The Season 2015-16 trophy will probably be very difficult, given he is at Bournemouth now, however, there will be invites to the usual LUSC guests, and we hope to see the welcome faces of our former players and managers. The branch as usual will subsidise this for our branch members, but we will need to have confirmation of numbers as soon as possible, please. The LUSC are hoping that the current players and manager will be available (as per last event) pre meal for photos etc.

The branch has also decided to extend an invite to Peter Haddock to this event as our guest, we are looking into this at this moment in time. Please refer to the “We Are Leeds” fanzine page for the report from his testimonial at The County back in 1994, excellent write up by persons unknown.

Away Games

Bookings currently being taken for Cardiff and Bristol City games. There are only a couple of spaces on the Cardiff bus and the minibus for Bristol City has only one place left, so time is of the essence here. Bookings will also be taken imminently for Derby and Wolves, If demand exceeds supply, priority will be given according to the number of games travelled to on the bus last season.

Memberships

The Membership Secretary was unavailable last night, but numbers are up from last season.

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