There is a heady air of optimism hanging around LS11. It is almost palpable. There is an excited hum of anticipation amongst most Leeds United fans and bizarrely enough, some elements of the British sports press. This is the Bielsa effect, the Bielsa Buzz. I am going to abstain from all the apian puns / hive of activity etc. etc for the sake of sanity.

Comparisons could be drawn to last season, when under the tutelage of Thomas Christiansen, we also had an unbeaten start. But that is where the comparison pales into insignificance. The style and quality of the football that we are bearing witness to, is a million miles away from that. Plus, we are only at the second game. Is the best yet to come?

It is difficult to describe how this feels without using every cliche in the book. There appears to be more of a hunger to compete. A desire to win, but not just win, to excel. There seems to be a competitive edge to be fitter, stronger, faster and better. Something that seems to be drilled out of youngsters nowadays in the whole era of inclusive equality, for fear that someone may get a bit upset if they are told that the next guy who has put the extra effort in, will be rewarded when they aren’t.

So what is the Bielsa Buzz?

There is an aura, a presence, a sense of gravitas about him. Silent but deadly. But not in a menacing way. It’s done in a confident way which simply says, “I mean business”.

After the first of the Bielsa interviews, he was the laughing stock of SkyTVisf**kings**t and the BBC pundits. These fools, who mercilessly took cheap digs at the fact he “needed” an interpreter. These are the same “journalists” who lauded on the testimonials from Pep Guardiola and Pochettino, and then in the same breath, added the Snidley Whiplash comments about him jacking in the job at Lille. For starters, can you see an English speaking manager going to Spain/Argentina, and making the effort to learn the language to try to speak the local lingo for the native TV audiences? Ok, Roy Hodgson aside, not really. Secondly, the interviewers don’t really care what you say because they have already made their own minds up – so why bother? Treat them with the contempt they deserve. Thirdly – yeah – as if he can’t understand what you are saying. Who’s the fool now?

To those “journos”, I say, actions speak louder than words, my friends. When we go up as Champions in February, the silence will be thunderously deafening.

I, for one, would much much rather have a measured, well reasoned, deliberate response over the  animated “its all Tom Lees’s fault / I’m gloating over a narrow one-nil victory” verbal “I like the sound of my own voice” diarrhoea barrage. I, for one, would rather see a calm and collected Bielsa sat on a bucket than an animated Klopp The Flop, gurning and gesticulating like a dog straining on a short leash (apologies to a dog).

Am I the only one sick of managers slagging off the refs/linesmen rather than fessing up to their own failures? Am I the only one sick of managers glorifying their dodgy last minute penalty in extra time results? Am I the only one sick of managers who think that sticking 10 men behind the ball constitutes a solid team display? I don’t think so. Admittedly, I don’t know how Bielsa will react should we lose a game, I’m hoping I never see that day anytime soon.

I like the way Bielsa has this no nonsense attitude. Just get on with it, play the game. No mad running-down-the-side-of-the-pitch-like-you-have-just-completed-the-treble goal celebrations, no high fives, no hugs and no kisses. After all, the Club is paying you to do your job, not advertise your potential to be the next Sports Personality Of the Year (not that it is much of a merit of an award when it is won by a certain “Mr SuperInjunction” G**gs). No extra plaudits and no post match back slapping congratulatory tweets. A healthy departure from the social media factions. No rehearsed, showcased soundbyte post match interviews. Just concentration, total concentration to the task at hand.

It’s refreshing to see this and long overdue. I am hoping Bielsa has the same attitude to the Cup games.  I am hoping he will show the respect that the oldest competition in English football deserves. I am hoping that not only did he watch all the league games last season, but he watched the dismal performances in the Cups. I am hoping that the conclusions drawn from them and the devastating impact of fielding poorer sides in the Cups is realised , so making sure that history does not repeat itself.

I saw a flag at the Derby game which said “agents are poisonous”. I figured that it wasn’t referring to park benches in Salisbury, but more to this “overcommercialisation” of football (I don’t even know if that is a word, but you know what I mean). Agents and the media are responsible for the theft of football away from the fans. They are too busy lining their own pockets to think about the effect of obsessively  hyping up the “worth” of footballers. It used to be about the skill on the pitch, now it’s more about shirt sales and sponsorship deals. It doesn’t matter that someone is a one trick pony, it is more important that he can sell dandruff shampoo or some other male grooming hipster products. It doesn’t matter that only one in five crosses is actually any good, it is more important that he has a million followers and his missus has appeared on celebrity big brother. It doesn’t matter that he can’t run half the length of the pitch without getting out of breath, because people are talking about his tattoos, his wedding was in OK magazine and he looks good on the front of FIFA 2019. “Sell-ability” over “football-ability” (again, apologies as this is not a word). I have no doubt that some agents are very good and only have their clients best interests at heart. Like most progressive 21st century modernities though, I am sure that there are the unscrupulous few, who would rather take their cut of the signing on fee and be happy watching their players warm the bench for 95% of the season at the “bigger” club, than watch the patient progression of a talented young player up through the youth ranks into the first team.

This is a sad testament to “Generation Swipe”. The “I Want It All Nows”. I don’t think it is necessarily greed that drives them and it probably isn’t that they are lazy, it is more that this instant gratification lark is instilled in them at an early age. It’s not just the players that would rather take the easy option and go somewhere else to get more money (even though it may mean that they never kick a competitive ball again) than stay where they are to become the finished article. There are many fans who would jump ship and abandon their home club to go support the more bigger famous ones, just because they can’t take the ups and downs. And, it’s not like we have never seen the top division clubs attempt to “buy the league” in this results based culture, rather than take the hard graft route. Which makes it even more laughable when they fail. Let’s see how Villa get on this year!

And here are the cliches…Patience is a virtue. Work hard, step up to the challenge, take responsibility for your own actions. Get back to basics. I was reminded by The Secretary that Bielsa seems to be doing what Herbert Chapman did way back when, getting the players fit enough to play football in the first place. To last out the 90 minutes, something that was sadly lacking in 80% of last seasons games. Tactical football to get that properly finished result – a great team display.

So, analogy for the sake of analogy, like bees working together in the hive to make honey for the common purpose – for the colony to survive…  work hard for each other, play as a group for the one purpose – to win. Promotion by February please. No infighting, no personality clashes, no badge kissing just to further fans favour. Just work as one for the greater good. The epitome of the famous “SIDE BEFORE SELF”?

After all, you can make a T-E-A-M out of your mates!

 

Just before the end of the season there was chatter about safe standing again. The other week, when there were more important things going on in Parliament, the issue regarding rail seating again was raised. Apparently it has the backing of the opposition now. In my own personal opinion this discussion, in the current climate, is rather distasteful as there are still proceedings taking place regarding the involvement of certain law enforcement groups / former officials of the club / retired law enforcement officers etc. in the terrible tragedy at Hillsborough, their “handling” of the aftermath and the subsequent “inquiries” since. For me, and I stress that this is my own view, until these proceedings are over and done with, complete with a concise investigation and it’s conclusions drawn, this discussion should not take place.

Whilst I am aware that my view goes against the view of the vocal groups backing the return of terracing and the makers of rail seating, I think the discussion should be more focused on supporters being allowed to have the right to choose whether they want sections of their grounds made into terracing or rail seating. As this is what it will boil down to in the end. Currently the law states that grounds must be all seater, to comply with the safety regulations. If rail seating is agreed, the clubs will have to spend money to convert whichever areas they choose to designate the safe standing area. This will cost money, which undoubtedly will be passed onto us, the paying fans, and it may cost some their seats. Some supporters have had their seats for decades, some will be very attached to their “seat” and may not be too happy to be usurped by the vocal minority. Before anyone jumps down my throat about rail seating increasing the capacity – it doesn’t make much difference, so clubs won’t be raking it in on extra ticket sales, we, the supporters, will bear that cost. I wonder in the eventuality of the club suddenly announcing it is happening, whether they will face another onslaught of change.org?

Hence, make your choice… even though I couldn’t resist putting a picture of the long gone Jiggy up.

The choice of whether to stand or sit for regular away travellers is basically a thing of the past, there is no choice. Let’s face it, for those fans who don’t have the stamina to stand up for 90 minutes, away games are difficult. There aren’t really the facilities in stadia now where the less able amongst us can have a perch. Yes, there are supposed to be “ambulant disabled” areas, but those tickets, like the disabled tickets are like gold dust. This is especially bad at away grounds with small capacities, (how pleased was I that Burton got relegated!) or grounds where our allocation has been reduced due to the police or the home clubs restrictions. Before we start with safe standing, how about we concentrate on safe seating? (see next blog)

We are all getting that little bit older, but just because our bodies can’t take it, it doesn’t mean that we aren’t still the best supporters in the land. We can look back on the old black and white photos and footage of 100,000+ crowds of fans (mostly men) of varying ages crammed into packed stands at Cup finals. When Cup finals meant something , of course (moot point). But in those days there was an element of respect, respect of our seniors and our peers and that little bit of common courtesy for those less able. Sadly, that common courtesy and unselfishness, is sadly lacking in the “modern” era of football. Celebrations of goal scoring have moved on from the cheering and clapping of players to throwing yourself and others around like rag dolls, resulting in flailing arms and legs rippling down the rather steep stands (Norwich for example) with a domino like effect. So whilst the initiators have a jolly good time, someone down the stand ends up with more serious injuries, like I said common courtesy, self awareness and responsibility for your actions….

Fan bases have also changed. More and more children are being encouraged to watch the sport, in hope that they can be put on the straight and narrow, before the peer pressures from their mates to follow the “popular” teams takes hold. The younger dads (and mothers!) want to take young children, but safety for a 5 year old is very different from that of a 15 year old. If the parent has a ticket in the Kop or the South Stand, would they want their small child to be caught up in a crush? The older amongst us will remember that crush, the feeling of being caught in a wave, until you ended up being stuck against the barrier with the weight of fifty or more people on top of you. The wiser amongst us stood at the back or on the peripheries, the foolhardy and brave in the middle, the one who stood at the barrier was someone who would do it once and never again! Rail seating apparently negates that crush, but judging by the surges currently happening at away games where the stewards are supposed to ensure everyone stays in their seat, I can’t see that it will make any difference.

Then there are those who aren’t actually watching the game, they are just out for a “day out” which will involve alcohol (the throwing around of rather than actually drinking it), possibly illegal substances, constant slagging off a particular player or players, or the manager, or the owner, shouting abuse at the opposition fans and players, arguing with people around them who don’t agree with what they are saying and generally not watching anything that is going on the pitch itself. These people weren’t around in the football grounds of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s as money was wiser spent then and drink, well let’s just say drink wasn’t wasted in those days. Needless to say, these people aren’t supporting their team.

I can understand that some may think that rail seating will create a better atmosphere. My reply to that would be playing good football and winning games creates a better atmosphere. Millwall at home last season, down to 10 men and 3-2 up with 4 minutes (which ended up as 6 minutes) to go, was a brilliant atmosphere. Every man, woman and child was behind the team believing that we could do it, even though we didn’t hold out in the end. Supporting your team and getting behind the team- that’s what creates a good atmosphere.

I was lucky enough to be at the game against 1860 decades ago, so I have first hand experience of rail seating. Celtic already have rail seating as they are not bound by the English Football regulations, I can’t say that I am aware of anyone constantly crowing on about how brilliant the atmosphere is at grounds with rail seating. In fact if the popular press is to be believed, the best atmosphere at a football game is to be experienced in the very sterile atmosphere of the premier league of all places! I have been lucky enough to have been to the Nou Camp, the Bernabeu, the Mestella, the Vincente Calderon, the Stadio Delle Alpi (before they moved), the Stadio Olimpico, some of the best stadia in Europe (without rail seating), and when the crowd is behind the team, the atmosphere is electric, as it was at Elland Road in the Championship title season and the European / Champions League era.

Just get behind the team, support Leeds United, that’s what we are there for after all, isn’t it? Support your team through thick and thin, or just go do something else. Make your choice

 

 

 

Originally I was going to call this “All I want for August is…” and stick a photo of Mariah Carey on the front, but then I remembered Debbie Harry and this vinyl cover, and I decided it was a much better option. Picture this then (in no particular order)

Promotion to the Premier League as Champions or in second

No messing abaht as they say. No play off rubbish, it never works out and I would much rather not turn up at all, rather than get to the play off final and suffer through watching Leeds United not bother to turn up as they did at Cardiff, Wembley etc.

One manager this season

Sacking someone after a string of defeats doesn’t work, look at poor Heckingbottom last season, just what did that achieve? Should have just kept with TC.

A decent run in the FA and League Cups

This would necessitate fielding a decent side in the first place (see below). It of course actually means respecting the League and FA Cups for being competitive competitions. Games that the first team players don’t necessarily need to play in, but a decent team made up of first team players, subs and the youth team to dispatch the opposition, duly dishing out the 5-0 victory needed to get us in the next round, being suffice.

Fielding a decent side in the League and FA Cup

Self explanatory. See what opposition you get picked and where the game is being played (home or away and proper pitch or lower league mudbath that a hippo wouldn’t be out of place in) . Pick your best side for the team you are playing to get the result required. Pick a team to play in the competition rather than just entering it for the sake of entering a team. I have been reminded by The Secretary that had Monk fielded a proper side against the Scousers, we might have won that game.

Away tickets allocated on loyalty of the last 10 years

Away tickets are always a hot topic for the start of the season, and will be even more so this season with the promise of a new manager (like last season, and the season before…). Given last years terrible problems for the Bolton game and the following games (until we started losing that is!) , I see this as the only way forward. The last few games last season were testament to how fickle fans can be, noticeably fewer away fans at Fulham, Preston (nearly 7k sell out last season), Villa and Norwich. As far as I and many others are concerned, if you bothered going to the games when we were really poor, you should be rewarded for that loyalty over and aboard those who can afford to pay the extra up front payment.  I could go on, but I said enough last season about this.

Appropriate use of our Youth side

We have a good set up, our youth team should be utilised better. They should be brought up through the ranks (given a chance in the Cup games) and not sold off or farmed out to lower league teams.

Sensible decision making when picking the team

It was said that Don Revie used to have copious notes on each team to make sure he knew the best team to play against the opposition. The Championship is mainly full of huge defenders, midfielders who challenge hard for the ball and teams who play “the modern game” of one up front. If the opposition is known for hoofing the ball up to a lone target man, stick two men on the striker. If the midfield is slow and lumbering, put your paciest wingers on and try the trickery. Change the strategy accordingly and have the balls to substitute your players if it isn’t going your way, and do it early. There is no point waiting til 80 minutes and then putting on an attacking midfielder, is there?

Players who can play for 90 minutes (give or take another 5 or 6 mins)

It is a game of 90 minutes plus whatever the ref adds on. 90 minutes a week, and on occasion there might be two games in a week depending on Cup ties etc (use the Youth Team to help out – see above). Take Millwall last season, 3-2 up with 4 minutes to go. Yes we were down to 10 men, but we should have held out for the extra minutes which were added on as a result of The South Stand behaving like children and not giving the ball back.

Less red cards than last season

Carrying on from above, 90 minutes of keeping your head when all around are losing theirs (poetic licence notwithstanding). Reckless and some needless challenges cost us much last season. The rest of the league sussed us out, with sufficient cheating, continual bad fouls, poor ref decisions etc. they could rile us and get the advantage of the extra man by just tipping us over the edge.

Football to be just about 90 minutes (plus extra time) on the pitch

Keyboard warriors / persons with over inflated egos and /or delusions of grandeur and self importance have ruined our last few seasons. It is about what goes on the pitch and that’s what we should be concentrating on. Whilst I am all for freedom of speech and everyone has the right to voice their own opinions, social media point scoring because you get the most hits or views or whatever the latest fad is, takes time away from the most important thing, which is surely supporting Leeds United?

Just one home strip and one away strip 

Stop fleecing the poor people who actually want to buy the shirts or are pressured into getting one either by peer pressure or for children to keep them on the straight and narrow.

No winter break EVER

This is England, or Wales if you are a Swansea fan. Just get on with it. Plus what about global warming? It’s supposed to be getting warmer- right? Or were the scientists in the 70s correct in the first place? Is  there really is going to be an ice age? We know what this is all about, money spinning games in the Far East and US, just the FA lying through their smug, over paid, white, middle aged, fat cat, dodgy deals dental plan on us (the plebs) teeth.

Football on Saturday afternoons at 3pm

Unless it is a Bank Holiday of course. When was the last time we played at home on August Bank holiday weekend?

Christmas is over, Spring is here and the Season of Stupidity has started. For once I don’t even mean the the transfer window.

Today we are still waiting for a decision about the Boro game. It is 12 hours before kick off and it seems no one can make that decision.

What is so difficult?

ALL week the news has been about “The Beast From The East”. The weather has been appalling and every day there is another weather warning and pictures are all over the telly and social media with people crashing and today the British Army has been on the M62 helping people stuck on the roads. The trains aren’t running properly and some people have been stuck on a train overnight.

I am sure some of our Scandinavian friends are laughing, as it hasn’t even started to get cold yet, but the UK just cannot cope with the cold weather. The roads are poor and the transport links are even poorer. A few inches has brought the country to a halt. Whilst the normal people can hunker down and just get on with it, the people who are in charge of the local councils and the road and rail links, the people with the money that the Government gives them, from the money that the Government takes from us in the form of OUR taxes, have more pressing things on their minds. The people in charge of the local councils, the police, the road networks, the bus and train networks are more concerned with making sure that their pensions pots are kept topped up rather than making sure the public services are kept running. I am not complaining about the people who are doing the work, they are doing the best they can, but I am pretty sure that the people gritting the roads must all be wondering why there aren’t more staff hired and more gritters available when the weather is this bad. Winter planning anybody?

So, how does this relate to today?

12 hours before kick off, the M62 is still closed, people have been stranded overnight. The NHS is cancelling non urgent operations because it cannot cope with the emergencies that are coming in and staff cannot get in to work. The Army have had to be called in on some roads. People have been stuck on a train overnight. Yet someone cannot decide whether the game should be called off or not?

For some bizarre reason, the football gods seem to think that fans going to Boro v Leeds will only be travelling from Middlesborough or Leeds. The fact that Leeds fans will be trying to get to the game from all over the UK, not just Leeds, has passed them by. Whilst all they are bothered about is whether the pitch will be playable (how long has under soil heating been available?), no one seems to be bothered about how fans are going to get to the ground in the first place and how they are going to get home. Selfish, selfish TV obsessed football.

I know alot of fans are over from Scandinavia and Ireland as we have two games, and those from Norway and Sweden just don’t know what the fuss is all about, but as I said before, the UK just isn’t equipped for anything over -1!

There will be 2600 Leeds in Boro tonight. If just one coach gets stuck or there is one little accident, can you imagine the impact on the rest of us? Coming back from Derby was bad enough with the motorway roadworks and overnight closures, if the roads are down to one lane and there is just one accident, can you imagine the carnage? If the trains stop, how are the train rabble going to get home? If the police are happy for 2000+ Leeds fans to be stuck in Boro, then I hope they have a plan to accomodate us all. Me, I hope if we get stuck, we get stuck outside a pub with a nice warm fire and some good real ale.

Should anything serious happen, and it better not, I hope Leeds United, Middlesborough FC, the police and more importantly SkyTvisf**kings**talloneword can live with the consequences. Crossing your fingers and hoping nothing will happen, just isn’t good enough.

 

When will we ever learn? Back to Bob Dylan again. When will we ever learn?

A whirlwind start to 2018 began with the January to forget in terms of red cards, losing to lower league opposition in the FA Cup, fighting back to level up against Millwall with 10 men (only to lose in injury time), new badge launches, retraction of new badges after change.org went thermo nuclear and all the rest. You could not make this up. It’s like watching a soap opera. On second thoughts, there’s been no murders or plane crashes, so not so much a soap opera, more like a pantomime.

So, how could we top that off? I know, let’s sack the manager… oh no we can’t… oh yes we can! Lord knows what Mad March is going to give us. I don’t even want to think that far ahead.

So, the curtain comes down on TC. He bowed out after we lost to Cardiff, a fortnight last Saturday, to a chorus of boos from the crowd. No thanks for one of the best starts to the season in recent times. No thanks for some of the best awaydays we have had in years. No thanks for getting our defence as solid as a rock again, and no thanks for THAT Pablo goal against Burton. Had we kept 11 men on the pitch, we could have got a result. Warnock’s bully boys weren’t that good, they flattered to deceive. Realistically, our team is horribly depleted. Depleted because of injuries, which we can’t really do anything about, and depleted because of really poor behaviour on the pitch. Poor and at times, unsportsmanlike, behaviour which has seen us collect 7 red cards already this season in the League and the Cup.

We haven’t had our first team players all out on the pitch at the same time since New Years Day against Forest. As much as the majority of fans simply put down our losing streak to the manager, it is blatantly obvious that our dip in form is directly related to the number of injuries and suspensions that we have been subject to. Even before Forest, it seemed like some of the team were deliberately trying to get sent off (Vieira at Wolves) to jeopardise our onwards push to the play offs, ruining that brilliant start. After Bridcutt assassinated Ayling’s ankle at Elland Road in a bold and uneffacing manner, incidentally the likes of which we never saw anything of during his time with us, our players have been steadily crossed off the team sheet with the large red marker pen wielded by the football gods.

The same football gods who cannot and should not be dishonoured by fielding a weakened cup side.

Cut to the cries of those who mercilessly booed TC off the pitch, both at home to Cardiff and at the final whistle at Hull the other week. Those who have shorter memories than the most schizophrenic of goldfish in Ridsdale’s gold plated fish tanks. Not only can they not remember hailing TC as The Messiah not even 6 months ago, but they selectively forget pouring scorn on the likes of Villa and Derby for such a faltering start. Cut back to present day and look who’s laughing at us now.

When will we ever learn? What do we need to learn?

At the time of first writing this article, Radrizzani had just sacked TC. The vultures had just landed and all the amassed keyboard warriors in the ranks of Leeds United fans had one thing on their minds… we need an English manager. This is the first thing we need to learn. What exactly have our most recent English managers done for us? Using the wise words from worldfootball.net (not Wikipeddler) I have tried to sum this up in a historical, rather than hysterical, format.

Grayson? He lasted quite a while, from Dec 2008 to Feb 2012 and he did ok with the squad he had and the tight reins of the then owner. Redfearn then had his first stint then for 15 days until Warnock came in. Warnock? I have VERY strong opinions on Colin, some of which are just not suitable for this or any other public article. Suffice to say, in the words of the Harry Enfield character, Frank Doberman, Oi – Warnock – No! When Colin arrived, we weren’t in much trouble, swanning about in mid table mediocrity, as per the norm under “I promise I will get Leeds out of The Championship” bates – and surely he did – by getting us relegated to Division 3. Granted, by the time Colin left, we hadn’t got relegated, but we were dangerously swimming against the tide. Redders stepped in again for a total of 9 days before we struck gold (at the time it seemed anyway) with Brian McDermott. Brian survived a near miss sacking but then it all fell away after he struggled to have a plan B, not the first time I will say this. Dave Hockaday then survived for 3 months in June 2014, but only because we didn’t technically play any games for most of it. He was summarily despatched in the August, faring only marginally worse than contestants in the Big Brother house. For Redders, it wasn’t third time lucky, as Milanic was drafted in (see below). Redders’s – 4th time is a charm- last attempt was slightly longer before he was ousted by Uwe, again see below. Redders was the fans favourite, given his pedigree with the Youth Team, but that’s where his limit lay, sadly, no Plan A, Plan B or Plan C. Which takes us to Steve Evans, and well he did ok and should have been given more time in my opinion. Plus he came to Supporters Club meetings and wore his LUSC tie proudly! The only manager in recent years who had time for the ordinary fans, and I respect him alot for that. He wasn’t my first choice, but he was a genuine guy and I think he was proud to come to us. None of the rest of them showed any interest, for all their talk of how amazing they thought the fans were. I’m not even going to give the Snake a proper mention. No Plan A, B, C, D or E. F for fail in old O level speak! U in old A level – unrecordable – means you didn’t even get your name right at the top of the page.

I agree that our foreign managers haven’t been up to scratch either. Uwe Rosler,  he had a bad start in his managerial reign in that pre-season friendly in Austria, and it didn’t bode too well for him after that. Then, Darko Milanic, who is back at Maribor by all accounts, but at the time, given all the off pitch shenanigans with the FA and EFL trying to get Sig Cellino sent back to Italy, there were too many distractions for them to concentrate on winning games.

Going back to my original point, however, do we need an English manager? Look at the Man Citys, Chelskis etc. Yes, they have the money to buy players in, but their players still get crocked, and they play their second side. Albeit, even their third/fourth sides are miles better than the Championship first teamers. But, the last English manager to do well in the premier league was….Scottish! Even Leicester were forced to admit that Ranieri was the key to success after Pearson had built the foundations. Once the players turned on Claudio and forced him out, the truth was revealed. Leicester probably won’t get relegated, but only by the virtue that there are worse teams in that league who will. The margin between the top of the premier league and the bottom is huge. Unlike in our league, where a few dropped points from losing when we should have drawn, or drawing when we were ahead and should have finished the game off with another goal rather than sitting back, mean the difference between play offs and mid table mediocrity. Even though it feels like decades since we last won a game, we’re still in the top half and even though I have given up on playoffs and actively thinking about enjoying May this year, it’s not impossible. Just highly unlikely, that’s all.

An English manager is not the be all and end all. I wish Carvalho all the best of luck at Swansea (please can we have Bartley back?), and I will laugh if the Wendies miserably fail. A decent foreign manager with the owner’s full support, and more importantly the financial backing, may be the better solution. Which leads me to my second point, bringing in new players.

Regular readers will know of my intolerance of SkyTVis f**kings**t-all-one-word’s transfer deadline circus, and the keyboard warriors who have a field day hammering on their emoticons / emojis ( I really don’t know what they are called, and I am not  bothered either) at the next prospective signing. Then when we don’t sign any big names in the summer or January, they just bleat about not bringing enough talent up through the reserves. You CANNOT have it both ways! Either you concentrate your efforts on bringing the Youth team through, OR you go for the big money signings. No gifted young player is going to want to plough through the ranks, if at the end of the day, the only prospect of getting in the first team will be playing in a weakened side in the early rounds of the League or FA Cup, when the manager is picking names out of a hat. The reserves should be playing properly, not being despatched to Rhyl to be beaten up, and they should be the source of the substitutes. After that, the Youth team. I cannot believe that we didn’t have a reserve, reserve defence when Ayling, Cooper, Jansson etc. got injured/ suspended early this season. Yes, Pennington and Shaughnessy got injuries too, but what happened to Anita? I really felt for De Bock being brought in before the ink dried on his contract, how can we let ourselves get so depleted of players?

I hate that Alan Hansen catchphrase ” strength in depth” – what does that mean? Depth of what? The bath? Does it just mean a team need a few of each players, or a few utility players to come in for injuries? A while ago, we had Paul Hart at one of the LUSC meetings and he mentioned that premier league scouts were hanging round our Youth Team fixtures like vultures. Is that where our Youth team are going? To “bigger, better” clubs? But only to find, again, that they will never get a first team game as there is always some football agent out there who will be peddling his wares at Christmas. So realistically, it is a no brainer to a kid with talent, stick with your local team or go to a premier league club and warm their bench for more money instead? As I said,  no brainer.

So to Heckingbottom. If Radrizzani had set his heart on targeting an English manager who was already at a club and was willing to pay the other club off, I would have preferred him go to Mansfield and get Big Steve back. Evans has been doing a good job at Mansfield, he knows our set up, and when he came to the LUSC meetings, he was genuinely humbled to be received by us. He could not have shown more respect to us, the ordinary fans, it was more than the lip service that we have endured before him and since. I might add, had Colin offered to come to a meeting, I would rather have spent the evening pulling my teeth out anyway.

I may be proved wrong with Heckingbottom, he might turn out to be just as amenable as Big Steve. He’s a Yorkshireman after all. He might be approaching us as I type and begging to come to an LUSC meeting, who knows? As for his team selection, I am not sure if he picked the team against T’Blades, or he let someone else do it. As much as I like O Kane as a player, I wouldn’t have picked him as Captain. He’s too young and not had enough experience, and that headbutt was rubbish. Didn’t even draw blood. He needs to speak to Beradi and get some lessons into how to properly get sent off for a head butt.  Pablo’s captaincy was also a mistake though, he was like the Scarlet Pimpernel at times against Hull, as he has been most of the season. You cannot fault his talent, but he does do a Lord Lucan. Jokes aside, when the team haven’t been performing and you come in as a new manager, just make the changes. Don’t stick to the failing formula, create your own masterpiece. The world is your oyster. Drop Roofe, he has been pants the last few games, give him a break. Give Sakho a start, play Anita, he looked good at the start of the season before he got injured, play 4-4-2, just face it 4-3-2-1 just doesn’t work.

Put your own mark on it. Make it your own. This is your golden ticket..

Well the launch of the new badge has well and truly hijacked Blog number 3 of 2018. Bizarrely enough however, the same themes are running through, if not parallel to my original War and Peace essay. So here’s Blog number 3, take 2.

Loyalty – there’s a thing. Traditions and respect for your history and your humble beginnings – there’s another.

We lost a great friend and mentor in Eric, and as most of you will know, I personally was absolutely outraged (that’s putting it mildly) that the Club and it’s fans did not do more to show their appreciation of this great man. Although there was some outcry at the time on facebook, there was a noticeable quiet from other fan groups. Apart from BBC Radio Leeds, I did not see anything on mainstream media. I can’t recollect anything on Look North nor Calendar despite the extraordinary long service and dedication of this one man to promote Leeds United all over the world.

This led me to think that the “New Era of Leeds United fans” were just not really that bothered about the “Old Guard”. It made me think that the old supporters groups might just be outdated now, with the “new and improved” Bi-Millenials taking centre stage. Thinking about all those “The League is more important than the Cup” comments, the cynic in me says that times have changed. The way we watch football has changed, the way we appreciate football has changed, the way we talk and react to football has changed.  In short, football has changed, and I haven’t… and frankly, I’m not going to.

In the old days, unless your dad / relative / mate’s dad / relative / friend took you to watch a game, you basically were on your own. You may have been in a group at school who went together, but if you weren’t that lucky, and if you loved the team, you just went in head first, because the long and short of it was, you just wanted to watch Leeds United. These were the days when you could walk up to the turnstile and pay on the gate or climb over the walls for the more daring older members. Later on, tearing off your little paper slip from your season ticket book became the norm once terracing areas got their own season tickets. But it didn’t matter then, because you knew that everyone else on that terrace was just there to watch Leeds United as well. It didn’t matter who you were, where you came from or what you did, we were all equals – apart from the ones who had always been there. That was their spot and everyone knew it. If you went and stood in their spot, you would know about it. Terrace etiquette.

Away games were a different kettle of fish. Firstly, if you had never been to a ground before, you had to find it. This was no mean feat, as, if you remember, most grounds were in the middle of town, not these new out of town souless stadia like we have now. Walking round rows of terraced houses looking for Maine Road or Goodison Park, desperately hoping you didn’t bump into a crowd of home fans, was your first hurdle. This was of course, provided you got off at the right train station in the first place, and given that trains weren’t all that good in the old days, this was a recipe for disaster. Those paper timetables with the texture of school toilet paper were terrible if they got wet, difficult to read at the best of times. Trains though cost money, and in the 60s those who couldn’t afford it, well they just hitch-hiked, not as dangerous as it seems in those days (unless you didn’t know where Stoke was). None of this uber and googlemaps rubbish. Having said that, I think I saw something on facebook about some guy that got into a taxi to go to Stamford Bridge and the satnav took him to York. So , ho hum for technological advances.

So this is where the Supporters Clubs were a godsend. Not only did the coach pick you up, but they saved you the hassle of standing at the ticket office, hoping to God that no one could see your colours (after a few times, you stopped wearing your colours) to try and get a ticket anywhere you could. Then they would take you home, or at least to the pub on the way home, if it was open. Because all you wanted to do was to go watch Leeds United. That’s what it was all about then, watching your team. If you didn’t go and watch your team , then you never saw any football unless you caught World of Sport or Grandstand if you had a telly. None of this 600+ channels and sport on demand, every day of every week all year round, that you have nowadays. Saturday was special because Saturday meant football.

The loyalest fans went everywhere. No matter how much it cost in time and money, somehow you just did. Missing a game was unimaginable. These loyal fans weren’t celebrity fans, they didn’t tell everyone how much of a fan they were, they just went to the games and watched the 11 men on the pitch, and everyone knew it. They didn’t have famous friends, and if anything the players themselves recognised the ones that travelled everywhere, and they were proud of them. The players were proud of the fans – who’d have thought?

Nowadays, if you don’t post on social media, no one knows who you are. The loudest voices of the “fans” are those who are adept at using social media to their own ends. The ones the media take note of are the ones with all the means and the  money who organise plane fly pasts and inflated overhead projections. The ones who are famous for tweeting and retweeting and commenting on whatever late breaking news SkyTVis f**kings**t-all-one-word are peddling on their “transfer window exclusives”. Are these people the real fans, or are the real fans just those who want to go watch Leeds United? And I do mean the ones that want to watch the football, not these that want to go and do anything but watch the game. Why spend your time and money going to a game if you are just going to look at your phone for 45 minutes, take a 15 minute break and then go back on your phone for another 45 minutes? May as well just stop at home and sit on the toilet and do that. At least you won’t have to get up and go for a piss. Yes, jump up and down to celebrate when we score, but bringing in smoke bombs, having beer fights and spending the game whingeing about needing a new striker and arguing with your own fans, not funny, not clever and not Leeds. Not the Leeds of old, and as it should be, not the New Era of Leeds United.

How ironic then that Leeds United bring out a new badge that they say they have consulted with 10,000 fans on and within half an hour there are 10,000 people going on change.org moaning that they haven’t been consulted. Although, if you remember Ridsdale said that 38,000 fans voted to move away from Elland Road to Swillington, so at least 10k isn’t that bad. How ironic that some complainents may be some of the same people who think that the Club need to move forward, away from the old days and embrace the next 100 years because the New Era of Leeds United is about bringing in new blood.  How ironic is it that some of these same people believe that the loyal fans of the last 10+ years of decline, don’t really matter (especially when it comes to getting away tickets!), because it’s about the “new” generation of fans. How ironic is it that the simple act of recognising a proper Leeds United legend goes by without a murmur, brushed under the carpet because it’s part of the “old fashioned supporters club” era and this is the New Improved Modern Era of Leeds United. How ironic is it that remembering your history, being proud of your history and honouring the traditions of the oldest footballing tournament in the world isn’t that important, but when it comes to a new badge, all of a sudden, the words tradition and history are being used like they are going out of date ( pardon the pun).

Me, The new badge is growing on me. I never liked the shield, yes, it took us to the Champions League semi final, but it is tarred. Tarred with the horrors in Turkey, tarred with the Bowyer-Woodgate mess, tarred with Ridsdale and his gold plated fish tanks, tarred with O Leary and his book and last but by all means not least, tarred by Bates and Shaun Harvey.

Good riddance.

All hail the New Era of Leeds United. On On On.

ps thanks to Fear and Loathing in LS11 for the picture ( I have tried to tag you in it but this version of wordpress isn’t having it)