Today marks one of the saddest moments in the history of Leeds United, it is exactly not what football should be all about.

Many, many of us were looking forward to the first leg of our semi final clash in Istanbul. We were on a roll.  We had played in Partizan Belgrade in Heerenveen (for security reasons – war that is!), been to Moscow twice, although the 2nd visit was always going to be doomed to failure given how cold it had been the first time round. We had been on some damn good trips to Rome and Prague, and now were looking at two games to take us to the final against Arsenal. It was within our reach.

Most of us were already in Istanbul, having travelled with Big Fat Tony from UF Tours. Some of us were waiting at Leeds Bradford airport for the early morning flight with The Travel Club. None of us could have foreseen the events that took place.

For whatever reason, to this day, no one will know the full truth of what happened, two fans didn’t come home from a football game. Much has already been written about this, I do not need to and will not add anything further. I repeat, not what football should be about.

In previous posts, I have already highlighted the prejudice that Leeds United has been subject to. This season it has been the Football League and Sky joining the long list of other institutions that just cannot hide their dislike of us. UEFA has been a long standing perpetrator ( Paris, Salonika etc.etc.) and the wholly unjustified 15 point deduction in 2007 from the collective Football League Clubs to make sure we could not get near promotion, is another classic example of the disparity. Not that we all need reminding, but every year there is the constant reinforcement of the “us v them”.

Our continental cousins have always had much more hooliganism problems than us. Yes England can boast about The Service Crew, The HeadHunters, The InterCity Crew, The Herd etc. but quite frankly some of the European Ultras don’t actually have issues will killing each other, let alone have a fight. UEFA can’t deny that the problems exist, but they are happy to focus their attention on the English clubs, well, because they can, I suppose. Leeds is the equivalent in England. Whatever we do is twice as bad as any other club / player of a club doing it.

Whether it be the recent treatment of Mr Cellino ( incidentally CLEARED of all charges) by the Football League or the corrupt referees in the 1970s, the phenomenon perpetuates year on year. Liam Cooper has got a 6 match ban for something that I scarcely noticed in the ground. Yet that elbow to Chris Wood’s face was looked at, and no action needed apparently. Hmmm.

However, whatever “they” throw at us, we just keep going. Do you remember when the team used to come out to Tubthumping by Chumbawumba? I get knocked down, but I get up again. You’re never gonna keep me down. This is what our football is all about. This is Leeds United.

This day however, we will not forget.

RIP lads

Give them nothing, take from them everything – this is what I want to see plastered on the changing room walls at Elland Road from now till the end of the season.

After the QPR game on Saturday, the minutia of the 90 minutes was picked over, like a seasoned lobster picker armed with a titanium toothpick. The fact that we had no shots on goal let alone on target, justified the ” a point gained not two points lost” thinking. The fact that this was infuriating, is testament to how the team has grown in the last 8 months.

The defence has been the cornerstone of our team. At the start of the season, who knew anything about Luke Ayling, Captain Kyle Bartley and Pontus Jansson? Beradi, we already know from his spat with Leon Best in November 2015, has a particular set of skills and he has been perfection as a  stand in for that left back position in Charlie Taylors injury induced absence. Even though our history of playing players out of position, is not exactly glowing, our little Swiss right back has been outstanding so far and a real unsung hero. The commitment he shows epitomises the fighting team spirit our defence shows.

Chris Wood remains on fire. When he gets the ball, he takes a shot. So far he has racked up 22 goals in the League and 3 in the Cup. He is the top goal scorer as it stands in the league this season. When was the last time Leeds United could claim those bragging rights? Certainly not in the last decade in my memory anyway.

So comes the contentious issue of our midfield. Regular readers of this page will know how much I am in favour of the Phillips & O Kane partnership utilised to such good effect at the beginning of the season before O Kane got injured. To me, the physical presence of those two in the middle winning and then  holding the ball up, made those two my first choice picks. However, O Kane struggled after his injury and young Kalvin’s love affair with red cards so far this season, means that this dynamic duo may not reprise their roles again this season. I still think this is where we are lacking, a Luke Murphy or Big Dave ( aka your modern day Vinnys and Kamaras – thanks Dave), would make a huge difference. Unlike most Leeds fans, I don’t think we needed to get a striker in January, we have Roofe and The Duke. Garry with two Rs just needs to play them up front if and when the need arises. Whilst I cannot fault the effort that Vieira and Bridcutt put in, both their displays on Saturday ( and other games recently) were woefully lacking. Bridcutt is playing far too deep and bartley and Co certainly do not need any cover, thank you. The substitutions made a massive difference, but too little too late. The Duke should have come on a lot sooner, really the changes should have all been made within ten minutes of the second half, as we did not look like we were going to score at all. Pablo still looks like he is struggling to get fit. Again, I like him, but he still doesn’t look like he can last the full 90 minutes. Starting with Dallas would be a better option at home, with Sacko coming on as sub. Our two new wingers have potential, but realistically Luke Ayling proved more effective at getting forward than any of our other players.

We still have a chance at second. I am not bothered about going up as Champions. Newcastle and Brighton are not invincible, if anything Fulham are playing well and are a worry. We need to maintain our defensive capabilities, and with Ayling out for a couple of games, it may be time to play Taylor, Jansson, Capt Bartley and Beradi in front of Green. Wood is on International Duty again next weekend. He is one of our hardest working players and by far, he is the one who racks up the most air miles when it comes to “weekends off”.

Like it says at the top of the page, we need to give them nothing and take everything we can get in the run up to the end of the season.

Come on, let’s do this.

For those of you who never did O level Latin, viribus unitis means with united forces or with all ones might. Thanks to a bit of opportunistic photography at a half term stadium tour by a certain former Branch Secretary, this is what appears on the changing room walls at Leeds United.

Now you could be forgiven thinking that this has always been there, after all, we are Leeds United, but given it is emblazoned on a poster of our current team ( Wood, O Kane and Ayling), somehow I think not. Coincidentally, it was also the name of Emperor Franz Joseph I’s favourite Dreadnought Class battleship which was commissioned in 1911. Despite spurious attempts to link the Austro-Hungarian ruler to anyone in the current squad or management team, I can only conclude that this is mere coincidence.

So what is the relevance of this?

To me (and as usual PLEASE read The Disclaimer), this sums up where we are and what we are. United. Finally.

Today, pre match in the pub, there was a palpable air of uncertainty. For the first time in ages, it was brought up that we may be getting our 25% return on our season tickets, and it wouldn’t be a bad thing. Come on! Its not even March yet! There are still 12 games to go, that’s a quarter of a season, everything to play for. It’s not as if the teams above us are runaway leaders. As it stands right now, we are 9 points off 2nd place, 3 games basically. The only game this season where I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say that we were outplayed throughout the whole 90 minutes was QPR, the first game of the season. Oh yes, and Sutton, f***ing disgrace, yes I am still very annoyed…… But in the league, QPR,  7 months ago, when Garry with two Rs was just finding his feet, and yes, people were already calling for his head.

Look where we are now. Remember this?

https://www.leedsunited.com/news/team-news/56/2016-17-season-tickets-now-available

After the first few games, this was all people could talk about and the main discussion was how Mr Cellino was planning on getting out of paying this, as there was clearly no way we would ever achieve this and he would probably do a runner and leg it before he had to pay up anyway. There’s no point denying it, you all thought it, and yes, there are probably some who still think it now. Unfortunately if you follow the link, the watermarked poster boys are Lewis Cook and Alex Mowatt…oops!

So back to today. Everywhere you go (not just the Golden Lion pub), you hear how Cellino’s lack of spending in the transfer window has let us down. How we are never going to amount to anything with all these loan players. How we should have got Nugent or Fletcher and jumped at the chance of signing Rhodes. I am sick of hearing how much we need a proper striker and how much the midfield is lacking.

Today the team exemplified the word united. A sterling team effort by all. We do not play attractive football, but today, like we were doing in October and November, the result was ground out. Wood poked in his goal after his first controlling touch from a beautiful Beradi cross and even I couldn’t knock Green’s save from that “penalty”, which realistically was 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Beradi, who has been playing out of position since Charlie Taylor got injured, has been outstanding. He is clearly a right back, but he has slotted in so well, and unlike Sacko today, clearly can use his right and his left foot equally. O Kane, another unsung hero also put in an excellent shift. As for The Duke, when he has a good game, he does have a good game. I still think Bridcutt is playing too deep and gave the ball away a bit too much for my liking, but where the gaps appeared, someone came in to fill in, and again, Luke Ayling had another class effort in defence and going forward, apart from that poor clearance which he should have left, which led to the corner from which they got the penalty.

Come On Leeds!

ps thanks to former Branch Secretary for the photo

Lost In Translation, despite being nominated for 4 Academy Awards, was sadly exactly that to the MPO (In fairness, Bill Murray as his Garfield persona would have been made it a better film), and much is the case in point at Leeds United right now.

I don’t mean the Club itself, as frankly the team is going great guns at present and as I said before Excelsior! The dizzy heights of The Premiership beckon. Don’t get me wrong, I am still VERY cross about Sutton, and as far as I am concerned, it will be a monumental stain on the history of Leeds United for the foreseeable future. Every cup draw, whether FA Cup or League Cup, Sutton will be mentioned in the same breath as Histon and Colchester ad infinitum.

What I mean is, that in this age of social media, it has been far too easy for fans and fan groups to get carried away with what they think being a fan is all about. Twenty years ago, the only opportunities fans had to make public comments about our beloved team was via the then Yorkshire Post (and after 3pm the Yorkshire Evening Post) fans page on the Wednesday after the Saturday game. The Leeds United fanzines, like our own “We Are Leeds” were another outlet for fans to voice their opinions in writing.  Old fashioned writing I mean.  By letter, relying on Royal mail of course, and often by the time your letter got to the required destination, things had changed anyway, so sometimes you were unlucky enough to be out of date with your comments.

Enter the age of social media, where you can communicate to the world in seconds in 140 characters. You can post pictures via instagram and snapchat, post youtube videos and live stream via facebook. Even the Luddite led Harrogate branch have begrudgingly had to go into the internet age! Alas, with this great power there needs to be great responsibility, and this is so very sadly lacking.

I have always said that all fans are entitled to their own opinions. We pay hard earned money for the season tickets, gold memberships, away tickets, bus travel on the coach etc. Not to mention those that actually buy programmes and other Leeds United merchandise and of course there is the food and drink that we spend our pennies (pounds more like) at the home games. So, people have the right to say what they want. Within reason of course.

As Sean Connery would say, here endeth the lesson… within reason.

I had quite a bit of feedback from my rant the other month, some people agreed with it, some didn’t. Some people have added us to groups on facebook as well, so when I get a spare few minutes, I have a little perusal and I have seen some of my comments repeated on others posts. What is disturbing of late is the number of comments, whether in jest or not, of fans calling other fans “plastic” and some fans / fans groups generally thinking that they have the right to call themselves better than others.

I believe that this started when a certain person took over our club. As a result of his sad misguided belief of his own self importance, a wedge was driven between us. I remember having a heated discussion with someone who continually sang “Dennis Wise’s Barmy Army” politely referring him back to frequent visits to Stamford Bridge and having to put up with Wise and Le Saux on that touchline. He was a bit miffed when I said I would never sing his name, even if he got us promoted and won the Champions League. However, the munchkin helped us into Division 3. Enough said about that ! Subsequent years under the (un) shrewd guidance of the puppet master and his muppet / puppet, including the takeover by the poorest Arabs on the planet, led to further divides, with fans getting involved and taking sides vociferously. Fast forward to the press heyday of our current owners landing blows with everyone from the FA to the television gods, and every man and his dog has an opinion. It’s like a mad Venn diagram!

Back to the point, no one has the right to say that they are a better Leeds United fan than the next bloke. I certainly don’t agree with anyone speaking on my behalf either, I am very capable of making my views known. Whilst we ( Harrogate branch) are members of the LUSC, anything that the LUSC says publicly is only said with a majority agreement of all members. This does take time given that LUSC members are spread far and wide, and some don’t use social media. It is hard enough to get the Harrogate branch to tell us who they want to vote for as player of the month, let alone any major issue like what they think of new Chairman. So, transpose this on hundreds of thousands of Leeds United fans all over the world, and I find it difficult to believe that any single fan group can wholeheartedly say that they speak for the majority of Leeds United fans, even when blessed with fibre broadband!

The new man Andrea Radrizzani met with some selected fan groups earlier this week, we are being told that the Club would like to engage with the fans more. What I would like to see is that we all have an equal voice about the issues we feel are important to us, and not whoever shouts loudest. We have an opportunity to start a new chapter of the history of Leeds United, so rather than argy bargy, lets get our heads together and bring our collective voices, whilst still maintaining our individual entities and merits, around the table. I am sure there are some good ideas that we can all agree on, which we can realistically take forward. When I say agree on, I don’t want a repeat of the “Who votes for a move to Swillington?” debate in the 2000s where allegedly we all wanted to move out of Elland Road…….

I want us to buy Elland Road back and get the West Stand redeveloped, I would gladly buy a bond to help….. anyone else?

As I write there is still the question of the fate of Garry with two Rs hanging over our heads. Unfortunately this is not the first time that Leeds United fans have come across this phenomenon – der der – der der der. So I thought I would handily summarise at least some of the past events in our history, which I feel (and again I MUST reiterate – my words are my own, read The Disclaimer) have blighted our glorious history. The Imbalance of power that controls the destiny of our beloved Leeds United in summary.

These are a selection of some events which I believe Leeds United have been discriminated against unfairly, and if it were any other club / Chairman / manager / team /players (you get my drift) , the result may well have been different. The list is by no means complete and exhaustive, but I haven’t got enough time to do a  comprehensive one now, nor never really.

The Cup Winners Cup Final in 1973.

Bent as a two bob note referee who never refereed another professional international game in his life. Richard Corbutt (MEP for Yorks and Humber) took a petition to UEFA with thousands of signatures regarding that match. Even the local fans boo-ed the lap of honour in Salonika and some Milan fans are still embarrassed by the sad affair. Even the Daily Telegraph did an article on it ( see link below)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/leeds-united/5159007/Uefa-asked-to-probe-Leeds-Uniteds-1973-Cup-Winners-Cup-defeat-to-AC-Milan.html

The European Final in Paris 1975

Robbed again by dodgy referee and cheating Beckenbauer, who years later admitted that the tackle on Clarke was a blatant foul and we should have had a penalty. In an act of shame, after the ref clearly pointed to the centre spot after giving Lorimer the goal, Beckenbauer “had a word” with the ref about Billy being offside and the rest is history. In an article to the YEP in May 2015, Allan Clarke said that he still hasn’t spoken to any of that Bayern team nor the referee since that game, and hopes he never will. Outstanding! There’s a man who can hold a grudge, the MPO has a long, long way to go!

Playing league title decider two days after the FA Cup final in 1972

48 hours after playing Arsenal at Wembley, we were expected to be fully fit and rested for the league title decider. Nowadays, the Premiership teams are moaning about fixture congestion and wanting a winter break because players are playing too many games. This despite going to the USA and Asia to play in the closed season. Says it all doesn’t it. But lessons have sadly not been learnt and I think the same may well have happened this season too as the Championship play off final is within 48 hours of the FA Cup… lucky that we lost to Sutton then!

The Football Association Fit and Proper Test.

At the end of our 2005/6 season we were in all sorts of a mess with the problems with the court case and Ridsdale spending what he didn’t have, so we were “bailed out” by Bad Papa Smurf in an act of selfless humility. Under Bad Papa Smurfs reign of terror, Shaun Harvey was the chief exec officer and remained so until GFH took over July 2013. He was then appointed by the Football League as the new chief exec whose role it was to address issues with club ownership, governance and compliance with rules. This despite the fact that under his tenure at Bradford City, the club collapsed into administration and almost full liquidation. Whilst he was at Leeds United, in 2007 the club collapsed into administration owing approx £35 million with reported £7 million in taxes due. He told a parliamentary select committee that despite being Chief Exec at Leeds, he had no idea who owned Leeds United. He was also found guilty of harassment using Yorkshire Radio and the Leeds United matchday programme. Something that to this day he has never apologised for. Somehow, the Football League felt that this man was qualified for this job! Hmmm. In March 2014 Carson Yeung ( Birmingham City owner ) was convicted and jailed for 6 years for money laundering. Meanwhile, Owen Oyston (Blackpool owner) served nearly four years after being found guilty of another crime, his son was also found guilty of offensive language and was banned for six weeks from footballing activities. Before anyone does a Donald Trump at me, this is NOT fake news, it is in fact, well, fact. If you don’t believe me you can google it, plus it’s on Wikipedia, so MUST be true. There are others such as the Blackburn, Coventry City and Charlton owners, who aren’t exactly shining lights of propriety either, you can look them up yourselves and make your own minds up, if you think I am being too harsh. Meanwhile, Mr Cellino appears to have some issues with a boat and some cars and was immediately banned by the same Football League who appear to have no problems with any of the above. The initial conviction in an Italian court was appealed and it has now been completely quashed, with Mr Cellino acknowledged as having done nothing wrong. Whatever you think of our Chairman, still not right is it?

The Football League Television Deal

The thing that hardly any of the English Football League Chairman have actually seen , let alone read, that was signed on behalf of them by, you guessed it, Shaun Harvey. Since when do you put your name to something you haven’t read? So Mr Cellino just before Christmas 2015 decides that moving games for the benefit of TV whenever the TV companies dictate it, isn’t really something he signed up for it and would like to see a copy of said contract. For his efforts he gets a rollicking, a lambasting even, by all corners of the media and fans and chairmen alike. Even though, most fans secretly agreed with him. Come December 2016, there is a meeting at Pride Park, where all 72 of the EFL clubs were invited. The meeting was to discuss what the Derby County Chairman, Mel Morris, described as a lack of transparency when it comes to the major dealings with a significant financial impact to the EFL clubs. Cellino was hailed as a madman clutching at straws at the time, it only took a year for the rest of the league to realise what was going on. Their rights signed away by someone who saw two clubs go into administration.

Excessive celebration of a goal.

Pontus got a yellow card for jumping into the crowd after he scored his first goal in Nov 2016. Meanwhile on Sunday, the Hudds Town manager not only leaves his technical area, but runs 50 yards on the pitch to celebrate the goal. The referee and the linesmen do nothing at all, until Garry decides to block him as he is running through our technical area. Me? I would have slyly stuck out a foot to trip him up, in a Roadrunner v Wile E Coyote move, hoping for a classic fall flat on his face. This is because when it boils down to it, I am not a responsible grown up, I am a petty minded child at heart. Sadly, unlike me, Garry with two Rs isn’t, and didn’t, and had to put up with a load of earache until Pep and the rest of the team piled in. Earlier this season Fulham and QPR were fined about £40,000 each for their touchline brawl. We wait with bated breath to see what happens……

Indignity or indignation, or even in dignity –  however you choose to read it.

After the horror show that was Sutton, I expected, nay demanded, a fightback. Blackburn at home and then a trip to the John Smith stadium was on the cards, and I, like many others basically wanted blood.

The Blackburn match was uninspiring and unenthusiastic to say the least, apart from the last 15 minutes of the game. I thought the first half was terrible, and spent most of it fuming about how annoyed I felt at Sutton, and thinking up various expletives to shout at the team if we didn’t get a result after 90 minutes. Luckily enough, up popped Pontus for a fantastic header and the lad saved the day once again. So, I was placated and though still very cross about Sutton, went about my business, and branch business, preparing for the away game at the weekend. This was of course made difficult by Huddersfield deciding to limit the away allocation by segregating the stand behind the goal, rather than giving us the whole end as in previous seasons. To be fair to them, they did fill the ground. Or at least what was left of it after their sponsors decided to maximise advertising space by using huge flags which drastically reduced the number of available seats, rather than the bog standard advertising hoardings. I can’t say I have seen such dedicated sponsorship packages before at a stadium, normally seats are for sitting in, but hey, this is Huddersfield, and this must just be how they roll.

When they came to Elland Road earlier this season, simply put, we could not cope with their midfield. That guy Mooy did all the damage, so this time round I thought Garry with two Rs would have learned from his mistakes, and fielded a stronger and more steadfast midfield. Unfortunately, lessons had not been learnt, and whilst our defence coped admirably in the beginning, our midfield was about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. And before anyone starts on me about how brilliant Bridcutt and Vieira are, what we needed on Sunday was Batty and McAllister, not Torvill and Dean. We needed a midfield who could trap the ball and hold it up until the wingers and Wood regrouped, not someone who got the ball but then just gave it straight back, or lost it straight away. There are some games when you need a couple of quick flair players, others when you just need a big brick wall. From where I was standing time and time again, I saw high balls being foisted across to two of our smallest players in the middle, who frankly never stood a chance. As for the substitutions, well, I agree that something had to change, but given Pablo looked like the bunny with the crap batteries in the Duracell ad, I would have taken him off before Dallas, who looked better when he switched to the right side. Apparently Roofe and Sacko weren’t available, so Garry with two Rs had no option but to play his two new players. Two players who had only just signed up and had maybe just two days of trying to fit in to a team. The lad, Pedranza had a chance at goal early on, but poor Mo Barrow may have well have been sat in a barrow. Me, well I would have started with Phillips and Eunan O Kane, and then brought on that bit of pace in the second half, to try and get a winner. It was always going to be hard going, but you have got to learn from your mistakes. As for those free kicks that Pablo pretended to take, I have two words to say, Matt Grimes.

I can’t finish without mentioning what happened at the end. I haven’t seen a copy of the YEP yet, but I am pretty sure words like “disgraceful scenes” and “shameful behaviour” will be up there. The YEP have got their predictive text down to a tee when it comes to Leeds United. I didn’t see very much myself when their winner went in. I remember going, “don’t let him cross” and then the inevitable happened, somehow the ball hit the back of the net. All from our free kick, which we gave away. I didn’t even know the bearded one had run down the pitch to celebrate, so when I saw the melee by the dugouts and the Leeds players, led by Captain Bartley all diving in, I just assumed that we were bad losers and just couldn’t take it. When I got back to the bus, there was talk that Garry with two Rs had shoulder barged him and got a big shaking off the bearded one for doing it. I didn’t realise that this had all happened in our technical area and he shouldn’t have been in there in the first place. Having seen the stuff posted on social media, I thought I had better share it myself, as Garry did walk across him with his hands in his pockets, as I probably would have done myself. The reaction he got from the little bearded man was excessive really, and although it was good to see all our players going in to defend Garry with two Rs honour, there will be repercussions.

Whilst many focussed on the fisticuffs, Garry with two Rs nonchalantly wandered off with his hands in his pockets, sloping away like Paul Kersey in those fabulous Michael Winner films did. One of my all time favourite actors Charles Bronson, the gravitas of the man, the dignity