..we learn to live again.

It’s times like these that being a Leeds fan has it’s ups, downs and all arounds!

It was with bated breath that we watched Alan McInally stick his hand in that pot that night. I was desperately hoping that he would draw Ball 3 out, desperate for that precious home draw which just might, yes, just might give us a semi-final that we deserve. However, it was just not to be, and of all the teams we could have picked to be away at, Liverpool was our reward. The first away team to be drawn out in fact. I suppose it put me out of my usual misery of waiting until the end at least, and it could have been a lot worse. It could have been West Ham away or Southampton away. The tie is win-able, Liverpool have much more to lose should they be defeated by a Championship side. We, on the other hand, have nothing to lose and everything to gain. To some, actually most of the team, this will be the first time they have been to Anfield as a player. We will be going in to that game having been unbeaten at home in 7 games, having qualified despite going down to 10 men and on penalties and, and this is a big factor, we will fill the end that they give us. To press, the allocation is 5,300, which is probably only what the Police will allow them to give us anyway. There has been talk that they gave Carlisle 10,000 once in a cup game, but realistically, Liverpool do not need the gate receipts from us and we wouldn’t want a crime wave on Merseyside during the game, would we?

We had the small matter of Burton at home last weekend. After the excitement of the Cup, we came down to earth with a bang against the newly promoted Brewers. It was a hard fought first half and the second looked like we were going to hold out for a perfectly acceptable draw, given the midweek heroics.  Roofe still hasn’t perfected his finishing skills and Wood is doomed to be fouled continuously without ever getting a free kick, for the rest of the season. However, just when it seemed like we were running out of ideas, on came The Duke. What a difference a Duke makes! There was some good link up play in the midfield, resulting in a beautifully weighted pass to The Duke from Pablo. At the time, I didn’t think it was a penalty, it looked to me like he had tripped over his own feet, but nevertheless, the power that Chris Wood put in that penalty, summed up what we have finally – a team. From Mowatt hurling himself to block those two shots, to prevent the equaliser, to Wood just managing to draw players away, giving The Duke the space to run down the middle, to The Duke, just not giving up until that ball went in. I thought Ayling had a cracker of a game as well, whilst Jansson gets the plaudits, Ayling and Captain Bartley just quietly get on with it. Garry and his coaching team are proving that Leeds United can be united. It’s still only the start of November, but if we carry on like this, we will be unstoppable. It looks like the Newcastle home game will be a sell out, yes there will be Newcastle fans not in the away end, but realistically, we would only reciprocate anyway when we go up there. It will be nice to have a full crowd again at Elland Road, it’s just a shame it may only be for one game. But who knows? I am all for getting more fans to come back to us. It is a refreshing change that football is being discussed rather than the off field antics between certain fan groups.

One major problem of the increase in popularity, however, is the effect on ticket supply and demand. This has already reared it’s ugly head on social media, with the Club condemned by all sections of fans. The fact is that Leeds United are in a no win situation, the saying is you can’t please all of the people, all of the time. The truth is Leeds United cannot please anyone, at any time at all, full stop.

This branch has always tried to get enough tickets in order to be able to run a bus to as many away games as possible. In the old days, when the LUSC were still recognised for being the best way to run the away support, tickets were never much of an issue. Eric Carlile just sorted branches out with as many tickets as was needed. Then, Sad Santa came along, and basically told us it was his way or no way. The rest is history, now we need to start a different chapter, but we can’t go back as too many bridges have been burned, we need to go forward. In order to do that, there needs to be a starting place. At the moment, this starting place is what Leeds call the “loyalty tracker system”.

For me, and some (if not most ) other branches, this is a good idea. It ensures that those who travel regularly to away games, from season to season, get tickets whether they are a season ticket holder or gold member. Their loyalty is built up over the season by attending as many away games as possible, and then at the start of the next season, should the allocation be low, these people still get a ticket. I know the only way to absolutely ensure you get an away ticket is to buy an away season ticket, but it is a lot of money on top of your season ticket, to splash out on up front. Not everyone is as lucky as some to have that facility. Equally, not everyone can afford to splash the cash on a season ticket. Therefore a gold membership is the only option, and a large amount of perseverance, patience and luck.

Supporting Leeds United takes time and money. In fact, it takes up most of your life, and by default therefore, your family, friends, pets, relationships, work and holidays are all affected by football. They should be paying us for all our dedication, but unfortunately, we are the ones shelling out. The Liverpool ticket allocation is clearly not sufficient for our needs. I can see the argument that those who can’t afford to go often, would want to go to this game. I can also see the argument that if you were one of the paltry 8,500 who turned up for the Blackburn game, you should get the priority for your loyalty. But there simply isn’t the volume of tickets available to do that. So, the Club have decided to go with rewarding the people who have attended the most away games so far, as the majority of those people probably do have season tickets and probably did turn up to the earlier rounds.

Heaven knows what will happen should we get through to the semis!

…take it eeeeeasy, don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy

It’s times like these that any fan of Leeds United is happy to write about. From the well deserved win over Wolves, to the amazing team effort on Tuesday for 90 minutes plus. Players that gave their all, and then some. What a fantastic result, probably the best way to win that game, it was a true nail biter to the end. What a penalty for young Vieira to step up to, he will struggle to score a better penalty under more intense circumstances. Plaudits of the night however, have to go to the outstanding, magnificent Marco.

Both teams had made 8 changes from the teams that had played at the weekend. I had figured that Garry would make some changes, but not as many as that. But Marco made his mark with that save early in the first half, and that was his statement of intent. Both teams had their chances, despite the changes, Norwich on top for the first half hour or so, scoring from a header from one of the smallest guys on the pitch. A Bartley goal disallowed as Kyle clearly batted it in with his hand, and all he got was a yellow card for his efforts. But we got back into the game after a bit of nifty footwork by Roofe on the byline. A lovely placed cross to The Duke from Roofe, and The Duke duly set up Antonsson for his tap in, in front of the empty South Stand. It was hard fought in the second half, but we had the edge. If Mowatt had his shooting boots on, we would have won in normal time but alas it was not to be, and with only the keeper to beat, Mowatt hacked the ball into the Kop. Garry had gambled on getting the job done in 90 minutes, using all his subs, so when Coyle landed awkwardly in the penalty area in added time, we all feared the worse.

So the scenario was extra time with only 10 men. The atmosphere was so intense, it was like being crushed under a giant Canary. The burden was being carried by our very young side and we were being battered by a side who were much bigger and quicker with the luxury of fresher legs. When they scored, we looked doomed. All the hope was gone and the majority of the Kop were resigned to defeat, but this team just does not know when it is beaten. Grimes, who had been relatively anonymous throughout the 90 minutes, put the ball through to Sacko and the whole of the Kop waited to see if he would shoot. It looked like he did, the keeper came out but only parried the ball to the waiting Chris Wood who slotted home, and the crowd went mad. Minutes later, it looked like Sacko had another chance, racing goalwards with three men crowding him out, the ball went out for what we and Chris Woods thought looked like a corner, but the ref blew and penalties loomed. Everyone was wondering where they would be taken and all we could hope for was that they would be in front of the Kop. Our wishes came true and all we could do was try to put off the Norwich players as much as we could, and hope that we could score. There was no one who honestly thought Marco would save a penalty.

After all the stick Silvestri took last season from people booing him for not catching the ball when he punched it away, he had to have balls of steel on Tuesday to stand there. Moans about his distribution on the pitch and even his own defence having a pop at him for not commanding his area, let alone the fans, marred that whole season. This, despite him single handedly keeping us in the game at Boro two season ago. Marco won LUSC Player of The Season that first season, his trophy was given to him the following season, on the pitch by Johannesburg LUSC amid cruel cries of “Don’t drop it” , “Butterfingers” etc. etc. etc. yet he still played on and his girlfriend, Sofia, stood with Leeds fans steadfastly. Sadly, Monk brought in Green, and he lost his place, in my mind undeservedly.

Honours were even after the first attempts and then Marco stood his ground and saved the second, Roofe slotting in his to give us the lead. A dive to his right, stopped the next Norwich penalty and all of a sudden we are in with a chance. I have to say, when young Kalvin Phillips stepped up, I think the Kop thought it was going to be easy sailing, with “We Are Leeds” joyfully ringing round the rafters, but Ruddy pulled off a brilliant save to deny us the two goal advantage. We were clinging on after Oliveira scored and Grimes ballooned his shot, but the giant of the man that Marco is, stepped up or rather spectacularly dived to his right give us the edge.

I don’t know how young Vieira felt walking up for that penalty, I don’t think he will easily forget it. It was fitting that one of our home grown academy players won us that shoot out. A fantastic team effort and one of the best games I have seen at Elland Road for quite a while. I hope this will be a continuing theme for the rest of the season. I admit that when the substitutions started, I was doubting Garry’s decisions, but I am very glad to be proved wrong.

The only sour point for me was that I was unable to enjoy the game from the luxury of my season ticket seat. I know that the Club were reluctant to open all the stands for fear of a repeat of the last (Blackburn) Cup game, where barely 9,000 loyal fans bothered to turn up. I had emailed them about it when the tickets were announced. To be fair to the Club, they had cut prices for season ticket holders and members to encourage a good attendance. When I arrived at the ground, the queues at Lowfields were circling right round for people who were picking up their tickets. As I got to my non preferred seat in the Kop, I saw that the Captains Corner was open, and I was fuming. Admittedly, I don’t know how The Club would have been able to transfer me or anyone else who had been forcibly relocated to other stands, back to our original seats, but frankly I don’t care. Leeds United should have more confidence in their own product, and realistically should have opened the West Stand initially, along with the two stands (Kop and East Stand) that they did.

At the time of writing, we do not know what the quarter finals holds for us. If it is a home tie, please, please Leeds United – be proactive, for all our sakes.

Until then, lighten up while you still can, don’t even try to understand, find a place to make your stand…

MPO

To Everything Turn, Turn, Turn. There is a season…. and this could be ours!

This time last week we were coming into the Wigan game with a decent display at Derby, and all was good. Unfortunately, after the 1-1 draw, the world was full of despondency once more. At the death, our defence failed to clear and Wigan equalised in the 91st minute, a draw snatched away from the mouth of victory. It felt like we had lost the game and people were calling for Garry Monks head, baying for blood.

A week later, here we are again. After a hard fought team display on Saturday at Wolves, and an own goal from Sacko’s bewilderingly placed cross in front of the gaping goal, we emerged victorious. Back to tonight, and following a poor start to ticket sales initially, Leeds United have been forced to open the West Stand Upper Tier to cater for more purchases. This is good, after our poor support at the Blackburn home tie, with less than 10,000 punters turning up. Yet season ticket holders continued to complain that they wouldn’t attend as “their stand” wasn’t open. This despite the £10 a ticket for adults and a very competitive £2.50 for children / £5 for OAPs. What more could the Club do?

Should we win tonight and get another home tie, there is only one solution. Just open the whole ground up.

Regardless of whether the team are doing well or not, it looks like we cannot fill the ground for cup games, that is unless we get a “glamour” tie. Bizarrely enough, despite only getting 23,000 for the last few league games, the Newcastle game is selling like hotcakes!

I am a cynic of the highest order, therefore, I need to stop discussing this any further for fear of upsetting folk. My parting shot is that, should we progress, I hope the Club discount the tickets for anyone who bothered to turn up for the Blackburn home cup game.

MPO

As Keats said, To Autumn – the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, close bosom friend of the maturing sun, conspiring with him how to load and bless, with fruit, the vines that round thatch-ed eaves run.

For those of you who never did English Lit at O level; as is with Leeds United, the team are maturing slowly under Garry-with-two-Rs leadership. There still is plenty of room for improvement before the winter cold sinks in, so let us just consider how far we have come before we start nit picking.

Our defence, which in previous seasons has seen us produce net negative figures generally, has gone from strength to strength. This, despite the loss of our Premiership standard right back – who hasn’t chalked up 3 starts in a row since he left us for the Mighty ‘Ammers. The usual Media scrum around losing our other Want-Away Taylor has died down some, since the emergence of the Terrible Trio of Capt Bartley, Jansson and Ayling, silencing the critics. It may even be possible that they are not wanting to press his departure for fear of unleashing a better defender, who may well be the last brick needed in the unstoppable defensive wall of the Mighty Leeds. Incidentally, I would still have Silvestri back at the drop of a hat.

Plaudits as well for the matching of O Kane (good swap for Lewis Cook) and young Kalvin Phillips. The pair of them are a good unit and despite their size and relative inexperience, they have carved out their midfield role with Ninja like precision. The rest of the midfield is where the maturing sun and Garry need to focus their attention on. We desperately missed Dallas on Saturday against Derby. I still think Sacko, Hernandez, Vieira and Roofe have skills, guile, speed and agility, as much as the next man, Mowatt. But they haven’t gelled yet and they need the likes of Dallas and the out of favour Murphy and Diagouraga to put in the extra challenge that is needed. The need is especially apparent when playing teams like Derby and Huddersfield, with a strong midfield. Mooy was unstoppable, and whilst the referee wasn’t giving us anything against the South Yorks Chihuahuas that day, his presence on the pitch was something that our team was sadly lacking.

Our finishing in the final third has also been underwhelming of late. Chris Wood works hard and he chases the ball down, like a goal hungry striker should. I still think we should play two up front, unpopular as it is nowadays. It’s all fair and square getting your wide players to put a cross in, but in my mind, there should be an option of a second man for the killer touch, in true Lee Chapman poacher style, should the keeper only manage to parry the save.

Our set pieces, especially from corners have got better after the shaky season start. Captain Bartley could have scored not once but twice at The Ipro, in his Weatherall-esque role in front of goal. We should have scored from that Antonsson shot as well, only the bar saved Derby from a draw, which would have been a fair result after the goal from Greens blunder early in the second half. Silvestri had his critics last year, I still think Garry should give him the Number 1 shirt back.

Thanks to Mandy and the staff at The Crowne Inn, Somercotes for the hospitality and the photos, which were posted on facebook before we all got back inside the pub. It is on days like these that we have to thank the Home Clubs for giving us the allocation we need.

The day was marred by poor Police and stewarding after the game, right in front of the coaches. I didn’t witness anything myself but apparently fans were being attacked. I am not entirely sure who was attacking who, as during half time a fellow Leeds fan threw a punch at one of our female members. 20 years ago, taking a picture meant a trip to Boots and waiting a week for them to develop it, I hope that social media was put to good use on Saturday, so that those responsible are brought to book. But after the tear gassing at Hull and the Norwich and Bradford flare incidents last season, I doubt if any of the footage will lead to appropriate action being taken against any of the perpetrators. I know there will be criticism at what I say, but some of our own fans need to take a long hard look at themselves before they start blaming others.

Considering Derby were one of the first clubs in the country to have a second generation, purpose built new stadium, there’s always had problems there post match – biggest ensemble of Elvis’s I’ve ever seen. Long gone are the days when rival fans were able to leave stadia in relative propriety together. After “The Cheese Wedge” was put out of commission for away fans during the Bates Era as a money making scheme, there has been continuing issues for our disabled / less able fans trying to leave the ground via The West Stand. The Club say that they, and the Police think it is better and safer for away fans to be housed there, after all £37 in advance or £42 on the day, is bound to be better. I don’t think there has been any difference in the activities of the Numskulls who stand on the corner outside McDonalds, shouting at anybody and everybody, since the change, and there certainly isn’t a reduction in the presence of the Police vans who are parked up opposite The East Stand. They all still seem to be sat inside, not doing very much or standing within three feet of the vans doing a very good job protecting themselves, most match days.

Finally, tickets. My apprehension about Norwich was unfounded, with the grand figure of 2400 being announced, and at £40 per adult, all I can say is, good ( nearly £100,000) decision Norwich! Leeds United, thankfully, has also made the game a loyalty one based on their “Away Tracker” system. Given that it was based on “3 or more away games” so far, this was an excellent idea, as the first 7 away fixtures included 3 long away games to QPR, Cardiff and Bristol and the Forest loyalty game. This is music to the ears for all  hard working LUSC branch secretaries and other non season ticket holder dedicated fans. It is so disappointing to let down loyal fans when tickets are short and I hope that The Club will continue on this road. I have some sympathy with people who are just starting to travel away, but there are plenty of opportunities through the season at the larger allocation grounds, to get your loyalty points up for the next season. Any dedicated fan who travels from Harrogate to Bristol City on a Tuesday night or Brighton on a Friday night, deserves a ticket over the “one away per season” part timer. With any luck, Leeds will continue with this and the rest of the Championship (Premiership in the near future) clubs will treat the Leeds fixture as a money spinning cash cow, and give us a decent allocation for the coming seasons and years, or at least until I stop being the Branch Ticket Orderer.

Cheers

MPO

So, what about Leeds United since last month? I got a bit distracted, apologies. Meanwhile, in a city nearby… the football continues! I needn’t write about the other stuff, it’s all hearsay and speculation, boring really….

So, in summary, the away game at Bristol could be summed up with two words – poor finishing. However, the team put on a better display against Barnsley last week, and despite a very soggy walk back to the pub, we were again, buoyed by the spirit of things to come.

Firstly, our condolences to The Revie family on the sad passing of Duncan Revie. The club demonstrating that we never forget our own, with members of the family joining us at Elland Road for the Barnsley match, and a minutes applause before the game as a mark of respect. Forgive me, but I still prefer to stand in silence with my head bowed as my mark of respect, call me old fashioned.

The defence still look tidy, with Captain Bartley at the helm, the confidence extruding from the back into the midfield duo of O Kane and Phillips. Kalvin Phillips still takes a lot of flak from some parts of the crowd. They seem to forget, he’s still only 20, yes TWENTY, it’s still six weeks before he hits 21. It is a big ask to be playing for Leeds United in the first place, let alone a holding role in midfield. That goal he scored from the free kick at Forest was a sign of things to come, as long as people stop getting on his very young back. Against Barnsley, he had a good start, but then he had a couple of misplaced passes and his head went down, but he pulled himself back together again, and both he and O Kane impressed for me.

Pontus Jansson is fast becoming a fans favourite with his social media comments as well as his performances on the pitch. His style obviously suits Leeds United and not Torino, they got Joe Hart instead, I think that is a fair swap. Hernandez is still a little stop-start as is Hadi Sacko in my opinion. They both show speed and agility, but are inconsistent with that final pass and finishing. Both could have four or five goals this season each, but for their penchant for aiming for the back of the Kop / South Stand instead of the goalmouth. Still, Pablo had a fine finish for his goal, and it is only October.

The club have answered their critics when it comes to being fairer to fans, by reducing the price for the Norwich League Cup home game. You really can’t ask for more than a tenner for a cup game in this day and age, I certainly cannot recollect paying that in a long while, apart from the heady days of European football in the late 90s. So, for all those who moaned that it is too expensive, lets see how many of the 14,000 season ticket holders turn up in a few weeks time. The main (selfish) issue I have, is that I can’t sit in my season ticket seat as the stand is closed. Whilst I understand that cost cutting measures are needed for low attendances, there was talk that for the last (Blackburn) Cup game, there were still stewards and the bag checking station in position outside the Captains Corner as no one had told them that the stand was closed! I can only hope that there weren’t any staff waiting for customers at the bar inside wondering what was going on. A query to the ticket office revealed that the plan is to open the stands in a rotation system for home Cup ties depending on attendances. Whether or not there is a need to open up the West Stand for the Norwich game, after our next 3 wins, it will nevertheless, be a happy position to be in.

Lastly, my usual gripe about away tickets…. As most LUSC Branch Secretaries / ticket purchasers are very well aware, it is not easy getting tickets for away games these days. The heady days of just getting your list to Eric Carlisle, have sadly gone the way of all good things. If it were up to me, ALL away ticket allocations would be based on the loyalty system, banishing the panic stations at 10.30am sirens. Previous discussions with the Club have revealed that some fans aren’t happy with this system and don’t think it is fair that the same people get to go to away games all the time. To those people I would simply like to say WHAT PART OF THE WORD LOYALTY DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?

Like many seasoned fans over the years, I know that there is a core of maybe 1500 of us who go and have been going to every game for as long as I can remember. There used to be many more, but some have sadly passed away, some have got different responsibilities now, some have moved away and some, yes, some, have just got older and wiser. Tumultuous times at the Club have seen a fair few off as well, and as always the cost of following our team, is another unhelpful distraction. But for those who haven’t missed a game for years, to miss out on getting a ticket because someone else has a better computer and better IT skills than someone else, just isn’t right. Not everyone can afford to fork out for an away season ticket at the start of the season, so there is only one option, buy your tickets on the website. When it is based on loyalty, at least there is a 48-72 hour window for you to get your ticket. The Club have all ticket purchases on record, so it isn’t a hardship for them to use the “loyalty tracker”. Loyal fans should be rewarded for their loyalty. As our performances on the pitch improve, I can only see the problem increasing. Away allocations are also restricted by previous behaviour at said grounds, and whilst I am certainly not a fun dodger, beer fights and smoke bombs aren’t my cup of tea, especially if it means that our ticket allocation is cut. So, we wait with baited breath for the decision at Norwich following our last visit….

October – Full Stop-tober, international break week. No proper football as the international teams get to play on the traditional footballing days of er- Thursday and Saturday (depending on which National team you support). Big Sam Allardyce is out of a job after 67 days – as if we as Leeds fans can joke about that! The Daily Telegraph doing its best investigative reporting to reveal the serious corruption problems that are going on in football. Its a shame it hasn’t done more “in depth reporting” about the scandal at the heart of football, FIFA and UEFA. It’s not like there hasn’t been MILLIONS of pounds, dollars, euros etc. changing hands in briefcases/envelopes/Swiss bank accounts, with major law enforcement companies like the FBI and Interpol/Europol, whatever it is called now, being drafted in.

No, The Daily Telegraph has obviously bigger fish to fry, in wait, London, with talk of princely sum of wait – £30 grand! Hours of “incriminating video footage” of people talking about what you can and can’t do in football. Some journo impersonating someone with money asking how to get round rules. What a load of rubbish. For crying out loud, you’ve got Blatter and ” French World Cup Hero” Platini with MILLIONS of actual money in bank accounts that they shouldn’t have. You’ve got Olympic committees GIVING MILLIONS away because they think its ok to do that. ENTIRE COUNTRIES dolling out money to “representatives on behalf of Nations” to get tournaments and events to be played in their countries, and The Daily Telegraph think that having a chat after dinner and some drinkies constitutes a major story. Talk about clutching at straws. It’s the equivalent of that bloke in the pub who knows someone, who knows someone else, who could have a word in the ear – like of someone else. No one gives a crap! Not public interest.

What is public interest is what deal the Premier League and Football League have with TV companies, so that they can move games at the drop of a hat to increase viewing figures. What influence they have over the police – yes, a public institution paid for by taxpayers – over fixtures that have to be moved for allegedly “public safety” reasons. How much British teams get paid by TV companies to reschedule games. What National teams and the FA do with the money they get from TV companies and advertising sponsors? Didn’t some FA Chairman get half a million in bonuses ontop of his FA wage and perks one year? What about that then?

You have sport being ruined by advertising, sponsorship, intellectual property and TV rights etc. and no one doing a thing about it. Cricket matches in India / the Middle East, with Test players being involved, played in empty stadiums because the ticket prices are too high, and then players being “rested” in County championships games because they might pick up a strain. Premiership teams crying out for the “Winter Break” because of too many games, then going to play in the US or Australia in “friendly” moneyspinners. Teams complaining about fixture build ups, but then having weeks of pre-season friendlies in Asia and the US, that’s public interest.

The FA Cup and the League Cup, OUR traditional Cups are basically being belittled by the “Premiership Elite” because, money is the most important thing my friend, not football. The “Glory of The Beautiful Game” is being ruined by money, you see it in the weakened sides being played in the early rounds of the Cup, as not getting relegated from the Premiership is more important. The “Champions League” is basically evolving into what the “Big European Clubs” want anyway, games that they think people will want to watch on telly so they can get the massive advertising revenues in. The longer Scum stay out of the Champions League places the better. AC Milan are in the same boat in Italy. So the next thing is that they (UEFA) want to be able to “invite” teams with a big European history to play in the Champions League. So not really a “Champions” league then, more like “who can generate more money for UEFA coffers” League. I bet they weren’t very happy with BT Sport getting the TV rights to it, as the viewing figures were down last season. Too right as well, who wants commentary by Has been Ferdinand and Michael Owen. It probably isn’t them anymore, but I remember thinking Michael Owen? Really?

This is what happens when there is no football, you start seeing what they don’t want you to see. So, the Mothership sends out the message to find some distraction, and hey presto – let’s blame Cellino! But if I was the new Cardiff manager – let’s blame Tom Lees….