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….

4 in 4, okay not quite a goalrush – but by our standards pretty damn good!

Who would have thought that we could be saying that given the turmoil of the last ten years. According to the BBC sport website, Chris Woods 5 goals so far puts him above Will Grigg, and he isn’t even on fire yet! The game on Saturday was the gift that just keeps giving, it was like getting two thirds down your Bovril and finding that you never stirred it properly and the last bit swilled around tastes that much meatier. From Janssons tackling, to a solid performance in midfield by Phillips and O Kane, Sackos pulsating runs to the goal, bit of nifty passing and we were dominant! It’s like driving past the Haribo factory in Pontefract on Starmix day and taking a huge gulp of sugary air in – buzzing!

From the off, Sackos heads to goal with a weaving run from the centre circle, but balloons it into the South Stand. Then, Ipswich goal kick, Pontus takes it off the receiving tractor boy, long ball to the waiting Wood, down the wing and bang – outside the box, just off the post. What a statement of intent! Cracking goal before half time, Bartley gets it, passes to Pablo, to Sacko, to Wood, to Dallas, to Taylor, ball across the goalmouth, Wood – goal. Fantastic bit of team play and Wood full of confidence, buzzing. Well deserved cheers from the 22k crowd at half time and everyone talking about what there is to come. The defence look rock solid, the midfield of Phillips and O Kane steadying the ship, and the interplay of Hernandez, Dallas, Sacko and Wood, showing so much creativity. Yes, the finishing could be tighter, but what matters is, they were in the right place at the right time to create the chance in the first place. It would have been great to increase our tally, we could and should have won that 4-0, but that cracking Phillips free kick saved and the chance handed to Wood on a plate by the goalie passing to him foiled, it all still shows that we have something left in the tank in the 2nd half. Last season, games were two, sometimes completely, different halves. This season, it looks like we start as we mean to go on, and it is good feeling inside.

Bristol City tomorrow, a long trip down but we have momentum on our side. There has been so much talk about Jansson, but Captain Bartley is doing a brilliant job, and even if Bridcutt is fit, I would still give the armband to Bartley anyday. Our defence is getting stronger and stronger with the 3 new lads, Bartley, Jansson and Ayling. At times on Saturday it was like watching Streets Of Rage with Axel and Adam Stone (if you don’t get this look it up). All it needed was the Pine Pot sign and that Casio keyboard music. Can’t say that Ayling bears any resemblance to Blaze apart from the hair, but Blaze was always the better kicker, and therefore the best two player combination was always Axel and Blaze……

Get your game on!

Let it grow, let it blossom, let it flow – Clapton – Genius. Just to be clear here – NOT the Disney princess song.

Slumming it in the West Stand on Tuesday made me think about what the Club needs to do to get itself back on kilter. To my left was a muted, sparsely populated Kop, to my right were the comfortable looking padded seats of the corporate enclosure, with even fewer Tuesday night adventurers, cue Stealers Wheel.

Hopeful that I was of seeing Tyler Denton and the side that satisfied against Luton, I must admit that the side that Monk started with was a bit more conservative than what I assumed he would play. 16 changes between us in the teams that played at the weekend apparently, Owen Coyle with bigger fish to fry than the Cup, after Blackburn glorious first win over Rotherham at the weekend. The first half was nothing to write home about after Coyle’s shot in the first minute and that save by Silvestri before the half time whistle, the game was desperate for changes by half time. There was nothing inventive in the midfield, Antonsson got little or no decent service and looked forlorn up front on his own. I’m still unsure where Roofe is meant to be playing, as he doesn’t look like a forward, but then seems detached from midfield, teething problems I suppose. Hernandez comes on in the 60th minute, and we start to see some change, a few good runs, but still lacking in the final third. Coyle sees that and raises the stakes by sticking Emnes on. The “predator” starts running amok in our defence, and Silvestri pulls off a save and clears the follow up with a punch out. Then, Hallelujah! We are definitely not going for extra time and penalties! Wood comes on for Antonsson at 70 minutes and he starts chasing everything down like a dog on a mission in a butchers shop. Then it starts coming together, first Roofe has a pop, then Hernandez balloons a shot into the Kop. Grimes comes on for a flat footed Mowatt, a couple more shots on goal and then bang, Hernandez has a shot, comes off the post or keeper pushes it to Roofe.  Roofe crosses it to poacher Wood, and in it goes! 4th round here we come! Grown, blossomed, flow-ed!

So that was the football. Now the rest….. Eight thousand and a bit! There are about 14,000 season ticket holders, granted, quite a few live a distance away, and you can’t always make it to midweek games on a school night. But come on…….I suspect that had we drawn Scum or Chelski or Arsenal, they would have found some way of getting to ER or they would have given their season ticket to someone who could. And our fans have the audacity to take the piss about other teams who don’t fill their grounds. Yes, it was expensive on the day, but given it was £15 for season ticket holders, the turn out was poor. On a previous social media post, I was told that even if ticket prices were lowered to £10 adult and £5 for kids, we still wouldn’t fill the ground. So what is the solution?

For a start, should we have got a “big” club in the draw last night rather than The Tweety Birds, and should we progress into the next round and get that “glory quarter final/semi final”, Leeds United should offer those who bothered to turn up on Tuesday first dibs £10 tickets and a bonus £10 ticket for a mate. After that, then they should charge £15 for season ticket holders. Ruthless but fair.

Secondly, we just need to put a decent run in, league and cup.

Thirdly, let’s get behind the team good and proper. Give them the confidence to go in for the kill and rather than sneak a one-nil win, lets win by a decent margin, that goal difference may count for something in the end.

What a difference 4 games makes! A fortnight ago Monk was close to losing his job and the naysayers were all doom and gloom. Now the little seedlings have sprouted, with a bit of care and attention the sky is the limit – well The Premier League is actually….

………….remember from tiny acorns do mighty oaks grow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers

MPO

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

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

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

MPO