Healy Hat-Trick Hero

Well, without wishing to gloat....I told you so. In the previous post I pointed out that Healy seems to score for fun for Northern Ireland and yet struggles to replicate that form for Leeds on a regular basis. Occasionally you see the flashes of brilliance but the rest of the time he appears somewhat miserable. And what does he do on Saturday? Scores another hat-trick. OK, so it was against Lichtenstein but they can't be much worse than some of the teams we are playing now, can they?

An anonymous commenter on the last post said that during warm-ups he appears lonely and often grumpy during matches and yet was the first to run and congratulate Ankergren when he saved a penalty against Luton. What's the quote? Something about a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma. Well, he's not quite that complicated but if anyone has thoughts as to why this happens, how we can get Healy scoring for us like this and what Healy's future is at Leeds I would be interested to hear from you.

For my own opinion....well NI played 4-5-1 at the weekend with Healy as a lone striker. That's not going to work for Leeds with Cresswell fit. Does Healy need an arm around him to get the best out of him (a la Heskey) rather than a bollocking? Which does Wise go for? I don't think he'll be with us one way or another next year. Everyone thought he would leave in the Summer and he stayed but after such a miserable year for his club combined with scoring freely at international level I think there will be good money to be made from his sale.

Southend 1 - 1 Leeds United

We were lucky. And unlucky. For much of the game we looked second best. Southend could have scored two or three more. Eastwood hit the post. We should have had a last minute penailty but to win here would have been unjust.

I must, however, speak out against Dennis Wise for the first time publicly. There were some morons chanting for his head before the match started due to him signing autographs for local kids and this I want to distance myself from. They called for his head again when, in the 64th minute, with us losing 1-0 and needing a spark of inspiration up front, Wise substituted Eddie Lewis for Ian Moore. On this point, some clarifications need to be made:

1) You are losing 1-0. You need to score. You do not take off one of our more creative players capable of crossing with aplomb and dangerous at free kicks.

2) You do not replace him with Ian Moore. I like Moore. He tries hard and I have praised him in this blog for his publicly aired, forthright opinions on the state of the club - but he is not the man to bring on to win a match. Healy is.

3) Healy comes on with eight minutes to go and scores after six. Lesson learnt.

Dennis, if I may address you so informally, that was a big mistake. Healy is a lazy little sh*t at times and whilst he scores for fun for Northern Ireland seems to have trouble replicating those performances week-in, week-out for Leeds. But he is gifted and a proven goal-scorer. He wins matches. Play him from the start for pity's sake. Together with Cresswell he is one ofd the few players who can rescue us from this mess.

I don't condone openly chanting for your manager to be sacked during a match. I think this is a time for unity. But Dennis, don't make the same mistake again. You don't have many chances left.

Mortgage Madness

The BBC is reporting that the club are to ask Leeds City Council for a mortgage to buy back Elland Road and Thorpe Arch training facilities. They are currently owned by a shadowy British Virgin Islands' based company that no-one has a clue about. Bates has made the re-acquisition of the ground a priority and I can only applaud him on this. For a club not to own their own ground and training facilities is not only ridiculous from a ideological standpoint but bloody expensive as well.

It appears we pay £1.5million each year just to have a ground to play in! WTF is going on. Sometimes the mind boggles as to how we ever got into this mess. I'm sure if the FSA got involved half a dozen people would end being charged with financial malpractice.

However, the buy back cost for Elland Road is £13 and Thorpe Arch is £5. This will be secured by the "verbal guarantee" of a prominent Leeds businessman. Eh? Did I miss something? Can I go to Howard from the Halfax and ask for a massive mortgage 'coz my mate says he thinks I'll pay when my financial prudence in the past has been shoddy to say the least. Will keep you posted on any developments but really this blog is for commentary rather than breaking news so don't blame me if I'm not first to print the ink.

Leicester City 1 - 1 Leeds United

A draw. Not bad. Not good either. If at the start of the season you offered me a draw away at Leicester in March I would have taken it. They are a decent team and draws away from home are good results against all but the weakest teams in the division. This is no longer the case. We need wins. Others around us are doing well. Hull and Southend managed good results last night. Southend are out of the bottom three. We play them on Saturday in the hope of reversing our respective postions.

The match was, as I predicted, not pretty. I wish Jemal Johnson well as he was taken off with a nasty looking injury after a heavy tackle. The resulting free-kick led to our goal and then we promptly squandered our lead within 30 seconds. Dennis Wise copped a load of abuse from the Leicester fans all evening (can't blame them really) and that's about it. Oh, Thompson and Elliot made the bench but when the former came on in the second half he went off injured with twenty minutes - so don't expect to see him for a while.

All told, I'm happy....ish. A win on Saturday will do wonders. Come on the mighty whites.

Leicester City vs Leeds - March 13th

A trip down to Leicester is never easy and the home defat earlier in the season proves that they are a decent mid-table team. Killgallon was sent off early in the second-half that night and we had five booked in an ugly game. I'm expecting more of the same tonight.

Same squad from Saturday with no new injuries, thank god, and news that Flo, Thompson and Elliot are close to being fit again.

LondonLeeds prediction: Leicester 1 - 2 Leeds (Cresswell and 'The Kish' to score)

Come on the lads.

Back from the brink...

Firstly, apologies to any readers (and I'm pleased to say I have some - quite a surprise) for not posting anything sooner. Over the weekend a combination of personal reasons and the discovery that my girlfriend's laptop will not load Blogger 2.0 meant that I was unable to comment on any of this weekend's happenings. So may I try and repair any damage:

Hurrah. A win. Just. At this stage of the season though, I'm not complaining about style. To be honest, we deserved about four in the first half as we ran Luton ragged. How we didn't score is beyond me and is no doubt a cause of fustration to all involved. On the training pitch I expect those chances fly into the back of the net. Cresswell put us ahead and I think he is definitely the key to our survival. If only he had been fit all season! The inevitable Luton fight-back came in the final twenty minutes and for once Lady Luck smiled on us when despite Matt Heath conceding a late, late penalty, the recalled Casper Ankergren earned his money by saving what was, admittedly, a wretched shot. Now, same again on Tuesday against Leicester please boys. Can someone let me know how the new loan signings performed? On a side note, I am not a huge fan of Dennis Wise, but anyone doubting the man's conviction only had to see his reaction to the win to see how much he wants to do well here. I can just see a glimmer of light and the end of the tunnel. The only downside was the results of those around us in the bottom six which were also good (or should that be bad).

I couldn't make the game and thus have not seen the infamous programme with KGB-style blacked-out paragraphs obscuring libellous remarks from the great bearded-one. Apparently it was Levi's phone number - tantamount to asking fans to harass the man's home. Not cool. And yes, financial stuff was published. And no, no-one still has a bloody clue who really owns us, how, and who benefits. Or how much money we might have for new players over the summer.

If only Manchester United had lost as well, it would have been close to a perfect weekend!

Marching on Together!

All the news that's fit to print

The club website really does post some dross sometimes. Endless advertisements and requests to stump up yet more cash for LUTV or some other gimmick. I already pay to see games, I'm buggered if I'm paying again to watch other teams score against us!

It does however carry club news that is, at least, ahead of the main media and more in depth. I don't just want ot regurgitate everything they report as any supporter worth his salt will check the website throughout their day at work. A quick round up and the odd half-formulated opinion is not out of the question though:

New loan - Yet another loan signing. Lubomir Michalik (he's Slovakian) from Bolton. Central defender. International. Hasn't played for the Trotters since he signed in January. Will be in Saturday's squad. Looks promising but only on loan till April 9th.

Financial shenanigans - In Saturday's programme all will be revealed about the timeline of ownership and where all the money went and who we owe what to etc etc. It will no doubt be as clear as mud afterwards.

Youngsters - Some of the YTS boys are in line for England caps (that's the Under 17s). Danny Rose is in the squad and four others on standby. All sounds rosy for the future but then look at the youth squad we had in 1992/3 and what happened to all of them. Please let these ones develop into first team players and please let us hold onto them for a change.

Saturday team news coming soon.

(Bad) Luck of the Irish

According to today's Daily Mirror, Dennis Wise has told long-serving right-back, Gary Kelly, that his career is effectively over as he is now 4th(!) choice right-back for the team, will not play again this season and his contract will not be renewed at the end of the year.

Now I cannot be the only one to think there is something just a little bit fishy about this. Kelly is old at 34, but age hasn't stopped Wise signing other players and giving them prominence in the side. He hasn't played brilliantly this season but neither have enough others who are week-in, week-out regulars. I'm also suspicious about him being 4th choice. I'm guessing Richardson and Sa are ahead of him but who else? Foxe? God help us.

There was speculation amongst Leeds fans as to the size of Kelly's contract after a Times article with Ken Bates. It quoted the bearded-one saying that Kelly was on 40k+ a week. Bates had worked out that all the all the prize money and revenue from the Champions League run had gone on Kelly's wages over the last few years. Many slandered Kelly with the charge that far from being loyal to the only club he has ever played for he was merely sitting on a nice little earner. The articel in the Mirror suggests he earns half that and waives appearance fees. Which one is correct?

I wonder if there is a correlation to be had here. No-one really knows how much Kelly is on except for him, Bates and an accountant (maybe Wise) so speculation is fairly pointless. But why not eh? I think it may be that Kelly is due some sort of extra payment based on appearances (a la Seth Johnson) and Bates is unwilling to stump up the cash. Which, all-in-all, is a shame because I genuinely believe Gary has been a loyal servant to this club, can't be blamed for taking his pay cheque each month and would still bust a gut for us if he was on the pitch.

If and when he does leave at the end of this year I wish him all the best, thanks a million and have a bloody good testimonial.

Leeds Cult Heroes Pt. 1

This is hopefully the first in an occasional series of posts. Every club has them - those players who become something different in the minds of fans. They may play for years without ever getting recognition from the media and their peers or they may be a shooting star that passes through the club leaving a trail of light and brilliance in their wake only to disappear from pitch and memory all too quickly. The cult icon. The fans’ favourite.

I remember Grandstand did a similar poll for lots of clubs a couple of years ago. Leeds fans voted in their droves overwhelmingly for Billy Bremner. This is not what I had in mind. Bremner was awesome. But everyone knows that. He was a Scottish international who served the club as player and manager for many years and I think is given much credit outside of Leeds. I want those players who no-one else has even heard of. I want those players that some Leeds fans even scratch their heads to remember. Nominations are more than welcome via comments.

Leeds United Cult Icon No.1 - Carl Shutt

Carl Shutt's was a late starter in professional football. Howard Wilkinson picked him from obscurity at Spalding United to bring him Sheffield Wednesday at 23. After a couple of seasons with the Owls he moved down to Bristol City before Wilko arranged to swap him to Leeds.

Shutty, as he was know, became a fan favourite with a hat-trick on his debut and endeared himself to the Yorkshire locals with his tireless running and unwillingness to give up any cause - however hopeless. Never a first-team regular he would often pop up as a sub and just as often manage to get on the score sheet at important times. Shutt is perhaps best known for one moment in 1992. In a controversial replay against Stuggart at the neutral Nou Camp in a European Cup match. He had come on late in the game with Leeds needing a win. Within a couple of minutes had played a long one-two with Tony Dorigo and scored the winner that enshrined him to cult legend status.

After leaving Leeds in 1993 with over 100 appearances and 25 goals, he played for Birmingham City and had a very brief spell at Manchester City before settling at Bradford City in 1994. In three seasons with the Bantams, Shutt scored 15 goals before moving on to Darlington FC where again he spent three seasons, scoring nine goals.

He became manager at non-league Kettering, leading them back to the Conference at the first attempt. In 2002/03 he had to manage on a shoestring with the club up for sale. Despite the odd win relegation was inevitable from an early stage, and when it was finally confirmed the club decided to terminate his contract before the end of the season. In March 2004 he pitched up as the new manager of Bradford Park Avenue in the Unibond League and managed to steer them through the play-offs and into the new Conference North league. In 2004/05, a serious player shortage meant that he once again pulled on his boots for the team, and even managed to get on the scoresheet again.

I haven’t heard what he’s up to these days (apparently he left Bradford Park) so any info would be more than welcome. And if you know Carl, give him my best.

Leeds vs Luton (March 11th)

Big game. They all are at this stage, in our position. Luton have been shocking this season. Their away record is appalling and we have had some success at home. But they bloody well mullered us earlier this year. 5-1. Not something we wish to see a repeat of please.

What do you think the chances are of Nicholls appearing against his old (or should that be future) club. About as much chance of Hell having a mild frost I should think. The mere mention of his name should get the blood boiling and it would be nice to see the lads stick a few past Luton just to spite Nicholls.

Leave any team news updates in the comments section and I'll hazard a guess at the ever-changing team sheet on Friday afternoon.

Kandol scores?!

Is this true? Has anyone actually seen it? I know it's on the Leeds website but still....

...but still we didn't win. Kandol hat-trick no less and it's three-all against bloody Barnsley. Obviously I didn't see the match but the report suggests Kandol and Gardner had good games. Now, if only Gardener were a left back and Kandol could do this in the first team we might get somewhere.

Captain quits shocker!!

Err, not really. Has anyone actually watched Nicholls play this season. Granted, he was injured at the beginning of the season but on his return he played with about as much conviction as a QVC presenter. He hasn't wanted to be on the pitch and now has admitted as much.

I haven't previously stated my opinions on Dennis Wise (I'll no doubt come to that later) but I think he's made the right move here. You have to feel a bit sorry for old Den' really. First, he's had a plague of injuries this year, the there was the leak saga and now his captain says he doesn't like playing here and wants to go back to his old team. Wise, quite rightly, told Nicholls and Luton to go f**k themselves. You don't give a club 700k only to give them the player back again. Nicholls won't play again for Leeds (if he knows what's good for him) and can take his 30 pieces of silver and crawl back into his hole.

Ian Moore on the other hand has come out and said the unsayable. That Leeds are "in the shit" (well paraphrasing anyway). He's not had a bad season compared to most and we need a new captain. Someone with balls and courage and guts. There are worse choices than Moore.

In the beginning was the shirt...and it was good.

Actually it was a bloody awful shirt. Let me explain.

You may wonder what a born and bred Londoner is doing supporting Leeds United. A good question and to be honest one that I have had to face all my life. Sometimes I have lied and said something along the lines of, "'cos' my Dad does", or somesuch. This is a lie and I wish to confess.

When I was seven, like many little boys (and infact grown men) I was obsessed with football. I did not yet have a team to support with any conviction. I had first supported, if memory serves me correctly, Norwich City because I completed their page in my Panini sticker album. Then, maybe, Crystal Palace or Wimbledon as they were my closest professional team. But one hot summers day, all this changed.

My aunt had been to a charity shop and knowing how much I loved football, bought me a football shirt. Now what type of shirt do you think you get in charity shops? Old, polyester, skin-tight numbers that's what. But it was a Leeds' shirt and I loved it. Regaled by my father of tales from the 60s and 70s when Leeds reigned supreme I studied the results in the newspapers every week and learnt all about the players. Names like Day, Sterland, Strachan, Snodin and Davidson were mystical giants.

From that day forth, I was a Leeds fan. Stupid reason I know. But now, looking back on it, it seems as good as any. Marching on together....

Why now?

My first post. Why now? Leeds United, my team and the focus of this blog, have just lost for the third time in succession and are now bottom of the Championship. We are, in all likelyhood, going to be playing third tier football next season. I'm only 23 and so have not seen anything this bad before. I started on an up. The first season I remember with any clarity, we were Champions of the old Division Two. Two seasons later we were champions of Division One - the best team in the country. Ups and downs have come and gone since then but nothing like this. This is bad. Real bad. And I had to talk about it. Hopefully over the coming months I can analyse what is going wrong (and right) and have a winge and moan. Next year, the only way is up!

....isn't it?