I decided to come out of my self imposed 'retirement' from away games and join my mates for this one - only 25 mins on the train, a few good pubs, a comfortable away win on the cards - what could go wrong !!!
The 2 minutes at the end of the whistle when McDermott brought his players out to acknowledge the crowd was up there with my worst moments of being a Leeds fan - it was very reminiscent of the reaction to Wilko at the end of the Villa League cup final (1995 ??). It really was that vitriolic, this was not just the normal boos and odd shout, this was years and years of pent up frustration and bile aimed at a group of players and manager who 'are not fit to wear the shirt' - as we had been singing a few minutes before 'we're shit and we're sick of it' This was the moment when all the post Bates optimism and goodwill towards the manager and the owners disintegrated, possibly never to return. Individual players had come in for criticism from the odd fan during the game, more so than usual, with Austin, Smith, Wooton, Murphy, and Pugh being the main recipients of the variation " you're shit X , fuck off X, you're not fit to play for us" etc etc. McDermott and his tactics or percieved lack of them were also brought into question - we even sang 'Brian can we have a sub' early in the second half. McDermott was visibly shocked at the end and this seemed to stay with him in the post match interview I have just seen with the ITV highlights These highlights were a fair reflection of what went on, although in my report before watching the highlights (there is a misnomer from our point of view) I was going to say that we had one shot on target all game and that brought the comment from behind me 'nice back pass Austin' after our captain had scuffed a 25 yarder straight to the keeper. I had forgotten the 2 headers from Smith that were cleared off the line, the only other near miss was the shot from McCormack that just curled wide. So in 90+ minutes against a mid table 4th Division side (albeit one playing above themselves) we managed 2 headers on target but easily dealt with, a scuffed long range shot, and a shot that went wide ! Not much to cheer about there. At the other end they had a lot of chances, a few shots went just wide, 2 good chances were spurned,Kenny pulled off a couple of good saves, and then the 2 goals - first a long deep cross was well met by their forward despite there being at least 2 mustard (I refuse to call it gold) shirts next to him. This came in injury time of the first half when we were all hoping that we could go in 0 0 having escaped a beating and could regroup for the second half. The second was when the winger was given time and space and picked out a cross to the edge of the box where the forward waited in acres of space and picked out a sublime side footed volley into the net - a class goal and one he will never ever repeat. So what went wrong ? Pre game the various pubs were full of Leeds fans and were buzzing, except the Old Roebuck which was full of a group of old Rochdale fans who started singing some very odd songs - so both sets of fans were clearly up for it and there was an air of quiet optimism among the Leeds fans We expected there to be changes and were looking forward to seeing Ariyibi getting a start and maybe Poleon too to add some much needed pace, We wondered if Varney and Tonge would get a recall and we wondered if Cairns would be any good in nets. We got to the ground just seconds before kick off and were amazed to see Kenny there, even more so when he let Marius take the first goal kick - how bad must Cairns be if he could not be trusted yesterday, and if he is that bad why do we not have another keeper by now. Then looking round the rest of the team it was pretty much business as usual - Wooton on for Lees - a good move I thought, Lees is so poor on the ball at times it is painful and I have liked the look of Wooton. How wrong was I on this occasion ? Wooton had as poor a performance as anyone ever, he was shocking. The other change was Byram for Mowatt. Byram especially first half was a shining light - he looked back to his real self and within half and hour both the full back and the right sided centre half had been booked for cynical fouls on him, chopping him down. At least they will have one man sent off we thought but instead Byram was moved inside in the second half and lost most of his effectiveness. We never got going, nothing worked, we got pulled out of position, and passes went astray and whenever anything good did happen it went wrong. Smith won most of his aerial battles but the ball never fell to a mustard shirt - Ross and the midfielders need to get on the same wavelength as him (or he them) and the game was summed up when Murphy got the ball and went past his man and had time to look up and pick his pass - he could have pulled it back to the waiting and screaming Ross or he could put a ball to the far post to the waiting Smith - he did neither , he played a ball into the middle of the area to absolutely no-one. The fans tried to remain patient and the booing at half time was subdued with most still expecting a draw or maybe a win out of the game, but second half was the same and fans really turned when the sub we had been asking for was made, not some pace in Ariyibi or Poleon (how bad are things when we want to see someone who has done nothing and been released from his last club or a player we know is probably not good enough?) and got Noel Hunt. Surprise, surprise the introduction of Hunt changed nothing other than Pearce then seemed to find himself at left back on a number of occasions. Then the second goal brought a mass exodus of Leeds fans, with the vast majority of those staying to the end, doing so only so they could vent their anger and frustration - for the record I trudged off in total silence after the final whistle, watching the reception give to McDermott with a mixture of disgust and understanding - disgust because we are 'supporters' and are supposed to get behind the team and understanding because I felt the same anger and embarrassment and I know it is the only way of telling them how we feel, so I do not criticise those who boo and jeer but I choose not to join in. I just hope the lad stood behind me has summed up the position correctly when he shouted something along the lines of "this is just a ploy by McDermott to pretend we are a lot worse than we are so he can get some proper backing in the transfer window" I did not hear any 'McDermott out' shouts or chants but his efforts were called into question by individual fans, but with games v Sheff Wed away and top of the league Leicester at home to come he needs to turn his (once again) great words -"worst I have ever felt etc" into real action or come February his position could be in real jeopardy Wow that was long - must have had a lot to get off my chest , because that game does not deserve another minute of my time !! Happy New Year indeed Dave _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org John 'Grampa' Sykes Rest In Peace old lad 28th Oct 1938 - 12 Nov 2013 MARCHING ON TOGETHER
