There was also a report in yesterday's Observer which is better than this which is one of those bitter, mealy mouthed, grudging reports that you get from journos who don't like Leeds. At least the Observer one concentrated on Beckford's goal scoring abilities - but at the moment I can't seem to find this one on-line to send on.
This guy can swivel. ______________________ Howson the latest graduate from Leeds' school of mean spirits Richard Rae at Elland Road Monday November 19, 2007 The Guardian As unsubtle as a steamroller, and about as unstoppable, Leeds United rumble inexorably on, opponents left bruised and complaining in their wake. Swindon, injury-hit but looking to prove a point to their former manager Dennis Wise, got stuck in as manfully as any of the previous visitors this season and, like many of their predecessors, can claim to have been unfortunate - but somehow or other Leeds just keep on getting the results. Actually there is nothing particularly baffling about it. Wise has put together an experienced, competent group of players and made sure they are extremely fit. Size matters, as it tends to at this level; as well as knowing what the manager wants of them, most of the Leeds players are big and strong. The income from the huge crowds - getting on for 28,000 on Saturday - mean he has the financial wherewithal to boost his squad with loans. And after the start they have made, confidence and belief are doing the rest. Even after they were caught cold at the start of the second half, allowing Lee Peacock the freedom of the area to equalise Jermaine Beckford's first-half penalty, there was little sense that the Robins could go on to become the first club to topple United in front of their own fans in the league. Sure enough, Beckford thrashed home Tresor Kandol's clever through-ball to take them into fourth, two points off the top. Fifteen-point penalty notwithstanding, one would be hard-pressed to find a bookmaker offering odds against them winning automatic promotion . Even Wise, so cautious at the beginning of the season, is giving off hints of his usual cockiness, notably in his sniping at opposing managers. Town's manager, Paul Sturrock, he suggested, must have been drinking to suggest in the build-up that Swindon could be as big a club as Leeds. And as for Sturrock bemoaning the Football League embargo on transfers or loans pending the repayment of football-related debts, his take was: "Stop crying, Paul, please stop crying. It's how you deal with the situation." It is only to be expected of course, and as for setting the tone, well, has it not always been this way at this club? Another example: Wise rightly praised the midfield contribution of Jonathan Howson, a 19-year-old academy graduate deputising for the injured captain Jonathan Douglas. And yet what sticks in the mind is an incident in the second half when Howson, having had a free-kick awarded against him for a tackle, and argued ferociously about it, had a nasty little kick at a Swindon player's ankle as he ran back to form part of the wall. No doubt he had been kicked himself, or someone had said something, and in the context of a rumbustious and exciting match it was a meaningless incident but, with the ball long since dead, the meanness of spirit was depressing. There was something of Wise about it or, to be fanciful, Bremner and Giles. The journey back for the club may be only beginning but the foundations, in people like Wise, Howson and, of course, that most pleasant and decent of men Ken Bates, would appear very much in place. Man of the match Jonathan Howson (Leeds United) _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist DELETE THE FOOTERS WHEN REPLYING YOU LAZY SODS!!!! DELETE THE FOOTERS WHEN REPLYING YOU LAZY SODS!!!!
