date:20130125

[LU] Heart breaking reality check

2013-01-25 Thread Dr Michael Benjamin

A Day In The Death Of Leeds United Rob
Atkinsonhttp://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rob-atkinson
Posted: 24/01/2013
17:50http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rob-atkinson/a-day-in-the-death-of-leeds-united_b_2543274.html?view=printcomm_ref=false

It's not safe to identify any one day, defeat or disappointment as the
nadir of Leeds United's fortunes just now. t the moment, takeover and
'fresh start' notwithstanding, they appear to be plummeting downhill faster
than a greased pig. Today's news that top scorer Luciano Becchio has
submitted a transfer
requesthttp://www.leeds.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=306527 is
another notable low point - Leeds are making an unfortunate habit of losing
their top players in January transfer windows. And yet, you somehow have
that uncomfortable, chill feeling - even as a committed Whites fanatic -
that, however bad things may seem, there's plenty of scope for them to get
worse.

Indeed, it's arguable that things *have* been worse - much worse - in the
fairly recent past, than they are today. The run-up to the 2007-08 season,
the club's first in the third tier of English football, was catastrophic.
Administration had brought about the unprecedented penalty of a 15 point
deduction, leaving the beleaguered giants five wins short of zero points as
the season started. But that season turned into a triumph of sorts -
promotion was narrowly missed, and the whole points-deduction saga seemed
to galvanise the support. On the pitch, the team delivered, particularly in
the early part of the season, and a seemingly irresistible momentum was
built up. Leeds really were United at this lowest ebb in their history.

At present, in some superficial measures, things might seem better - but in
the most fundamental ways, they are significantly worse. Obviously, the
club now enjoys a higher status within the game - the dark days of League
One football are receding into the past, at least for the time being. There
have been high spots too, famous cup victories and the odd satisfying away
performance. At Elland Road, once a fortress notorious for intimidating
opponents, form has been patchy. And yet Premier League teams have been put
to the sword, and generally speaking the team will give anyone a game on
their own patch. The underlying problem today though is more insidious than
the acute emergencies immediately post-administration. It is the creeping
cancer of apathy that pervades the club now.

It's not difficult to see the signs of this. Read any of the fans' forums,
and a pattern swiftly emerges. The supporters, by and large, are sick of
the way the club has been run over the past few years. Sick of paying top
dollar for a distinctly second-rate product. Sick of the club's habitual
prevarications over transfer policy, of seeing our best players form a
procession out of the exit door, sick to death of seeing lesser clubs
easily out-match us for wages and transfer fees, despite the fact that our
turnover and potential remain at the top end.

Leeds United, a great name in English football by any measure, appears to
have been run on the cheap for a long time now. Investment is minimal, the
ability to retain promising players practically non-existent. The
supporters' expectations, born of great days in the past, remain high - and
why shouldn't they be? But those expectations show no sign of being met,
nor even approached. Last summer's long drawn-out agony of a takeover saga
descended too often to the depths of farce, as rumour countered rumour, and
we all rode an internet-driven roller-coaster of optimism and despair, over
and over again. But once concluded, that saga has not spawned a legacy of
more investment and better club/fan relations. We appear to be stuck with
more of the same; the changes appear to have been purely cosmetic.

On Saturday 12 January, Leeds United played Barnsley away, a fixture that
had produced humiliating three-goal thrashings in the previous two seasons.
This time around, it was only a two goal thrashing, but the manner of
defeat - the abject failure to muster any real threat up front, and the
spectacle of midfield players gazing skywards as the ball whistled to and
fro far above them - was too much for the long-suffering band of away fans
in Leeds United colours. They complained, loudly. They advised the manager
to be on his way. They questioned the fitness of the players to wear the
famous shirt. The supporters feel they are being taken for mugs, and they
have had enough.

All this has been true for a while - but for much of the past year, change
has been in the air, and it has seemed reasonable to expect that things
might be about to get better. Some of us dared to dream. But after the
final whistle at Barnsley's Oakwell ground, it seemed all of a sudden quite
clear that the options for change had been exhausted, and that the future
remains as bleak as it has been at any time since top-flight status was
relinquished nine long years ago.

Some of the fans - not all,

Re: [LU] Hello!

2013-01-25 Thread swinnow


On 25/01/2013 01:07, Torrey Gilday wrote:

 soccer

ag 



Young man, you need some realignmentalisingation of your 
vocabularisingabilitisation.


You are hereby offered the first invitation of 2013 to a few (10) pints 
and an introduction to the mysteries of Northern England next time you 
are in Leeds - a suitable lister will be made available :-)


Aunty Betty
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PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate

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