Friday 29 March 2013

A Very Good Friday;


Tho I'm sure we must have played on Good Friday since, this is the first 'Good Friday' memory that comes to mind for me. 

We absolutely smashed them that day.

At 2-1, we hit the post, and had a goal ruled out for offside, but it hardly mattered. As the BBC website said: Leeds held on in relative comfort, and even LFChistory.net agrees.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Crap loanees as Pro Wrestlers #10

Bad News (Jason) Brown:

Leeds UNited loanee goalkeeper soccer football 2010

To label Jason Brown as a crap loanee may be a little harsh. He arrived on a 1 month loan as cover when Kasper Schmeichel got injured, and then when Higgs did too, he ended up in the starting XI. 

While I don't particularly remember him doing anything good, I don't really remember anything too bad either.

He made 3 starts, and we won two of them, and, while he didn't manage a clean sheet, I'm not sure that even Buffon would have behind Collins, Naylor and/or O'Brien. 

Maybe Jason Brown is more of an 'Alright loanee'!

So why did he make it into this feature? Because of the photoshop op! 

Sunday 24 March 2013

World Cup Medals: Martyn

Leeds UNited Goalkeeper

Continuing with the international break theme, here's a World Cup 'Medal' from the France 98 collection.

Unfortunately, France 98 summed Martyn's international career; back up to David Seaman. He was on the bench for all of England's games.

Martyn ultimately won 23 England caps... he would walk into the side now.

Saturday 23 March 2013

Thursday 21 March 2013

Hungry Bridges

Michael Bridges goal celebration 1999

As I've mentioned on this blog before, I bloody loved Michael Bridges in his first season!

Here is a goal celebration that, if I remember rightly, was in response to the suggestion that he was carrying a bit too much timber!

Wednesday 20 March 2013

The Cantona Myth

Eric Cantona; Leeds stats 91-92 title division 1

Don't get me wrong; I'm not disputing that Cantona was a great player. I wish we hadn't sold him, and if Wilko had known how to manage him, things could have been very different.

I'm also not disputing the fact that his arrival gave us a lift.

I'll even be gracious enough to admit that those stats aren't at all bad for a player in a new country, and new league for the first time.

What I can't stand for is the suggestion (often by Man U fans or the Media) that he arrived, and single handedly carried an average side to the title. That just isn't how it happened; in fact, the decisive run of 4 wins and a draw in the last 5 games coincided with Cantona being dropped from the starting XI.

Incidentally, of his 3 goals, only one was at a crucial point in its game; giving us a 1-0 lead against Luton. The others, against Wimbledon and Chelsea, were the 4th in a 5-1 win, and the 3rd in a 3-0, and for me, this sums up his role in the title win; a late contribution that was useful, but not essential.

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Saturday 9 March 2013

Past Meeting: Palace


In case you haven't discovered it, winsfordtown's youtube channel has loads of great footage of Leeds games from the 1970s, some of which I hadn't seen before.

Monday 4 March 2013

Crap Loanees as Pro-Wrestlers #9

Superstar Danny Graham:

Superstar Billy Graham WWF Leeds United.

Graham really falls into the 'What was the point' sector of crap loanee. He came into the squad as a raw youngster on loan from Middlesbrough at a time when we already had Hulse, Healy, Cresswell, Blake, Moore and a prospect by the name of Jermaine Beckford.

True, our form was stuttering; Cresswell struggled with injuries, and Beckford was unproven; but surely our other attacking options rendered this loan unnecessary?! 

Ultimately this did prove to be the case. Graham figured just 3 times, just once from the start. He didn't score, and we only won one of the games he played.

Arguably another case of crap management being the primary cause of a crap loanee.