Memories of Cup shocks & a bit of ball juggling.....

Colchester United...............................to a certain generation of Leeds fans their very name sends a shiver down the spine similar to how Histon does to the present generation. 39 years ago the U's, struggling in the 4th division, pulled off a famous FA Cup victory against a Leeds team at the pinnacle of their European and domestic power. The whole country took the minnows of Essex to their hearts and a raw boned old fashioned centre forward called Ray Crawford wrote his name indelibly on the FA Cup roll of honour. Fast forward to this weekend's game and Colchester provide an ideal opportunity for Leeds to dismiss the theory that they have become too focused on the FA Cup at the expense of their fight to get out of the third tier of English football. There's a subtle irony somewhere!

This is a must win game though, not because we are losing touch with the automatic promotion places far from it, no because of that wonderfully difficult thing to define..........confidence. Player confidence and certainly the long suffering fans confidence in a team has taken a big hit. Before Xmas we approached games with an air of invincibility borne out of an envious league record that had fired us to the top of the league..........I was even becoming ever so slightly bored with the easy wins.........but now we seem to be back to that nervy, edgy play that guarantees sweaty palms and clenched buttocks for the whole of the 90 minutes, that is unless we are on the big stage in the cup and turning it on against Manure, Spurs or Liverpool. Bizarre isn't it?

Yorkshire Cancer Research have signed a deal with Leeds to run an awareness campaign at home games to highlight the need for men in particular to check themselves for signs of testicular and other cancers. So tomorrow they will have a clinic next to Billy's statue where fans can learn more about this sensitive subject. John Hartson is a tragic example of what can happen if you ignore strange lumps down below..........thankfully his cancer, which spread to his brain, is now under control. So amongst the inevitable jokes about juggling balls...........there is a serious message for all men who think it won't happen to them. Get yours checked............Now at least wait until you've finished reading the blog...................it won't look good if your fiddling about down there in front of your computer!

Lord Grayson has indicated new faces are on the way and it's possible we'll have a new striker on board before kick off. He knows we need freshening up and once again I'm expecting our Messiah to rise above the panic and steady the ship because........................

In Grayson we Trust.

Roll on 3pm Saturday.

Can't wait!

MOT