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Saturday 17 November 2012

Marching into the Lions Den armed with a Peashooter.

After last week's Apocalyptic performance Leeds United head to South Bermondsey on the crest of a creeping tsunami that is slowly engulfing the once mighty club.  On the pitch the woeful lack of quality and depth in the squad has been cruelly exposed to the rest of the championship by a few injuries and now suspension.  Neil Warnock cuts a frustrated figure at every press conference he attends as he attempts to work the proverbial miracle with his group of journeymen mercenaries, blossoming academy youngsters and El Hadj Diouf.  The Lions of Millwall are stalking their not very famous rivals as if they were on the plains of the Serengeti and had just spotted  a weak Wildebeest foal straggling at the back of the herd.  In summary things are a bit bleak on Planet Leeds at the moment not for the first time though but certainly as bad as I can remember for a long, long time.

So what will it take to drag the mighty whites out of the current depression?  Clearly the farcical takeover saga needs a concrete conclusion one way or another.  Once again this week has been sprinkled with a variety of statements from various sources that have sparked false hope amongst the remaining fans who have not given up on seeing our octogenarian chairman disappear into the Monaco sunset.  The consensus is "I'll believe it when I see it" rather than being taken in by statements containing the words nearly there, imminent, close to a deal in their text. The best we can hope for is that some sort of deal is sorted by Jan 1st but am I the only one who fears we'll still be in limbo come Feb 1st next year?

So whilst Mr Bates and the club's suitors fiddle while the club burns the life blood of the club, the fans, have to make the best of it.  Conceding six goals at home is always a recipe for a "difficult" week at work as fans of all persuasions have their 2 minutes of hilarity at the expense of any Leeds fan within earshot.  Needless to say any reference to six or Watford has been mercilessly woven into any banter by certain colleagues this week.  All you can do is take Mouriniho's advice and keep your chin up whilst making a mental note of the individuals for future humiliation when the time is right.  After all supporting teams such as Aston Villa, Liverpool and Everton should give me plenty of ammunition for suitable revenge as the season progresses?

Away from Planet Leeds the English national team once again showed our true standing in world football as they went down to an Ibrahimovic inspired Swedish team 4.2.  The lad might look like a girl and be taunted as "just a shit Andy Carroll" but when he decides he's going to play he is world class and puts into realistic perspective our wishful descriptions of Gerrard and Rooney in the same category. Roy Hodgson's mix of youngsters and established stars look decidedly average to me.  The hype surrounding Wilfred Zaha's introduction to international football smacks of desperation and clutching at straws.  Zaha is a very good and skillful young player who has shone in the dark, attritional trenches of the Championship let's not burden him with optimistic future stardom before he's out of his footballing nappy.

The Millwall game is live on Sky and after recent events surrounding both Millwall fans and the Vile animals the focus will inevitably hone in on the behaviour of crowd.  Hopefully the minority of idiots and crass thugs who populate both camps will refrain from the sickening and sadistic songs and banners that have been evident in recent clashes but I'm not holding my breath.  The closure of South Bermondsey station and the normally safe route into the away end will make tomorrow's trip interesting to say the least. Hopefully after rising early on Sunday morning and getting to the ground for kick off we will be rewarded by a spirited Leeds showing?  Ross Mac is back in the squad, the one positive to come out of this week.  Hopefully Millwall will be lulled into a false sense of security and the Wildebeest foal will live to fight another day.  Here's hoping.  Nobody said supporting Leeds was easy.

Can't wait.

MOT.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

'Ken Bates is doing a terrific job here' - Andrew Butterwick - 'He isn't, just you see'. - Jamie Skelton. 2009.

Remove the root and you kill the weed.

Andrew Butterwick said...

Not sure I used the word terrific Jamie? A bit of poetic licence there. He's not gone yet and we need to see exactly what the new owners do. Dark days for Leeds.
MOT

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