And whatever you do, don't mention the book. Andy C
Sent from my iPad On 10 Apr 2012, at 21:39, [email protected] wrote: > > Betty, > > The trials (plural, thanks to the Mirror and the Crown Prosecution Service) > were a huge distraction, because of the number of players either initially > under suspicion or involved as witnesses. Just imagine all the meetings with > lawyers etc. combined with the anxiety many of the players felt. There is no > way anyone can convince me that if the trials hadn't happened, we wouldn't > somewhere, somehow, that season have picked up the couple of extra points > which were all we needed to get back into the Champions League. > > But there were other factors: > > - the massive, lengthy injury crisis that cast a shadow over O'Leary's entire > tenure. This also was a factor behind the financial collapse, in that we'd > have a (potentially) world class player like Radebe, Woodgate or Kewell on > big money get injured for half a season or more, buy an international > (Wilcox, Ferdinand, Matteo) on even more big money, and then sometimes see > those players get injured as well. Count the number of players who spent a > half season or more out injured under O'Leary and it's massive. Now they > weren't all in the Champions League season, but off the top of my head I > remember Martyn, Woodgate, Radebe and Bridges missing a lot of that campaign, > and there were probably numerous others. If we'd just had an "average" number > of injuries, we would have qualified for the Champions League and might even > have won it that season. (Remember that the PL game prior to Valencia away, > with the tie balanced on a knife edge, was against Arsenal and O'Leary was > hardly abl e > to rest anyone because the squad's depth had been completely eroded by the > injury crisis.) > > - The referee in the game against Man U not sending off Barthez for kicking > Ian Harte (thus giving Barthez the opportunity to subsequently save Harte's > penalty) then - incorrectly, as slow-motion replays proved - giving Viduka > offside when Brown scored what would have been the winning own goal for us. > If the ref had got either of those decisions correct, let alone both of them, > Leeds would have been back in the Champions League the following season. > > - O'Leary's decision during the season to boot Eddie Gray upstairs and make > Brian Kidd the coach. After this happened, the effervescence that had > characterized our play over the previous two or three seasons slowly > evaporated. > > > Cheers! > > Sean > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: John Boocock IFA <[email protected]> > To: leedslist <[email protected]> > Sent: Tue, Apr 10, 2012 2:46 pm > Subject: [LU] Discussion Point > > > The failure to qualify for the CL in 2000-2001 was because of a poor > autumn and winter; how much of that was ascribed to playing CL matches > as well as league matches, and how much was the distraction of the trial? > _______________________________________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > To unsubscribe, email [email protected] > > PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate > > > _______________________________________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > To unsubscribe, email [email protected] > > PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate
