Well what an absolutely crazy and amazing day
As I posted first thing I was not sure what to think about it all - should I be
booing some Italian who may have the money we need but is of dubious moral
character, should I be cheering for a sacked manager who was skating on thin
ice with recent results?
Is Varney a villain or just someone looking after his own career ? Was the
phone call to Sky from Ross the emotional outpouring of a Leeds United hero or
the selfish rantings of someone who wants to desert a sinking ship ?
I discussed all the above with my son on the train to Leeds and during the
journey the 'facts' kept changing. Everyone in the pub was talking about the
takeover and sacking, the landlord of the Ridings told me that Cellino was
worth £25million and that 2 Italians were playing today under the manager
Festa. Every conversation with different acquaintances brought new 'info' -
Hunt was sacked re-instated and sacked again. Haigh resigned but it was not
accepted etc etc and then to cap it all Gary Kelly was quoted on Sky as wanting
to be the new manager !
Then the team news came through, not sure who had picked the team but it looked
like 4 5 1 with 2 wingers flanking the 3 in midfield of Mowatt, Murphy and
Austin and with Ross on his own up front.
We all agreed on 2 things, 1 only at Leeds United could such a fiasco take
place especially after the last 10 years of ups and downs and 2 - the only
thing that REALLY MATTERS - is what happens on the pitch , all we care about is
what the eleven players get up to for the 90mins of the game. F the rest
We also were in agreement that this game would not be 0 0 - this had the
feelings that one team would get stuffed, may be us, may be them (we were
right) - I said whoever scored first would go on and win - if we went behind I
could not see any way back (I was wrong)
So on to the game, we had seen pictures of mass demonstrations and even a car
on fire in ER car park, not sure if these pictures were true since when we got
to ER at the much earlier time of 3.40 or so there was nothing happening apart
from lots of fans queueing to get in.
The bus we should have got on, left with no passengers but we saw that they
were using it for Hudds fans, who were surrounded by police near the bus stop
and who were put on it - mind you when it set off there were as many police as
Hudds fans.
The game kicked off following a rousing MOT and soon the ground was echoing to
'ooh Brian McDermott'. Surprisingly there were no anti Italian or anti Cellino
chants , just lots of pro Brian stuff ("we want our Brian back") and a bit of
"what the f is going on". We started brightly and saw one of the best moves of
the season as Kebe and Byram linked up brilliantly along the right touchline ,
passed it to Murphy who moved it quickly to Stewart who had made room for
himself on the left, his shot went wide, but had it gone in it would have been
a beauty. Then we lost our way a bit and they had a couple of half chances and
took control a bit, and then scored (to be honest I can remember little about
it) the game was nearly put beyond control but a brilliant one handed save by
Kenny , they also hit the post and Nanki Wells fired into the side netting. It
is going to be 5 0 I thought. Then just before half time as I was getting ready
for the boos we had a ball
into their box, Kebe crashed into the keeper and the ball bounced about and
was prodded home at head height by Ross. Huddersfield fans had sung at him
something about him not wanting to be here and we responded in kind
So half time and all square albeit we were lucky not to be behind
No-one expected what happened next.
I am not sure who gave the half time team talk but whoever it was, it worked ,
and how !!
We had a 30min spell that matched that against Watford. Ross put the ball
through and Kebe ran onto it and clipped it over the keeper, this is why we
bought him!
Not long after came the move and the goal of the game, Austin got the ball in
our half and rampaged forward, and for once, he looked up and picked out a
lovely pass to Byram who took it in his stride and went to the byline where he
also looked up and put in the perfect cross to the oncoming Ross who could not
miss, and he didn't he put it in to send the crowd delirious. 3 1 up and it was
great.
Then came his hat-trick and our 4th, a lovely ball across the area fell to Ross
who rocketed to the goal , it hit the post but rebounded into the opposite side
net - unbelievable
After that a clearance led to their keeper on the floor as the ball fell to
Mowatt who, with great skill and aplomb chipped it into the empty net ! Wow 5 1
The crowd of over 30 thousand were beyond ecstatic, all the nonsense of the
take over etc was forgotten, all we care about is what happens on the pitch
today was a good day
Ross was just brilliant - who cares what Jordan said on Sky yesterday, this is
a player at the top of his game who loves being at Leeds and being captain
(even if he would have gone)
Austin was back to the player we know he can be, but who we have not seen for a
while.
Byram after glimpses in the last few games is back to his best
Kebe and Stewart both showed, at least in patches, why Brian has brought them in
Murphy also showed why he was much sought after and showed that he does have a
future at ER
So the end of an amazing and topsy turvy day.
Who knows what the future will bring and what will happen with Brian and the
takeover, all I know is that today was fantastic (at least the second half) -
to score 5 goals in one game, to beat our local irritants, for Ross to get a
hat trick and Mowatt to get off the mark. It does not get any better than this
Dave
_______________________________________________
Leedslist mailing list
Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist
To unsubscribe, email [email protected]
John 'Grampa' Sykes
Rest In Peace old lad
28th Oct 1938 - 12 Nov 2013
MARCHING ON TOGETHER
