For the past year I have been blogging for the boys from Pitch Talk. If you are a regular reader of my blogs you will know that I mostly get involved in all things refereeing and try and give my views on decisions that have happened in matches.Over that period of time I have had a lot of people ask me do I follow any team myself. Now let me get it out there in this blog and yes I do support a team, the team in question is my beloved Leeds United. I have been following this great club for at least forty years now and on many ocassions I have been to Elland Road over the years. It saddens me to think how this great club has gone from the top, right down to the bottom over the years. Both on and off the field over the past couple of years things have gone so pear shaped you could write many a book about it. From financial melt down to points deduction I like many others have had to grim and bear it with a heavy heart.
It would be magnificent if Leeds United could just get things right on and off the park. In my opinion under the leadership of Ken Bates and manager Simon Grayson things seemed to be going in the right direction but when that relationship hit the wall it seems the club seems to have been on a very slippery slope. I know an awful lot of people will not agree with me but I really thought Ken Bates was a brilliant owner. I am not so sure if Ken had the finances to push the club to the next level,but he always had the ambition of the club and the fans close to his heart. I met Ken on a number of occasions over the years and I have to admit you knew where you stood with the man. When Ken decided to move on he sold the club to GFH as we all know. To say that was a disaster for all involved at Elland Road would be the understatement of the century. They were an absolute joke, promises made, promises broken and the club going backwards once again. I actually remember saying to a close colleague of mine when they took over was, what would this crowd know about running a club, they are a bloody bank after all. How true were my thoughts, in fact the only thing they seemed to do correctly was get out of a business they know nothing about.
The arrival of Massimo Cellino as the new owner was hailed by a lot of the fans as the opening of a brand new dawn in the club's history. But I am not so sure about an owner who sticks his nose into team affairs and from what I am hearing he does have a big say. In fact if you look at his appointment of Dave Hockaday as Head Coach at the start of the season it should have given us a big idea into the Italian owners mind set as we set off into a season. Dave Hockaday was a very lucky man to even get in the door at Elland Road never mind being the boss. Could anyone in there right mind believe that he wasn't Cellino's puppet and if the owner was calling the shots on team selection he would have the balls to stand up and be counted on his team selection. As it stands tonight, the owner is fighting for his right to stay as owner of the club after failing the proper person test to own the club. Neil Redfearn is trying his best to get things moving but I don't think he has the knowledge or experience to get us out of trouble. It is probably to late in the season to make a change now so we can only hope and pray Neil can get it right. One thing that won't help the cause is the refusal of the owner to sign Becchio back from Norwich especially after been requested to do so by Redfearn. The sale of Stephen Warnock to Derby was stupid, after all he has been arguably our best player this season.
So as we move on into the final months of the season this could be the biggest period in our club history. If relegated I worry for a club that has had so much trouble over the years. The need to get ourselves on a run and get to safety has to be paramount in every ones thoughts. Through all this mess I think back to the days when I was a lad and Leeds United were the best team in English Football and the players were household names, Giles, Bremner, Gray, Lorimer to name just a few. The man who ran the show was a certain Don Revie and I feel after what has gone on over the years since Don left must have the man turning in his grave.
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