Ipswich Town - Leeds United 27th of August 2011

Ipswich Town are saturdays opponents. Ipswich had a great start to the season, opening with a 3-0 away win in Bristol. After that game Paul Jewell's side have failed to win anything, losing three league matches and going out of the Carling cup after at 2-1 home defeat to Northampton. The last two games have been lost 5-2 and 7-1, so it is a team with a hurt pride that will take on Leeds.

Leeds United have done well that last couple of games, smashing Hull, getting a more then deserved point in West Ham, and midweek beating Doncaster 2-1 away in the Carling cup. The cup game gave Simon Grayson a nice dilemma, Ramon Nunez scored both Leeds goals, and have scored in every game he started for the club - so he must be pushing for a starting place. Most of the defence & goalkeeper got a rest on tuesday, which meant that Rachucka, O'Brien & Connolly among others got a bit of playing time. I think that SImon Grayson will chose to recall the back 4 and Lonergan for the game against Ipswich, actually I believe he will put the same 11 on the pitch as started the West Ham game, meaning that Ramon Nunez will have to settle for the bench.
In other news Becchio is back in training and is predicted to push for at spot in the team soon, which is great news

As mentioned Ipswich have had a rough couple of weeks, and I feel that if we can get a quick goal we should be able to break them and add to their misery - but there is always a risk that they will fight extra hard and put up a fight to get back on track, especially in front of their home fans. I don't think that they are strong enough to really hurt us though and I predict that Leeds will win with a margin of minimum 2 goals, actually I think will will win it 3-1, goals coming from Keogh, Gradel and Jonny Howson! Have a good game Leeds fans!

A TRIBUTE TO JAMIE EKINS & SØREN TRAPP

I believe that blogging should be about personal opinions and views, therefore my blog is not a news feed, match reports or copied material from  the web. I am writing about MY Leeds United, the things I have gained from being a fan of Leeds, and my views on transfers, players, chairmen, matches and so on. This blog is written as a tribute to the two men who have the biggest stake in me being as big a Leeds fan as I am. So Jamie & Søren, this is for you!

I grew up in a pretty normal family, mom and dad, older brother and sister and later on a little sister too. We lived in a small town outside Ribe, Denmark – we enjoyed watching and playing football. My dad and brother, and later on my little sister too, were big Manchester United fans, and tried their best to lure me into the arms of the enemy. I have always been a pretty confident kid, and liked to tease my dad so of course he would have no success in his attempts, actually I didn’t really support any team, I just liked playing and watching the game.

That all changed one August evening in 1995, I turned on the sporting news and saw the greatest goal I had ever seen, you guessed it, Tony Yeboahs stunning volley against Liverpool – I was sold! My golf coach, Jamie Ekins, had tried for some years to make me a Leeds fan, and on this evening his quest ended and I’ve never looked back. Becoming a Leeds fan was great, Jamie and I took drives to Esbjerg to watch games on TV and always had loads to talk about after the games – he told me about the great team of the sixties and seventies, and the history of our great club. My dad to this day thinks that Jamie, who is his golf coach too, brainwashed me, but he actually likes that I am a Leeds fan, because we have fun teasing each other (especially on January 3^rd 2010, or maybe that was just me). Oddly enough Jamie’s own son did the opposite switch and became a Manchester United fan.

As I grew older my passion for Leeds grew with me, throughout my school years I might not have paid proper attention to the teachers because I was playing football manager or thinking of the next Leeds game, but I did manage to graduate though, and when I finished school, I travelled to London for six months with my best friend. England opened my eyes for football and Leeds United even further, never have I seen such passion for the beautiful game, I bought everything with LUFC on in that I could get my hands on, meaning that I had to sail home instead of flying due to massive overweight. When I returned from England, Leeds were flying high in the Champions League, finally we were getting what we deserved, or at least we thought so, Leeds United crashed and burned, but my love for the whites just kept growing.

In 2004 I made the odd decision to move to Kolding, a medium size town (by Danish measures) with about 85000 residents, out of those 85000 there were 1 Leeds fan, me. Leeds played some rather boring seasons in the two years I lived in Kolding, and my interest in them seemed to fade a bit, I only checked leedsunited.com once a day and was not longer glued to the screen following the lads on teletext and only very few games were shown on TV. After watching Leeds lose the playoff final in 2006, I was sitting in my living room in Kolding watching the World Cup, and thinking that something had to change, I had outgrown Kolding and felt bored and unhappy there. I started looking for a bigger and hopefully better place to spend my time, and agreed with myself that Odense was it. I quit my job in Kolding a month later and started looking for work in Odense. I quickly found a job, and also quickly found a local pub with loads of football fans – Leeds were going to build on the lost playoff final and get promoted the following season I dreamt. We all know that the season ended up sending us into League 1 for three years. I found out that pub, Kick Off, showed Leeds games rather often so decided that I had to get back to my old self, supporting Leeds in a massive way. The first game I saw on the pub was against Preston in March 2007, I got there a bit late, so Leeds were down 1-0 when I joined the party of 10-15 Leeds fans watching the game.  Robbie Blake equalized and in the dying seconds David Healy got the winner, the following episode is rather blurry, but it is described the way I remember it. When Healy scored I jumped from my seat, up on a table being extremely happy, and suddenly saw the owner of the bar grab me, I remember thinking that I would probably get kicked out, but no, he was even as ecstatic as me, this was the first time I met Søren Trapp. After meeting the guy who, in my opinion, is the biggest Leeds fan ever, I started coming more and more on the pub watching games with Søren, sadly the season ended with me crying on the bar and Leeds being relegated to League 1.

Søren and I agreed that even though it was now League 1 we would just keep being crazy Leeds fans and supporting the lads, and we sure have, and we had our ups and downs as the Leeds song goes. We have had playoff misery (I still remember fondly burning a Doncaster scarf after the final loss), player sales we did not agree with, a at times crazy chairman, but through all this we have supported Leeds United. My biggest and best experience with Leeds came in February 2010 when Søren and I took a trip to Leeds, he had been there a few times, but for me it was a first – It was brilliant, we saw two games, meet all the players and just had fun spending time in the best city in the world. In September 2010 we went back, this time with Søren’s wonderful girlfriend Britt and two other Leeds fans from Odense, Allan & Andreas and once again the city did not let us down – I guess that following a team for so long gives you a sense of belonging even if you grow up thousands of kilometers away. This October Søren and I will once again pack our bags and travel to Leeds to see the mighty whites beat Cardiff and Blackpool, and I am sure that we will have a much fun as we did the previous times there.

So Jamie Ekins, thank you for showing me what it was like to be a Leeds fan and sharing all you knowledge about Leeds with me. And Søren Trapp thank you for bringing me back from “TV supporter” to full blood, life or death Leeds fan and thank you for our wonderful trips to Elland Road and back, I hope there is many more to come.

The money in football and the falls from grace

Look at these two men, do you see the difference?

One had a dream of making the best young british football team to rule the world, the other have got all the money in the world, and is determined to make his new-rich Man City the best team in the world, with or without British players and whatever the cost.

The Peter Ridsdale era in Leeds is known all over the football world, unfortunately not for its success, but for its massive fall from grace – Ridsdale (and manager David O’Leary) decided that they wanted to make Leeds a dominant force in European football, and they wanted to do it with the prime of English talent plus some very good players from abroad. Among the players they signed for the club were: Rio Ferdinand (£18mill), Mark Viduka (£6mill), Robbie Fowler (£11mill), Robbie Keane (£12mill) and many many more, along with the, for that time, very expensive signings the club had a wonderful youth academy, which saw the likes of Harry Kewell, Jonathan Woodgate, Stephen McPhail & Alan Smith come through to the first team. Ridsdale & O’Leary’s biggest problem was the way they financed their player purchases, they borrowed money at a ridicules interests, and the finances of the club exploded between their hands. They paid enormous amounts of money in wages to players who weren’t even in the starting 11, let alone in the first 15 of the team. There is a story going around on Seth Johnson (signed from Derby for £7mill, played 54 games – DOH!), the story goes:  “Seth Johnson went into the boardroom to discuss his contract, him and his agent went in saying "Ask for £20,000, settle for £15,000." So they went in, and they were offered £25,000. "WHAT?" Seth Johnson replied, obviously shocked at how good the deal is. Then Ridsdale replied, "Ok then, £35,000" Thinking Johnson was unhappy at the terms” – This story, if true, seems to sum up the way Ridsdale ran the club perfectly. When the players from the youth academy contracts ran out the club also had to give them new MASSIVE contracts, and suddenly, not unlike Man City of today, we had too many players on to big contracts. Ridsdale and O’Leary had build their dream on quicksand, and they knew we had to get into the Champions League year after year to keep the wheels running, as we all know we only managed to get in there once (2000/2001) and after that it all fell apart. The money we got from playing in the UEFA cup could not pay the loans or the wages and we were forced to start a fire sale in the summer of 2002, and even though we got some money in, it wasn’t enough – actually Leeds continued to pay some wages to former players until 2004 I believe . Players left, chairman left, manger(s) left and in 2004 Leeds left the Premier League and started a catastrophic downfall, which we are still dealing with.

The last two seasons have had a more positive feel about them,  Leeds are after three years in League 1 finally back in the Championship, players are denied massive contracts and transfer funds are spent, very very, rarely. But for those who remember our downfall from the Ridsdale days, I think we should appreciate the fact that we still have a club to support and remember that it takes time to build a team, unless of course you have the world richest man as owner!

This brings me to the reason for this blog; the crazy amounts Manchester City are currently spending on transfers. I have just read that they have agreed a fee with Arsenal to sign Samir Nasri, a player with 1 year left on his contract, the fee is believed to be around £23mill! The signing will take Sheik Mansur’s spending in City to a staggering £370mill – fair play to him, he does have the money, but the wages he gives players to join Manchester City is a joke and is ruining football. Players like Adebayor, Wright-Phillips, Bellamy & Santa Cruz are rotting is the reserves because no one can afford to pay their salaries. And what will happen in Manchester City or Chelsea for that matter when the rich guys get sick of their new “toy” and offload the club? They will most likely do a “Leeds” and disappear into the big nothingness. And when they do, and the other “big” clubs will too, Leeds United will stand on the sideline with a healthy economy and be ready to re-take OUR places at the top of the Premier League.

I don’t know how this situation should be solved, if we should learn from American sports and make a salary cap or if we should just let the money ruin football (even more)?

Doncaster - Leeds (Carling Cup) 23th of August 2011

Tomorrow Leeds will take the 53 km drive towards Doncaster to face them in the Carling Cup, the game is likely to have former Leeds captain, Richard Naylor, face his old team on his new home turf. The two teams both defeated "smaller" clubs in the previous round, Leeds seeing off Bradford and Doncaster beating Tranmere 3-0 - Doncasters win was their only of the campaign so far, having lost all four games in the championship.

I am having issues with this game, I would love for Leeds to win and to proceed to the next round, and hopefully seeing a "big team" come to Elland Road - furthermore a win would enable us to carry on our recent good form and boost morale within the team and among the fans. BUT, let's be honest, we probably won't win the carling cup (this season), so maybe it would be better for Simon Grayson to pick some reserves and enable us to focus on the league?? Players like Rachubka, O'Brien, Bruce, Sam and others would be able to get 90 mins under their belt and improve their fitness, but again players like Aiden White, Adam Clayton, McCormack & Keogh would be able to retaining their great form and get even better together on the pitch - It is always a tricky one to decide how you pick the team, and for a cup game it is even trickier. I am not sure what Grayson will do, but I think he will mix the team up and give some players a needed rest and others will be allowed to get more minuttes. My guess for the starting 11 is: Rachubka, Conolly, O'Brien, Bruce, Parker, Sam, Brown, Howson, Gradel, Nunez and McCormack.

Let's hope the Leeds lads can, again, revenge the league 1 final defeat from 2008 and beat Doncaster - because eventhough I have issues with giving 100% in this game, I still LOVE when Leeds win!

A betting tip for the game is a 2-0 Leeds win with goals from McCormack and and own goal from our former captian Richard Naylor ;)

A great day on the pub!

Kick off sportspub in Odense, Denmark is my local pub, I've spent loads of time down there ever since moving to Odense, and as a Leeds fan I have enjoyed many ups and downs there (unfortunatly most downs).
Today I arrived 15 minutes before kick off of the match between West Ham and Leeds, i wore my Howson shirt, with his autograph on the back, and had a good feeling about the game.

The game ended 2-2 with Adam Clayton grabbing a very deserved equaliser in the dying seconds of the game. You can find a match report anywhere so I won't bore you with that :)
The reason for this blog is actually just to pay tribute to a wonderful place and a lot of wonderful people, who always shows up to support Leeds United down there - It is thrilling to watch Leeds play, but sitting with other Leeds fans watching the games makes it even more special - So fellow Leeds fans from Odense, this is for you! M.O.T
 By the way, the roof nearly came off when Clayton scored!

West Ham - Leeds United 21st of August 2011

Tuesdays game against Hull City, which ended in a 4-1 thrashing of the tiger, hopefully provided at kick start to Leeds Uniteds season. For the first time in years Simon Grayson will actually face selection trouble, when one match banned star players, Jonny Howson & Max Gradel returns to the team. Leeds played 442 in midweek, and Clayton/Brown in midfield did well, as did left winger Ramon Nunez, who got on the scoresheet. I do believe that both Howson & Gradel will return to the starting 11 though.

We haven't played against West Ham since 2004/05 season, where we ended 14th and they got promoted via playoffs. The two games that season gave the whites four points (1-1 away & 2-1 home) - I would gladly sell the two games this season for the same results.

West Ham had a troubled season in the Premier League last year and got relegated, they have however managed to keep hold of a very good team, and during the summer new boss, Sam Allerdyce, have added among others Kevin Nolan & John Carew, so they will provide a stern test for Simon Graysons men.

But now, on to Super Leeds United. The team played brilliant in midweek, goalkeeper and defense were superb, midfield bossed the Hull players around, wingers were creative and the forwards worked really hard for every ball - we finally got to see the team play the way we hoped they would.
I don't think that Grayson will make changes in defence, Tom Lees did fantastic on tuesday, picked himself up after an unlucky own goal and went straight to the other end providing the 2-1 goal shortly after. Paddy Kisnorbo was a major doubt going in to the season, having spent nearly two years on the sidelines, I did not know what to expect, but Paddy has proven fit and raring to go! In midfield I think that Grayson will pick club captian Jonny Howson to partner Adam Clayton, pushing Michael Brown to the bench, and I also believe that long time West Ham target Max Gradel will start ahead of Ramon Nunez. Pushing Michael Brown to the bench would mean that we will once again see Leeds play in their, in my opinion, best formation of 442 - Probably with Andy Keogh and Ross McCormack up front. I will be looing forward to seeing how they work together, this will be the fist Leeds game on Danish tv since Keogh returned.

With Luciano Becchio back in training, Mikael Forsell on trial, and people pushing for places in generel, I do think that we have turned a corner and will soon see our Leeds United back in the play off race!

I predict/hope for us to get a 1-0 win at Boleyn ground with Adam Clayton getting the winner. M.O.T

Books I've read over a very wet Danish summer

 When the summer behaves like the Danish one did this year, it is nice to have the possibility to fly to the south of spain and lay on the beach with good books and cold beer! I went through my bookshelve and found a couple of great books about Leeds United that i brought with me, and surprisingly (for me and my girlfriend) all read!

 The first book i read was David Peace great novel, The Damned United, which is about Brian Clough and his 44 day chaotic tenure at Elland Road. That in itself is pretty interesting, to read about how he was recieved, especially by the players, who saw his predessocer, Don Revie, as a fatherfigure to them. Another exiting thing in the book is that the reader gets a "look inside Cloughs head", a crazy place filled with demons and insecurities, especially since his right hand man, Peter Taylor, did not join him at Leeds. BUT the by far most catching thing in the book is the way it is written. David Peace have split the book in two parts, one is in the present, with Clough at Leeds, and the other is looking back at his previous years, especially in Derby, where he grew to hate and demonise Leeds United and Don Revie (which made him getting the job even more strange). I would like to credit David Peace for doing a thing with his book that seems strange to me, as a Leeds fan, he actually manages to make the reader feel a bit sorry for Clough, which is a feeling I never thought I'd feel towards Ol' Big ead!

Fun fact from the book: Allan "Sniffer" Clarke actually wanted the board to give Clough more time in the manager seat.

Rating: 9 out of 10

The second book I read was Rob Bagchi & Paul Rogerson's The Unforgiven, a book about the Leeds United created by Don Revie. The book focuses alot on the players, trophies and glory brought to Leeds United by the great Don, but also has a more darkened agenda - focusing on the fact that Don Revie ended his days as an unforgiven figure in English football. After 13 glorious seasons at Elland Road where he won almost everything, Don Revie quit his Leeds United to become manager of England - when he failed, he choose to leave England for the middleeast and apparently that was a wrong move, since people soon after accused him of treason towards England - and stories about matchfixing in his Leeds days came back in the press.

Unlike other great managers of the 60's and 70's (Shankly and Busby) Don Revie and his team never recieved the same credit that Liverpool and Man United did, people saw Leeds as dirty and cheating (non more the Brian Clough) and Don Revie was until his dead in 1989 always, The Unforgiven.

Fun fact from the book: Carpet bowls and bingo, two things Don used with great success for teambuilding in Leeds, were actually part of his downfall as England manager - Players from especially the south found him weird and kind of crazy.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

The last book was actually read in my bedroom instead of on the sunny beaches of Spain. Promised Land by Anthony Clavane is about alot more then Leeds United, it is alot about Leeds as a city, and the ups and downs from 1960 up till today. From Don Revie to Simon Grayson, from industrial city to finacial HQ, from tolerance to racism and, thankfully back to tolerance. The book takes place in the authors head, and focusses alot on him and his family and their relationship to Leeds (as a city) and Leeds (as a football club). It is more of a book book, then the two others, because there is so much else involved. I did find it interesting to read about how Leeds changed, both as a city and as a club. And as the author himself, I am still waiting for Leeds United to make it back into The Promised Land.

Fun fact from the book: The massive difference between Leeds United chairmen, from non-spending - to VERY VERY big spending - back to non-spending.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Leeds United - Hull City 16th of August 2011

 Good news for us Leeds United, history is on our side tonight! Leeds United have only ever lost the first three league once, in the season 1936/37!! And the last time Hull took three point home with them from Elland Road was in September 1987 - so if nothing else we do have the history books pointing our way (at least to get a point!)

Hull started their season off with a home defeat to Blackpool, but followed that up by beating big spending Ipswich 1-0 away this weekend - in between their two league games, they were beaten 2-0 at home in the carling cup by Macclesfield!! Robert Koren, Jay Simpson & Matty Fryat are their best players in a sqaud which also includes football manager wonderkid Tom Cairney (not sure if he is any good irl).

Enough about Hull, let's focus on what is truely important - SUPER LEEDS UNITED! We have had a terrible start to the season, hampered by injuries to out two best strikers, Becchio & Davide Somma, and a midfield that are still finding their feet with two new faces, Michael Brown & Adam Clayton, in the centre. Our defence have struggled, but I do believe that bringing in Tom Leeds on RB and Leigh Bromby besides Kisnorbo was a masterstroke by Simon Grayson. Andy Lonergan have started good in his Leeds career, better command of the area and better communication with the defence then Kasper Schmeichel. The most exiting piece of news from Elland Road came yesterday, when it was announced that we had signed Wolves striker Andy Keogh on loan - this will give us the firepower we need up front, and hopefully give McCormack some much needed support. Our winges need no introduction Robert Snodgrass and Maxi Gradel, the latter is unfortunately suspended tonight, are hugely important to our campaign, and the fact that we managed to keep them during the summer, was to me, more important than us signing two or three new players! So today Ramon Nunez or Lloyd Sam will get the chance to impress with Mad Max out!

I believe that Leeds United will really kick off the campaign tonight by outplaying Hull City and send them home with a 2-0 defeat with goals from Snoddy and old/new boy Andy Keogh.

M.O.T We will get there!

Ken Bates out, but at what price?!?

Saturday afternoon Leeds United played Middlesbrough in a home game in front of 25650 people, the game ended 0-1 and three players got sent off, which means that I could write a blog about poor referees or players out off control. But instead I have chosen to focus on a thing that happended before,during and after the game - the massive protests against our clubs owner, Mr Ken Bates.

Before the game a number of supporters, believed to be around 500-800, gathered at the Billy Bremner statue and protested against the way Ken Bates is running the club, "Build us a team, not a hotel" they yelled, among other things. I would have loved for Mr Bates to sign us more players to strengthen our side during the summer, but I do question these supporters idea... Making a protest on game day will have an effect on the 11 lads taking the field and trying to win us the game, there are numerous of examples hereoff, in Denmark where I live, Brondby fans have protested lots of times over the running of their club, and each time the players have responded badly and lost the game. Pointing at the new south stand and yelling the the Fabian Delph transfer money paid for that, true or not, is time spend not supporting the 11 players, or 9 as we ended up, on the pitch.

Unless we find a guy who is ready to put up the money to buy Leeds United, I don't believe that the protests will have much effect on Ken Bates, but I do believe that they have an effect on the players, and I am sad to say, that I think the effect it will have on them is a bad one! Off course they know that the boos and screams are not directed at them, but they still need our support - So my hope is, that even though many people don't appreciate Ken Bates, that they can leave that behind, and put the love and support first, for the good of Leeds United!

Because I do believe we will get there, with or without Ken Bates! M.O.T

And off script, Welcome home Andy Keogh!

My beer and me!

After todays game I took a beer, a wrote a "poem"

I LOVE BEER, AND I LOVE IT EVEN MORE, WHEN I CAN DRINK IT, FROM MY LEEDS "JAR"

Ross McCormack - Failure or star of tomorrow?

Last summer Leeds United completed the signing of scottish international Ross McCormack, fans of the club were exited, and I was among them. A year back his club, Cardiff, had rejected offers around £4million and now we got him for a cut price, believed to be around £650000, a true bargain!

The day Ross signed for us, a Cardiff fan wrote on one af the Ross McCormack facebook tribute sites, "if you can keep him away from the pints and kebabs, you've got yourself a very good striker" - a year later, the question is: did we keep him away from those two, for a footballer, dangerous things??

Ross have played about 25 games for Leeds, with a not impressive 4 goals to show for it - I am sure that we all hoped and thought it would have been double or maybe even triple that amount. This is the point in my blog where I start to defend Ross, because I actually believe that the best is yet to come, he is a very hard worker and if you compare him to our other summer signing from last year, Billy Paynter, a MASSIVE succes.

Billy Paynter has played around 25 for games for Leeds aswell, scoring once! I know that many people think it is unfair to Billy to compare them, since Ross is a moving forward, while Billy is more of a targetman forward, but I have to say that the, ok very few, games I have seen with Billy P in a Swindon shirt gave me a very different picture of the guy. In Swindon he moved around alot, he went deep to get the ball, and worked the wings aswell, in Leeds, well yeah, I am not sure what he is doing actually!
But back to Ross, I believe that this will be his season, he has every chance now, with Becchio and Somma out, and I am sure he will take it! He got the speed, the eye for goal, and most importantly the desire for succes - these three things give me the "right" to call him, star of tomorrow (or this afternoon PLEASE) rather then failure!
So if you read this Ross, which you don't, know that I believe in you!

To my fellow Leeds fans, MOT - We will get there, with or without Ross McCormack!

Leeds United today!

Tomorrow Leeds will play their 3rd game of the season, we started out last saturday with defeat at Southampton, and then returned to Elland Road on tuesday for a Carling cup clash with local rivals Bardford, which gave us a 3-2 win after a brace from Ramon Nunez and a goal from Ross McCormack!

I will be the first to admit that we did not hope our season would start like this, and also the first to admit that we probably were expecting some "better and bigger" signings over the summer BUT, I do not understand why many Leeds fans find it so damn easy to be negative about the club and our future, I am also annoyed that we are not in the Premier League, I would also love to sign players like Aguero and Fabregas, but come on.. I fear that some Leeds fans have gotten a bit big headed and believe that we should be able to sign whoever we want, I for one remember that we once did that (O'leary/Ridsdale anyone???) and I actually respect the fact the Ken Bates and Simon Grayson are trying to built us up slowly, but i do fear that some Leeds fans do not, and that they might not have the patience to wait this out!
I think that, eventhough it is hard, we have to trust the KB and SG knows what they are doing, and that they are doing it for the good of LEEDS UNITED!

To all fellow Leeds fans, M.O.T - we will get there!!

So this is blogging!

I've been wanting to write a blog for a while, since I really feel I have alot to give the world, just like every other blogger does ;) My blog will contain different episodes from my life, some will be in Danish, some in English. I'll write about different things that is going on, politics, music, sports and things in life in general! SO happy reading and have fun!