For those who’d be more inclined to enter ‘Leeds United’
under the religious beliefs section of the Census, behold; another
resurrection! Sadly, this was no footballing messiah, fabled to be afforded
deity-like status in the annuls of footballing history; but a man rather more akin to
the little donkey that Mary rode into Bethlehem on – yes, Paul Connolly was back! (Again!)
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| He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy! |
That seems to be where Leeds United is at currently. Twice
now, Connolly’s been castigated, twice publicly crucified…and yet, he keeps
coming back. Grayson didn’t want him, and it seemed that Warnock had surely seen
enough after Watford – do we not use nails for our metaphorical crucifixions at
Elland Road, instead favouring Pritt Stick? Paul Connolly and a pestilence of
utterly incapable footballers – the Damned United, indeed!
In fairness to Warnock, I think deep down he knows that
Connolly is bad for him, that he’ll only let him down when he needs him the
most, that he’s gonna break his heart; but like one of those girls who keeps
going back to bastard ex-boyfriends, despite being able to do so much better
for herself, Warnock keeps looking around in the mistaken belief that there’s no
one else out there – Neil, it’s not you, it’s him!
It’s little wonder that the Elland Road crowd were so
subdued, the ovation to greet the teams, comparable to the reluctant applause
that inevitably follow most home games (10 and counting). It’s been a long time
since Leeds have played an ‘end of season’ fixture before the Easter break is
up and they haven’t been missed. Not that you’d have thought it was a ‘dead
rubber’ for Derby, their players joined for a pre-match huddle; I can only
assume it was a motivational thing, as opposed a strategy to instil the courage
necessary to perform at the ‘fortress’.
It took all of about a minute to have our worst fears
confirmed, that’s how long the opposition took to find a gaping hole between
centre back and left back. By the 6th minute, Paul Robinson was
already ripping into Tom Lees for losing his marker; Lees looked forlorn –
maybe some time in the reserves will do him good, after all, everyone’ll “do it
for Redders!” If the writing wasn’t already on the wall, Michael Brown got out
the spray can and went all Banksy on our asses – a tackle with the leading leg
at a 90 degree angle is generally frowned upon, even a little bit at Leeds.
Today’s #Brownfact – that was f**king stupid!
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| 1-0 |
So onwards in the relentless pursuit of defeat; it didn’t
take long to pick up the momentum, Craig Bryson joining the esteemed and
seemingly never-ending list of players who’ve scored thumping long range
efforts against Leeds this season. The game looked dead from that moment, and
despite plenty of effort (but very little else), it was; 60 minutes of a
jejune, somniferous spectacle, leading to only one conclusion.
Warnock, one of the football’s great pachyderms, but evidently
despairing at the state of the playing squad, was quick to try and distance
himself from many of the individuals that represented him today, quick to regale to the radio audience the tale of his conversation with Nigel Clough who was warned that he’d “never see another team of Neil Warnock’s like this”. Some may
suggest that Warnock’s policy talking openly about the need to re-haul the
squad is in some small way responsible for recent performances, if so, haven’t
those same players implicated proved themselves to be of insufficient
character to rise to the challenge of proving him wrong? With the season dead,
I’d much rather hear straight talking rhetoric about team building and
clear-outs, heaping pressure on Bates and Harvey, as opposed to sound bites
about “pushing on” and “looking for a response”.
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| Danny Pugh in default 'left for dead' pose... |
The only question I’d ask of Warnock is where he intends to
start. In goal, Lonergan’s been far from our poorest player this season, but
still a liability and not of the standard required for a promotion chasing team;
Connolly, I could write a dissertation on… I think I’ll stick with the midfield
on this occasion, or rather the lack of – could a midfield that has Brown and
Pugh at its heart , not to mention Nunez even hope to cut it at League One
level?
Brown is maybe good for another year, given a full
pre-season and on the understanding that he’s not going to be an ever present,
but somebody who’s utilised in certain games, particularly on the road. The
other two mentioned though, forget it. Warnock commented on Friday that Pugh
had shown him something new on Friday – I only assume it was his ability to
foul. Buoyed by those words, Pugh spent the entire first half slide tackling;
what, I’m not sure – there were never any players in his range, but he may have
aggressively displaced some air. It’s a common theme for Danny, a man capable
of losing his own shadow at a corner. It was no surprise to see Steve Davis
drift past him as if he wasn’t there, en route to the second goal. As for Ramon…I
found myself counting white shirts, just to make sure he was still there.
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| That Danny Webber moment, for anyone who's missed it! |
It wasn’t all bad though; ‘The Robbie Rogers’ came on for a
run-out and having already been knocked unconscious and captained the side in
his previous appearances, today, 49 seconds in, he finally touched the ball –
it was a good one too; a nice pass down the touchline, Ramon’s Opta Index rating
eclipsed in one deft flick of the boot. There was also Danny Webber: thank you
Danny, for that effort when clean through on goal, it brought back memories of
Enoch and Ricketts in their pomp. I’m still smiling about it now.
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| The Kop - no, the game hasn't finished |
Apparently Warnock can’t wait for next season to start and
has promised that “The team I put out at the start of the season will absolutely
love playing at Elland Road!” I hope so, as I’d quite like to love watching football
at the ground.
For now, there’s just four more games left to go, so as
Warnock also says, “Let’s just grin and bear it”.
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