Leeds slowly dropping their circus act

admin

Every season Leeds United have spent in the Championship, the sole goal has been to escape it. A task that was once completed but involved relegation to League One – not exactly what we had in mind.

It’s been ten long, punishing and at times excruciatingly painful years since United last graced the Premier League with its presence. Instead, mid-table in the second tier of English football has become our unwanted home.

However, to gain promotion to the promised land you must consistently – but not always convincingly – win games, which unfortunately for Leeds is easier said than done.

It’s often said that the Championship is a hard league to get out of, and for The Whites that has certainly proven to be the case. Someone has to do it though, and every year three teams manage to find themselves on the escalator to the Premier League while Leeds United fans sit back, watch enviously, and ask the same question: “why them and not us?”.

You’d be hard pushed to find a club subject to such recurring turmoil though; a club where the fans are practically self-trained lawyers, financial specialists and of course experts in the Italian justice system. Theres always something more pressing, more urgent and sadly more important than football at Leeds United Football Club, and until that changes we’ll have many more seasons of disappointment to enjoy.

Whether it was administration and player sales under Bates, lack of investment and the imprisonment of David Haigh with GFH or the seemingly never-ending list of convictions and bickering with the Football League Cellino’s tenure has brought us, the football is always neglected, forgotten about and consumed by the chaos the Leeds United Circus creates.

However, one man has given us a glimmer of hope and has made football the main focus, and rightly so. There is only one Neil Redfearn.

His tenure so far has brought stability and optimism for the future to a season that was plagued with uncertainty, disappointment and Dave Hockaday before him.

Unexpected wins against teams like Middlesbrough, Bournemouth and Ipswich have become common with Redders at the helm and his youngsters running riot on a regular basis ensuring that the fans have something to sing about.

As positive as things at the club are at the moment with Cellino gone and football finally at the forefront, it’s next season that we can’t help but cast our eyes to, and it’s next season that really matters.

It is vital that we keep the likes of Lewis Cook, Sam Byram and Alex Mowatt. Those three, along with Charlie Taylor, have proved their worth in abundance and are essential to a possible promotion push come August.

It is vital that we keep Redfearn, who has installed a system that gets results and a fight in the team that hasn’t been seen in a long time – too long a time.

But more importantly, it’s vital that football remains the most important issue at Leeds United. No more owners on power trips, no more court cases, no more financial woes, because for the last few months we’ve actually been talking about goals, formations and players.

That’s how it should stay.

You can follow Leah on Twitter @leahwallerx – and don’t forget to follow @FanZone too for links to all the latest blogs.

Leeds slowly dropping their circus act

admin

Every season Leeds United have spent in the Championship, the sole goal has been to escape it. A task that was once completed but involved relegation to League One – not exactly what we had in mind.

It’s been ten long, punishing and at times excruciatingly painful years since United last graced the Premier League with its presence. Instead, mid-table in the second tier of English football has become our unwanted home.

However, to gain promotion to the promised land you must consistently – but not always convincingly – win games, which unfortunately for Leeds is easier said than done.

It’s often said that the Championship is a hard league to get out of, and for The Whites that has certainly proven to be the case. Someone has to do it though, and every year three teams manage to find themselves on the escalator to the Premier League while Leeds United fans sit back, watch enviously, and ask the same question: “why them and not us?”.

You’d be hard pushed to find a club subject to such recurring turmoil though; a club where the fans are practically self-trained lawyers, financial specialists and of course experts in the Italian justice system. Theres always something more pressing, more urgent and sadly more important than football at Leeds United Football Club, and until that changes we’ll have many more seasons of disappointment to enjoy.

Whether it was administration and player sales under Bates, lack of investment and the imprisonment of David Haigh with GFH or the seemingly never-ending list of convictions and bickering with the Football League Cellino’s tenure has brought us, the football is always neglected, forgotten about and consumed by the chaos the Leeds United Circus creates.

However, one man has given us a glimmer of hope and has made football the main focus, and rightly so. There is only one Neil Redfearn.

His tenure so far has brought stability and optimism for the future to a season that was plagued with uncertainty, disappointment and Dave Hockaday before him.

Unexpected wins against teams like Middlesbrough, Bournemouth and Ipswich have become common with Redders at the helm and his youngsters running riot on a regular basis ensuring that the fans have something to sing about.

As positive as things at the club are at the moment with Cellino gone and football finally at the forefront, it’s next season that we can’t help but cast our eyes to, and it’s next season that really matters.

It is vital that we keep the likes of Lewis Cook, Sam Byram and Alex Mowatt. Those three, along with Charlie Taylor, have proved their worth in abundance and are essential to a possible promotion push come August.

It is vital that we keep Redfearn, who has installed a system that gets results and a fight in the team that hasn’t been seen in a long time – too long a time.

But more importantly, it’s vital that football remains the most important issue at Leeds United. No more owners on power trips, no more court cases, no more financial woes, because for the last few months we’ve actually been talking about goals, formations and players.

That’s how it should stay.

You can follow Leah on Twitter @leahwallerx – and don’t forget to follow @FanZone too for links to all the latest blogs.