Leeds United 2012/13 Mid Season Review

A lot has happened in half a season at Elland Road so I'm going to take a quick look at Leeds United's 2012-13 season so far.

In my 2011-12 end of season review I ended by saying that: "Even inaction will lead to something giving way. It's building up to be an intriguing summer ahead."
And it was an intriguing summer, one that didn't really end for the regular Leeds fan like me until late November when something finally gave way!

After yet another summer of sales, secrets and silence, the start to the 2012-13 season in August was depressingly filled with yet more uncertainty and worry about what was to come of the club, both on and off the pitch. Ken Bates was still in charge, sticking to what I'd call his 'tell 'em nothing' customer relations technique. Everyone was in the dark, even the press. The proposed takeover was shrouded in mystery and dragged on like an NHL lockout.

Thankfully, the new owners were persistent and patient. The news we'd been waiting to hear since the 'Show Bates the Red Card' campaign back in 2007 broke in November, Bates was being bought out. Over 7 years since he first took a bite of Leeds, there was finally hope of some form of liberation for our club as a large sum of money finally relaxed a metaphorical sphincter that was keeping the football side of the club trapped in an ever constricting colon. GFH Capital, an entity involved in private equity, finalised a deal on the 21st November and completed the takeover on the 21st December.

Looking back at how Ken Bates treated supporters it brings out a lot of negative emotions. No matter what parasitic relationship to Leeds United he may keep from here on in - no matter how much we'd be better off without his presence and for all the facts of his reign to emerge - at least he's (hopefully) no longer pulling the strings - and that's the most important thing - as long as the new owners have a better idea of what a football club is supposed to be.

Though off the pitch issues dominated my focus and probably many other Leeds supporters, on the pitch, Neil Warnock put together a side of what we could see would be hard working individuals but we didn't really know what to expect from them as (per Neil Warnocks comments at the time) the squad wasn't the finished article.

The issue, as with football in general, was tied to finance. Neil Warnock prepared the base of a squad with the hopes of adding a creative flair - if and when funds were released. With some of the value of the squad being used to subsidise other aspects of Bates' plans, we sold our most creative player (Snodgrass) and the necessary funds for Warnock to complete the side further never surfaced. During the saga of the protracted takeover, it was reported that the new owners even had to dip into their pockets to keep things ticking over before they'd even bought the club.

Against all odds the side got off to a reasonable start but the problems of only having a thin squad soon surfaced. Just 7 points from a possible 27 between October to mid-November, including a 1-6 home defeat at the hands of Watford brought that home to anyone hiding their heads in the sand. Frustrations on the pitch pretty much reflected frustrations at the continued silence from the club around that time. If Ken Bates was ever going to sell up (and rhumor as to why he wasn't) became running jokes on fan sites. Holding our breath was officially abandoned. Thankfully, results picked up again in December in huge part thanks to some emergency loans - again funded by our owners to be.

Statistically, since the start of this season we've not been great. We've conceded too many goals for our league position and we have the joint 6th worst defensive record in the league, however, Leeds sit in 8th place, unsurprisingly we have the dis-honour of owning the only negative goal difference in the top half of the table. For the most part, the points on the board have been accumulated through tight wins, in the league we are yet to win a game by a margin of more than 2 goals.

In terms of going forward, in Championship games, shots and shots on goal have far fewer than the teams around us in the league table. Possession during games hasn't been great either. So how are we in 8th position?

One big positive from the first half of this season on the pitch has been effort. For the most part, the determination to somewhat punch above our weight has been excellent and results have been ground out. What has also made up for both the goals conceded and the lack of attempts on goal has been some clinical finishing from the awesome Luciano Becchio; prior to the Birmingham game (in which he scored) in 28 games in all competitions this season, ESPNsoccernet stats say he's had 25 shots yet scored 18 goals.

So what needs to change for this Leeds side to create more chances and concede less? The simple answer must be to complete the squad. To add the play-makers and creative passers that we're lacking which Neil Warnock hoped to bring in originally.

Digging into the positions we might look to improve:

Up front, we actually look pretty good right now but it wasn't that way earlier in the season due to injuries. Forwards like Ross McCormack and Davide Somma now back in action after being out injured for a while. Adding to the equation our current life-line – the brilliant Becchio and also the reformed Diouf too, up front we seem quite well covered.

In defense there is still much room for improvement; stability and cohesion are needed. Alan Tate was brought in from Swansea after it became apparent that our central defense lacked leadership and he's done well but sadly we've still leaked goals. I really don't think our defense is as bad as some of the results like the Notts Forest match (a 4-2 loss) might suggest. We have plenty of good players and a couple of great young players who in a couple of years will be the finished article, but for the moment there is still work needed and we're a bit short for pace in the center.

Another glaring issue for this part of the squad is that Alan Tate is currently only on short term loan from Swansea. If Leeds aren't planning to sign Tate up longer term (beyond the 26th January anyway), we have to be in the market for a central defender during this month or we're back to square one on that front. With that leading central defensive role hopefully addressed before the end of the month, we could probably make do with the defense we have if we can get a better balance in midfield to help shield them and allow our talented younger players to get forward in support more often.

From what I've seen, our midfield is the area that most urgently needs improvement with some creative qualities. When facing sides with a hard working midfield, we've struggle to put the ball to good or even safe use when we finally get possession. To compensate we end up playing the long ball far too often and giving up possession far too easily. In games like in the league cup run, it's been a case of just determination and hard work getting the job done, but when that underdog motivation hasn't been there (against the likes of Derby, Notts Forest, Watford etc) we've been rolled over. Our midfield has a lot of hard grafters but too few with the creativity and quality. Without an extra edge and re-organisation in midfield it'll probably be another mid-table finish.

Sadly there are likely to be very few players available who fit the bill required during the January transfer window and those there are will no doubt be in high demand and go to the highest bidder (which I hope we're not if the likes of Leicester are involved as the price is likely inflated and too high). Still, you never know what strings Neil Warnock might be able to pull if resources are made available to him.

Another thing that has to change for us to progress is to stop selling our best talents - the likes of Becchio, Byram, White and Lees in this transfer window. If Becchio is sold and it's for less than the cost of purchasing a new midfield and another talented striker or 2 (who each have good-great potential) then it would be a major folly because we're just not going to be able to replace his goals within the side we currently have. His goals have literally been the difference between being in touch of the playoffs and fighting relegation. Not only that but he's a fans favourite, yet another sale of our prized assets would just further demoralise the fan base and that's the complete opposite of what needs to happen for the new owners to get the club moving forward.

Almost everything really does hang on what the new owners plan to do. The good news is that they do seem to understand that there has to be some investment in the playing squad if the club as a whole is to succeed and give a reasonable return on their investment. Obviously no silly risks! We've had our fair share of Ridsdale-like gambles, but owners and fans can generally all be on the same side and push the club forwards together and I very much hope that is now the case with Leeds again. With David Haigh stating recently "It will take investment; we are ready to make that investment. We won’t spend crazy money, but we will make the investment sustainable and make the club successful.", it's looking reasonable to cautiously hope for the best.

Though I don't really know anything about GFH Capital and don't know what to expect from their ownership, it's still early days and so far they seem to be going about things the right way. For instance, the clubs' communication with it's fans has improved greatly. The new board members and club use of social media exists (unlike with the last regime) and is being done well. Their willingness to have 2 way communication with supporters has been a breath of fresh air after the suffocating silence of our club president to be. A reintroduction of half season tickets and rebuilding of burnt bridges with supporters groups have also been a great welcome to what we can only hope is a new era for the club. I have to admit I don't dare to build my hopes up, probably a symptom of once twice bitten, twice always shy. Saying that I never had any confidence in Ken Bates except to do what is best for Ken Bates so that wasn't exactly a shock.

In terms of expectations for the rest of the season, although I'm not expecting great things like promotion to the Premier League, progress is a must. Getting fans back in the stands and re-engaged with the club has to be the first thing. That, and if possible, improving the squad so that the hard work given by a lot of the current squad (to stay in touching distance of the play-offs whilst also going on an unexpected cup run) may have a chance to lead to something more. Hopefully their hard work will continue and a little sprinkling of skills we are currently missing can be added to give the side a realistic opportunity of making the play-offs at the end of the season.

The big difference I see between where the club was at the start of the season to where it is now is the realistic hope of improvements to come (both on and off the pitch). We'll not know where we are until after the transfer (and then emergency loan) window closes, so in more ways than one, the rest of this season is a case of wait and see.

MOT

Crusaders F.C. 2011/12 A Season to Remember

What an end to last season it was for Crusaders. To put it in as few words as possible, Crusaders FC won the Setanta Sports Cup - only the 2nd Irish League side to do so and what a day it was, as I mentioned when we were looking forward to the two cup finals, winning one really did turn out to be the icing on the cake. It was probably the biggest achievement (outside of winning the domestic league) in the clubs history and combined with the Irn Bru League Cup win from earlier in the season, one of the most successful seasons for silverware the club has known. I think it put everyone in such a happy place especially considering the disappointment of the Crues losing the Irish Cup final in such a disappointingly foundering manner just 7 days before. The contrast of our experience between those two Saturdays in May was quite extreme.

The Irish Cup final was one to forget, a day where the usual depressing experience of watching a football match at Windsor Park was reflected by our own team's abject performance and we were deservedly beaten 4-1.

I'm not even going to get into the issues and arrangements inside the ground that helped make it even more of a poor occasion but suffice to say, Linfield and the IFA have plenty to improve if they really want to provide a space and environment where people from all sections of society will want to attend football matches.

The positive from that day apart from the goal after half time was the huddle in front of the Crues fans that Stephen Baxter and the team formed. It looked from where we were sitting to be a motivational speech of sorts. I'm guessing the words that were said were somewhere along the lines of 'take this all in, how this feels, how it hurts and remember it when you're walking out at the Oval next week, give your all to make sure you don't have to feel that way again!'. After waving our black and red flags and clapping the players off as they picked up their medals, we headed back to Seaview to drown our sorrows.

The week flew by and we were soon waking up and getting dressed up once again in club colours to head to the Oval (Glentoran's ground) for the Setanta Sports Cup Final.

Compared to how I'd woken up with apprehension and apathy the week before, this time it felt exciting, even though we were probably playing tougher opposition, it felt like we had a chance, it felt like the bigger occasion, the anticipation a cup final should have.

We walked from the Newtownards road across to the Oval - a neutral venue for both sides - in the sunshine, our heads and black and red chequered flags held high and billowing in the breeze. Again we were underdogs for the game, our opponents for the day, Derry City who play in the League of Ireland, the team who had knocked Linfield out at the quarter final stage of the same competition.

After getting some food and taking in a bit of the atmosphere we headed up into the stand. I always forget how small the leg room can be on some of those wooden seats in the main stand at the Oval and with my long legs we had to move seats. A stand which was made in an age when people were smaller aside, there was a more relaxed atmosphere at the Oval than at Windsor the week before. Both sides had fans behind the goals, both had a covered stand, both really seemed to be enjoying the day.

As it got closer to kick off the tension and atmosphere built, there were plenty of club colours around the ground, both sets of fans were in good voice and it was all set for a great game. It was the build up to the game similar to that we experienced at the Ballymena Showgrounds with the CIS League Cup final earlier in the year, the buzz that just never materialised for me when we were stuck up on the Windsor meatpacking shelf the week before.

The teams came out and lined up and once the formalities were out of the way the game began.

Though the game was goalless for 80 minutes there were plenty of chances. Just a few minutes in, Derry keeper Gerard Doherty was able to keep out Timmy Adamson as he raced through. Not long after, Chris Morrow was denied by the post from a free kick.

There were more opportunities for both sides before half time but we felt more than a little unlucky not to have gone in at half time ahead and the thought that it wasn't going to be our day did cross my mind.

The 2nd half is when it really got going. In the same way the Crues had gone close early in the first, now it was Derry's turn as a header from a free-kick crashed off the bar and out. Not to be bettered, Chris Morrow was again soon to go agonisingly close, his volley somehow kept out by the Derry keeper at close range. Then with just a third of the game to play, Timmy Adamson almost broke the deadlock but his header from a corner became the 3rd time the woodwork was wobbled.

For the next 20 minutes there were chances at both ends before our fears came true as Derry went 1-0 with only 10 minutes left to play. It was, of all people, former Irish League player Rory Patterson with the goal, a good finish after a great set up deep inside the box, but you know what, as bad as it felt to go behind so close to the end, we could feel and see from the players reactions that we were not out of it yet.

The Crues restarted and continued to keep up the pressure. It paid off, with just 4 minutes to play, Captain fantastic - Colin Coates, got on the end of a Brentford bound Stuart Dallas' cross from a free kick and as it went in we were up on our feet cheering like crazy.

There was still time for more drama before the 90 minutes were up. We hadn't even settled down from the goal when David Rainey almost won it in normal time but unfortunately for us his shot went agonisingly wide.

Then the excitement turned to disbelief as a slide tackle out along the far touchline saw Crues defender Stephen McBride sent off after receiving a 2nd yellow card.

The 2012 Setanta Sports Cup final was going to extra time but the odds had swung in Derry's favour with their numerical advantage.

Over the last couple of seasons we've seen our team reduced to 10 men maybe a bit more regularly than we'd hope but if there was one thing we knew they could do well was to still be effective on the offensive whilst being a player short, we knew they'd give their all, the question was, with it being extra time in the final game of a very long season, how much more was there to give?

The answer was they had plenty left to give. Derry had plenty of possession but it was the Crues who almost scored through Declan Cadell as the Derry defence could only watch as he raced through but put his shot wide.

Then came a huge goal. Colin Coates again connecting with a Stuart Dallas delivery, this time from a comer. As that goal went in I felt a mixture of elation, disbelief and pride. With so much going wrong in the game the week before and the team not putting away the chances we'd had in this game, it seemed to be so much like one of those days but that goal blew those thoughts away. Against the odds we had the advantage for the first time.

Could the 10 men hang on? Well sadly no. It was a staunch effort mind you, each and every player did their utmost to keep Derry at bay and it wasn't through our defensive wall being breached that Derry scored, it was from a slightly harsh penalty call for a handball in the box. Up stepped that guy Rory Patterson again to take the spot kick and he made no mistake. So close but yet the pendulum had swung agonisingly away again. Thankfully that was the only Derry goal in extra time, Sean O'Neill denying McEleney's long shot and taking the game to the dreaded lottery of a penalty shoot-out.

The blind hope was still there but it was tempered by experience, technically it could still be my team's day but past events have led me to despair the existence of a  penalty shoot-out in football. It's not that I don't enjoy watching them (if it's not my team) but I can't remember seeing a team I support (the Crues, Leeds or England) win one. I only remember them losing. Like Pavlov's dogs, I've been conditioned over time - but instead of salivating when the bell rings in anticipation of food, when the whistle sounds to end extra time, I resign myself to seeing my team losing. I doubt I'm alone.

So what happened next was the most magnificent penalty shoot-out I'd ever seen. Coates blasted his penalty home, Morrow bounced his off the keeper, Gargan had his saved but Morrison had missed his penalty for Derry the kick before so at 2-2 after 3 penalties each it was already going to be a case of one mistake. The next Derry player scored then up stepped Matthew Snoddy, even at the young age of 18 had all the composure of a seasoned professional and tucked it away, as cool as you like, sending the keeper the wrong way. It was now sudden death, Derry scored their 5h and then it was down to Stuart Dallas, his last competitive kick of the ball before a move to full time football in England, miss and we would have lost. He made no mistake.

The 6th spot kick for Derry was taken by McCaffrey, his shot, to our delight, was well saved by the stretching Sean O'Neill who got enough on the shot to snuff out it's path towards the goal. With that penalty saved it all came down to the unmistakeable figure of Gareth McKeown. The affectionate shouts of 'G, G, G, G, G, G, G, G' rang out from everyone in the stand as he made his way to the penalty box. He took his few steps back, the whistle blew, there was a moment of silence from the Crues fans and boo's from the Derry City supporters as everyone focused on the one kick that could decide it.

The ball was kicked, the keeper guessed the right way but the ball beat his dive, the back of the net rippled. Crusaders had not only demonstrated it was possible to win a penalty shoot out, the team had only gone and won the Setanta Cup!

Here is a video someone called Matthew Moore took from the Derry City end as the penalty was taken.

Crusaders F.C were the 2012 Setanta Sports Cup Winners - All Ireland Champions.

We were elated, exstatic, arms in the air, cheering and in awe. Gareth McKeown ran towards the stand in celebration as did the rest of the team and all the players and club officials down at pitch level.

We stayed in the stand well after the awarding of the cup which was a great moment (video taken by the same guy as above).

The players were all celebrating like mad and we marvelled at the trophy being paraded around the pitch. All the familiar faces we see in the stands each week through rain and shine were overwhelmed with happiness, there were even a few tears of joy sneaking through along side the manic grins and black and red chequered flags being waved - this time in celebration!

The players were all joined by their kids on the pitch and it was the start of the great party to come.

I can't remember it dying down so much as the celebrating just moved on, down the stairs, down the road, on the bus (where even fans of other clubs were asking the score and congratulating us) and back to Seaview. I was hyper and I don't think I managed to stop chattering manically until my mouth was being used to drink a celebratory pint of Guinness or 6 back at Crusaders Social Club.

Everyone, as usual, win or lose was back at the club and it was a brilliant night. The players came back a little later on after heading out for a celebratory meal and arrived in style on top of an open top bus waving the trophy in the air. The police had to close off the road for a while as the street filled and the fans sang.

We stayed down at the club til very late, after a short speech about the success of the day and the season (not forgetting that this was a cup double, the club having won the Irn Bru League Cup back in January) from our manager Stephen Baxter...

...there was plenty of dancing to the usual songs like the Killers - 'Are we human, or are we Dancer Crusaders'. it was a great day, a great game, a great atmosphere, a great night and even more importantly a great season.

Though the Crues hadn't done as well as we'd have hoped in the league, personally I think the Cup runs more than made up for it. It was an amazing achievement for a semi-pro side like ours to not only to play so many games (starting the season in the Europa Cup Qualifying back in June 2011 and playing in 4 more cup competitions) but to get to 3 cup finals in the process and grasp so much success from them. Meatloaf once said, '2 out of 3 ain't bad', I'd like to let him know, 2 out of 3 is brilliant! Here is a photo of the league cup again for good measure :)

This seasons European games against Rosenborg BK have since been and gone, the Crues came out of the home tie with a 0-3 deficit but defended brilliantly in the 2nd leg only losing 1-0 to a long distance goal that no keeper was stopping.

Which brings us nicely into the bread and butter of the new season when who knows what will happen, especially with the new sigings like Paul Heatley and Gary McCutcheon! Now I've seen the Crues win a penalty shoot-out, it's almost like the fear of daring to dream is gone - though I'll keep my feet firmly on the ground, it's a better place to launch from!

Bring on 2012/13!

Just Days until the Olympics

On Friday, the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony will be in full swing. Which means, it's time for me to choose a sport or two so that in a months time I can tick off one of the items from my 2012 List - to follow an Olympic 2012 sport über religiously... a sport that I honestly don't care about right now.

Surprisingly for someone as indecisive as myself, I do have the sport I'm going to follow picked already - and there I was thinking I might have to pick one out of a hat. After chatting about it with Norngirl and my sister-in-law, it was decided the main sport of the summer is going to be:

*Drum roll please*



Synchronised Swimming!

A sport that perfectly fits the bill - I know nothing of the rules and until now, it's something I truly didn't care about and something I've never bothered to watch.

My current understanding of synchronised swimming (before I read the wiki page I just linked to there anyway) is that groups of people hold their breath underwater whilst 'dancing' with their limbs to make pretty patterns set to music. People holding their breath for a long time is impressive but it's not quite free diving, I'm sure I'll appreciate the skill required but will I care? I'm soon going to find out and the Olympics coverage is going to be my guide of sorts.

After just checking the scheduling for when the events are happening and it is quickly apparent that it's only a women's sport at the Olympics, with just 2 events - the Women's Team event and Women's Duet.

The schedule (according to the BBC site) is as follows:

5th-7th August - Women's Duets Event

5th: Qualification technical routine 3pm-4.50pm
6th: Qualification free routine 3pm-5.25pm
7th: Women's Duets Finals 3pm-4.13pm (seems a bit precise)

9th-10th August Women's Teams Event

9th: Final Technical routine 3pm-3.50pm
10th: Final Free routine 3pm-3.59pm

So a couple of problems there - first is that it seems these are very short events and awkwardly timed for watching live given we'll be at work at the time. The second is that the events only run for a few hours spread over a few days.

With these problems in mind, we'll have to hope that TiVo can record whichever of the BBC Olympic channels will likely be showing it at the time or that there might be highlights, extended highlights or full coverage on demand somewhere. I've also decdided to closely follow a 2nd sport closely.

This other sport is going to be Handball. I picked it because it runs from the practically the start of the Olympics for a long time, the best part of 3 weeks. I think it might be interesting to try and see what the millions of fans in Europe like about this game.

I hope by following these sports and keeping up with others that I might get into the traditional spirit of the Olympics because so far I've not been impressed by the build up to it all.

The Olympic flame came to Belfast but we had other things on whilst it was in town.
There has been a lot of doom and gloom in the press (sometimes I do wonder if they're all manic depressive or believe the populous are) though rightly so in some cases - such as the case of the private security company who are still trying to keep their 57 million management fee even though they 'failed to manage' to the point the army have had to be called in. On TV, the ads from 'official sponsors' have been driving me to shout at the TV screen, each brand seemingly trying to outdo each other in making any tenuous link to sport that they can.

Putting aside all that and then some, hopefully the Olympics will go well and we can enjoy the occasion for the sport.

I best get reading up the likes of this guide from the BBC site.

Come on team GB and Northern Ireland... flail? throw? lob? swim? tread-water? your way to gold!

Leeds United 2011/12 End of Season Review

Leeds United's 2011/12 season was one to forget. I'd even go so far as to say that the season was a total wash out.

At the end of 2010/11 it was fairly obvious that the squad needed a few additions and to keep or replace what we had. Sadly, quite the opposite happened - rather than improving the squad over the last 12 months, it ended up being thinned out. Away went 3 of our best players - Johnson, Gradel and Howson, and in came short term free agents and a swathe of loanees (7 free agents and 9 loanees in total). Sadly, a lot of those free agents and loan players were either not up to scratch or were not playing in the shirt long enough to make a difference. There was no stability and that reflected in the teams' results.

Ultimately it cost Simon Grayson his job and Neil Warnock was brought in by Bates to try and resurrect the season. The problem being, Simon Grayson is a very good manager and seemingly, to me anyway, it appears he was actually acting as the glue keeping the side together - doing a very good job in a very difficult situation. Though he may have made a few mistakes and some poor signings, I really think this was mainly due to the scenario he found himself in.

Nay matter, however it came to be, the season was a mess and though I hoped Neil Warnock could somehow instil a siege mentality into the players, it never materialised and results got even worse... the worst of the worse, a 3-7 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest in March. The season was over well before it actually finished. Our haphazard squad of players finished the season in a mediocre 14th place. Though poor, it would be somewhat unfair to blame either manager, that's the sort of season we'd had, many of the players just didn't show up a lot of the time.

There were very few positives to take from the season but the main one would be the continued development of some of the players who came through the clubs' youth academy - players like Tom Lees and Aidan White. Another was the form of Ross McCormack and Robert Snodgrass who were the stand out performers over the season and Andy Lonergan did pretty well too. Last but not least, a statue of Don Revie was unveiled outside the East Stand. I'd say that those 3 things were pretty much about as good as it got.

But anyway, I best not to dwell too much. Once the season was over, Neil Warnock summed it all up well by placing 6 players on the transfer list and releasing 5 more. Compared to this time last season when we needed a few players in key positions, now the entire squad has to be rebuilt brick by brick since the wall was allowed to fall down. One thing that isn't falling down mind you are the corporate facilities in the East Stand. The stand has had 7 million spent redeveloping it.

For most clubs this could have been a wise move but it is a little disturbing when you hear the club are spending this on infrastructure it doesn't own rather than a playing squad it does - the question has to be - why? To put it another way; if you were a tenant renting a house, would you take out a loan secured against your car to pay to have a conservatory built that you might use to host an Ann Summers party once a fortnight? (Btw, this is why I chose Ann Summers as part of the metaphor - offering a "long, drawn-out affair with plenty of foreplay and slow arousal"  – sounds kinky to me)

And that's the thing I dislike most of all about Ken Bates' and Shaun Harvey's reign at Leeds:
The secrecy, the seemingly strange decisions, the unaccountability and a total lack of transparency.
These issues that have helped to alienate supporters have been prevalent from the start; from the saga regarding the ownership of the club, the use of corporate anonymity through offshore companies to the unprofessional comments published through the clubs own media. For a more in-depth read here is a great article on the Leeds United situation from The Swiss Ramble including a fair bit of background and plenty of figures - well worth a read for any football supporter!

Who knows what the next chapter will be in the Leeds story or even what happens at the end of this one? Your guess is as good as mine!

Recently it was revealed that there is investment being sought. Whether potentially a partnership investment or take over, it hasn't been revealed yet. As Blackburn and Portsmouth have found to their detriment in recent years, sometimes it's a case of better the devil you know and although we long for a knight in shining armour, since that's sadly the way English football has fallen, I know it's best not to get carried away with the chance of being bought out unless it is by someone who will care for the whole of the club.

From a fans perspective, the Leeds United Supporters Trust (LUST) has laid out it's vision - and it sounds sensible to me. So much so, I joined – why I hadn't before now I'm really not sure!

Neil Warnock and the players have also been quite vocal recently about their ambitions.

The only people we haven't heard much from are the board but right now, it's action rather than words that will tell us as supporters all we need to know and if they are working hard to do the best by Leeds United Football Club then I'm happy for them to be as silent as they like.

Even inaction will lead to something giving way. It's building up to be an intriguing summer ahead.

Cup Crazy Crusaders FC

Back in January, before Crusaders had played in the League Cup final I gave a quick half time report on how I felt the season had gone so far. At the time, I was optimistic about there being plenty to look forward to even though the club's league position was decidedly mid-table. Now that it's the end of the season and although our league position stayed the same, that optimism about plenty to look forward to wasn't misplaced.

I've already mentioned it, but lets get the minor negative out of the way first - as things panned out, we didn't make it any further up the league table in order to claim a guaranteed Europa League qualifying place. It just didn't come to fruition but Crusaders did end the season in a respectable 5th place. After such a successful league campaign the year before - which raised expectations a little - it was a little disappointing when league form didn't go well, but it's hard to be critical because there wasn't much wrong, the team was almost the same side and in some respects we improved (defensively especially). It's hard to pin down what went wrong with some of the performances in the league but I'd say what cost us most was the early season form and the bad luck of not getting the rub of the green at key times when we had passages of play where the team just didn't quite click as they knew they could. I'd almost go so far to say that it was almost as if the side were frustrated when their play didn't match up to the high standards they knew they could reach.

That all seemed to change going into the 2nd half of the season, and especially in cup competition where there was still all to play for, the confidence and feel good factor began to rise again.

As I posted at the time, the season was already a success for the Crues after a great day on the 28th January when the Crues lifted the Irn Bru League Cup, beating Coleraine 1-0 at the Ballymena Showgrounds. At that point the Irish Cup had only just started a couple of weeks before and the Setanta Cup games were a couple of months away.

The games quickly rolled by and the team beat Warrenpoint Town, Glenavon, Coleraine and Dungannon Swifts to reach our 3rd Irish Cup final in 4 years. Again a meeting with Linfield at their home ground - Windsor Park - looms, and will be played on Saturday 5th May.

Intertwined between the Irish Cup games and the league games there was also the Setanta Cup - an All-Ireland cup competition featuring the top sides from the Irish League in N.I and the League of Ireland. This was only the 2nd season we've featured in this competition. Last season was the first but it was a very brief and strange introduction as we were drawn to play our North Belfast neighbours Cliftonville. In those games we rested some key players to focus on the league and unfortunately lost the tie.

This season was completely different. All cup competitions have been the priority given our league position and we were drawn in both the 1/4 and Semi finals against League of Ireland opposition. The first 2 legged tie was against Bohemians, in the home leg the Crues dominated the game and it's fair to say we should have got at least one or two that night if not more but it just wouldn't go in and it finished 0-0.

In Dublin the goals finally came and a 2-0 aggregate scoreline saw Crusaders pick up a first win in the competition. The draw for the semi-final was about as tricky as they come, from playing the side bottom of the LOI we were now going to face the team at the top. We were drawn to play Sligo Rovers - unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions going into the first leg.

Sligo are a good team this season and like Bohemians are a professional team, and if rumour is to be believed, a side with a wage bill even Linfield couldn't get close to - but our semi-pro players were more than a match for them on the day, limiting Sligo to the odd pot shot and creating the best of the chances.

Unlike the Bohs match, the goals arrived at Seaview, both from David Rainey in a 2-0 victory. Very importantly, a clean sheet was kept (the away goals rules counts in this competition). It was a deserved lead to take into the away leg. That game was played on a wet Monday night but it was a great game. We all knew Sligo would be out to make amends in the 2nd leg.

In Sligo, the Crues had a couple of great opportunities to put the game out of reach but they weren't taken and though there was also a blatant hand ball decision that would have given us a penalty, it wasn't to be. Unfortunately, Sligo were very much in the game in that return leg, and before half time, Sligo went 1-0 up. The 2nd half began and it became apparent that Sligo had made it out of their shell. Before we knew it, it was 2-0 on the night and 2-2 on aggregate. That set the scene for an fast paced and open cup tie, both keepers keeping busy and lots of incident. As well as goal mouth action, somehow there were also 12 yellow cards, 6 for each side, it was played at a high intensity though like in all of the ties, some of the refereeing decisions had to be seen to be believed (for both teams in both games). However, neither team could find that deciding goal and so the game went into extra time. Again there were chances but the one that made the difference came from the penalty spot at the end of the 1st half of extra time. It was a little controversial as the contact for the foul appeared to begin outside the box and finish inside it but to be honest we were due that penalty from the first half that was never given. Up stepped our Captain Fantastic - Colin Coates, who smashed it just under the bar.

The Crues led 3-2 and after some resolute defending, the final whistle went and we were in the final. It was a very proud day to be a Crues fan.

The Setanta Sports Cup final on Saturday 12th May will be a rare meeting between Crusaders and the re-incarnated Derry City, the venue will be the Oval - Glentoran's ground. Personally I think it's a shame they couldn't do that for the Irish Cup final and use Windsor Park for the Setanta so that they're neutral venues but what can you do? No matter who we play and where we play, I can't see it dampening my spirits or the rest of the Crues support or the passion of the team to overcome the odds. Both games will undoubtedly be very competitive and, hopefully, another great advert for football on this island.

I'm really just over the moon that the club are doing so well and making these finals, it's quite the achievement for our club to be looking forward to 2 cup finals in the space of a week - on top of already having a trophy sitting in the trophy cabinet.

Winning either of the other two cups would just be the icing on the cake of what has already been a successful season. It's a tough ask given we've to play Linfield and Derry City to try and win these cups but if we can beat Sligo, on our day I think we can be more than a match for any team on this island.

The team are playing for each other and have the confidence and skill. It's just a question of what happens on the day. If the squad can play like they have to get to these finals then we've a decent chance and though we will be the underdogs in both finals, all being well our players will pretend they're playing Fulham at Seaview and show no fear because that will be the mentality that might see us make some history.

The other reason that this season has been such a great success is the brilliant news that in the end we didn't need to come 2nd or 3rd in to get a Europa League qualifying place. Because we have ended up playing against the League Champions in the Irish Cup Final, win or lose, the European adventure will continue this July. So who knows, perhaps there is another memory to be made like Timmy Adamson's goal against Fulham at the start of this season?

Huge credit has to go to everyone at Crusaders FC, especially the players and staff - a club for the fans, run by the fans!

Just in case anyone is interested in coming along to either of the finals or watching the games on TV, the Irish Cup Final at Windsor Park this Saturday kicks off at 2.30pm and is an all ticket match (locations of ticket outlets can be found here - for the Crues end and here for the Linfield end). The game will also be televised on BBC Northern Ireland. The Setanta Sports Cup final is scheduled for 4pm on the 12th May and tickets go on sale Sunday. The game will also be televised on Setanta Ireland.

A Giant Morning in New York

If you had the best part of 9 hours of spare time by yourself in New York City, what would you choose to do? To start my day off I went along to a Giant party.

I have to admit, much to Norngirls annoyance sometimes, I do like to wing it. Norngirl was going on a shopping/food spree and had meticulously planned her day alone for weeks before.

To be honest, I'd only ever planned to maybe think about planning it some more and yeah, I never quite got around to doing that planning - so all that I had decided for the day was that I wanted to go to a beach at some point. I was at the mercy of New York and whatever it wanted to show me.

It turns out that not planning is sometimes the best plan, for this morning was the morning of the 7th February 2012 and as luck would have it, this was the day the Vince Lombardi Trophy was coming to town with a million happy American Football fans. As I mentioned in my Monuments and Memorials at Night post, the New York Giants had just won the Super Bowl - the Champions League final of American Football and I happened to have nothing to do... the gods TV had spoken - I was going to the homecoming to see what all the fuss was about.

Before I gate crashed my first ticker tape parade, I had to get there. With plenty of time to spare, I decided to see a bit more of this bustling city and went for a walk... a 3 and 1/2 mile walk. Along the way I found out the gutting reality that the deli that served the best BLT sandwich I'd ever eaten had become some chain restaurant. I was displeased.

It's hard to feel disheartened for long in a city like New York though. Every street has the possibility to spring a surprise so I kept walking and before long I found myself at Washington Square with a mini-Arc de Triomphe.

I kept walking and the number of people wearing Giants shirts increased. Before I knew it I was in a sea of American Football fans being directed by police to walk down a street that led to Thomas Paine Park.

And that's where I stood for the next couple of hours with an ever increasingly excited crowd. It was all in good spirit though, the nutters climbing up the trees and being shouted at by the police were maybe taking things a bit far.

Though this guy needs an award for finding what must have been the most uncomfortable spot.

There were also some people were dressed up more for the occasion than others.

Not as far as the guy who decided to climb up to the window of the 1st floor of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation building and promptly fell the moment the people in the room opened the window. That got a big 'Oooooooo' followed by laughter. Some folks were determined to get a good view of the rest of us ants, going as far as perching precariously on the roof of their building.

Also out of the windows, some people threw their toilet roll, ran out then took to throwing kitchen roll... it didn't work so well and a short time before the real parade began, we had a parade of street cleaning vehicles clearing a path.

The fans around me were eager to see their heroes and eventually, in a very sporadic manner they came past us to the delight of the crowd and the people in the surrounding buildings.

Once the parade floats and trucks had passed us, people began to dissipate into the rest of the city. Overhearing conversations, some were heading to New Jersey to the stadium for more celebrations, others heading home or to a bar. Who was working that day?

Me, well I was heading to the beach, more on that in my next post but before I could get the subway there, I needed to find my way back. Easier said then done with literally a million people trying to vacate a small area of an densely populated island. I thought it best to just take in the atmosphere a bit to let things quieten down.

I've never seen this sort of thing on this scale. Sadly, Leeds haven't had any such success whilst I've been old enough to attend such events and Crusaders have had success but in a city something like 20 times smaller than New York and as one of 6 or more sides in the area, our fan base isn't quite a million strong for a weekday parade.

This parade was quite a sight in terms of people on the streets, the actual parade of a few bands and a few trucks was quite low key in comparison but I really got the feeling of what a proud and passionate bunch of supporters the New York Giants have.

Eventually, after following the path of least resistance (I was now totalling 5 miles walked for the day according to my route on Google Earth) I found my way to a subway station somewhere on 6th Avenue for a ride to Coney Island.

Crusaders F.C. Irn-Bru Cup Final 2011/12

On Saturday 28th January, in front of the TV cameras of the BBC and an eager crowd, Coleraine FC and Crusaders FC went head to head at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The prize, the Irn-Bru sponsored Irish League Cup.

I woke late on the day of the game and have to admit that it was an odd morning, you see it just didn't seem like other cup final days until we were at the game - I was looking forward to it but compared to the games against Linfield, Glentoran and Cliftonville of the past few years, the difference was that I felt relaxed about this game. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't confident of a result, how can you ever be, Coleraine are a good side and in football anything can happen, it just didn't feel like there was the same pressure of hope and fear as with other finals. I wonder if it could have also been because we were heading to the Ballymena Showgrounds and not Windsor Park? Whichever, everything just seemed to be a lot more chilled.

Playing Coleraine is never an easy task - as proven by both sides having drawn both times they've met in the league this season. Going by the pre-match build up online, I wasn't the only one thinking it'd be a tight game.

And so, as we contemplated the game ahead with a pint and packet of crisps in the Crusaders social club whilst watching some FA cup football on the big screen, we weren't putting forward predictions. We knew it was all down to whether the Crues would be the same side who gave Fulham a run for their money at Seaview earlier in the season or if the team were going to perform like we did against Donegal Celtic and lose to soft goals on the counter attack.

I spent most of the time on the Coach trip to the game following the Irish League chatter on Twitter and the majority of the folks except Crues and Ballymena fans were on the side of Coleraine. Even those apparently in the know from The Social Club N.I were favouring a Coleraine win, except for Chris Holt who had the game going to extra time and penalties.

When we got to the Showgrounds, we had a good half an hour to get settled in before kick off. As we approached the turnstiles Norngirl lent her scarf to one of Crusaders' most famous fans to have her photo taken by a press photographer. Most people know one another at the Crues, we're a tight knit bunch of supporters. We entered through the turnstiles after being politely searched by the security staff. The preparations were already in place. The cameras from the BBC were loitering overhead.

At pitch level, the balloons for the pre game build up were ready and waiting to be taken onto the pitch.

We made our way along the below pitch level walk way to the home stand where the Crues fans were being housed for this game.

Before we made our way into the stand there was just time to get some chips which cost £2.50 but were very nice chips and the choice of sauces was excellent... I went all out with a combo of Chilli sauce and Tomato sauce.

Food eaten and programme bought. It was time to head into the stand. I have to admit, I'd only ever been in the away stand before at the Ballymena Showgrounds, so this was a novel occasion. The Showgrounds doesn't usually host cup finals but this was a great placement for the League Cup final, a much better choice than the usual location - Linfield's Windsor Park. At the Showgrounds we were as close to half way between North Belfast and Coleraine as you can get. Not only that but at the Ballymena Showgrounds, both sets of fans can be close to the action and not stuck in the cramped seats in Windsor's South Stand or the very distant dead-zone of the North Stand. Neither giving a great view for the fans or helping create a good atmosphere. Here in Ballymena we had a great view as I know the Coleraine fans would have had too. The stadium didn't feel half empty as it does for a final at Windsor.

We picked some seats close to the half way line behind the dugouts. First of all came the introductions and the sides lined up.

From left to right; Colin Coates, Sean O'Neill, Jordan Owens, Gareth McKeown, Stuart Dallas, Paul Leeman, Chris Morrow, Aidan Watson, Stephen McBride, David McMaster, David Rainey and subs for the day; Michael Halliday, Ryan McCann, Declan Caddell, David Magowan and Matthew Snoddy.

The game was moments away and the balloons were released into the air.

As the balloons drifted past the floodlights it sunk in that it was about to begin, 90 minutes that could mean the difference between guaranteed success for the season or another near miss, between happiness or sadness, a piece of history to remember fondly or a day to forget. We knew we'd be OK win or lose as long as the team put in the effort we know they can and they tried their best. As anyone who has spent much time down at Seaview will know, the place has it's moments where it does feel like a family, or somewhat like being in the bar in the TV series Cheers - for we mightn't have had the 'out of the woodwork' support Coleraine had in attendance on the day... on that note here is the temporary stand that was put up to accommodate the extra demand:

... but win, lose or draw, if you try your best, you'll get our support through thick or thin (well except the odd grumpy moaner but you're always going to get a few of those at any football club).

As it turned out, the Crues side put out there by Stephen Baxter really did put in that effort we hoped they would.

The game started cagey but it wasn't long before the experience of the big occasion began to show and the guys in red and black were pushing forward and keeping the Coleraine players pinned back in their own half. Stuart Dallas went close with an attempted lob that went just wide. As always in cup finals you know every last chance really matters so when shortly after Chris Morrow got the ball at the edge of the box and hit a shot that bounced off the grass and hit the arm of the defender diving to clear the ball. A penalty wasn't given, at that point you start to wonder if it's your day. Well Chris Morrow had the answer on 34 minutes. A ball slipped through to him from Stuart Dallas had him clear through 1 on 1 with the keeper. He tucked it away into the back of the net and we lept from our seats.

After the goal, the half seemed to fly by. There were a few chances for either team but both keepers were equal to the chances made and bar the odd unexplainable throw in decision (both for and against us) there was nothing more of note from the half.

The whistle went and we were treated to the half time entertainment led by the day's announcer who I think is a local DJ? From where we were sitting he reminded us of John Culshaw playing the part of Gok Wan (It was the hairstyle).

The half time competition was to hit the crossbar from the edge of the D and the winners were to win themselves tickets to Northern Ireland Vs Norway. It was a good fun watching it, there was just one winner (which is odd given how many competitors Coleraine seemed to line up) and that winner was a wee boy supporting Crusaders who understanably was allowed to take the shot from a bit closer. His shot looped into the air and whacked the top of the bar. Shortly after the kid had managed it, for the Coleraine supporters, up stepped non-other than James from Derry of TV's Young Apprentice fame. The announcer had the wee Crues fan try to give him some advice for his shot but unfortunatley for James, the only advice was 'Hit the Crossbar', alas James didn't.

That all helped half time seem to pass very quickly and it wasn't long before Colin Coates led the Crues back onto the pitch and they were shortly followed by a Coleraine side who looked to be revved up for the 2nd half, it must have been some team talk from their manager.

The Bansiders put some good pressure on the Crues goal in the early stages of the half, a string of 3 or 4 corners in quick succession and the odd free kick and long shot, but Crusaders' back 4 held firm, as did Sean O'Neill when he needed to from another Johnny Black freekick. The Crues weathered the early pressure and from then on in, barring a rare shot from nothing, we never really looked like conceding.

Indeed it was the Coleraine goal that came under the most pressure, Jordan Owens hitting the post with one shot and having a tap in disallowed for offside.

1 goal was thankfully enough and after a few last minute long balls had been cleared and the final whistle blew, Crusaders FC had become 2011/12 Irn-Bru League Cup Champions.

Here are the highlights of the game from the BBC.

In a break from tradition (by all accounts to accomodate the TV schedule), the lifting of the trophy and celebration came before the awarding of the runners up medals and interviews were happing all over the pitch.

It was a little confusing but it was a great moment to see Colin Coates lift, high up into the air, the clubs 3rd domestic trophy in 4 years. A mixture of paper confetti, Irn-Bru, and Champaign setting the scene of the celebration.

Amongst the party there was also the same courtousy awarded to the Coleraine players as you'd see at the end of an Ice Hockey match - as the stand of happy Crues fans joined the die hard Coleraine supporters who had stayed behind in clapping the opposition whilst they got their medals and headed off the pitch.

The cup win meant a lot to me, it meant delight at the time and it meant being ever so proud of our club from the Shore Road. It obviously means a lot to the players too as they spent a lot of time after the game celebrating with their families and the rest of the supporters.

Winning is what any football team in the world aims to do and on this day, the Crues picked up a piece of Silverwear that will sit produly in the trophy cabinate at Seaview for at least a year.
Something that will last longer than a year will be the fond memories of the day that each and everyone involved - players, officials and supporters, now have to add to those other cup wins already stored away.

And brimming with the great feeling that comes with a Cup win, the supporters coaches all headed back to Seaview to start the celebrations.

Before too long the players coach made it back to Seaview and the fans lined the street, cheering the team and the cup into the social club.

Though the final itself wasn't a classic for the neutral, the result was a brilliant one for everyone involved with Crusaders FC like me and it's another memory that I doubt I'll forget. Irn Bru did a great job as sponsors as did Coleraine in not only brining such a great support to the game but their sponsors even putting up that temporary stand for the game to accomodate more fans.

So before I finish this post, I'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone involved and a special thanks to our Manager Stephen Baxter and all the players who did us proud. I had a brilliant day and it has already made my season.