The Scratching Shed

Alex Bruce is believed to be having a medical at Elland Road this morning, before he completes the switch from Ipswich Town. The defender/midfielder, will become Simon Grayson’s seventh signing of the summer after a last second bid snatched him from the grasp of Sheffield United.

The news of Bruce’s departure drew mixed comments from Ipswich fans on their fan-site, TWTD.co.uk. Of the more positive comments, Ipswich fans said that;

“Losing a good defender here, leeds are going to be strong next season.”

Read the rest of this entry →

Kasper Schmeichel becomes Simon Grayson’s first signing of the summer after Leeds allegedly fought off Premier League clubs to get the Danish shot-stoppers signature.

The Dane, who joins on a two-year deal, started his career at Manchester City where he made eight appearances in between numerous loan spells to other clubs. After falling down the pecking order at City, Schmeichel requested a transfer and eventually found a new home at the then Sven-Goran Eriksson led Notts County.

Despite a successful spell at Notts County, where the Dane managed to keep 24 clean sheets last season, the dizzying lows of League Two football simply weren’t enough to contain Kasper, and today’s announcement that he’s moved on will shock very few.

Kasper does however leave Notts County a bit of a hero after he agreed to forgo his future wages when the infamous Munto Finance group left County in a total mess, something the incoming chairman Ray Trew described as “a huge concession by such a young man”.

Kasper will now fill the vacant spot left by the outgoing Casper Ankergren, and with Shane Higgs hardly a young ‘un, I’d expect Kasper to take over Leeds’ number one shirt.

Here’s a look at the man in action;

The unavoidable link to the former Manchester United keeper, Peter Schmeichel, might not go down well with some Leeds United fans. With that in mind, I’ve opened a new poll to see what you think of our first summer signing.

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The wild scenes at Elland Road on Saturday, followed by some hardcore partying that ran well into Sunday morning are now behind us and the focus shifts to the possible transfer targets of this summer.

Strikers

No one will be surprised to see that the biggest story today is Jermaine Beckford. The majority of Leeds United fans are already resigned to the probability of Beckford’s departure, but Simon Grayson offered some room for optimism by telling reporters that Beckford had received a new offer from Leeds United. Grayson went on to add that it wasn’t easy when the competition is from Premier League clubs (Everton, Newcastle) but he remained hopeful that the striker would stay.

I’m reluctant to say that I think he’ll leave because I said that in January (and at this time last year), but it seems unlikely that he’d turn down the chance to play for Everton to remain at Leeds. Whatever happens, Beckford should be remembered for the goal-scoring machine he was. For all the controversy, he always did what we paid him for and for three consecutive seasons, he’s been our only consistent source of goals. I wish him well.

With or without Beckford, we need some more fire-power upfront. Regular readers will remember my relentless insistence that we sign Gary Hooper back in January and he remains a likely target. The striker position is often the biggest page turner, so don’t be surprised to see us linked with everyone from Gary Hooper to Billy Sharp to Cristiano Ronaldo (not that he’d be welcome). Losing Beckford leaves us looking very weak in this area. Those that remain – Becchio, Kandol, Somma and Grella – are either unproven or fail to provide goals on a regular basis, so it’s essential that we bring one, if not two more experienced strikers into the team.

Midfield

The midfield is an area many fans have been concerned about all season. When it’s good, it can be the engine that powers us past teams in second gear, but for too long towards the end of the season it became inconsistent and offered little support to a shaky defence. That said, I don’t necessarily think we need whole scale changes. Jonny Howson remains inconsistent, but I often feel that’s because he’s left playing a position that doesn’t suit him. When sent on solely to attack like he was against Bristol, he showed us exactly what he’s capable of.

I’m not overly concerned about the midfield because I think the Championship is a different style of football that may suit some of our players more. It’s certainly not as scrappy and as rough as League One and we now have the added bonus of not being everyone else’s FA Cup final. It’s been repeated by everyone throughout the season, but what we do need is a Batty-esque type player. Someone who will mix it up and offer support to the centre-backs. Doyle’s tried to play this role, but not always successfully. Elsewhere, it’s just shedding the deadwood and adding quality depth (which applies across the entire team). I’d like to see Arsenal approached about the possibility of a season long loan for Sanchez Watt, who has shown real glimpses of class, but may not be ready for a top four Premier League side.

Defence

This seasons defence has been a story in it’s own right. From the best defence in the league to one that looks like it had never played together before, all in the space of nine months. It’s hard to say who will be able to cut it in the Championship, but my primary concern would be the full-backs. We’ve struggled in the absence of Ben Parker all season, and this should have been resolved in January.

I’ve been puzzled for a while as to why Rui Marques didn’t return to the team because him and Kisnorbo were the best central partnership we’ve had in 2009-10. Richard Naylor has been a great servant of the club, but his time must surely be up. There’s a few others too that need to be set free, so I suspect the defence will be where most of our changes are made.

Finally, there’s the goalkeepers Higgs and Ankergren. Both have served us well this season and it’ll be a shame to lose either of them, but it’s hard to see Simon Grayson not moving for a new number one. That said, both could probably play in the Championship so if the money is a little thin, we might be set for another season of watching Casper’s goal-kicks head straight into the stands.

So, long summer ahead…

I guess whatever happens this summer depends entirely on money. Anyone who thinks the majority of this team couldn’t make it in the CCC is kidding themselves – after all, this is the same team that knocked Manchester United our of the FA Cup, gave Liverpool and Tottenham a run for their money and destroyed League One for most of the season.

Whole-scale changes are unlikely and unnecessary. What we need to do is trim the deadwood and replace it with some quality and depth, but there’s a lot of players in this team more than capable of playing at the next level and it’s only fair they are given the opportunity to prove it.

It’s a bit of a running joke amongst Leeds United fans that choosing to support the Whites should come with a health warning. Every team has it’s ups and downs, but after the last few years of following Leeds United to some of the most unusual and grottiest places I never knew existed, I feel as though we’ve had more than our fair share of downs.

There have been some ups of course. Every cloud does have a silver lining, but in Leeds United’s case, the cloud is a monstrously big black one and the silver lining is a fine, almost invisible shimmer around its edge.

It’s not only us fans that suffer the consequences of this seemingly never-ending sequence of disasters though. Our friends, family and loved ones can often fall victim to the aftermath too. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that my mood on a Sunday morning can often be dictated by the result the day before. Although it makes no sense to anyone other than those that live, breathe and love Leeds United, the 460 mile round trip to watch Leeds United fall to pieces in Gillingham is something I wouldn’t have missed for the world – no matter how annoyed I was afterwards.

My head tells me it’s just a game and that I’m insane for spending such an enormous amount of my income following this team through thick, thin and thinner, but somewhere inside me there’s an irrational love for this club that keeps me coming back time and time again, like a beaten wife to her abusive lover.

This season has once again taken Leeds United fans on a crazy rollercoaster ride of emotions. Leading the way early on and opening up a good lead at the top, Leeds United were unbeatable until the nasty thugs at Millwall drew the first blood. Leeds bounced back though with successive 4-0 wins that sent a statement of intent to the rest of League One.

As the season progressed, Leeds United were reminded of better days when the Premier League giants Liverpool visited Elland Road. Not even the most optimistic breed of Leeds United fan was predicting a win, but Leeds held their own and despite ultimately losing the match, there was a sense of pride amongst Leeds United fans few have felt for years. Liverpool may have won the match, but Leeds had shown millions they were on the rise again with a fearless display that almost paid off.

The seasons climax came in January though. Leeds were flying in the League and it seemed as though no one could stand in the way of our title challenge. The draw we’d all hoped for came next. FA Cup Round 3 – Manchester United v Leeds United.

"That" Jermaine Beckford goal

Expecting a slightly more defensive Leeds United was probably Man U’s downfall. Leeds came, they saw and they conquered. It was no fluke either. Leeds attacked from the off, and for the thousands of us that were lucky enough to have tickets to Old Trafford that day, we witnessed the proudest moment in our clubs recent history as Jermaine Beckford’s solitary goal knocked Man United out of the FA Cup. “We’re not famous anymore!”

Leeds dropped out of the FA Cup in the next round after taking Tottenham Hotspur to a replay, but these were proud days for the resurgent Whites. We’d held our own against Premier League competition, knocking out the English champions on their own soil in the process. As Leeds United ups go, this was the climax of a season. .

This being Leeds United however, when everything is going so magnificently well, something has to go wrong. Whether it was the Jermaine Beckford January transfer saga, a fitness problem caused by lack of rotation, our poor showing in the transfer market or an adverse impact of too many loanees unsettling the squad, the Leeds United rollercoaster was starting to derail.

The form dipped, and game by game, Leeds’ hold at the top loosened. By the end of January, Norwich had overtaken Leeds at the top and things didn’t improve. Despite a substantial lead on the play-off places, Leeds simply couldn’t turn things round quick enough and at the beginning of April, Leeds United dropped into third and the dreaded play-offs started to look like a reality.

Luckily for Leeds, through a combination of improved form and the rest of the league failing to capitalise on our errors we regained second place. A dismal points haul against the top six, disastrous results against the likes of Gillingham, Walsall and Exeter and the ongoing love/hate relationship between the fans and Jermaine Beckford could all be used as reasons to why we failed, but the truth of the matter is, this is Leeds United – We always do things the hard way!

What it all comes down to is one game. 90 minutes of football at a sold-out Elland Road against a Bristol Rovers side with absolutely nothing left to play for. Win, and we’re promoted. Lose, and the gates are opened for the rest to jump in. Whatever the fans think about the current playing squad, the manager’s tactics and selections or Jermaine Beckford’s selfishness is irrelevant. These people have put Leeds United in a position to escape third tier football. They’ve done it the hard way, but this is Leeds United and deep down inside, however frustrating they may be, it’s the ‘ups and downs’ that keep us coming back.

Keep fighting Leeds – We’re almost there!

Don’t forget to cast your vote in the TSS Player of the season poll by clicking here. Voting closes on Sunday at midday.

Weekend off

A rare Saturday off for Leeds United fans, but the rest of the teams carried on with out us. Norwich were held to a 1-1 draw at Swindon thanks to a last minute equaliser from Greer, whilst third place Charlton also drew at home to Gillingham (2-2).

Meanwhile, Colchester lost away to Walsall whilst Southampton and Huddersfield both recorded away wins at MK Dons and Leyton Orient. Overall, it’s been a pretty good day for Leeds United then. Swindon and Norwich shared the spoils which haults Swindon’s climb, leaving them four points behind ourselves (having played a game more). Charlton also failed to take their chances and drew so Leeds could open a seven point gap up on Monday with a win over the in-form Millwall.

Millwall will present a strong challenge for the inconsistent Leeds United side, but aside from the trip to Southampton, we’ve looked a bit better lately and I’m pretty confident the Sky Sports factor will help us achieve a much needed win.

Somma makes it six

Elsewhere today, on-loan Leeds United striker Davide Somma netted another two goals for League Two side Lincoln City to help them to a 3-2 win over Torquay United. The striker has now managed six goals in as many games for Lincoln. The idea of going out on-loan will have been to try and impress the manager back in Leeds and work his way into our plans, and with such impressive goal-scoring stats, I imagine Simon has been taking as much notice as the rest of us.

Scum fans rig Leeds poll

Those pesky glory-hunting cretins (Manchester United fans) have been busy casting votes in a Leeds United fans greatest player poll to change the obvious outcome of Billy Bremner to Eric Cantona.

This calls for an instant response. Update your firewall, run your virus scanner, defrag your hard-drive and be incredibly cautious around any pro-ManU sites. This is the start of the E-hooliganism wars. A bit like the 80′s but ran by geeks. The FA needs to act now!

Blackwell heading for dole queue

Seems Sheffield United fans have finally tired of Kevin Blackwell and want him replacing in the summer. They point to poor transfer signings and horrible displays of football as their main reasons (deja vu anyone?)

Never liked the man while he was the Leeds boss. Found him intolerable in interviews, his signings were largely atrocious and the football on display was less interesting than the George Graham days, so can totally empathise with the Sheffield lot. Still… Couldn’t help but laugh.

Those of you that haven’t read the anti-Leeds ramblings of Rod Liddle on the Times Online website should apply your rose-tinted reading glasses to the obvious area, adopt your experienced, defiant ‘everyone hates us, but we don’t care’ stance and point your cursor towards the following link. (Brace yourself!)

Amongst the expected ‘we all hate Leeds scum’ drivel is actually some fair points, not least the one about hiring an executioner to rid the world of Ken Bates and Peter Ridsdale. Personally, I’d add a few more to that list. Namely anyone who voted against Leeds’ points deduction following our administration and most importantly, the idiot who thought it was “fair” to allow our rivals to have the deciding vote. 

Points 2, 3 and 5 pretty much cover the same area as far as I’m concerned and could be rephrased as such; 

            Ensure each and every person that has anything to gain from a football club is named and vetted beforehand. Not only should they have the money to fund a football club without the help of banks and so forth, a psychiatric assessment should be undertaken to ensure none of these benefactors show signs of megalomania.

 It should also be made clear what money leaves a football club and to whom and where the rest of the money is invested or stored. A percentage cap should be placed on director’s salaries to dictate how much they can claim from the profits of a football club for personal salaries and expenses. The same should apply to players wages.

The more irreverent, light hearted stuff that’s mixed in with the fair points he makes should not be overlooked either. The part about banning the sale of Scum and Blue Scum shirts in other team’s shops doesn’t go far enough as far as I’m concerned. For me, it should be banned anywhere outside the respective clubs stadium to try and reduce the amount of time I have to spend shaking my head in disgust at the fathers of children who have allowed their offspring to become glory-hunting cretins of society.

Allowing fans to smoke in the stands, getting rid of the jobs-worth stewards that insist on irritating everyone week in, week out and banning novelty items such as klaxons and foam hands is something I whole-heartedly agree with. This isn’t some freak show attraction for the fair weather brigade to destroy with their American toys and sideshow attractions, its football and for the most of us, it’s like a religion.

So, when you look beyond the anti-Leeds dribble expected of most journalists, you actually have some very relevant points for making the game better. Investment in youth, ridding the game of dodgy owners, more transparency and more involvement for the fans is something TSS unequivocally supports. It’ll never happen, but just like Leeds United returning to the Premier League and clearing up at home and abroad, we live in hope.

Oh and finally, vote yes on point 9 (below). Especially the part about excluding the deranged fantasists of Newcastle United, with their messiah complex and ludicrous dreams everyone outside Newcastle can see is idiocracy.

9. Demand that clubs give their fans a greater say in all decisions that directly affect them, except in the case of Newcastle United

In fact, on second thoughts, leave them to it. We need someone to laugh at and make us look a little less ridiculous.

Another one of those games ear-marked as an easy three points looks set to be a lot harder than anticipated as we head to Tranmere tomorrow night who will be high in confidence after a 2-1 win over free-scoring Southampton.

Prior to the game, it was a no-brainer for the betting man amongst us. Southampton had just knocked ten past their previous two opponents, including a 5-0 demolition job on play-off chasing Huddersfield Town. In stark contrast, the fortunes of Tranmere couldn’t have been much different, who themselves had fallen to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the same Huddersfield side just days before.

This being League One, shock results don’t really tend to shock. What a team does one week rarely gives much indication of what they’ll do the next, but even by League One standards, the change in fortnnes for Tranmere was quite simply, unbelievable.

It stands to reason then that Leeds United would be their next opponents. We always seem to time things just right for an epic fail. Much like Tranmere’s fortunes seem to be changing, so too do that of Leeds. From having the title almost tied up just a couple of months ago, to desperately trying to avoid slipping into the play-off places, Leeds United are upto the same old tricks and insisting on doing things the hard way. Quite frankly, Tranmere couldn’t have timed this encounter much better.

If that wasn’t enough, Leeds United also seem to have another injury crisis brewing with Richard Naylor, Andrew Hughes, Shane Lowry and Mike Grella all doubts.

This weekend saw Leeds United drop another valuable two points to mid-table Brentford, who came and pretty much parked the bus. Perhaps unlucky when you take Michalik’s effort (which came back off the woodwork) into account, it still wasn’t the most inspired performance we’ve seen at Elland Road this season and there was a lot of room for improvement, not least in terms of applying pressure and urgency.

Even without that sense of urgency, Leeds dominated throughout and missed more chances than I care to recall. Earlier in the season, it’d have probably been quite a comfortable win, but things aren’t going for us at the minute and expecting the results to just come for us, won’t work.

The goal that put us behind was a bit of a sucker punch after we’d dominated the entire fixture and we did respond well to get the equaliser. Still, no matter how much Simon Grayson insists otherwise, it was by no means a great performance and the players know it was two points lost. Their confidence levels after recent performances and results must be a concern for the boss.

So what we have tomorrow night is a Leeds United team struggling for form, probably low on confidence, with nothing going for them at the minute and with injuries starting to pile-up, against a much improved and more confident Tranmere side determined to raise their game for the visit of the Whites and grab a surprise three points in their bid to stave off relegation. In my mind, we’re the underdogs!

Perhaps underdogs isn’t a bad thing though? With Leeds United I often worry more when we’re expected to win with ease. The three consecutive home games we had recently which the official site was dubbing “Operation Nine” inevitably turned into catastrophe as the players reached a whole new level of complacency and played the most dismal football of the season so far.

Manchester United meanwhile, no one expected us to win so that’s exactly what we did. Leeds have been doing the same thing for as long as I can remember. Cup finals that should have been all too easy (Sunderland) and League Championships with unsurpassable leads were blown, solely because we got overly confident (and the fixture pile-ups never helped). Then you look at the Champions League a few years back where everyone expected us to be out in the first match. We shocked Europe, because stubbornly and definatly, that’s what Leeds do.

In a roundabout way, by beating Southampton and raising the stakes of this game, Tranmere may have done us the ultimate favour. The players and management will have taken note, that this is a team capable of beating the big boys on their day and with that in mind, they’ll hopefully settle in quickly and focus on obtaining what has somehow become an unlikely three points.

Defiantly and stubbornly optimisic! On and on…

Another absolutely dismal display in League One from Leeds United resulted in an embarrassing 3-0 defeat away to Swindon Town. Whilst none of us expected to go an entire season without some rough patches, this particular run of results would be much easier to accept if it wasn’t for the impressive performances that have come in between them away to Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup.

Managers will inevitably make mistakes and Simon Grayson’s run as the untouchable saviour of Leeds United has undoubtedly come to an end after he chose to pick the same team that battled hard at White Hart Lane for a fixture in the league just a couple of days later. Call me fickle, but when things are going well and he makes the right decisions, I’m the first to praise him. Equally, when things are going wrong and he insists on putting so much focus on cup games nobody cares all that much about, he’s going to open himself up to scrutiny and his decisions lately should be the first thing everyone points the finger at.

Last night, the team once again looked jaded and disorganised. Swindon Town, although more than deserving of the result simply aren’t as good as it makes them look. On a better day, I have no doubts that Leeds would have returned home with three points, but we lacked fight and determination throughout. Swindon simply wanted it more and whilst they gave 110% to earn the victory, Leeds gave about 40%.

For a club who allegedly has the most depth in this league, we seem to be having a hard time showing it when it matters. Teams that can afford the kind of cup runs we’re currently on have 23 players they can rotate throughout the weeks to keep the performances up, but Grayson has stuck with the same eleven far too often lately. It beggars belief that David Prutton was sent out on loan to one of our promotion rivals (where he scored) when this team is clearly in desperate need of freshening up with rotation.

I said after our last league game that the FA Cup run had come at too much of a price to our league form and I’m disappointed to be proved right once more. We have a lot of players who could do a decent job in JPT and FA Cup games, like Grella, Tres, White and Robinson, but they’re largely ignored whilst the same names appear on the team sheet time and time again. We’re at that time of the season now where Saturday and Tuesday fixtures will occur almost every week (something that isn’t helped by the amount of rearranged matches for the cups) and we have to start utilising this apparent depth or we’ll be sliding down the table faster than the interest accumulates on Manchester United’s debts.

Whilst I’m putting the brunt of the blame on Simon Grayson shoulders, the players shouldn’t escape scrutiny either. There was some seriously suspect performances last night and no matter how tired they maybe, I expect every player on the park to give 110% week in, week out for the amount of money they earn. They’re professional athletes at the end of the day. If they can’t handle three hours of football a week, there’s something fundamentally wrong with our training regime.

Coming up to the end of January now and Leeds United still haven’t won a game in the league this year. Colchester up next and a must win game now, or things are really going to start getting hairy at the top. Luckily, Charlton lost the other day to offer us some respite, but Norwich continue to perform well and for some reason, their six-fingered fans seem to have a bit of a hard-on for us and have spent the last 12 hours filling their forums and ours with endless dribble about us blowing the lead and them being superior. At this moment in time, it’s hard to argue against them, so let’s hope Simon Grayson can offer us something to fight back with when Saturday comes.

The “FA Cup minnows” once again threw a spanner in the works at White Hart Lane coming from behind twice against a strong Tottenham Hotspur side to setup a replay at Elland Road.

Jermaine Beckford was the man of the hour once again, scoring both of Leeds United’s goals including a dramatic 96th minute equaliser from the penalty spot, after a silly challenge on him late on from Michael Dawson.

Penalty drama was ripe throughout the tie. Casper Ankergren saved Jermaine Defoe’s effort from the spot early on and both teams had good shouts for another penalty each. The one Leeds did get was also a bit hard to call as Dawson may have got something on the ball first. However, Spurs should be questioning why he threw himself so clumsily at a Leeds United player inside the box with just seconds to go.

Leeds United once again played brilliantly against Premier League opposition. Harry Redknapp was under no illusions of what to expect after seeing the Manchester United game and took no chances with his starting selection, but Leeds battled hard throughout. Casper Ankergren had a much busier game than the opposition keeper, but came up with several great saves to keep the tie alive, leaving the Leeds fans wondering if this was the same team that we’d just seen drop valuable league points against Exeter and Wycombe.

Grayson had dropped Luciano Becchio for the tie, playing Robert Snodgrass behind Jermaine Beckford. The changed proved a valuable one from Grayson with the extra man in midfield helping Leeds United to battle well in the centre of the park.

No one had forgotten Manchester United throughout this great FA Cup tie with chants of “Are you watching Manchester?” aimed at those who branded us FA Cup minnows. In a roundabout way, a League One side, no matter how big really should be considered minnows in the FA Cup, but Leeds United have almost single-handedly restored some magic to the competition this season and made it exciting and unpredictable once more.

Whilst I’m immensely proud of the lads efforts once more and relishing the replay at Elland Road, the extended run continues to leave a bittersweet taste in my mouth. If our form in the league is going to suffer as these runs continue, I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking it’s not really worth it. At 2-1 last night, I was actually happy to bow out of the competition with dignity, even though the Roy of the Rovers ending was incredible.

The most concerning thing is that whilst Leeds have been busy shaking the Premier League teams up a bit, Norwich have quietly continued to pick up the points and have now replaced us at the top of the league. Sure, it’s only on goal difference and we have two games in hand, but in the second half of the season, I can’t help but feel our minds have been a little elsewhere lately, evident from the poor form in the league.

What we’ve learnt from Tottenham

• We can score penalties! When was the last time one of those went in for us?
• Casper Ankergren is immense in the big games.  (Even if his handling does terrify us at times)
• We really can compete with anyone on our day. Shame our days aren’t coming often enough in League One at the minute.
• Premier League fans are getting quieter. Sure, the Spurs fans had their moments, but much like Man United there was large portions of the game where they didn’t make a peep and sat quietly munching on their prawn sandwiches.
• Jermaine Beckford can play in the Prem. That’s three goals against two Premier League clubs now. Still doubting he can make it in the Prem? (You are aren’t you? “Takes him six chances etc… etc…”)
• Danny Rose isn’t bad. The ex-Leeds academy star had a pretty good game, putting himself about the pitch well.

TSS man of the match: Casper Ankergren.

Possibly my favourite story so far this year as the Times Online discovers the best use for Manchester United fans. They’re going to target Old Trafford and other Manchester sporting venues for contributions to the nationwide sperm-bank!

Are the genes of Manchester United football fans in a different league to those of Manchester City fans? It’s a pertinent question because the NHS is out to recruit both groups as sperm donors.

Coming soon to boarded up offices in Manchester

I’ll answer this one. The genes of Man United and Man City fans are indeed very different. The latter for example tends to have an increased amount of common sense over the former, evident in the choosing of their football club. The former also has an insatiable desire for prawn and cucumber sandwiches and tends to reside further south than the latter.

Further study has also highlighted a distinct attraction to shiny silver things in the supporters of Manchester United. Indeed, many of them would quickly jump ship and change allegiance in a shot if another team was to start collecting more of these precious objects than their own.

It would be easy to imagine fans chanting of their rivals, “What a bunch of sperm donors”, or something similar.

Nothing new there then! At least they’ll have a good use for Wes Brown.

Thanks to the Times Online for bringing this priceless piece of information to my attention (via @MOTForever). It’s really made my morning!