Revered and reviled

It doesn’t matter who you support, whether it be Chelsea, Hull City, Inter Milan or even Rushden & Diamonds, it’s highly likely that you’ll have some opinion on Leeds United football club.

Whilst the die hard Whites fans that write and frequent this site are unapologetic in their biased views, it’s always interesting to see the view from those who don’t own a pair of high quality, LUFC-tinted spectacles and in our first ever look at the world outside Leeds United’s inner-circle we start with those pesky Tigers over in Hull.

Tiger baiting

Following on from the 2-2 draw at Elland Road, the fans of Hull City couldn’t help but boast about their unlikely point gifted to them by Bradley Johnson. In an unapologetic attempt to wind the Leeds United faithful up, Hull City Independent published an article reminding us of our own stupidity, before bragging about Luciano Becchio’s black eye (courtesy of Hull striker, Ian Ashbee) and finishing off with a rather ridiculous claim that the Argentinian would be joining them.

A reaction they sought, and a reaction we delivered, laughing off claims of Becchio’s exit and taking a few swipes back at Hull. The obvious route was to follow the stereotype of a poor, poverty-ridden, fish-loving, uneducated, interbred society and who am I to rise above social stereo-casting? From their reaction, I think it’s fair to call this particular contest a draw on both fronts…

To be continued February 1st 2011.

A neutral view of Bristol City, Bates and Becchio

Our next stop around the webosphere is to the blog of freelance journalist, Mike Whalley. Now, I know what you’re thinking – he’s going to be a Leeds United hating prick from down South (as is the norm with these things), but you may be pleasantly surprised by his excellent review of Leeds United’s 3-1 victory over Bristol City.

OK, so his primary focus is on Ken Bates’ often ill-informed rants and the irony of an Argentinian winning the game when Bates was appealing for a ship to be saved so we could kick his countries arse, but it’s these very observations that make it a particularly entertaining read.

Reflections on life at Leeds

Next up, the power of social media continues to delight as former Leeds United player Jamie Forrester delivers a truthful, hard-hitting reflection on his time at Elland Road.

Our friends over at Dirty Leeds have made sure his entries benefited from the Newsnow effect, but an extra boost never hurts, especially for such a rare glimpse into the football players psyche. In his latest entry, Forrester talks about his exit from Elland Road and offers some sound advice to today’s academy hopefuls.

30 years of vilification

Our penultimate stop is at the door of the Independent who have been talking to Leeds United legend, Johnny Giles about the his new book ‘A Football Man’ and a distorted history that casts him as a “cartoon villain.” An interesting read that adequately saturated my appetite enough to actually pay for his new book (I’m usually sent them for free!)

The great 1989-90 Leeds side

Finally, we end with the Two Unfortunates blog who chose to start their series of great football league sides with the promotion winning Howard Wilkinson side of 1990.

As it is always seems to be with Leeds United, the moments of sheer brilliance often go hand-in-hand with our darker side and there are no surprises here as the writer traces Leeds United steps from a club marred by some of the nastiest hooligans in the country, to a new era of dominance led by Sgt. Wilko and Gordon Strachan.