Give Him A Chance Shaun Wager August 10, 2014 Leeds United 24 Comments Give him a chance. That was the cry from the majority, that is very quickly becoming the minority. Who has ever been sacked after playing a whole, single, league game, not even getting the chance to prove their worth to the club they manage. This isn’t an ordinary appointment though, not an ordinary position, and certainly not an ordinary set of circumstances. In any normal situation, the right thing to do would be to give Dave Hockaday, and his assistant Karl Junior ‘Senior’ Lewis a chance. Let them have their days in the sun leading the team from the dugout and having the backing of us, the fans. But this is not a normal situation, and the worm is turning so fast it’s becoming ouroboural. Since even before his appointment Dave has been derided as not being able to be in charge of a club as big as LUFC. To be tactically inept when it came to Conference football, never mind stepping up to Championship football. To not having the required nous to control senior lower league players, nevermind the rampant ego’s of no-longer Premiership quality, but Premier League minded players. They’re all fair complaints. Give him a chance they cry. That chance is coming, and going very quickly. He’s getting his chance, whether some fans believed pre-season should count at all, he’s living and breathing that chance as I type. Although the ire and non-support of the majority of the fan base most likely won’t change the mind of the man in charge, considering what has been represented as resent for us following our support of Brian, (in his mind most likely to have been proven right over the affair, whether it was that he in fact weakened Brian’s position and standing with the squad or not), Dave is going to live and die by not only the results, but the performances his team musters – even when results don’t, or shouldn’t matter, and then do matter. But the real problem is, whatever you think of Cellino, this is now splitting the fanbase. The disenchantment, the rage and the worry is being vented at each other. That’s not a new phenomenon mind, but the anger, the spittle and the insults over what we’re all really, technically in agreement about is. We’re all worried about where this club is heading, especially under the direction of our ‘Head Coach’. It may be at different levels, some being worried earlier, some being more angry, some saying ‘He’ll get fired soon anyway’ but we’re all in the same boat – the belief that in the most likely of events we are heading nowhere under a certain Dave Hockaday. Possibly the anger being so directed at your fellow fan is a social media thing – knowing so much about another’s opinion rankles when it isn’t in line with your own. In days past you had a pint together, talked about the players, walked to the ground, stood next to each other and joined in the same chants without getting into the real nitty gritty if you didn’t want to; now you may know their every little opinion on things as complex as our youth coaching structure, and as simple as how many days – and when, the owner takes a holiday. There is no way this can help. Everyone, simply, is worried for our future. No matter your opinion on Cellino in/out, Hockaday in/out or whether Salerno shakes it all about. As the bright light of having Viviani filling the void between defence and midfield died out, and then Sorenson doing the same; everyones fear for the future grows. Some people make a point of making their fears known, and have for a while. Others have held their fears back and don’t let it be known. The point is we all fear for our future. Whatever division there is in the fan base, whether it’s to do with the owner, the coach, or the players; we all hold the same fear. Those that say they don’t fear for the future are simply hiding their worry, let them. For some people the glee is still there, akin to reading a programme as a child and holding the players aloft as heroes – free of cynicism. Free of fear. The club still a glorious sign of their optimism in life. I only wish we could all be so optimistic, especially myself. To quote a phrase I hate to use, ‘All Leeds, aren’t we?’ We’re famed for our support, yet we’re so disunited we may as well be backing two wholly separate teams. Instead of taking our anger out on each others opinions, we should be pointing out to our President that this, just will not do. Whatever your opinion of him, he’s the one the anger and frustration should be focussed on if we wish to enact change, whether it’s now or after Dave & Junior have been ‘given a chance’. Not each other. Follow Shaun on Twitter @LardyWhite