“I don’t get it!”

I hear that with regular monotony in my day job as an English teacher. It’s my job to make sure that, as they leave school that they, do indeed, ‘geddit’.

I have recently vowed that I’d never, ever sink to such a phrase but, today, I have.

The Cellino rivoluzioni gloriosa is in full swing, Leeds are playing, in spurts, much better football and things do seem to be showing the green shoots of improvement. The fans in general seem pretty happy: we have an owner whose name we know as opposed to a ‘shell company’ hidden in tropical climes, an owner who is putting money into the club rather than taking it out and players coming in during the transfer window from teams such as Flamengo and AC Milan rather than ‘solid and dependable’ players who ‘could do a job for us’. Still, that’s seemingly not enough for some of Leeds’ fans on social media.

It seems that a pass only needs to go astray for a player to be called “shit” and this is usually followed by the platitude of “and always has been.” I have read at least 5 posts on Facebook professing that we are doomed after 6 games and that it’s all the fault of the legiona stranieri brought in by Cellino. Antenucci “can’t run for shit,” apparently. Doukara is “always unfit,” so it seems. Bellusci was “dire” today according to Mr Angry. It seems that some of our fans are guilty of what we accuse other fans of being; fickle and fickle beyond belief. It has taken a number of games so few in number that a Norwich fan can count them on the fingers of one hand for a section of Leeds United fans to round on the team as a whole and some players in particular in a very judgmental manner.

It’s not only the foreign players though coming in for some stick from those supposedly meant to back them; the English-born players are in the firing line too. Austin has always been shit, it seems and doesn’t deserve a place in the team because we’ve signed better or got better in the ranks. Mowatt is “good but too slow”, Warnock is “on his last legs” and that untried Charlie Taylor should start over him and Tonge is just “absolute bab” (that one made me chuckle like I was 8 again). So, in the mind’s eye of a section of our esteemed supporter base, probably almost all the current squad are wrong ‘uns barring Lewis Cook, Marco Silvestre and Adryan; Adryan who hasn’t even played a competitive game for the club yet but who did show encouraging glints of his talents in the U21 Development squad game against Ipswich.

Leeds fans on social media groups are lauding Adryan Oliveira Tavares as if he is the second coming and who will single-handedly guide us to the promised land of the Premier League. Adryan, the Messiah of LS11. No pressure there then, eh?

1-0 down to Birmingham at half time and the naysayers were out in force.

“Bring Mowatt off, put Adryan on.” yelled one.

“Get Pearce off, bring Cooper on.” screamed another.

On 62 minutes Neil Redfearn dug into his substitutes and brought on the formidably imposing frames of Rodolph Austin and Souleymane Doukara whose musculature makes them appear more like a WWE Championship tag-team duo as opposed to a Championship outfield duo. This is the same Austin who was derided by some on social media sites as being “shit” and “sell ‘im off” yet was ranked amongst the top midfield players last season, indeed last season he was the #1 ranked Championship midfield player for ‘defensive duels’ such as tackles won, headed duels won and successful take-ons. Admittedly Austin is never going to be a Geremi-esque DM but he more than does the job when called upon.

Anyway, it’s disheartening that this early on in the season there are Leeds fans ready to throw the towel in, cancel the season as a write-off and belittle the players using scatalogical terms and not even to their faeces.

I just want to leave this as my final thought:

united(adj)

  • produced by a combination of two or more people or things,
  • being in harmony and agreement,
  • made into or caused to act as a single entity.

Such sleighting of team and players is the very antithesis of being ‘united’ or brought together.