David Batty was surprised by his own emotions when saying goodbye to Howard Wilkinson, the authority figure who had spent much of the last five years berating him for one thing or another. Wilko, respecting Batty's obstinance and admiring his talent, didn't actually want him to go.
A bright yellow bucket hat, a blue and yellow bar scarf, a Newell's Old Boys top in the England end: everyone else might have thought it was mad, but it was the only thing there that made sense to me. If that was you, remember: a man with new ideas is a madman, until his ideas triumph.
-ista | a specialist, enthusiast or advocate of a belief or principle
I'm grateful for Leeds United's stoppage time collapse because it turned this match back towards cup football purity and, while it might not have been romantic, it developed an outsized mental dominance that ensures it won't be easily forgotten.
"We were very pleased when we heard Leeds would be our opponents," said Victor. "They are the weakest team in the competition, and we've got the easiest draw."
Coming from Celtic as United's main summer signing, with Champions League experience behind him, Darren O'Dea was lumbered with the impossible task of bringing stability to an increasingly chaotic club.
A bright yellow bucket hat, a blue and yellow bar scarf, a Newell's Old Boys top in the England end: everyone else might have thought it was mad, but it was the only thing there that made sense to me. If that was you, remember: a man with new ideas is a madman, until his ideas triumph.
Leeds can hand Dan James a laptop full of shot-data analysis, remind him of his triple play-off pain and the scar running down his brow, give him a brick and ten minutes and let him get it all out of his system.
Darren Kenton's entire career reads like a Leeds United A-Z, but despite playing with everyone from Paul Heckingbottom to Radostin Kishishev he still thought Elland Road might be the place for some 'stability'.
This is not, I should make clear, me wishing for a synchronised around-the-grounds transistorcentric thrillfest settling our relegation chances on the final day. But at least that wouldn't be boring!
A lot of us spent the 2010s pleading with Leeds United to even vaguely gesture towards being normal, and now here they are at last: officially not a laughing stock.
In 1997, a 'computer survey' predicted Huckerby would 'one day break the world transfer record at more than double Alan Shearer's £15m'. No wonder Peter Ridsdale was interested.