No Payback
Victor Orta was trying a Big Brother experiment last season, throwing loads of twenty-somethings in a building and seeing who doesn't break down, but those who graduated to Bielsa's dorm-rooms, video-rooms and round-the-clock attention are not the headlit rabbits we watched freezing last season.
The last of these was after the Brentford game, lamenting that nothing has ever gone Leeds United's way and nothing ever will, and we're right to be angry about that, and let Pontus Jansson tell the world so.
Now that something has gone Leeds United's way, it falls to me as a football fan — which is synonymous for 'hypocrite' — to explain why nothing has changed after we got one poxy handball decision in our favour to save one poxy point.
Exhibit A: the reaction. I'm glad we don't have to call our striker Roofey anymore and can switch to Kemaradona, but while I think the original Diego could safely take any number of Robin Hood tours he wants around Nottingham — although everybody knows they should really be touring Wakefield — I imagine Kemar crossing the Forest boundary for the away game will be greeted like a miner crossing a picket line the other way. The people of Nottingham were not happy. Here's former Forest captain Kenny Burns: "Kemar Roofe clearly thumped the ball in with his forearm and then his sheepish celebration said it all ... There's always needle with Leeds and that goes back years. Like Derby County, they always choke and they won't get promotion so I wouldn't worry." Kenny Burns also played for Leeds United for several seasons, but you wouldn't know now.
If knees had only jerked in the Midlands that would be one thing, but with Sky desperate to hype up their coverage of the EFL now that a certain Eleven Sports has taken everything else, and the whole nation desperate to have a pop at Leeds, Roofe's goal took on the proportions of a diplomatic incident. Marcelo Bielsa is here, too, so in Argentina Olé reported that, 'Bielsa Was Given A Great Hand', 'a controversial and rude goal with the hand of Kemar Roofe.' They did note, however, 'With the sincerity that characterises him ... the Madman added: "To say that a player cheated, we need to be sure. But the violation of the rules of the game is not something we should praise."' Olé concludes: 'What a mess!'
The difference is that whereas only Leeds and Brentford fans took any real interest in Ollie Watkins' dive or Serge Canos' headbutt, and only Leeds fans are making chalk marks on their wallpaper to count off the days since we last had a penalty, the whole world saw the Hand of Kemar, and soon the whole world will have its revenge. It will be a brave referee who awards a handball to Leeds in the next few weeks, and there are very of those in the EFL. What we have instead are egotists, so it will be a race among the same shower to award a handball against Leeds first. Preferably in our penalty area, so there can be a red card and a spot-kick to boot.