Robbie Keane, Coventry City, 2001 ⭑ Great Leeds goals
At the Radio Leeds commentary desk Norman Hunter was shivering and pleading. "Somebody, just run about and kick somebody!" Robbie Keane's idea was different. Scissor-kick the ball over your own head to win the game, then you can run about.
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Arsenal 2-1 Leeds United: Tummy button fluff ⭑ Leeds United might be more fun if they weren't so good, but being so good has put us on what Arteta would undoubtedly call a journey to respecting the best selves within as manifested by high-performance navel-gazing and playing fetch with Win the dog.
Shambling back to football ⭑ Of course it was Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds that took on Pep Guardiola's Sham City and drew and won. And of course it was Bielsa who proposed wage cuts to mend football. And of course it was also Bielsa who took a Leeds team to City's ground in December 2021 that lost 7-0. Replay?
Losing friends: Arsenal vs Leeds, February 1965 ⭑ Arsenal's George Eastham may have been a gentle and philosophical footballer. But he was trying to stop Leeds United winning. Nothing was more provoking than that.
1964/65 | Losing friends: Arsenal vs Leeds ⭑ Free podcast from Leedsista Libre
At Elland Road, the start of 2001 was a miserable slough of nostalgia, for 1991. Gary Speed came back with Newcastle United, who won 3-1. Gary McAllister came back with Liverpool, got an elbow in the face from Lee Bowyer, and knocked Leeds out of the FA Cup, 2-0. Now, on a Wednesday night of freezing fog much better spent indoors, 36,555 people were down Beeston to welcome Gordon Strachan to the away dugout.
"It is a fantastic tribute," to those fans' dedication, said Leeds' manager David O'Leary. "No disrespect to Coventry," he went on, disrespectfully, "but it's not the biggest fixture in the world."
O'Leary did need to repair relations with his home crowd, who weren't impressed with what was supposed to be the most exciting young team in the country. Leeds had lost five of twelve Premier League games at home, and were struggling to score, or score more than one when they did.
O'Leary said his family were hearing worrying reports about his future. "I just tell them that the worst thing that can happen is that daddy will get the sack," he said. "It's not as though he'll be taken away from them. You have to protect and reassure your family."
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The manager/daddy wasn't always offering his football babies the same assurance, and Coventry's visit provided a contrast. Since Strachan had been attracted there by Ron Atkinson's promise of a big spending future in 1995, Coventry had spent big on Noel Whelan and Gary McAllister from Strachan's old club. Leeds had, since, exacted an expensive revenge. Young star forward Darren Huckerby had been bought and discarded. More recently, young star forward Robbie Keane had left Coventry for Inter Milan but found his way to Elland Road anyway. Leeds' chairman Peter Ridsdale may have been eyeing up Coventry's latest team and mentally putting a price on their new young star forward, Craig Bellamy.
This was Leeds' power and method. There was no risk of David Batty making a haunting visit to Elland Road, because they'd bought him back. An injury crisis was countered by buying Dominic Matteo. Gary Kelly was now understudied by England international Danny Mills. Another England international, Jason Wilcox, was available for the left wing. The high profile court case about to consume defender Jonathan Woodgate had brought Rio Ferdinand through the door for a record fee. Striker Mark Viduka had arrived in the summer for another big fee, but Michael Bridges' injuries created a need for Robbie Keane as well.
That signing had miffed Alan Smith, the fave baby, but O'Leary was clear that even babies were replaceable. Paul Robinson, the youngster doing so well in goal, had just lost his place to Nigel Martyn.
Despite the spending, O'Leary was still complaining about the fixture list and his squad. "We are down to the bare bones," he reckoned. "I might struggle even to name a full quota of substitutes for matches."
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