There were always players who earned more than Shutty, who played more often than Shutty, who had more fame than Shutty, who perhaps looked at him leaving the pitch in pain and asked themselves why he was always working so hard.
On the pitch, Cameron Stewart couldn't overcome events off it, either to save the fans' tired minds or his own disputed contract — an exercise in football as limbo.
It became easy to feel bad for players like Ekuban, who had been dropped into the Championship with little preparation and even less luck, and done their best, and suffered for it.
Bruno Ribeiro took squad number 10 and took it back to its roots. His passing range, short stature and sharp tackling temper off the left were the nearest thing to a modern John Giles.
As a replacement for Lee Chapman, Leeds United's record signing looked completely lost. But as himself, Brian Deane was the player of the year.
By the time he got into the Championship with Leeds United, Bradley Johnson had learned how to win an argument — and win over the doubters. Ken Bates was making a mistake by trying to turn the fans against someone who would just turn them right back again.
Sometimes Billy Sharp looks like he has solved goalscoring, with the power to make himself inevitable in the right places at the right times. Although being in a Sheffield United shirt usually helped too.
It took 243 days from signing for Billy Paynter to get his first goal. "Hopefully my luck has turned," he said. 403 days later...
A minimum 7/10 player who is outrageously capable at the top levels, finds most of football apart from the playing to be a waste of time and has no problem pissing people off to go his own way. Ben White should still be playing for Leeds.
From when Parker first took the ball knowing there would be a gap to run into, to the spot-on cross to meet the timing of Becchio's run, the goal was orchestrated by the left-back whose body, at the time, was ticking like a time bomb.