Transfers, guesses and data panic
English football seems to be shifting its emphasis towards NFL style front-office departments as a means, I suspect, of making investors feel better about their gambles.
Tag
Essays
A collection of 127 posts
Sentimental stitching
The game has been so successful in selling loyalty back to fans that the thing loyal fans hate most is the idea that a marketing campaign might work and attract new fans — ugh!
Marcelo Bielsa among the critics, Uruguay 2025 edition
Uruguay's poor form has been, one reporter wrote, 'not a surprise, but the chronicle of a disaster foretold'. Marcelo Bielsa, of course, has heard the arguments. He doesn't agree with them.
New models at a new Elland Road
When the old West Stand goes down, almost 70 years of tradition will go with it. Meanwhile Leeds are going up, to the Premier League, where everyone is looking for something new. And expensive.
Parades go by
"Memories like this can’t be bought. There will never be another day like this," Howard Wilkinson told the crowd in the Town Hall, and even the other days like that weren't quite like it.
Merry go round, together
Would Joe Rodon come out in a 1992 Umbro tracksuit? Would Pascal Struijk do a Jon Newsome and nearly drop the cup? Would Illan Meslier say he doesn't know why he loves us, but he loves us?
Daniel Farke, emotions, and the way promotion was won
Leeds fans are, as Farke says, emotional. It doesn't matter how it makes the manager feel, as Howard Wilkinson once said, but it mattered that the team saw their manager using fans' emotions as fuel for his own calm. Since Chris Wilder called his club's fans a 'disgrace', Leeds have won every game.
What do we do about Leeds United being incredibly good for two years?
At some point we have to factor in that these two seasons, dissatisfying as they might feel now or ultimately become, have been once-every-twenty-season experiences, twice.
Ironing the grid
2024 was going to be the Niners' big year, but they swung and missed. Oh wait, that's the other thing isn't it. Um, they dropped the puck? Does that sound right?
Taking the time to build, and protagonism versus pragmatism
Squad rules mean extracting bang from buck is not an easy task. When you only have to beat the bottom three, how do you do it?