Welcome back to 'Tarn Review' where this week it's all about the glory, the local bragging rights, as we preview the first Yorkshire Derby of our Championship season.
After the scintillating performance at Birmingham City the other week, supporters could have been forgiven for expecting more than the one point we then gained in our back-to-back home games with Ipswich Town and Peterborough United.
What goes up, must come down. With a bump.
But to be fair to the lads and manager Keith Hill, we deserved all three points against Ipswich.
The first half display wasn't great, as we conceded early on, but we had enough chances to have won two matches in the second half, as the lads finally began to wear down the nine-man defence of the visitors.
And so we went into the Peterborough game pretty confident. However, 2-0 down within ten minutes, the Reds never recovered. The poor first half against Ipswich was matched here, but for the full 90 minutes.
Our passing - so crisp and accurate at Birmingham - was way off the required standard, and 'The Posh' were set up brilliantly by Darren Ferguson and thoroughly deserved their second victory in succession.
Fair play to them.
| Scott Wiseman fails to contain Tyrone Barnett |
That result - like the one at St. Andrews - needs putting to bed.
The players need to dust themselves down, roll up their sleeves, and get back to putting in the kind of performance we know they're well capable of.
And what better occasion to do so, than in a local derby game?
THE OPPOSITION
After the disbanding of Leeds City FC in 1919, Leeds United AFC were formed.
They are commonly known as 'The Whites'.
Leeds were first elected to the Football League the following year (1920) and were managed by Arthur Fairclough - who led Barnsley FC to FA Cup glory in 1912.
Their first colours were modelled on Huddersfield Town's kit, because the Town chairman Hilton Crowther was attempting to merge the two clubs. He eventually left Town to take over at Leeds.
In 1934, after 15 years in blue and white stripes, Leeds switched to blue and yellow halved shirts.
However, the Leeds colours we know now were introduced in 1961 by then manager Don Revie, in an attempt to emulate the success of Real Madrid.
After over 40 years of struggling to make their mark in English football, the appointment of Revie changed all that.
Between 1965 and 1974, Revie's 'Whites' never finished outside the top four positions of the First Division.
They won two league titles - in 1969 and 1974.
They lifted the FA Cup in 1972.
League Cup winners in 1968.
And two Fairs Cup triumphs in 1968 and 1971.
During this halcyon period, they were also runners-up in the league on five occasions, losing finalists in the FA Cup three times, runners-up in the Fairs Cup, and beaten by AC Milan in the European Cup Winners Cup.
It was during this period, that Leeds picked up the rather dubious 'Dirty Leeds' tag, which still stands to this day. And quite rightly so. Eh, Michael Brown?
Revie left Elland Road in 1974 to become England manager, and was infamously succeeded by Brian Clough, who endured a torrid time and lasted just 44 days.
Jimmy Armfield took charge, and led United to the European Cup Final of 1975, where they were runners-up, as usual, losing to Bayern Munich.
The club slumped somewhat there on in, and former Leeds favourite and Barnsley manager Alan Clarke couldn't prevent them from suffering relegation in 1982.
They returned to the top flight in 1990 under the stewardship of Howard Wilkinson, and went on to lift the title in 1992.
They were runners-up, again, this time in the League Cup Final, beaten by Aston Villa in 1996.
Early into the 1996/97 campaign, Wilkinson was dismissed and replaced by former Arsenal manager George Graham.
With Peter Ridsdale at the helm, Leeds spent big in their attempts to achieve success, and David O'Leary brought in many high-profile names, including Mark Viduka, Olivier Dacourt and £18M man Rio Ferdinand.
They were beaten sem-finalists in the Champions League of 2001, falling to Valencia, and were seen as a European force once more.
Large loans taken out against the prospect of TV money and revenue from qualifying for the Champions League were soon to be costly though, as Leeds missed out to Newcastle United for qualification, and thus couldn't repay the loans.
They were forced to sell Ferdinand to rivals Manchester United for £30M, and O'Leary fell out with Ridsdale and was replaced by Terry Venables.
Leeds struggled under Venables, who saw a succession of stars sold from under him - Jonathan Woodgate, Nigel Martyn, Lee Bowyer, Harry Kewell, Robbie Keane and Robbie Fowler all departed Elland Road.
They were eventually relegated in 2004, after Venables, Peter Reid and finally Eddie Gray struggled to cope with the financial fallout caused by Ridsdale's recklessness.
Leeds were forced to sell both their training ground and stadium in the Autumn of 2004.
Current owner Ken Bates bought the club in January of 2005.
Leeds were in the bottom three when in May of 2007 they went into administration and the 10 point deduction saw them officially relegated to the third tier for the first time in the history.
They returned to the Championship in 2010 under the management of Simon Grayson.
THE GAFFER
Not everyone's cup of tea, Neil Warnock though, is without doubt one of English football's most successful managers, certainly so far as promotions go.
Seven promotions with six different clubs.
A winger in his playing days (including a spell at Oakwell), the Sheffield born 64 year old is a big supporter of Sheffield United, and led his club to the Premier League in 2006.
The nickname of 'Colin W***er' was allegedly given to him by former (three card trick) referee Graham Poll.
I'll always love this particular 'Colin' quote, whilst Sheffield United boss, describing what he'd do if manager of rivals Sheffield Wednesday -
"As long as the whole of my salary was paid within 28 days, I would buy so many tosspots – although, come to think of it, their current squad would do – and f**k ‘em up so badly. Then I’d retire to Cornwall and spend the rest of my life laughing my f*****g head off."
He was appointed at Elland Road in February, and is tasked with achieving yet another promotion to add to his CV.
As ever, I like to get the opposing clubs supporters' thoughts on the upcoming fixture, and this week I popped across to the popular Leeds United forum 'The Gelderd End' and put a few questions to them.
Here's what they had to say about their club, their hopes, their manager, and of course little old Barnsley.....
What were your hopes for the season, and how's your start been?
"Champions."
"Champions. Good start."
"Play-offs. I think we've started quite well given the small squad/injuries."
"Promotion via Play-offs."
"Promotion. Good start considering."
"A season of good solid football. To go up next season."
What do you think to Neil Warnock?
"He is a God."
"Quality."
"Excellent, a cut above in this division."
"Says what the fans want to hear, but in a good way. Doing well with a shoe-string budget."
"Best manager in the Championship."
Who are your key players?
"Kenny, Austin, Pearce."
"Kenny, Pearce, Austin, Byram."
"Diouf, Byram, Becchio."
What are your thoughts on us?
"Never think about you. You mean nothing to us."
"Luck against LUFC about to run out."
"Think you'll struggle, but might survive in this division with it's strange results."
"Just making the numbers up."
"Who?"
"Not much. Shocking manager that talks like a c***."
Who do you see as our key players?
"You don't have any."
"Don't know any Barnsley players."
"Think you're more a team as opposed to individuals."
"Nobody stands out in your team."
"What?"
"Errrrrrm... who plays for you again?"
"At a push, I'd say Davies."
Score prediction?
"5-0 Leeds."
"7-2 to the Mighty Whites."
"3-1 Leeds."
"Think we're due a defeat."
"3-1 Leeds."
"6-1 Leeds. You deserve a hammering."
| 'Dirty Leeds' |
As a one-off, I decided to ask my fellow BBS Forum members for their thoughts on the game, and our delightful opponents...
What do you reckon to Neil Warnock?
"C***."
"Bit of a c***. Thinks he's something he's not these days."
"Effective. Some can't handle that."
"Good football manager, very knowledgeable, but a complete a******e."
"A manager who knows how to get clubs promoted from the Championship - I don't have the hate for him that some do, possibly cos I remember his comical attempts at wing play for us in the 70's."
"Utter cap-end; can't stand the bloke. Everything about him makes me want to beat the s*** out of him."
"Good manager at this level who needs to keep his gob shut at times."
What do you make of Leeds?
"C****."
"The club - bit of a c***. The fans - majority I've met are a bit c*****h. The players - love Andy Gray. Diouf is a c***, though. Ticket price - c*****h. City - it's alright. Except it's full of Leeds fans."
"Odious, and run by a crook. Some fans will be sound, others odious. Their players are scum, especially Brown. Ticket price is too much, hence I won't be going. The city itself is far too up it's own a***."
"Delusions of grandeur. Throughout the club from top to bottom. They believe they should be playing Champions League football, they cite their rivals as Manchester United and Chelsea, yet for much of the time I've been watching the game they've played at the same level as Barnsley and sometimes below.
But that's just amusing, the reason to dislike them is that both on and off the pitch they're the dirtiest, nastiest team in the football league. Every time we play them they seem to injure one of our players. It doesn't matter who their manager has been, they just kick the opposition off the pitch. Their fans are even worse. From the national front connections in the 70s and 80s to being held back for an hour in Elland Road while a huge baying mob lobbed lumps of concrete over the wall at us, they've consistently been the most vile opposition fans I've encountered. One time, while sat in a queue of traffic leaving Elland Road, a Leeds fan picked up some masonry and smashed it through the windscreen of a car containing Barnsley fans right at the side of us."
"Smart city. Club and fans are f*****g horrible - no grace in defeat, no class in victory, a strange persecution complex and a total lack of self awareness. I do not know of a fan of any other club who has anything remotely complementary to say about either the fans or the club. Ticket prices ? F*** off. Players seem to assimilate into the club ethos."
"Horrible nasty club, horrible deluded fans who still think its 1974, horrible nasty players but befitting of the club and the supporters, ticket prices are a scandal but I expect that their horrible owner will justify the prices, the city is the centre of the universe and the only place in the world to be... well according to Harry on Look North anyway."
"Don't think about them any more than the other teams in this division. They just happen to live closer mainly. The city centre is great, but if you took a mile-wide bulldozer from Elland Road in a Northeast direction and flattened Beeston, Belle Isle, skipped the centre then Little London, Chapeltown, Osmanthorpe and Seacroft it would be a lot better."
Score prediction?
"0-0."
"3-1 Leeds."
"Be happy with a point."
"Leeds 5 yellow cards Barnsley 3 injured players."
"Leeds 3 v 1 Barnsley."
"2-2. I also predict a Barnsley player will be crocked for the season."
Depends which team we put out. Either 3-0 Tarn or 3-0 Leeds."
Big thanks to both sets of supporters, who helped put together this part of the article.
| Diouf - Key Player |
I wasn't impressed with the saliva spouting forward last season, as he was very poor against us for Doncaster Rovers.
However, he seems to be thriving again under the guidance of Warnock - the manager who once called him "a sewer rat...".
A former African Footballer of the Year, El-Hadji can play anywhere up top, and I'd probably describe him as similar to former Tarn forward Ricardo Vaz Te.
He can be the match-winner if he wants, but more often than not he's either losing his head, his feet or his notorious temper.
I couldn't think of a player more suited to Leeds United...
WHITEY'S FINAL THOUGHTS
As you can probably work out, there's little love lost between ourselves and Leeds.
Personally, I don't think of them as badly as I do Sheffield United. And I view Sheffield Wednesday as the club I always want us to beat.
However, it's still up there as one of the more interesting fixtures. I just find it hard to hate them as much as some - probably due to us having such a good record against them in my 25 years supporting the Reds.
The disgraceful challenge by Michael Brown on New Years Eve last season, which ended Jacob Butterfield's campaign, will add spice to an already heated affair.
That was Butterfield's 100th, and final appearance in a Tarn shirt.
He'd pretty much ran the show at Elland Road, and so typically, Leeds' tactics at Oakwell were to stop the midfield maestro, and thus stop Barnsley.
Unfortunately (for them) they hadn't reckoned on Ricardo and his hat-trick exploits.
| Vaz the way to beat the Dirties |
Anyway, it's all in the past now.
Jacob and Ricardo are long gone, and it's time for new heroes.
Again, Keith Hill will select from the same squad of players he's had available for the last couple of weeks, with the likes of Jimmy McNulty, Jim O'Brien, Paul Digby, Toni Silva, Rob Edwards and Mido still on the sidelines.
However, after the tepid display on Tuesday evening, Hill may be tempted to give recent substitutes Matty Done, Marlon Harewood and David Perkins their first start in a fair while.
The latter of those, Perkins, was influential in this same fixture last term, and I'd be more than tempted to include him tomorrow.
I hope we go back to having Martin Cranie in the holding role. Both he and Scott Wiseman struggled at centre half on Tuesday, with the captain in particular having a torrid time against Peterborough's big men.
Hopefully, Stephen Foster returns and resumes his fruitful partnership so far this season alongside Wiseman.
I'd expect both the fullbacks to continue - Scott Golbourne and John Stones have had impressive starts to their personal campaigns, which should mean a place on the bench only for club legend Bobby Hassell.
The manager has given Ben Alnwick his backing, so it's unlikely we'll see the return of POTY Luke Steele between the sticks this weekend.
Personally, I'd be playing Steele. Although I don't think Alnwick has been that bad, it seems rather strange to leave out quite possibly the best keeper in the division.
Again, the attacking onus will be on Jacob Mellis and Tomasz Cywka, who need to replicate their last away-day performances, where they picked apart Birmingham City at will.
The driving force that is Stephen Dawson should continue, and this is the sort of game I expect him to flourish in. He's a warrior, and will give 100% effort, and no end of endeavour.
Which leaves us with the strikers.
Craig Davies picks himself, or at least you'd think so with 7 goals to his name so far in the Championship. But will Chris Dagnall's barren spell in front of goal cost him?
I don't think so.
He could be on 7 goals himself this season, but for some great goalkeeping, the odd miss, and the blummin woodwork!
Keep at it Daggers, lad. It's coming....
| Davies and Dagnall |
I've got to be honest, otherwise what's the point?
And unfortunately, I cannot see us turning Leeds over.
It's not that I doubt our team - I think they'll do us proud.
But I think we're meeting a Leeds side on a good run, a bit of momentum, and let's be honest (again) they're due a win over us, aren't they?
So I'm going to plump for a score draw tomorrow, possibly 3-3 as it was in this fixture a couple of years ago.
As ever, so long as we get a performance full of endeavour, honesty and a will to win, I'll be a happy Tarn supporter, win, lose or draw.
Best of luck to those Reds fans travelling over to Elland Road, and paying out their backside for the privilege.
Sing your hearts out...
YOOOOOOUUUUUU REEEEEEEEEEEDDDSSSSS!
*Remember, you can follow me 'HERE' on twitter.
And finally, this could well be the final installment of Tarn Review for a while, as my circumstances are changing and I'll not be able to give these articles the same time and effort as previously.
Nobody wants a shoddy product.
However, things change, so tha nivver knows....
UP THE TARN!
