Loan markets, referees & Leeds United
12 Sep 2012 07:36 am, by Dom_LUFC
White Rose Tinted Glasses: Loan markets, referees & Leeds United
Article by Dom Pollard
One of the most popular chants at football grounds around the country and probably Europe is "The referee is a w*nk*r!" or "El árbitro es un pendejo" if you are watching a Spanish game. Now that is all well and good but have any of these supporters ever been down to Elland Road and witnessed the type of pathetic excuse for a match official we have regularly darkening our door? Yes, like every single football fan in the world I am of the opinion that as a football club we are penalised by more biased decisions than any other club on the planet. However when I take off my White Rose tinted glasses and try and view it from an impartial position we, as Leeds fans, actually have a very valid case when accusing the referee of being a self pleasuring moron.
I can only assume that the feeling a referee gets when crossing the white line at Elland Road must be like when a rogue boxer gets in the ring, when an F1 "badboy" driver pulls up at the starting grid or when Alex Ferguson simply wakes up…they start off not necessarily offending anyone, being perfectly normal and, Ferguson aside, are even nice people before turning in to some deranged idiot who is hell bent on winning or getting their name in the lime light by any means necessary whether that means aggravating all those around them with their sly tactics or just acting like a muppet in general.
You see if you actually think back about a game at Elland Road and about the refereeing decisions from a completely neutral, not caught up in the moment, perspective, then you will realise that the referees aren't completely biased against Leeds 100% of the time but more simply they are just dire. Now don't get me wrong a hell of a lot more decisions go against us than they do for but we seem to get a general standard of match official unparallel with anything else in the professional game. Let's look back at our most recent home game vs. Blackburn Rovers…Leeds were 3-2 up going in to the final 10 minutes or so after what had been a fantastic game and the atmosphere was buzzing. Tom Lees is then clearly fouled on the touchline and the referee rightly gives us a free kick. Simple eh? Not when it is at Elland Road it would appear. The referee then has a change of heart and miraculously decides Tom Lees fouled their player whilst being body checked out of the game. Inevitably Blackburn won a corner from the free kick and scored from said corner. Neil Warnock went ballistic, the crowd was initially furious but then flattened in to a feeling of despair as the 3 points, and a position joint at the top of the division leading in to the International break, slipped away and the masses left LS11 feeling like we had been beaten. So in a nutshell, until proven otherwise let's all assume that El árbitro es un pendejo!
Now that rant is over I turn my focus to more recent developments at our glorious club. The transfer window predictably went by with not so much of a whimper, there were no Sky Sports News cameras at Thorp Arch and so our attention turns to the emergency loan window which has flung itself open. As is the norm a whole host of names have been mentioned, some with more excitement than others, but let's face it, whilst you are never going to sign a Messi, Ronaldo or Van Persie via this method, there are a few good deals to be done in this window despite a lot of bad press over recent years and we have just the right man at the helm to do them. Jermaine Jenas is a name which has been mooted about a lot this week and with Neil confirming he is hopeful of bringing in a midfielder this week there could be some substance to it. I for one would be a lot happier with Jenas joining than I ever was with Barry Bannan or Jake Livermore because despite them reportedly having talent they weren't what was needed at the time. Jenas is an experienced player who, if he can steer clear of injuries would be a major asset to any Championship club and most Premiership clubs. Cameron Jerome is another player who we have been linked with to bolster our attacking line up and again, as with Jenas, it is a deal which makes sense. The lad is a good finisher in this division and would be excellent back up to Ross & Luciano in an area where beyond our first choice two we are looking thin on the ground.
So whilst Simon Grayson's decision making and approach to the Loan market was "iffy" at best I think Warnock will prove to have the midas touch, as he has with his permanent signings thus far and bring in some genuine quality who will come in to improve the squad rather than just make up numbers.
Now finally, has anyone seen any Arabian gentlemen around Leeds recently? We appear to have misplaced them!
Article by Dom Pollard
One of the most popular chants at football grounds around the country and probably Europe is "The referee is a w*nk*r!" or "El árbitro es un pendejo" if you are watching a Spanish game. Now that is all well and good but have any of these supporters ever been down to Elland Road and witnessed the type of pathetic excuse for a match official we have regularly darkening our door? Yes, like every single football fan in the world I am of the opinion that as a football club we are penalised by more biased decisions than any other club on the planet. However when I take off my White Rose tinted glasses and try and view it from an impartial position we, as Leeds fans, actually have a very valid case when accusing the referee of being a self pleasuring moron.I can only assume that the feeling a referee gets when crossing the white line at Elland Road must be like when a rogue boxer gets in the ring, when an F1 "badboy" driver pulls up at the starting grid or when Alex Ferguson simply wakes up…they start off not necessarily offending anyone, being perfectly normal and, Ferguson aside, are even nice people before turning in to some deranged idiot who is hell bent on winning or getting their name in the lime light by any means necessary whether that means aggravating all those around them with their sly tactics or just acting like a muppet in general.
You see if you actually think back about a game at Elland Road and about the refereeing decisions from a completely neutral, not caught up in the moment, perspective, then you will realise that the referees aren't completely biased against Leeds 100% of the time but more simply they are just dire. Now don't get me wrong a hell of a lot more decisions go against us than they do for but we seem to get a general standard of match official unparallel with anything else in the professional game. Let's look back at our most recent home game vs. Blackburn Rovers…Leeds were 3-2 up going in to the final 10 minutes or so after what had been a fantastic game and the atmosphere was buzzing. Tom Lees is then clearly fouled on the touchline and the referee rightly gives us a free kick. Simple eh? Not when it is at Elland Road it would appear. The referee then has a change of heart and miraculously decides Tom Lees fouled their player whilst being body checked out of the game. Inevitably Blackburn won a corner from the free kick and scored from said corner. Neil Warnock went ballistic, the crowd was initially furious but then flattened in to a feeling of despair as the 3 points, and a position joint at the top of the division leading in to the International break, slipped away and the masses left LS11 feeling like we had been beaten. So in a nutshell, until proven otherwise let's all assume that El árbitro es un pendejo!
Now that rant is over I turn my focus to more recent developments at our glorious club. The transfer window predictably went by with not so much of a whimper, there were no Sky Sports News cameras at Thorp Arch and so our attention turns to the emergency loan window which has flung itself open. As is the norm a whole host of names have been mentioned, some with more excitement than others, but let's face it, whilst you are never going to sign a Messi, Ronaldo or Van Persie via this method, there are a few good deals to be done in this window despite a lot of bad press over recent years and we have just the right man at the helm to do them. Jermaine Jenas is a name which has been mooted about a lot this week and with Neil confirming he is hopeful of bringing in a midfielder this week there could be some substance to it. I for one would be a lot happier with Jenas joining than I ever was with Barry Bannan or Jake Livermore because despite them reportedly having talent they weren't what was needed at the time. Jenas is an experienced player who, if he can steer clear of injuries would be a major asset to any Championship club and most Premiership clubs. Cameron Jerome is another player who we have been linked with to bolster our attacking line up and again, as with Jenas, it is a deal which makes sense. The lad is a good finisher in this division and would be excellent back up to Ross & Luciano in an area where beyond our first choice two we are looking thin on the ground.
So whilst Simon Grayson's decision making and approach to the Loan market was "iffy" at best I think Warnock will prove to have the midas touch, as he has with his permanent signings thus far and bring in some genuine quality who will come in to improve the squad rather than just make up numbers.
Now finally, has anyone seen any Arabian gentlemen around Leeds recently? We appear to have misplaced them!
