Georginio Rutter and the peak of the Brighton model
Things may not actually be that bad. But they're bad enough to have me thinking about Peter Ridsdale, Professor McKenzie, Ken Bates and the parallels. So that is bad enough.
Tag
Essays
A collection of 118 posts
Cry-laughing through history with Leeds United AFC
Leeds United have a lot of things to put right at the top level. Not just so that the club can have a successful future, but so it can make peace with its past.
Crysencio Summerville is on his own path
Football clubs can write whatever they want into players' contracts, but they still end up dealing with a big group of twenty-something manifest destinies with Instagram accounts.
The midfield angle of Gary McAllister
Gary McAllister is gliding. The tacklers are in his wake.
Uruguay, Canada, coping and the Copa: football and a four hour dirge
"The head coaches have power, the owners of the clubs have power, the media have power and the fans have power. But they don't use it."
Eight years later, Sam Byram is the future again
The old guard are supposed to hand down to the people who came after them, but next season is a stage for younger lads with longer stories.
Failure is inevitable when no one is allowed to fail
Marcelo Bielsa says football is getting worse because of the pressure and the scrutiny and the blame and the accusations. Or to put it another way, Lee Dixon's commentary.
Ian Rush and Tony Yeboah at the high point of optimism
As an image of pure optimism I don't think this can be bettered. It's a weird image. It's a great image. God, Ian Rush was rubbish though.
Archie Gray, PSR, and saying goodbye to football's glorious delusions
To look at Archie Gray playing for Leeds was to see a golden era come back, to forget all the market forces crushing modern football and feel the glorious 1960s and 70s again. A smiley badge on the away kit next season won’t do that the way Archie Gray could do that.
The history of Red Bull, and the history of Leeds United
The best argument for convincing ourselves that Red Bull won't change Leeds United's name or colours is the weight of our heritage, but it is also the danger.