Your reading a pre 2010-11 archived article

If the victory at StaduimMK from 26/09/09 is going to have any long term significance for either football club it probably stems from a feeling that there is unfinished business to resolve. The 3 points Leeds gained was a half done job in a half done stadium in a season not even a quarter through. The only resolution brought by the later header form Snodgrass was the opportunity to bury the ghost of last season, an exercise worthwhile on its own merits.

Any day in the land of concrete cows has to be preceded by thoughtful planning, figuring out how to avoid Milton Keynes town itself, find yourself a decent pub and be within walking distance of the ground once suitably watered. Having dropped lucky last season with the pre-match pub their didn’t seem any point gambling, the destination was the canal-side pub in Fenny Stratford, so its slow train to Bletchley, conveniently timed for connection to said suburb. One got the impression on arrival that the hosts of the Red Lion had forgotten how well they did the last time Leeds came to town because it was a 2 person bar staff operation, but hey, people got served, me and the days companion enjoyed our beer watching the boats negotiate the lock and the Leeds fans mickey-taking, we left a little early due to the sheer numbers at the bar but that I suppose is the price you pay for word getting around.

This was my companions first trip to see us play the franchise and as such he wasn’t quite prepared for his first view of the stadium, I having witnessed our meek surrender last season had a memory of its “in progress” feel but even I was surprised by how little they had done since last December, the companion thought we were going to need a hard hat! If the vista from walking to it surprised him the area in the ground that resembled the walkways at Wembley certainly shook him, as did the plush bogs. One thing that can’t be criticised in this unique sporting arena is sightlines, the companion was well impressed and he also compared the seats and legroom to the Emirates!

Last season I saw two footballing teams play football, with the one lacking in confidence being out-played as the game progressed. This time there wasn’t even the prospect of football for 3 reasons, the dumb referee we all know as A Durso, a MK side trying to play a direct “big man” game and a Leeds team that for the third successive away game decided to go down to the oppositions level. The match wasn’t so much as poor as destitute, sheer paucity on a unprecedented scale was the fare for the first 40 minutes. Up to that point the only things of note were the absence of Becchio (with his wife whilst having a baby but that information wasn’t available to the mob that assumed he was dropped), the absence of a striker on the bench (Durso’s fault apparently) and Crowe departing early (hamstring!). This looked like a sign we might not have the depth of squad we thought we had, further work to do in January.

Andy Durso, has we all remember from Cardiff, is a rubbish referee still striving to become the ultimate frustrating official, he had already rubbed both sets of fans up the wrong way with a stream of decisions, mostly where two people were competing for high balls, that suggested football was now a non-contact sport. When just after 40 minutes Doyle won a loose ball then got clattered by Puncheon (remember the days when he was Wise’s no1 target to sign at Elland Road!) the sight of Durso’s rushing in to flash an instant red (and thus provoke the usual charge in from players) wouldn’t have surprised anyone. I haven’t seen a reply yet but on first sight it looked harsh.

As seems to be always the case this made our life more difficult second half, the expectation of a large away following coupled with the sheer lack of anyone getting a grip on the game lead to another torrid half of football. Leeds had one goal chalked off for offside which looked a bad decision, but has the scorer was Beckford and he was having a shocker which didn’t deserve a goal so we will let it go. When Higgs had to go off as well the feeling that today wasn’t going to be our day was unavoidable. No passing was happening, no wide play was coming off, chances were few and far between and nothing was going right, take the point and get out of town seemed the only attitude to have.

In terms of personal performances no-one stood out as deserving of more than faint praise, Michalik did a decent job after coming on, Doyle, who hasn’t impressed me at all, at least kept battling but most of the team were decidingly under par. Aside from the previously mentioned Beckford, Robinson contributed very little once he came on and Johnson was very nervy once repositioned at left-back. Interestingly enough the player who seemed to bare the brunt of any frustration was Grella, who I thought did lots of good things outside the box but was iffy in it.

When Durso, in the course of dishing yellows to the Don’s side like it was confetti, decided to give us an iffy free-kick as we entered injury time their wasn’t really much in the way of expectation, that is until the ball was swung over when all of a sudden about 4 of our team looked to be unmarked, Snodgrass got there first and the resulting net-bulge was met with a combination of relief and excitement that I haven’t witnessed for a while. What a steal taking those points, a lucky break even more made plain as the L1 results extended our gap over 3rd and 7th. Work still to do doesn’t really sum it up enough, an almost sea change in attitude is needed before we become stuck with this attrition style.

For the third successive away game we came away with points we shouldn’t have got, the feeling of a turn of luck is starting to set in, and that is fine for now. However we can’t keep playing like that in away games; if we can impose our game on others at Elland Road we should also be able to do it away from home. The contrast between the heroes of the Liverpool game with the Southend, MK Dons and parts of the Colchester performance is so stark as to warrant some attention. If our plan is to first stifle then out pub-team our hosts then away games are going to become like pulling teeth. Whilst I am happy we are “stocking up on nuts whilst we can” on our travels it is still a concern that we can’t seem to play to our strengths, hopefully Grayson has noticed this and is taking action.

In the walk back to Bletchley (note to Milton Keynes council, if you put up signs to the station you might want to have paths in the same direction) the companion expressed an hope we never have to go back to Stadium MK unless it is in a cup game, I think that might be wishful thinking as I can see the Franchise boys making the CCC before we depart for the PL, but I accept the basis of his thoughts, maybe we will go back when they finish the place.