So .. What Now?

After the frustrations of cold, wet and leg numbing, mind bending Hull City game to the highs of seeing the Toffees come unstuck it may well be that some of us are feeling a bit of an anti climax following what may have seemed a lucky point based on the first half threatened near mauling. Yet.. second half we realised it wasn't an 8.20pm kick off after all and crikey the supposed Arab owners in (possibly) attendance may be thinking they'd acquired a sinking ship rather than a sleeping giant waiting for a rub of Aladdin's gilt edged credit card shaped lamp ;)Sam Byram played out of his skin, the usual defensive ghosts of (near Christmases...eek) past echoed into the present and Austin was unusually flappable and so the headless chicken act was in full swing despite panto season being a little too early for such comedy fire and chocolate guard jokes. Credit to Paddy Kenny, I was one of those who thought hang on is he just a little too long in the tooth? Is he only here for the tasteless tweets and admittedly funny Paddy Kenny's having a party bring your vodka and your charlie joke which has been adapted for Sam Byram ... no doubting his class on the pitch and perhaps this is a fitting moment to mention Diouf. Yes. Diiirty Diouf. Can't stand the flash sod as a person but as a player there's no doubting yet again Warnock has struck gold amongst some rough diamonds - with a bit of a polish up this guy is mint. He wants the ball, he chases, he harrasses, he gets stuck in, no one likes him, but then doesn't that make him perfect to scare off the opposition and he's not even in a Halloween costume, it comes naturally to him! Byram and the young Poleon have still got lots to learn, whilst I sincerely hope they don't take tips from his lifestyle, they'd do well to learn from his strength and determination on the football pitch. Becchioooooooo Mr Becchio. Maybe it's his slight resemblance to the old Smithy, perhaps its the goals, or perhaps he's just flavour of the month right now, I don't care, I salute you sir! Ross McCormack can hobble along for now, Luciano is the dish of the day and for the present, is serving up the goods. We can moan all we like about Diouf hitting the bar in the dying seconds but that merely deflects from the schoolboy errors a-plenty and rabbit in headlight antics of the first half. Much like West Ham before them, Bolton will be there or thereabouts, in seasoned pros like Kevin Davies, they know how to roll the sleeves up and get the job done. Perhaps with Warnocks oh so calming influence Diouf will do that for us? hmmm.. we'll see. There's more fireworks to come, with or without Bonfire night, I'm sure there'll be more horror shows before Halloween regarding our dastardly (self)destructive defence but we'll get there, have faith, stick with it, celebrate a hard earned point and march on regardless troops! A few words about this takeover business. It's a shame that Ken's arsey attitude is dragging this out longer than the will they won't they of Mary and Matthew in Downton Abbey but I hope it doesn't sink faster than the Titanic. The atmosphere for the recent midweek Tuesday night games were electric and despite the weather and in the game's case, the result, absolutely belting. Everton in particular brought a good crowd and whilst it took ten minutes from the end for them to burst into life, the Gary Speed chants and mutual respect was great - shame about the alleged shenanigans with the police over the "justice for the 96" recriminations however.

Football should be about family, friends, not about fighting and fickleness. It was spinetinglingly fun, engaging, full of banter and felt like the proper good old days again, then you look at the crowds and think hey guys, look what you're missing! When you look at not so cuddly Ken's prices and see that fixtures are on TV, the cynics amongst us just get disheartened. Aside from that there's the car park fee, match programme, tickets, drinks, food...the long journey home on a work/school night. Getting back from the Hull game because of the unprecedented wet weather that week was a drag, stuck in the muddy cold wet car park for some time, zombied and fed up. I love Leeds and would go more, I still have a membership but whilst Ken's milking us like a bottomless pit of a cash cow I don't feel I can twist Dad's arm any more than I am doing. I will however be doing my level best to make the Saints game as there are family members who sympathise with them ha ha ha. Good old fashioned banter. Just hope that whoever comes in, IF they come in, the investment is prudent, long term and keeps us solvent. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, as much as I complain about Bates, you've really got to be careful what you wish for in this life! So onwards and upwards to the Barnsley match, I shan't be there but remember a friendly fixture with them years ago when they were relegated from the Premiership, with fondness.. we took over their ground, quite literally, it was like a Leeds United karaoke session for 90mins. Ahhh those were the days my friends.