The Silence at Elland Road is Broken

Article by e-Leeds Correspondent Alex Schroeter

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The silence which had come over Elland Road and Leeds United as a whole in the last 10 days is somewhat unnerving. It never quite feels the same if there is not some drama being played out, on or off the field. It seems an age ago that we were at the centre of a controversial takeover by a villainous Italian, leading to a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Huddersfield and the rehiring of not sacked/sacked McDermott. The events and goings on, or lack of, have been distinctly underwhelming with a 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough being the most interesting point of the week.

However, amongst the mediocrity of the week, we were linked with a couple of goalkeepers to compete with the injured and struggling Paddy Kenny. The first, a 33-year-old Brazilian outcast who had not played for the best part of two years; the second, a 20-year-old England International who is one of the most promising English players. A couple of years ago, under the tyranny of Ken Bates there would only have been one option – the ageing Premier League outcast. However, under Brian, and maybe Signor Cellino, there is a new more positive attitude towards the players. In came Jack Butland until the end of the season. A good, solid display against the smoggies will have done no harm to the Stoke City keeper becoming a favourite among the fans before he is recalled. I would like to see some continued ambition in the summer as well, perhaps with him coming back for next season to help with our promotion push, unless we make a late surge into the play-offs this season.

The excitement does not stop there! On Wednesday, we fought off competition from Wednesday to sign England Under-21 international Connor Wickham, suggesting that ambitious signings could become a habit. During his loan spell at The Owls earlier in the season, he notched an impressive 8 goals in 11 games for a struggling team. Upon his arrival, the striker wasted no time in endearing himself to us, saying “I need to be playing football,”

“I’d been playing at Wednesday and I knew there was some interest in me, but I just needed to focus on playing football.”

“Once I heard Leeds were interested in signing me there were no other choices and no doubt I wanted to come.”

“I played against Leeds earlier this season with Sheffield Wednesday. The potential here is big. There are some players here that I know already, and the team is looking to push towards the Play-Offs. Hopefully I can help with that.”

I really appreciate his optimism towards the club (take not Luke Varney) and our play-off chances; however misguided they could prove to be. Although, I would quite happily be proven wrong on this matter, and with a strike pairing of Wickham and McCormack we could make a serious assault on the top six, starting with QPR at the weekend.

Well, after a few days of knowing how boring it is to support bog-standard clubs, we are starting to return to our usual ways, apart from the good signings, and there will hopefully be some good news regarding the takeover in the coming days.

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