View From the Opposition – Leeds 13th April 2009
Name: Phil Mason
Current Home Town: I live near Derby
Birthplace: Nottingham (Is there anything worse for you than a Leeds fan from Nottingham who lives in Derby!?!)
How long supported
I have supported Leeds since 1970 from the age of 5. Even though I grew up in Nottingham there were lots of Leeds fans around, however in the late seventies as Leeds success started to dwindle most of them were all too quick to change their allegiances to the more successful Brian Clough Forest team.
Favourite thing about ground
Although Elland Road looks old and tired when compared with all the new modern stadiums, I still love the fact that me and my two lads can still sit in the same seats that I first sat in as a kid when my Dad started taking to me Leeds in the seventies.
Favourite match
Two stick out for me. A Premiership game about ten years ago when we were losing 3-0 at home to Derby after 30 minutes. We came back to win 4-3 with a last minute goal from Lee Bowyer. Living in Derby this was fantastic!…..
Also, and mainly for the incredible atmosphere inside Elland Road that night, a Champions League game against the mighty Barcelona. Because of injury and suspensions virtually a second string Leeds side led for most of the game only for Rivaldo to score an equalizer in the last minute.
Favourite Player
As a kid it was Peter Lorimer. Long before the days of replica kits and club shops I even managed to get hold of a pair of the sock tags made famous by the Revie team with his number 7 on.
More recently it has to be David Batty. A better player than most people gave him credit for.
Current Player
Despite the fact he has still only played a handful of games it just has to be Fabian Delph. He is such a talent. It will be a miracle if we can keep hold of him. In the long run I don’t think even an offer £10m would be good business as he is that good.
Player to Fear (Leeds)
Obviously Delph. We do have a core of players, like Beckford, Bechio and Robinson who on their day look like world beaters playing in a league way below their ability. Trouble is that on a bad day would more at home in the Midland Regional Alliance!
Over the last few months Robert Snodgrass has been our most consistent player – he is a really tricky – but hard working wide man.
Player to Fear (Leics)
I have not seen a lot Leicester this year, but working in Leicester I get plenty of updates on how you are doing. It sounds like you have just done enough this year by just being consistent enough.
I saw a lot of Stevie Howard when he played for Derby and he is just the sort of player that will cause the Leeds defence problems.
Prospect
Delph again, but not sure if he fits into the prospect category as everyone is already talking about him. We do have a 17 year old left back called Aiden White who (to me) looked like he had the ability to play at the very top level although since Grayson arrived he has not even picked him so he can’t be that good!?
Where Will Leeds Finish
With a handful of games left it looks like we are going to finish in a play off spot and miss out on an automatic promotion by 5 or 6 points. We have had some really poor results away from home against teams at the bottom so I hope that we don’t look back after the play-off and say ‘if only’.
However, being Leeds we will just bottle it in the play-offs as that’s what we do. I have not done the stats but we probably have the worst record in history for blowing finals and big games.
A Leeds v Milwall final at Wembley does not bear thinking about!
How will we do?
I am never confident when we play Leicester and have always regarded you as a bogey team. We are in some good form at the moment and scoring goals again so I am hopeful that we will get at least a draw!
Foxes Trust & particularly Matt Davis wish to thank Phil for this further insight from the opposition.