Sometimes, it pays to look back a few years, if only to remind yourself that – however bad a current Leeds United blip may be – it’s all happened before, and arguably worse. Looking at Luke Ayling’s face as he stepped up bravely for an interview after a dismal defeat at Notts Forest, you’d never guess that a few short months later, we’d be crowned Championship Champions by an impressive margin of ten points. But that’s tier two football, totally unpredictable and endlessly surprising.
Right now, after the euphoria of hammering Ipswich, we’ve just swallowed the second of two bitter pills with another narrow defeat at West Brom to add to an unfortunate reverse at Preston. But, although our infestation of trolls will be minded to indulge in some jubilant gloating, nobody can predict with any degree of confidence just how this nutty league campaign will pan out. That’s the lesson of history, both recent and not so recent.
I’m often guilty of rising to the bait put down by those who pretend to be Leeds fans but who pollute social media with their sniping negativity. Yes, I’ve resorted to “feeding the trolls”, on account of their maddening tendency to irritate – but what I don’t do is to present myself as an armchair coach, setting up my amateur opinions against those of the guys who will have to keep making the season-defining decisions. They’re the pros, our job is to support them – especially when so many out there seem intent on being as destructively negative as possible.
Look at Luke’s face again, bereft alike of confidence and optimism – but he battled on like the rest of the lads, and it ended in glory. And that could well be the way this season ends too. Personally, I don’t give a toss whether we go up as Champions (again), or in second place – or even if we earn promotion by breaking our Wembley hoodoo. And if we ultimately fail, let’s remember that’s the fate of most clubs, year after year. We have no divine right to success, and what the hell – we’ll be back for another crack at it next year, just as Bielsa’s boys were.
What we have to do is refrain from making a hard task even harder, by jumping on the negativity bandwagon. We have to stay positive, get behind the shirts (even those accursed blue and fruit salad ones) and provide actual encouragement – not some ersatz tactical theorising, or resorting to petulant criticism in an arena we’re not remotely qualified to pass comment on.
When I look at Twitter, or X, or whatever you like to call it, I do so frequently despair. Some of those guys and gals are clearly there for attention, or to build themselves up by coming on like some Poundland Pep Guardiola. It’s not an edifying spectacle, and certainly not what you need to see in the painful wake of another defeat. Especially when yet another crap penalty decision has further blighted an already annoying evening.
Let’s stick by the lads, it’s our most compelling duty as supporters (the clue’s in that word, guys). Let’s support – it makes a difference, and that’s what we’re there for, those of us who genuinely care. It’s easy to go on social media to whinge, but it achieves nothing. Amateurs will never change the methods and approach of any pro worth their salt, so the widespread and frequently vitriolic abusive criticism is exposed for what it is: petulant self-indulgence that serves only to make genuine fans feel even more pain and angst after a defeat. Most of us know this, but there is a noisy minority determined to make things worse than they need be.
And, quite frankly, we’re so much better than that. Or at least, we should be.
Marching On Together 💙💛💙
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