Heidi's Blog - Salvaging a Draw Against West Brom
Leeds United v West Brom | 18th August 2023| Elland Road
It got to the stage this week that a few times I had to back away from social media as things were starting to turn toxic as far as Leeds United were concerned. Admittedly I couldn’t stay away for long as I read as much as possible, but I was getting a headache with it all. Hearing Gnonto was still refusing to play, news that he was banned from training with the first team as well as from their dressing room by Farke was good to hear. Also, it was said Sinisterra and Costa were also with him but at the moment that is hearsay. My stance is still the same, if they do not want to play for Leeds United, the shirt and the fans then get rid of them. I am not alone in those feelings as chants of “refuse to play, f**k off home” were heard again along with telling Gnonto to go by a very large majority in the ground tonight. They bring nothing but greed and toxicity to the team with no side before self. It’s been said our new owners want to keep them; please note, the fans don’t.
Many fans had written the team off tonight which was more to do with the fact that we are down to the bare bones. As always, I make my decisions by what I see on the pitch but what I will say, we are left with players who want to play for Leeds United, so they have my respect. Our first chance saw Byram cut back in the penalty area and send his shot narrowly past the far post. A cross from Shackleton across the box saw a touch from Gelhardt on to James who saw his shot saved by their keeper then kicked away. Shackleton came close to scoring himself after a deflection saw his shot hit the bottom of the post and come out again. We had played very well in the first half with lots of patient build up from the back which frustrated a lot of fans, but I was happy to see that we are building again. The progress we are making under Farke’s leadership cannot be underestimated as we started playing some good attacking football. We had been in control for many parts of the half and the Leeds fans responded with a great atmosphere, something which has been missing for a long time. It may have petered out at times, but I loved this and one thing that galvanises our fans and unites them, is when we see injustices like those players refusing to play for us.
At the start of the second half for some reason, we tried to slow the game down which seemed to give WBA an impetus to attack us, they had a shot that brought out a great save from Meslier to deny them a goal. WBA had all the luck when they took the lead as their shot hit our player then bounced to their player who handled the ball. Meslier had the incoming shot covered but the handball deflected the ball into the opposite side of the net and the goal was given. James had a great shot saved by their keeper before he put in a great cross for Ayling to head in the equaliser to rapturous cheers from the Leeds fans. Their keeper made another save to keep Gelhardt from getting a second goal for us, but we should also have been awarded a penalty when he was brought down in the area, but the game ended in a 1-1 draw. It was an important point to get tonight as well as knowing we hadn’t got beaten. The refereeing though was very poor at times especially when letting fouls on our players go unpunished. I knew he’d booked a lot of players but didn’t realise there were nine in total.
During the week we took my daughter Dani out for a short while but that wiped her out, so she still isn’t fit to come to the game tonight. I’m hoping she can make the next home game, but we may have to change her seat. It was all change with my family’s musical hospital chairs as this time I had a visit to a&e on Tuesday after a five-hour gallstone attack. I needed to ensure it was that rather than anything else especially as my blood pressure went through the roof with the pain. It was a relief when the pain subsided, and I got the all clear. Wednesday saw me attend the LUFC fitness session run by the Foundation along with other Leeds fans. If anyone is interested in joining us on Wednesday evening at 6.30pm in the LUDO lounge, please contact sophie.dales@leedsunited.com to book or I’m sure you can turn up on the night.
If anyone can take photos of the director’s box at the Sheffield Wednesday game that would be appreciated. It will be harder for me to do this as I will be seated in there for this game alongside Gary Edwards, Mick Hewitt and Tony Winstanley. Before the game we will be handing over to the Leeds United Academy/Foundation, the profits from the LUFC Fans Songs Recording CDs that we produced which has over 200 songs and chants from the terraces from the 1960s to 2018. It took four years of sheer resilience to overcome obstacles that occurred through no fault of our own. One thing is, I never give up and it was fantastic to get this produced and thank you to everyone who supported these by either taking part in the recordings or buying the CDs. We all wanted to do this for a long time to ensure songs over the years were never forgotten even if we can’t remember them all. We’ll support you ever more, we’ve only got one song became the title as we are loyal Leeds fans, and many opposition fans think that’s all we have to sing. Well done to everyone involved. Before this, we have a trip to Ipswich before the transfer window closes so will have a better idea of who will still be staying at the club. As for the ones who have jumped ship, good riddance!
LUFC – Marching on Together!
Follow Heidi @FollowMeAndLUFC or buy her book Follow Me & Leeds United at Amazon.
Leeds drew the game 1-1 with Ayling scoring with a great header to equalise (72)
Team: Meslier, Ayling, Rodon, Struijk, Byram, Shackleton, Gelhardt, Rutter, James, Gray, Ampadu
Sub: Greenwood for Gelhardt (84)
Subs Not Used: Klaesson, Darlow, Greenwood, Bate, Gyabi, Cresswell, Drameh
Attendance: 33,890 (2,087 WBA fans)
Referee: Matthew Donohue
Booked: Gelhardt, Shackleton, James, Struijk