Will it all have been worth it?

Gilly

Gilly

Gilly

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If Leeds never get into the top half of the premiership again (something I can't see, but is currently a possibility) will the last 5 years have been worth it?

No silverware to show for it. But so what?

Until realisation on this dawned about 10 minutes ago I was in a state of perpetual anger at the club. From being a young lad and tasting my team's success in the last season of the old 1st division, the only thing my team has done in terms of winning something has been appear in a final at Wembley. One that we lost to Villa. Heartbreaking, but so what? We at least got to the final...

In the last 5 years we'd not been out of the top 6. We'd done well in Europe almost every year. We got to the semi-final of the Champions League at our first attempt which is not only the first time an English club has done it, but the first time it had EVER been done in the history of the competition. Deportivo would have done it that season, but we beat them to take the accolade. Unfortunately we were beaten by a very good Valencia, which still had Mendieta. but I digress...

How many other of the 'also rans' about in the league would take that? Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea spring to mind. Those teams regularly just finishing just outside those top spots. How many of them would take the two consecutive European semi final appearances for their team? Never mind the teams that regularly finish below them, Everton, Spurs, Villa, perpetual under-achievers.

Ridsdale and O'Leary did a very good job in getting our team to the dizzy heights of flirting with cup and league success in every competition.

To deal with what our club is currently having to deal with, and seeing our greatest players sold off to our rivals, is very, very hard for me, and every other Leeds fan. But at least we were considered very serious competition at one time.

Beating AC Milan, beating Lazio, beating Roma, Barcelona scraping a draw at Elland Rd in the 96th minute with a spectacular volley from Rivaldo, Lee Bowyer doing the same thing on a very wet night against AC Milan at Elland Rd... This is the stuff dreams are made of for anyone but the very top teams!

To have lived through a period where your club does that is very special. And no matter what happens now, I have that :)

I think that's worth it...
 
How many other of the 'also rans' about in the league would take that? Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea spring to mind.
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eeeem dont mean to interrupt ur hazy trip down memory lane but in liverpools first season in the Cl they got to the qtr finals and were beaten by the eventual finalists, they qualified again the next yr and will qaulify again next yr going on current form, in the mean time they have won the uefa cup and could well win it again.

leeds had a good time, and they were a decent side but no one remembers the runners up, or the semi finalists, except the leeds fans and they way things are going ye'll be living on those old memories for a while to coem while a liverpool team of also rans will continue to win trophies
 
Imo ofcourse it was worth it. You took a gamble by spending loads & had it paid off you would now still be partying. The fact that it did not still leaves you not only with the memories of some quality times but leaves your club with the experience or playing at that level & the respect of other clubs for that period. What needs to be realised is that had those players not been sold off the team would have died a death rather than just having an serious illness say as atm you are still likely to play in the prem & have another chance at returning to the top half of the table in furture years.

Now you should just hope O'Leary (as has been apparently mentioned he wouldn't rule out a return to Leeds) returns ;)
 
Originally posted by Gilly
If Leeds never get into the top half of the premiership again (something I can't see, but is currently a possibility) will the last 5 years have been worth it?

No silverware to show for it. But so what?

Until realisation on this dawned about 10 minutes ago I was in a state of perpetual anger at the club. From being a young lad and tasting my team's success in the last season of the old 1st division, the only thing my team has done in terms of winning something has been appear in a final at Wembley. One that we lost to Villa. Heartbreaking, but so what? We at least got to the final...

In the last 5 years we'd not been out of the top 6. We'd done well in Europe almost every year. We got to the semi-final of the Champions League at our first attempt which is not only the first time an English club has done it, but the first time it had EVER been done in the history of the competition. Deportivo would have done it that season, but we beat them to take the accolade. Unfortunately we were beaten by a very good Valencia, which still had Mendieta. but I digress...

How many other of the 'also rans' about in the league would take that? Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea spring to mind. Those teams regularly just finishing just outside those top spots. How many of them would take the two consecutive European semi final appearances for their team? Never mind the teams that regularly finish below them, Everton, Spurs, Villa, perpetual under-achievers.

Ridsdale and O'Leary did a very good job in getting our team to the dizzy heights of flirting with cup and league success in every competition.

To deal with what our club is currently having to deal with, and seeing our greatest players sold off to our rivals, is very, very hard for me, and every other Leeds fan. But at least we were considered very serious competition at one time.

Beating AC Milan, beating Lazio, beating Roma, Barcelona scraping a draw at Elland Rd in the 96th minute with a spectacular volley from Rivaldo, Lee Bowyer doing the same thing on a very wet night against AC Milan at Elland Rd... This is the stuff dreams are made of for anyone but the very top teams!

To have lived through a period where your club does that is very special. And no matter what happens now, I have that :)

I think that's worth it...
Click to expand...

Excellent post mate, good to see you're seeing the good in all this.
icon14.gif
 
Maybe though if things had been done at a steadier pace and with a little more thought then the better things could have been achieved in the long term too , then again its easy to say with hindsight
 
Its good you can see all the good in it gilly :)

Ive heard some leeds fans have been sending ridsdale death threats which is so out of order, its all good sticking by your team when they are doing good but you also stand by them in the tough times which some of the fans arent :(
 
Gilly i can see were you coming from with newcastle, spurs, everton etc. How can you include liverpool in that group?

We won the treble, have done very well in euro, looking good now this season..

Hardly under achievers..
 
Originally posted by Cyrus
eeeem dont mean to interrupt ur hazy trip down memory lane but in liverpools first season in the Cl they got to the qtr finals and were beaten by the eventual finalists
Click to expand...

Your point?

Leeds got to the SEMI FINAL. Like I said. Not the quarter final. They were ALSO beaten by the eventual finalists, who in turn were only beaten by a very, very good Real Madrid side.

Quackers, Liverpool were the ones on the borders. It was either put them in the group with Man United and Arsenal. Which quite frankly would be wrong, or it would be put them in with the others. Which I did.

I'd certainly put them above the others in the group I put them in from recent seasons, but they still don't make it in with the top two.
 
Dont get me wrong gilly,but ur attitude now smacks of giving up and accepting everything at lufc, granted we as fans cant do much, but being a fan is a lot about believeing what the club can do, maybe not realistically, now i know that liverpool may not win the league in the next few years but i sure as hell wont stop believing, just winning the worthless cup is plainly not enough for a club of liverpools stature, we need to be in the champions league, we neeed to be playing the best teams in europe, rather than playing in the 2 or 3rd rounds of the worthy cup, we wont prolly get to 4th this season, but we still gotta try, now leeds, if u would not have let oleary rip with the cheque book, u probabaly would still have the core of the team there, maybe not rio or dacourt, but bowyer,woody,keane etc, instead now u got a manager who cant command the respect of his player, and quite a few players who dont want to be there, how long will it take leeds to rebuild now??

Ok u have had the wonderfull adventure, but at what cost, as has been said nobody remembers runners up let alone the 4th placed team.

But i suppose this is what football is a true rollercoaster ride:)
 
Didn't quite follow your whole post there matey. You said I was giving up then gave me plenty of reasons to give up :p

I'll still be supporting them the same old way. No two ways about that, I'll still be watching them, paying me monies, slating other teams.

Leeds fans feel powerless after whats been a gutting season throughout, but we don't give up. We;re proud, and we'll be back. Who cares if it takes a long time? It'll happen.
 
I see were hes coming from, leeds have spend soo much trying to become a big european side and now its all fell through, they have to sell..

It upsets me to be honest, and thats not taking the mick...
 
What I would say is, don't look at what you have lost, but look at what you have. Sure Leeds have lost a lot of good players, but they have a pretty awesome squad to start with and I would still say their best team is capable of beating any British team on their day. They were always a tad top-heavy on strikers, how many clubs could lose the likes of Keane and Fowler and still have the luxury of picking from viduka, smith, kewell, and presumably Bridges who should return next season from injury.

OK so the league position is below par, but the slate gets wiped clean in the summer, and who knows, a new manager might enter the fray bringing a wave of enthusiasm. Honestly, looking at the leeds team i think if they steer clear of injuries and suspensions (heh) next season they are well capable of secuing a european place for the 2004-5 season. OK, so that's a bit of a step down from CL semis as you say, but it's a building block.

When I look at the sides in the top half of the table, the likes of everton, charlton, saints etc, I see teams with good young managers who aren't bad teams, but neither are they light years ahead of leeds. Yeah, leeds probably arent one of the 'big 3' or even the big 5 anymore, but if the finances are sorted out and the players live up to their potential in a few years who knows?

In my eyes a side comprising Robinson, Mills, Radebe, Duberry, Harte, Wilcox, Batty, Barmby, Kewell, Viduka, Smith is a bunch of players who could finish in the top8 next season. Think Batty will never don a Leeds shirt again? Duberry doesn't cut it? Just replace them with say, Bakke and Matteo. And that still leaves the likes of Martyn, Milner, Johnson, Bridges, Kelly and Okon keeping the bench warm. I'm told mcphail has a bright future too.

I'm not saying I claim to know how Leeds fans feel, or they shouldn't be gutted about their 'fall from grace', and perhaps the circumstances surrounding it. I'm saying try to draw a line under the problems, re-asses what you have now on merit, not what you once had or might have had in the future. If leeds finish in the bottom half of the premiership next season, I'll be suprised.


(... me envisages this thread being dug up sometime in May 2004)
 
Well you're safe from the thread being dug up, it'll be pruned by then :p

I do understand what you're saying, but confidence breeds confidence as they say, and we're on zero confidence with a terrible run-in.

Not bothered what Venables says, I can't wait for this season to be over.
 
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