Good Morning. It's Friday 17th April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Viduka reveals his rift with Kewell, and how he almost joined the dark side of Manchester When your hear Mark Viduka name mentioned in West Yorkshire, you'll be hard pressed to to hear anything bad about the former Australian International. 16 years after leaving Elland Road, the former fans favourite reveals how Elton John almost got him lynched by the Elland Road faithful and his rift with Harry Judas Kewell! At Leeds, it got to the point, if Harry and I were in the sheds by ourselves, we wouldn't even look at each other," Viduka says. "It was that bad. "I had a problem with [Kewell's agent] Bernie Mandic. Bernie was my agent when he took me from Celtic to Leeds, but ... I severed ties with Bernie. "I think maybe our relationship at Leeds wasn't that good because -- and I can't say for sure -- I think that affected the way [Harry] viewed me. We last spoke in 2013." "I had the chance to join AC Milan at the end of the 2001 season, after we made the Champions League semifinal," Viduka says. "[Leeds United] were negotiating with Milan and wanted £38 million. I was friends with [Milan star] Zvonimir Boban at the time, and we were negotiating terms through him. In the end, [Milan] offer the £38 million, and Leeds didn't want to sell. And that was that. "I was a huge AC Milan fan. As a kid, I grew up watching [Marco] van Basten, [Frank] Rijkaard and [Ruud] Gullit ... They were my favourite team. It just wasn't to be." Unknown to Leeds at the time, but Viduka held private talks with Sir Alex Ferguson regarding a move to the dark side! "I was in Manchester, and my agent at the time also had a lot to do with Elton John," Viduka says. "He said stay for the night and come to the show. He had backstage passes, and I'd get the chance to meet the man for myself. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. "So I'm there with Jacob Burns, my Leeds teammate and fellow Aussie, as we got ushered into his dressing room. As we enter, Elton swings around on a swivel chair and says, 'Mark Viduka, you're from Melbourne. I love that place!' "I was nervous, so I babbled on about my meeting with the Red Devils that day and a possible move. Instead of going to our seats to watch the concert, Elton gets us to watch it at the side of the stage. About three songs in, he says, 'I want to dedicate this next one to my good friend Mark, who is in Manchester today to make a big decision.' "I'm thinking: 'S---, please don't say any more!' Thank God he didn't. I didn't sign for Man United. I think I loved living in Leeds too much at the time. please log in to view this image Norman Hunter remains severely unwell Former Leeds United legend Norman Hunter remains fighting for his life, as the 76yo battles the coronavirus. During his illustrious career 'Bites yer legs' played 726 games in 15 years at Elland Road and was a member of Sir Alf Ramsey's England 1966 World Cup squad. A spokesperson for the former centre back said:- ‘Norman Hunter continues to battle the Covid-19 virus in hospital and whilst he is, as expected, fighting incredibly hard, remains severely unwell. "His family would like to thank all Leeds fans for their amazing messages and well wishes," the club said. "They would also like to say a huge thank you to the NHS doctors and nurses who continue to do an amazing job 24 hours a day for Norman and all of those currently in their care. "As a club, we would also like to thank our fans, the wider football community and the media for respecting the wishes of privacy from the family at this time. "We will continue to provide regular updates in the coming days." please log in to view this image Will the English FA follow their Scottish counterparts With the Scottish FA declaring their season (outside the top flight) concluded, will thIs put any pressure on the EFL to make a drastic decision. Clubs north of the border (outside the top tier) were asked to vote on whether or not to continue the 2019/20 season! They were told that if the season was ended, end of season payments would be made to the clubs by the end of the week! As the effect to end the season would only have a detrimental effect on the clubs in the relegation zones, it was not unsurprising that 81% of the clubs voted in favour of declaring the season finished. The Scottish FA needed 75% or more of the clubs to agree to the proposal to bring the season to an abrupt end! By Dundee changing their minds after initially voting 'no vote', they had the votes they needed. Will the threats of legal action from clubs like Partick Thistle who had a game in hand over their competition make a difference? With the coronavirus shows no sign of letting up, and clubs losing millions of pounds a week, how long can this continue? please log in to view this image
Morning all... Nice read Elland I never knew any of that about Viduka, sometimes it’s a good thing we don’t know these things at the time they are going on.
Good Morning to Mark and co from a dull Bardsey I think that the EFL will decide to end the season like our friends from Scotland so that's good news for us and AR Watched the quiz night and I have to say I think the Major was innocent and should be paid his winnings plus interest plus compensation for losing his careerI just couldn't see how the jury came up with that verdict On the home front what a special Yorkshire man is Capt,Tom raising £17m to date I salute you
Morning Leeds60, Ristac, Elland and all who follow. If the season was cancelled, that might not mean the EFL would go down the Scottish route and award promotion and relegation as the Leagues stand now. But it would be interesting to see how the clubs would vote if they were asked. I see last week that tart Karen Brady again mentioned that she wants the season null and voided. I wonder why she wants that outcome From what I've heard and read about Kewell, it doesn't surprise me that Viduka didn't get on with him.
I was watching the Virgin Irish sports news to see if there'd be any mention of the death of Norman, not a dicky bird. Maybe RTE news will. At least RTE news mentioned his death...
Love this story told by Tommy Doherty As the Manchester United coach pulled into Elland Rd it stopped and before anyone could get off Norman got on went straight up to Denis Law and handed him a piece of paper never said a word just got back off. In the dressing room Doherty said to Law "what was the piece of paper" Law said " the tea menu for the Leeds General Infirmary
