Good Morning Everyone By 10th November, 9 out of Leeds opening 17 matches would have been televised on Sky - move than half! That's a good thing surely? Not necessarily! Why would a fan part with best part of fifty quid once fed and watered and watch from the terraces when they could do it for free and watch it on Sky!!! Surely Leeds must earn a fortune from their televised games? No - they would have earned a meager £460,000 for 9 games (50k a game). Thoughts? A second half brace from Jack Clarke was enough to secure a 2-1 win over Cardiff City. The U23s continue their unbeaten run. After the game Ian Harte tweeted that Jack Clarke is on fire. Surely it won't be long until Clarke joins Shackleton in the senior squad. Noel Hunt has been talking about his time at Leeds :- 6. Leeds nightmare In the summer of 2013, Hunt linked up with his old Reading boss McDermott, who was managing Championship club Leeds by then. It seemed like a good idea at the time — little did the player know what he had let himself in for. “I was gutted and don’t think I’d fully recovered from leaving Reading, to be honest,” he says. “I was full-hearted, we’re going to go into this, have a proper go, I knew the size of Leeds, I knew the history of it, I spoke to many people that played for Leeds, my mind was made up. “So I really did know what I was getting into, had a decent pre-season, came back, unfortunately got injured in the first game, and I tried to continue to play for probably 5-6 weeks with a bad injury and I shouldn’t have. It was my decision, I didn’t tell anybody about what was happening, and then when I got a scan, it was worse than what we thought and I was out for [several] months.” On the pitch, he had a difficult spell, with no goals in 19 appearances. To make matters worse, controversial Italian entrepreneur Massimo Cellino took over the club and subsequently criticised Hunt. He publicly rebuked the striker for his performances and erroneously claimed he was earning £25,000 a week. During that time, the new owner came in, and all hell broke,” he recalls. “It became a bit of a farce, he used me as a scapegoat. “That was what it was. I’ve nearly really spoken about it, but as far as the club goes, the players that were there, the boys that are still there and the people that are still there — lovely people. They deserve the best, because they work hard. People who have been there for years and years and have gone through everything.” Hunt was out of action with a back injury at the time, but Cellino’s comments virtually made the player’s position at the club untenable. The owner’s claims were noted by fans, and endless abuse followed by a section of the Leeds support. “I’ve never had a pulled hamstring or any tears, I’ve been very lucky,” he explains. “A lot of [my injuries] have been impact. A few in the last couple of years were bad ones — red cards, stupid tackles, people I couldn’t avoid, misfortune. But that’s football and people don’t see that side of it. I feel sorry for her, because my wife went through it, she’s the best in the world. No one knows what she went through when I done my back at Leeds. It was very hard for her, when you’re walking down Leeds high street and there are people throwing bottles of Coke and stuff in your direction, when you’re just walking with your wife, trying to go for something to eat. When you go into restaurants on a Sunday afternoon and people try to start on you, because they consider what they heard from the chairman to be true. “I was not bitter towards Leeds as a football club. I understand as a fan what it’s like. Every club I’ve played for, I’ve been a fan of, I’ve wanted to win desperately. I still get frustrated and it does overboil. It’s part and parcel of the game. But when [erroneous claims] are made about you through the radio from a chairman because he mixed you up with a different player, it’s just not right, and he never really rectified it either. “Ultimately, it didn’t help on the field, and I think I got the brunt of it. It was just tough to take at the time and I’d never really had that before. “I begged him to let me go and he wouldn’t [let me]. I wasn’t allowed play, I wasn’t involved. I wanted to go and play, I was getting older, I hadn’t played in a year because of circumstances with injury.” 7. Tormented by trolls The bad fortune on and off the field was compounded by the constant abuse Hunt received through social media — something that affected him at the time, but which he has learned to brush off with experience. “I’ve learned so much from Twitter, I’ve grown such a thick skin. Everything I read now on Twitter about me or whatever, it just falls off me. It didn’t at Leeds, it was the magnitude of the abuse I was getting. If you’re told you’re this, that and the other so many times, you almost start to believe it, because it’s tough. You have to be very mentally strong for these kind of things. I was a strong character, but I wasn’t as strong as I thought. It did affect me, it really did. And it does make you reflect, it does make you stay awake at night and struggle to sleep and not want to get up in the morning, not want to get to work. All these things happened until I snapped out of it. I said: ‘Right, the only way I’m going to get out of it is by getting myself out of it.’ And that was pretty much what I had to do. “I still get abuse now off Leeds fans. And they’re the only fans [who abuse me]. Wherever else I’ve been, I’ve done okay, I’ve left it all out there. I’m not saying I didn’t leave it all out there [at Leeds]. It just didn’t happen for me. The harder I tried, the worse I was. That happens with players. That’s just football. I understand that. “I still get [abuse], but now it doesn’t bother me, it really doesn’t. It’s just small-minded people who want you to bite. I just laugh at most of them, to be fair. But 95% of the Leeds fans were beside us all the way. They could see that I was trying, and trying to do the right thing. It was just a small minority, but Leeds is a big club. 10% of that club wouldn’t be like 10% of another club. But you’ve got to go with it.”
Morning all... If I were a professional footballer, I’d have no Instagram, Twitter or Facebook account of any kind. The trolls follow normal everyday folk as it is, I’m not claiming it is right but if you’re a footballer who puts themself on Twitter (and even if you’re the best in the world) someone will troll you. In regards to Sky we’re on TV and home gate receipts are sell out aren’t they?
Morning all U23s are doing great and its really factually all down to Victor Orta. Yes controversial but over half of yesterdays team came in last season. Remember Leeds were bottom of the league until Orta started doing deals last Summer, so from finishing bottom we went on to win the league last season, what a turn around. We have now started in a much higher league and are unbeaten. They are also playing the same Bielsaball as the first team because Bielsa wants to be able to bring in a kid when needed and to ask him to do the same role as he does for the kids. Also great to see Aapo Halme make his first start yesterday. Last week you will remember that Orta brought in a Norwegian wonderkid that had been chased by many of the top European giants. Leeds Utd get no say in which games get covered on TV so stop blaming Radz for being greedy. My problem is that Leeds get more airtime than most Prem clubs like Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, yet only get a fraction of the money the prem teams get. Sky use Leeds more because of the club and the brand and the history but get the same as Rotherham Utd. Lets say that Championship football is popular both here in the UK and around the World, and viewing figures are exactly the same as the prem, then the EFL have sold themselves short and should tell Sky to do one unless the money goes up. The new prem tv money has meant that last season every Prem club could offer free entry and still made more money than the previous season. That they refuse to do that is down to sheer greed. Coming bottom of the prem means you only get £100m. The EFL are shyte and sit and the feet of the Premier League and then the FA hoping for scraps. I expect Radz to have a big say in things later this season and his 11 Sports business will be used.....
Imagine how bad it can be if you use Glory as an example and hes in the same team and giving everyone stick
Good Morning to the Sherrif and his posse from a dull Bardsey I see that Bruce is already trying to deflect his situation by asking his board to sanction the return of John Terry for 80k a week he blames the fact that with Terry missing they are letting in too many goals well Steve you are the coach you have bought or loaned 40 of them so sort it I say Stephen Caulker wont go away and rumours persist and we were going apparently to offer Dundee 1'5m for him so lets get him on board now he would fit into our system tall and strong would have been ideal against Boro FOR the next 6 games we play Millwall who lie 16 in the league Preston who stand18 Brum20 Sheff W 11 Hull 22 Brentford 5 So we have on paper a good chance of pulling away from our rivals lets hope I haven't tempted fate! Really pleased for Clarke and sorry for Hunt but I thought he was on very good money and totally overpaid because he was very friendly with Brian Macdermot
Morning all. Agree fully footballers shouldnt have social media accounts but if they do, they need to man up and take whatever is dished out. Same goes for everyone actually, if you dont like the whole social media or forums or whatever, stay away. As for SKY, its not ideal but at least the club makes 50k a game from it. How much do you think they get from the illegal links we all use? Nothing so dont see how the average fan can get on their high horse about games being on SKY
Totally agree Ell, 9 out of 17 matches on Sky is move than half.................what's move than half mean anyway? .
Morning all...totally agree ristac. In fact I'd go further if I was the manager/head coach I would ban all my players from holding social media accounts.
Morning all. Err, you know that Sky isn't free, right Elland ? Living 250 miles from Elland Road means I get to watch a lot of games. But believe me, me and my lad would much rather be at Elland Road.
Good morning all I'm afraid i have no sympathy with Hunt at all this just about sums it up (unfortunately got injured in the first game, and I tried to continue to play for probably 5-6 weeks with a bad injury and I shouldn’t have. It was my decision, I didn’t tell anybody about what was happening, and then when I got a scan, it was worse than what we thought and I was out for [several] months.”). So he pulled the wool over everybody's eyes,and how the physio did not spot a serious injury is beyond me,anyway did himself or his team mates no favours playing like this i'm afraid it was a case of (self before team) that backfired.
We make more from advertising than the EFL give us,do you not think its a big selling point,advertise with us and you will advertise on tv every other week.
