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| Bob 70-71 | David O'Leary on Leeds UnitedPast and PresentThis story was originally found at Soccernet A thin line between Leeds past and present By Michael Hart David O'Leary chuckled to himself this week as his emerging Leeds side was compared to Don Revie's great teams of a quarter of a century ago. He was amused that the comparisons were based, not on technical merit, but on the spite factor. Is O'Leary's team as spiteful and menacing as Revie's in the '70s? Anyone who saw Revie's team regularly will know the answer to that. O'Leary knows from personal experience. In his first season as a 17-year-old defender at Arsenal he played against Bremner, Hunter, Clarke, Yorath, Madeley, Cherry and Reaney - all capable of demonstrating the black arts. The sorcerer himself, Johnny Giles, had moved on to WBA by then. A wonderfully gifted midfield player, Giles could practically disembowel opponents with a single flash of his studs. O'Leary was interested to read Giles recalling those days with the words: 'None of the bad things I did, of which I'm now ashamed, helped my club win a single title. Indeed quite the opposite.' O'Leary will come to learn the value of those words as he reflects on the behaviour of his team - particularly Lee Bowyer and Ian Harte - in last week's 1-0 win over Tottenham. Indiscipline, and the subsequent suspensions, probably cost Revie's team five First Division titles. He was manager for 13 years, winning the Championship in 1969 and 1974, but finishing runner-up five times. O'Leary has been manager of Leeds for just 16 months yet the team he inherited from George Graham is now considered the only realistic threat to Alex Ferguson's bid for a sixth Premiership title. They meet Manchester United at Elland Road on Sunday morning in the Premiership's match of the season which sadly eclipses the sixth round of the FA Cup. Ferguson's voice has already joined those calling for stern refereeing - Peter Jones will be the man in charge - for what is a potentially volatile Championship clash of enormous significance. He will be mindful of the outrage that followed the unedifying spectacle at Old Trafford when Roy Keane and a malevolent gang of team-mates surrounded referee Andy D'Urso after he awarded Middlesbrough a penalty.The new lenient approach adopted by Premier League match officials is a recipe for a tide of dissent, abuse and anarchy on the pitch. This, nonetheless, is the climate in which O'Leary now finds his young team challenging the domination of last season's treble-winners. It's O'Leary's duty to keep them in check. The young are frequently the most reckless: players like Alan Smith, Jonathan Woodgate, Harry Kewell, Michael Bridges, Matthew Jones and Stephen McPhail make O'Leary's first team probably the youngest in the Premiership. Bowyer, at 23, isn't among the youngest but he's potentially the biggest problem for O'Leary. His tackle on Stephen Clemence was appalling and O'Leary did the player no service afterwards by claiming he had 'gone for the ball.' Managers tend to protect their players but in this case I suspect that, having watched the video of Bowyer's tackle, O'Leary has reviewed his opinion. 'I'll have plenty to say to the FA at the right time,' he said. 'But I'm very proud of what this team has achieved and that to compare us to Don Revie's team is complete nonsense. 'Leeds were brilliant in those days and you have to acknowledge their success. They could play outstanding football or they could kick and bite. They could play both ways, it didn't seem to make much difference to them. 'My team will not be going down that route. I want to make my name as the manager of a team that plays good quality football home and away. 'I'll make sure they can't be intimidated, but I want a team with a reputation for good attacking football, not rough house stuff.' Return to Leeds United.
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| Bob Dunning 26 January 2005 |
Click for Soccer headlines at www.bobdunning.net |
