Jon Howe: Managing Leeds United and managing time

Jon Howe: Managing Leeds United and managing time

Weekly column.

In his latest column for leedsunited.com, lifelong supporter Jon Howe looks back at Tuesday night’s win over Nottingham Forest.

Howe is the author of two books on the club, ‘The Only Place For Us: An A-Z History of Elland Road’ - which has been updated as a new version for 2021 - and ‘All White: Leeds United’s 100 Greatest Players’ in 2012.


Jon Howe


The passing of time does funny things to football fans; some routine elements of our everlasting devotion it changes all the time, but other, more deep-rooted things, it never changes. Our hopes and expectations alter from game to game and week to week, but we hold grudges, bitterness and regret for all eternity. And while we could happily bask in the glow of victory forever, in a season that we quickly want to forget and fast-forward to the end of, we still have to live through the long and agonising finale.

Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest was full of spirit, intelligence and, at times, free-flowing football, but none of us were allowed to enjoy a single second of it, given the precarious nature of the scoreline and the fatalistic paranoia that foresees everything going up in flames at any moment. That’s the nauseous quality that characterises the kind of scrap Leeds United are in; you’re not supposed to enjoy it, just close your eyes and hope you get to the end without needing the release of a primal scream.

One of the most enduring of football clichés is that you must take one game at a time, but the football fan can’t deal in that kind of focused minutiae and can idly stray from such a dedicated process at the drop of a hat. After the win against Forest, Leeds fans are looking at the Premier League table and like a snooker player building up a century break, are now thinking three or four shots ahead. And with three home games in a row and some more appealing fixtures to follow, it’s a tantalising and irresistible prospect. What if Leeds won all three of those home games? What if they just stayed unbeaten until the end of April? It’s a football fan’s right to dream a little and that’s what we’re all doing now, and rather than thinking in isolation about Crystal Palace on Sunday, we’re looking ahead in the fixture list and positioning in our mind where Leeds United could realistically be in a few games’ time. 

When a football manager says “we’re taking each game as it comes” it feels like they’re being dispassionate killjoys, when really they are tempering expectations, managing the mood and keeping players focused, and of course that’s absolutely right. But nobody is telling me Javi Gracia won’t be looking at the league table and the fixture list over his corn flakes on Wednesday morning and spying a great opportunity in forthcoming fixtures. When it comes to the matter in hand he can’t get carried away with the passing of time, he can’t afford to look too far ahead and he has to deal with the here and now and the next obstacle, but in a quiet moment after training at Thorp Arch, he can plot a path to the club’s target if his team stays on the upwards curve they are currently on.

Confidence is the indefinable and intangible factor that dictates so much in the football realm, and however he has done it, Gracia can see that transformational quality gradually seeping back into his team. On Tuesday night Leeds were organised and focused, but at times they played with a swagger which belied both their position in the table and, from the 12th minute, their position in the game.

Much of that was down to Jack Harrison’s determination to be as dynamic and direct as possible, while the much-debated McKennie-Roca axis dominated midfield; Roca more mobile, muscular and tenacious than he has been, but also more assured and effective with his passing. Meanwhile, McKennie was combative and scything when he had to be, but was also composed and considerate when he had the ball. Our pass completion and ball retention must have ranked amongst our best all season, and you could see the difference; this wasn’t nervous, hit and hope, chaotic football, this was measured, progressive and precise. So much so that both Roca and McKennie probably saved their most complete performances in a Leeds shirt for the most critical game so far.

Elsewhere, Luis Sinisterra reminded us what we have been missing for too much of an injury-ravaged season, while Junior Firpo continued to show us the stylish yet diligent player we have been waiting to see. The neat, touchline interplay between the two, particularly in the first half, was sublime at times, and while Sinisterra will receive the plaudits for the quality of the winning goal, Firpo was equally influential in the victory; flying forward in trademark fashion when he could, but rushing in with crucial, full-blooded challenges to snuff out Forest danger too. On a night when nobody could be faulted at the end of the 90 minutes, Firpo’s performance was perhaps the biggest triumph, he was as engaged and dependable as he had previously been lost and disorientated, and it’s a renaissance that gives Gracia’s team balance, fluidity and potency and, ultimately, contributes as much to how the team operates as anything else.

What is also true about most Leeds United sides in recent history, is that we seem to function better as a whole when Patrick Bamford is at the head of it. As a lone focal point, Tuesday night was not Bamford’s most elegant or even productive performance, but he was a nuisance to Forest’s back four and an available outlet at all times and he worked himself into the floor, almost literally at one point late in the second half when he fought to retain the ball with a Forest centre half and twisted and careered around in circles like a heavyweight boxer attempting to avoid a series of hammer blows and remain on his feet. Bamford kept the ball and found a teammate, but in his exhausted, punch-drunk state could barely work out where he was, what he was doing or what his name was. Gracia mercifully subbed him straight afterwards and Bamford took the applause for a thankless shift and a horrible job well done.

The fraught nature of the second half versus Forest came from the fact that Leeds should have wrapped the game up and turned their domination into some breathing space. But these kind of late season scraps rarely play out like that.

Ultimately, and regardless of the scoreline, the 2-1 win over Forest was probably our most complete performance since the 3-0 demolition of Chelsea back in the blooming sunshine of August, when hopes were high and dreams were formulated. That felt like a statement victory at the time, but whatever the statement was supposed to be, it was made up of empty words.

If Tuesday night’s win was telling us anything, it was that Javi Gracia is managing the passing of time perfectly; not looking too far ahead and preparing Leeds United for every individual game on its merits, and in its own individual way. That shows coaching ability, and flexibility, and it allows Leeds fans free rein to look ahead and dream about tomorrow, and next Sunday and next week and the week after, with a little more certainty, confidence and assurance, while Javi Gracia looks after today.  

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