Mighty Leeds Weblog

GOOD TIMES! Written by: Rob Conlon As a boyhood supporter who had a season ticket at Elland Road for nearly ten years and came through the club’s academy, returning to Leeds United as an Accrington Stanley player was one of the proudest moments of Will Hatfield’s career. Hatfield was a midfielder who played in Leeds’ academy with the likes of Tom Lees, Lewis Cook, and Kalvin Phillips. An appearance on the bench in Leeds’ FA Cup replay with Tottenham under Simon Grayson was the closest he got to a senior debut before he permanently left the club in 2012. Two years later, he finally got to fulfil his dream of playing at Elland Road when Accrington were drawn at Leeds in the second round of the League Cup. “When I found out it was Leeds I was buzzing, especially at Elland Road as well,” Hatfield says. “All my family were there. My dad’s a massive Leeds fan who took me to Elland Road until I started playing on Saturdays. I had a season ticket with my dad for just under ten years. Goi...

IF NEIL WARNOCK is the ‘Red Adair’ of football management, Graham Bean is surely the administrative equivalent. By Leon Wobschall In his case, it applied to some dysfunctional football clubs behind the scenes during his time in the domestic game. Situations do not get more chaotic and surreal than his spell as a consultant at Leeds United during the infamous Massimo Cellino era. The Yorkshireman's run-ins with the controversial former Leeds owner are chronicled in his recently-released book "Bean There… Done That". There are many tales to tell, as there are from the former South Yorkshire Police detective's time serving as the Football Association's first Compliance Officer where he was given the nickname of 'The Sleazebuster' by the tabloid press. Bean investigated football wrongdoing on and off the pitch, covering everything from dissent towards match officials by players to alleged financial corruption in the boardroom by chairmen. He woul...

Massimo Cellino's Leeds mad house! The Italian owner's foul-mouthed temper tantrums left staff in fear, he banned the No 17 and colour purple... and once rejected chance to sign Virgil van Dijk! Graham Bean says working at Leeds under Massimo Cellino was a madhouse The controversial former owner would often erupt into severe temper tantrums Cellino ordered Paddy Kenny to be sold due to a superstition over the number 17 The Italian once said that future England star Kalvin Phillips wasn't good enough By GRAHAM BEAN FOR THE DAILY MAIL Graham Bean was the FA’s ‘sleazebuster’ but also worked with a number of clubs in English football, most memorably at Leeds where he worked closely with the club’s controversial former owner… Massimo Cellino’s reputation preceded him when he bought Leeds United. The controversial Italian businessman was known as the ‘Manager Eater’ in his homeland after going through more bosses in his 22 years at Cagliari than he’d had pepperoni p...

OOOOOO THIS IS DECENT Written by: Rob Conlon If you had asked me to guess which footballers were invited to Liam Cooper’s wedding, the summer sun would have changed for the bleak skies of winter before I mentioned the name Scott Wootton. Paudie O’Connor maybe? What about Vurnon Anita? Didn’t Souleymane Doukara RSVP? I’m yet to see any of them in the photos, but there’s Scott Wootton — and look how happy Kalvin is to see him! Without wanting to be rude to Wootton, it made me wonder what he had done to be invited that Jason Pearce hadn’t. While Wootton was flying to Ibiza for the big do after ending the season in the A-League with Wellington Phoenix, Pearce was announcing his retirement from playing after spending the last six years with Charlton. His interview with Charlton’s official YouTube channel is a sombre watch; Pearce wanted to play for one more season but was told it wouldn’t be with Charlton, and none of the offers he got to continue were as appealing as a gig coaching C...

  Manager Eater Massimo Cellino swings his axe again and again and again as his new regime gets under way in earnest – it’s all change in the playing squad as Nicola Salerno goes shopping in Serie B.  Neil Redfearn emerges after the sackings of David Hockaday and Darko Milanic to launch a fightback built on the fruits of his labours in the United Academy Remember the time and thank your lucky stars for where we are today! Part 1 Watermelons –  http://www.mightyleeds.co.uk/seasons/201415part1.htm Part 2 There’s Only One Neil Redfearn –  http://www.mightyleeds.co.uk/seasons/201415part2.htm Part 3 Results, table and transfers –  http://www.mightyleeds.co.uk/seasons/201415part3.pdf Massimo Cellino welcomes new United coach David Hockaday

  Review of season 2013/14 Part 1 Clearing the Decks   –   Part 2 Life during wartime   –   Part 3 Manager eater   –   Part 4 Results, table and transfers A season of massive change as Massimo Cellino buys the club from GFH Capital, sacks then reinstates Brian McDermott on Mad Friday and Leeds’ form collapses