My Leeds United - Enduring not enjoying, off-field drama, heartbreak and highs

Kagey is a Leeds fan who believes this year will finally be their year.

The highs, the lows, the highs – that is Leeds United!

The Champions League run in 2000/01 still gets a lot of love from supporters and rightly so, what a ride that was. But my favourite season during my time of supporting Leeds United is the 1999/2000 season.

The experienced heads: Batty, Kelly, Radebe and Martyn combined with “the babies” in [I still love you David O’Leary] Bowyer, Harte, Bakke, Bridges and a world-class talent in Kewell captured my imagination at that time.

It was never dull watching this team play. We ran out of gas towards the end of the season but I thought, if this core could stay together with a few select additions, this team would go on to win the Premier League in the next two years. Boy was I wrong.

Let’s fast-forward to summer 2012. Why? From this period until summer 2016 is an era that should be forgotten and erased from our memories.

This was one of the worst times to be a fan of the club.

The football was awful- we would go multiple games in a row without having a shot on target. The off-the-field drama was even worse and our seasons would be over just after Christmas.

You knew it was bad when you found yourself debating with other fans on social media the pros and cons about who should partner Rudy Austin in midfield out of Brown, Tonge or Norris.

A sadness just came over me revisiting this period.

Let’s move on to the now - the Marcelo Bielsa era.

I can honestly say Bielsa has given me my love for the club back. I still supported the team through the era mentioned above, but it was a time I endured more than enjoyed [credit: East 17]. Since Marcelo’s arrival, it has been nothing short of amazing seeing what he has done with the players already here before he arrived and the ones that we’ve signed during his tenure.

Last season’s play-off heartbreak was tough, but it’s clear to see lessons have been learned from that disappointment and, before this season was interrupted by coronavirus, we were playing the smoothest football in the league.

If the season does resume as planned on June 20, I believe we will be the most-prepared team and this will be all down to the genius, methods and attention to detail of Bielsa.

Looking to the future when we’re a stable Premier League club back playing against the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool, I can see only good things happening, especially with Andrea Radrizzani, his management team and Bielsa at the helm. Between you and I, there are a plethora of mediocre teams in the top division and Leeds can take advantage of this owing to a head coach who won’t settle for mediocrity.

So to the current team – please finish what you have started. MOT.