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Leeds legend - White 'exceptional' |
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Thursday, 02 October 2008 |
Source: Yorkshire Evening Post
By Leon Wobschall
Leeds United may have won admirers aplenty during a super September – but Whites legend Norman Hunter knows what has impressed him the most.
United swept all before them in League One last month – by virtue of wins over Crewe, Swindon, Carlisle and Hereford and cup successes over Hartlepool and Bradford – cutting a dash on occasions with some eye-catching pass-and-move football.
But for a granite-like defender like Hunter, substance has always won over style – even for a player whose finer qualities were wholly and wrongly underestimated by the Londoncentric footballing press of the 60s and 70s.
Hunter has always been more brown ale than bubbly and it comes as little surprise that what has given him most pleasure this term came at the County Ground on September 13.
Down to 10 men following the early dismissal of Alan Sheehan, United faced a searching test of character and backs-to-the-wall examination amid a parochial Wiltshire crowd.
They donned the hard hats, manned the barricades and successfully repelled what the hosts threw at them and claimed an outstanding 3-1 win.
And while United earned the bouquets for their consummate 5-2 dispatching of Crewe – a late aberration or two aside – and a head-turning victory at Fortress Brunton Park, not to mention their stylish football against Hereford, which would have yielded a hatful of goals if it wasn't for the heroics of Bulls' keeper Darren Randolph, Hunter knows what he likes.
Flowing football is all well and good, but the nature of the beast that is Leeds United, – everyone's favourite scalp in League One – is that sometimes you have to show your claws and battle.
And within that, keeping the back door shut as much as possible is a given, with the fact that the defensive unit is showing signs of consistency in the shape of two clean sheets against Carlisle and Hereford also not lost on Hunter when he reflects on United's progress so far in 2008/09.
He said: "I think we're doing well and are capable of staying up there. We're playing good football and I've been quite pleased by what I've seen and we've also been showing battling qualities, which you need.
"What has pleased me more than anything was the win at Swindon, when we played 80 minutes with 10 men after Sheehan got sent off. It was a real battle, but we hung in there and were well organised and won that game, which was a tremendous win.
"You have to dig in. It can't be nice every week or pretty and it's about going out and just winning sometimes.
"Sometimes, it's all about batting to get the three points and getting say a scruffy 1-0 result or hard-fought win.
Teams who particularly come to Elland Road will always battle and it might not to be pretty and will take a while to break them down.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a problem, because we have such a good stadium and brilliant support, but sides will come to Leeds and try and make it difficult like Hereford and put men in front of the ball and crowd the midfield.
“Certainly, there are going to be times when it’s going to be frustrating at home for that reason. But the signs are good.
“I know the manager is trying to sort out the back four and a problem has been keeping everybody fit. For me, getting some continuity at the back is key. The two centre-backs and the goalkeeper need to be the same, week-in, week-out.
“If we keep it tight at the back, we’ve got players all around the side that can score.”
Hunter has been particularly pleased by the blossoming flower of youth at Elland Road, with the vibrant effervescence of the likes of Fabian Delph and Aidan White having proved a wow with the United faithful, including the former England stopper.
To a man, the Whites faithful like nothing better than seeing ‘one of their own’ bloom and the young guns within the United set-up are clearly adding to the feel-good factor slowly emanating once again at LS11.
Hunter added: “I watched a Premiership game recently and after 20 minutes, I had to turn it off. But when I go down to Elland Road, what I see is a lot of effort and honesty, which is good in itself to watch.
“A pleasing thing for me is that we’ve got some homegrown talent in there now. That has seemed to galvanise the place and made things better and the club are definitely moving in the right direction.
“Delph looks an excellent player and only time will tell how far he goes. But as it stands, it’s looking good. Young White looks an exceptional player as well and I’ve always liked Jonny Howson in midfield.
“With young players being given a chance, it gives an incentive to all the other younger players in the juniors that they can push on and claim a place as well.
“The crowd are always going to be fair to them (young players), aren’t they? And give them the benefit of the doubt if they make a bad pass or have a bad game, which can only be good.
“Leeds must be a nice place at the moment with the good facilities and crowd behind the players and the overriding feeling I get is that things are turning around.
“There are expectations, I just hope they aren’t too big because in the past we’ve been a bit guilty of that when we’ve been up there. But I think the players are enjoying themselves and I’m sure the manager and his staff know exactly what to do.” |
