On paper and before a ball was kicked I was happy to state that the squad assembled for the 2010 season was the best seen at Leeds since 2004, IMO of course.

I cannot (and don't seek to) speak for others, some of whom refused to be drawn on the matter until after the Grand Final.



That would have been Serge A Storms (at least the second part) IIRC. The view wasn't allowed to gain much traction either by such as myself or Gilder or by the team's second competitive outing.

Frankly I couldn't give a fook either way.

So, given you concurred with Hetherington does that make you one of his "worshipers"?

Being one of the aforementioned posters who waited until the deeds played out on the pitch unfolded before bestwoing such grandoise praise I have decided that the 2010 squad wasn't the best ever Leeds squad. In fact, they weren't even better than the much maligned (by some) 2009 vintage who earned such plaudits on the pitch, rather than on paper.

Some were too free with their praise too early. Many of those kind will turn to criticism at the drop of a hat. As me old mucker Billy Shakespeare said "Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind." Or, to ise an Oscar Wilde quote a little "By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, Southstander keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community".

Oh dear !

Where did I concur? It appears unclear whether his use of the word 'we' refers to his and Caddick's tenure (1997 to date) or 'we' as in the Leeds club which obviously dates back to circa 1870 ish. Either way as I stated this was, in my opinion, the best Leeds squad assembled (on paper) since the 2004 season, I don't think I went as far as Hetherington's pronouncement on the matter.



As neither of us bestowed the 'best ever' tag on the 2010 squad assembled your attempts at a belated one-up-man-ship appears to have left the dock without you.



Yes this board would be far better if everyone could just wait until the end of the season before forming an opinion on the relative strength of the squad with the benefit of hindsight.

Hetherington assembled a squad that on paper was superior to that he had made available in 2009, IMO. The end results of the two respective seasons doesn't alter my opinion although it may others who could now believe they must have been wrong all along. The Leeds squad man for man can be assessed in isolation however the Leeds team and results are to a large extent effected by forces beyond their control. Other team strengthening, improvement, coaching techniques, injuries, bounce of the ball, refereeing decisions all have a large say in the actual results.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is what happens when you try and live your life by statistics.

What's up, was the last paragraph over your head?

More [iover[/i the top and[i beneath[/i contempt.

Got to admit G i'm with TVOC in this i too thought we'd assembled the best squad on paper pre-season not least because of the depth available.
Now of course history will show how the season panned out results and trophies wise but that does'nt tell the whole story does it?
Hopefully we can bounce back next year and win silverware and if can avoid the injuries and alarming loss of form witnessed at times this year we'll be in a position to challenge for the honours on offer imo.

My view, and one I expressed at the time, was that accolades such as "best", "greatest" etc shouldn't be bestowed upon a team until they've been earned.

I thought at the start of the season that the squad was stronger than in 2009. Which words I used to describe that apparent strength could be interpreted differently by each individual.

What results are achieved on the pitch doesn't change the fact that the squad was stronger or indeed weaker, just that certain factors meant we didn't achieve as much, as has already been aluded to.

I can live with those statements. What I took issue with were descriptions of the squad as being the "best" and so on.

In which case the person who appear to be most at odds with (and allegedly they are an actual carbon based life-form, which isn't necessarily always the case on here) is a Mr G. Hetherington.

I trust you'll be expressing your views with him directly at your earliest opportunity.

Oi Hetherington, NOOOOOOOOOOO.

All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure. Mark Twain