The season began with an away match at Middlesborough, which was to be screened live on TV. Pre-match I reminded the lads of our good record against 'the smoggies' and as I sat in the dugout of another flat packed stadium by a river, I was quietly confident of a first league victory. It transpired that my confidence was misplaced, after 15 minutes Boro had raced into a 3-0 lead and the men in white were being embarrassed. At half time I laid into them, this was not the start I had in mind, as I rounded on each and every one of them for their abhorrent display, I heard a faint sobbing noise in the corner. I'd made Sam Byram cry. Despite the tears in his eyes, he was one of our better performers in the second half and even managed to have a shot (one of three we managed all evening). The game finished 3-0 and I was so incensed that I did a Fergie and sent Mick Jones to do my press conference for me. Another defeat followed as we went 2-1 down against Birmingham with another poor performance. During this period I could see Dave and Salem following me around Thorpe Arch like conjoined twins. Dave was perpetually positive with me, 'you can't ask any more of the lads gaffer', 'Don't worry things will turn around' were all classic Haigh phrases. While this was going on, Salem would give me a piercing stare as if to say 'I did not come all the way from Bahrain for this shit'.
Salem would be duly awarded as we sneaked past QPR in the League Cup, with Luke 'thunderbolt' Varney being the hero once again as he netted the winner in the 118th minute. After that was Cardiff away, this time I did not remind the lads of our record aginst the opposition and instead told them to relax, which they duly did and we ran out 4-0 winners, the only downside was that Luke Varney scored a hat trick, with Steve Morison netting the other goal. To my dismay, Varney was becoming one of our key players as I liked his in game persona but his real life performances were often lacking the passion he displayed as a little 3D CGI footballer. Our next game was against Blackburn and we went 2-1 down and I introduced 18 year old Fabian Himischini whom I'd signed on a free transfer into the mix. He didn't impress in the slightest and I feared that I had just signed the next Tom Elliot. Despite that we went on a seven game winning run with 5 of those wins being 2-1. This run propelled us to third in the league, with both Varney and I picking up monthly awards.
This gave me the confidence to ask for some extra money from the board, I made sure Salem wasn't around and asked Dave for some funds which he duly obliged. As I left the room, I'm fairly sure I caught a glimpse of Hishram Alrayes, but I couldn't be sure. I promptly spent the 1.5 million kitty on a triple swoop from Barcelona as Sergi Roberto, Javi Espinosa and Odiquir Agostinho Ca would all sign in January with all predicted to become good Premier Division players. All in all it had been a good start to my Leeds career, oh how things would change...
Salem would be duly awarded as we sneaked past QPR in the League Cup, with Luke 'thunderbolt' Varney being the hero once again as he netted the winner in the 118th minute. After that was Cardiff away, this time I did not remind the lads of our record aginst the opposition and instead told them to relax, which they duly did and we ran out 4-0 winners, the only downside was that Luke Varney scored a hat trick, with Steve Morison netting the other goal. To my dismay, Varney was becoming one of our key players as I liked his in game persona but his real life performances were often lacking the passion he displayed as a little 3D CGI footballer. Our next game was against Blackburn and we went 2-1 down and I introduced 18 year old Fabian Himischini whom I'd signed on a free transfer into the mix. He didn't impress in the slightest and I feared that I had just signed the next Tom Elliot. Despite that we went on a seven game winning run with 5 of those wins being 2-1. This run propelled us to third in the league, with both Varney and I picking up monthly awards.
This gave me the confidence to ask for some extra money from the board, I made sure Salem wasn't around and asked Dave for some funds which he duly obliged. As I left the room, I'm fairly sure I caught a glimpse of Hishram Alrayes, but I couldn't be sure. I promptly spent the 1.5 million kitty on a triple swoop from Barcelona as Sergi Roberto, Javi Espinosa and Odiquir Agostinho Ca would all sign in January with all predicted to become good Premier Division players. All in all it had been a good start to my Leeds career, oh how things would change...