Love Is In The Air

By this time of every year, we have already dismissed our new diet and fitness regime as an unworkable fantasy, we have already suffered with a horrendous head cold and we have considered quitting our job on at least half a dozen occasions. But the mornings are getting ever so slightly lighter and, hey, there’s some crocuses flowering over there so the downhill momentum towards a hedonistic summer of relentless partying and sunshine, yes even in Leeds, is on.

February is that month where nothing really happens apart from FA Cup replays and the mother-in-law’s birthday, and it is one of those periods where the winter seems to be going on forever, even though we are starting to make plans for a brighter, warmer and happier time. But there is one key date that we would all be foolish to forget, February 14^th, and of course we won’t this year, for two reasons. Firstly, the love of our life deserves a treat on Valentine’s Day and the date is imprinted on our mind because we wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to express in the form of chocolates, flowers or a four-pack of beers how much we respect, savour and cherish every moment with our loved one. And secondly, because Leeds United are at home that day.

Across the land, when the 2016/17 fixtures came out last June, every Leeds fan made a mental note to thank the Football League for once again scheduling a home game for Valentine’s Day, so that the extra effort we make on February 13^th will really go down a treat and be remembered fondly as we disappear out of the door 24 hours later just as our other half is chilling the champagne and rustling up a three-course feast. So yes, for us Leeds fans it is a thrice-cooked pie warmed up from last Saturday’s home game and returning home to our dinner in the bin or the dog’s stomach instead. But such is life, and secretly we suspect, and indeed hope, that our loved ones would prefer the telly and the chocolates all to themselves anyway.   

And it doesn’t mean that love isn’t in the air on February 14^th, because Leeds United fans have fallen in love with this team. New signings such as Luke Ayling, Kyle Bartley and Pablo Hernandez have gladdened our hearts like none of the endless stream of mediocrity passing for Leeds United players have in the last decade or more, while youngsters like Ronaldo Vieira and Kalvin Phillips show an energy and vitality that we love to see in our Academy products. Even established players like Chris Wood, Stuart Dallas and Charlie Taylor have won over fans this season and it is refreshing to see a Leeds United team gelling as a unit and bringing out the best in each other, rather than plodding around aimlessly and showing no evidence that they work on anything in training during the week.

But there’s one man who has enamoured himself to the Elland Road crowd to a degree not seen since Vinnie Jones grabbed us by the throat, fixed us with his enraged eyes and drafted out a contract insisting we loved him, written in our own blood. That man is Pontus Jansson. For a long time the Leeds United faithful have been looking for heroes, at some points just anybody who can take responsibility and maybe score the odd goal or 20. But the panorama has been so bereft of quality, leadership and character and the Elland Road atmosphere has reflected that barren emptiness. It is not solely Pontus that has ignited the fans this season, of course, but he is a huge part of it and the first Leeds player since Luciano Becchio to have a rousing song about him sung endlessly on repeat.   

Jansson arrived at Elland Road as a lost soul himself; un-selected and unloved at Torino in Italy and disillusioned with the game, and in Leeds fans he has found a reciprocal need for attachment and belief in something real. Has there ever been a more compatible coupling of two parties so adrift and disorientated and so in need of each other? Jansson is the kind of player who not only understands Leeds fans and what they need, but has the personality, fearlessness and bravado to pull it off. Many have tried and many have failed, but in Jansson we have the real deal, and now he is ours on a permanent basis.

The day after his 89^th minute winner had secured three hard-earned points at Blackburn Rovers, it was announced that Jansson’s loan deal with Torino would be made permanent in the summer, for a sum of £3.5 million. It is more than Leeds have paid for anyone in nearly 15 years, but it is still a complete bargain in today’s market, and the most important thing is that it sealed the deal, the circle of love was complete and we are now stuck with each other, for better or worse. We have even invited Pontus over for a pint in the Old Peacock now he is settled in Leeds, and he would be following in some esteemed footsteps, not least one Vincent Jones, if he were to spend a post-training afternoon with us over a pint or two.

Of course, the hope now is that Jansson can play his part for the rest of the season and beyond, and while he is happy to take the limelight and be at the forefront of Leeds United’s charge to the play-offs, Garry Monk and the rest of the team are quietly going about their business. February sees three home games for us to navigate at the Old Peacock, starting with a double header of Cardiff City (Saturday 11^th) and Bristol City (Tuesday 14^th) followed by another Yorkshire Derby against Sheffield Wednesday (Saturday 25^th). By the end of that run of games we should have a much clearer idea of where Leeds stand in their pursuit of promotion. The nagging feeling is that the top two automatic spots are just that little bit out of reach, but all we can do is keep the momentum going and make sure we are as close as possible should either Brighton or Newcastle falter.   

At the Old Peacock we are looking forward to this run of home games, as it seems 2017 hasn’t quite got going yet with no big Saturday games for us so far. Rest assured we will be ready, and while we have no big plans for romantic set meals for two on Valentine’s Night, because the pub will be ram-packed with you lot creating a very different vibe, we are quite content that Pontus is leading us and love is very much in the air. 

Beating Blue February

I don’t know who comes up with these things, but somebody somewhere dubbed the third Monday in January ‘Blue Monday’, ie. the one day in the year that the most people simply cannot face. Naturally, getting out of bed for the first day back after Christmas and New Year, assuming you have been lucky enough to have a long uninterrupted break over the festivities, is a grind rather like pushing custard up a steep hill, but it is the third Monday which has been dubbed the ‘most depressing day of the year’.

There is some logic to this of course. The first day after a holiday is held, I would guess universally, in the realms of an unavoidable irritant, an imposition that is on your mind throughout your break and an inevitable point in the distance that grows nearer much quicker than you want it to. However, it is a constant you know is coming, whereas the third Monday in January is deemed the most depressing day of the year, because you still have fond memories of the festivities fresh in your mind, hell, you probably haven’t even washed the pickled beetroot stains out of your best shirt. But you realise you are stuck in the drudgery of a seemingly never-ending routine, the mornings are still dark and unwelcoming and salvation in terms of sun, holidays, even the weekend, seems a long way away.

I look at February much the same. January you accept as a month in which you buckle down, take hardship square on the chin and have a sense of resolve against whatever life throws at you. By the time February comes around you are impatient for a bit of the good life, you are wanting to quicken the pace to the summer months and wear less than four layers of clothing, but the mornings aren’t any more hospitable, the weather is still throwing violent curveballs to challenge you and shutting the front door on the world to produce a cosy night in is pretty much all you have to look forward to.

As with most things that trouble us in life, I think we can blame Leeds United’s failings for engendering this mood, as our season is usually over in February. This year is slightly different though. While the January transfer window has once again passed us by as if it is just some kind of spiritual experience that happens to other people, and the club appears to have pretty much given up on the league and building a stronger squad this season, we DO still have ambitions in the FA Cup, as I write.

It is unusual for Leeds to have an interest in the FA Cup past the first week in January, never mind into February. Now, a Fifth Round tie away at Watford on the weekend of February 20^th looks a daunting prospect on paper, but one that is not beyond Leeds if luck is with them and some of that indefinable FA Cup fairy dust is somehow sprinkled on them this year. I can certainly envisage a replay and a stirring Elland Road occasion to follow, which Leeds fans have been so starved of in recent years.

After the FA Cup tie, Leeds still have seven home games remaining in the season, and it will take a marketing genius to drum up some interest in those, should the FA Cup dreams have been discarded with the Fish and Chip papers once again. The problem Leeds United have is that they are relying on blind faith and not providing something for fans to buy into; like the outside glimmer of a play-off push. For the fifth season running, that appears to be gone before February is a week old, and only the suggestive wink and seductive glamour of the FA Cup is distracting us from the barren and fruitless path towards the end of the season in May.

Leeds United aren’t helped by Sky Sports in making home games attractive to their disgruntled fan base of course. The Saturday February 13^th match with top-of-the-table Middlesbrough was one of the few standout Elland Road fixtures remaining, until it was moved to Monday 15^th for live television coverage. The knock-on effect is that a few thousand home and away fans will no longer be able to travel, and floating match-by-match fans will decide not to pay Category A prices when they can watch it on television for free. Suddenly a vibrant local derby becomes a damp squib with no atmosphere, and like comparing Pep Guardiola to Gary Neville in terms of the spectacle Sky Sports will attempt to bill it as.

Whilst our sympathies are first and foremost with fans, particularly those from abroad, who have lost money based on the re-arranged fixture or who are travelling anyway but won’t see a game, such a decision also has a knock-on effect to us at the Old Peacock. The difference in drinking and eating habits between a traditional Saturday afternoon fixture and a Monday night game is quite dramatic, and while a certain amount of midweek fixtures over a season are unavoidable and budgeted for, extra ones like the Middlesbrough game hit us hard in the pocket. Let’s hope Leeds can earn a replay against Watford by way of some compensation, or better still a win at Vicarage Road and a bumper home tie in the Quarter Finals.  Everyone will be grateful for that in more ways than one.

Of course, I am being slightly tongue-in-cheek when I say there is not much to look forward to in February. Our Curry Night has started, and is the perfect tonic for those cold, winter Wednesday evenings. There is nothing better than some spicy Asian cuisine to warm you up from head to toe, and our great value deal – two curries and a bottle of wine or 4 x Ossett Brewery ales for £19.99 - has proved an instant hit.

We also have a great offer for any lovebirds out there with our Valentine’s menu. Friday 12^th and Saturday 13^th of February sees us offer a three-course meal and a bottle of wine at just £35 per couple, and we are already taking bookings for this, so give us a call (0113 2715962) or pop in to ensure you secure a table and can indulge your loved one.

If you factor in our ever-popular Thursday Steak Night and Sunday Lunch menus, and also the series of Leeds United home games against Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough and Fulham, there is plenty going on at the Old Peacock in February, and suddenly the second month of the year is not looking like the insufferable chore that it did earlier.

You can follow what else is going on via our Twitter and Facebook pages. But in the meantime, let’s just agree a pact, and make the effort to get out of the house this month. I know a warm cosy place where we can meet with friendly faces, great music, wholesome and hearty food and fine, tasty beers. I wish the Old Peacock could cure Leeds United’s seasonal blues too, but in the meantime, we’ve got the solutions to yours, so we’ll see you down here soon.

All the best,

Jon