Rocco's Round-Up (9/2/24 to 15/2/24)
Friday, 9th February 2024
Daniel Farke today received the manager of the month award for the second time this season, and how richly deserved it is too. His team are flying, and his pressers are up there with anything we've seen. A lack of godlike wisdom is counteracted by a subtle, cheeky, and sometimes unintentional humour, and hot on the heels of his 'Joffy could kill a cow' comment, the dreamy Deutsche today waved off Sinisterra by comparing him to food reheated in a microwave; an analogy that suggests we won’t see any of the snakes and losers back at Elland Road.
Saturday, 10th February 2024
The manager of the month curse is no match for Daniel Farke, not when it relies upon Rotherham United to poop the party. A 3-0 win was as easy as it gets for his lads, and it was great to see Patrick Bamford score with the part of his body that was ruled offside to such outrage at Selhurst Park back in 2020, redemption at last. Southampton plundered another five goals to overcome Huddersfield (blame Tom Lees), but Ipswich’s draw means it’s one win in eight for the Scum-driven Tractor boys and Leeds are clear in third.
Sunday, 11th February 2024
Former Whites favourite Max Gradel captained his country to the African Nations title tonight, a cherry on the cake of his excellent career. The 36-year-old has racked up over 650 games, over 110 international caps, bagged almost 150 goals, and won trophies in three countries. And Ken Bates couldn't even get 3m quid for 23-year-old Gradel after an 18-goal Championship campaign. Shudder.
Monday, 12th February 2024
'Side Before Yourself' doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but what Farke says goes and the boss gave another great presser today. He spoke of the soft skills needed to create a winning mentality and the difficulty in putting up with the daily antics of Georgi Rutter, who resembled a mental asylum patient in the club's good luck video for the San Francisco 49ers ahead of their Super Bowl defeat in the early hours of this morning. Our American overlords had been six seconds from victory before drawing 19-19 (makes you think), then lost in ‘overtime’. Leeds That.
Tuesday, 13th February 2024
What a night in Wales! The Mighty Pinks crushed the sorry Swans with a virtuoso performance, while Southampton's 25-game unbeaten run was ended at Bristol City. Let's hope the London Busses adage rings true on Friday night in the west Midlands... Up the Baggies!
Wednesday, 14th February 2024
Ipswich kept themselves in the promotion hunt by thrashing relegation threatened Millwall at The Den. It's tight at the top but United are in the driving seat heading into the final third of the season, and with their superior goal difference feeling like an extra point on the board the Whites now face the new challenge of being clear favourites for promotion.
Thursday, 15th February 2024
No presser today, only the news that Chelsea have cut our allocation from 6,000 to 5,366 for the upcoming cup tie at Stamford Bridge, due to the historic fixture having 'high risk' status. That should make all the difference. Elsewhere, LUFCDATA published 14 stats celebrating the historic season United are having. Each one was accompanied by a different photo of Farke and I found myself wondering which pose would be best for his statue, eventually deciding we should just build all 14.