Rocco's Round-Up (29/12/23 to 4/1/24)

Friday, 29th December 2023

Horror at the Hawthorns! Leeds fell to yet another defeat on the road; again failing to capitalise on a bright start, again conceding from practically the first danger, and again running painfully out of steam and ideas thereafter. A bad end to a bad year.

Saturday, 30th December 2023

Inquest day, and while the manager’s decisions are rightly being questioned, some people are even questioning the manager’s position. Farke will pay no heed to them, he believes we need to keep believing in ourselves during our first difficult patch of the Championship season (since the difficult beginning). I’m minded to stick with our great leader.

Sunday, 31st December 2023

The great Sgt. Wilko received an OBE in the New Years honours list. Having set the blueprint for England’s St George’s Park facility and development of youth, a knighthood will surely be in the bag if the youngsters who have benefitted from his legacy ever fulfil their potential.

Monday, 1st January 2024

Leeds brought in the new year with a nice easy stroll in the park against The Brady Bunch. Santiago Canizares returned to Elland Road for the first time since the 2001 Champions League semi-final and kept another clean sheet, Junior Firpo changed the game and grabbed two assists, Patrick Bamford scored a goal, and after the 3-0 win Wazzarooney was sacked in the morning. I like 2024.

Tuesday, 2nd January 2024

SNAKES & LOSERS - Who's HOT and who's NOT?

HOT: Robin Koch - Frankfurt are up to 6th and Reliant Robin is on the verge of an international recall according to his dads best mate, who lives next door to me.

HOT: Jack Harrison - Started every game as Everton raced up the league. Scored against City. Evil mother.

HOT: Luis Sinisterra - Remained an impact-sub as Bournemouth raced up the league. His per-90 stats are excellent, but the Cherries’ winning run ended with a first defeat in 8 when Snakey Sini finally started a game.

HOT: Rasmus Kristensen - Forced his way into the Roma team and started every match of a successful month at RWB.

HOT: Diego Llorente - Also started every December game for Roma, who are knocking on the door of the European spots.

NOT: Sam Greenwood - Continues to start every game, but his goal contributions have dried up and Boro’s form is extremely flakey. Maybe the buy-out fee isn’t so silly after all.

NOT: Max Wober - The only games his team have won since Nov 10th are when Muggy Max hasn’t played, but he’s a fixture in the side and must be on course for a permanent move.

NOT: Brenden Aaronson - Union Berlin crashed out of Europe but have managed a couple of wins to escape the drop zone, with little help from BA who comes on for the final minutes of every game.

NOT: Marc Rocca - A winless month for Betis, including a home defeat to Rangers that relegated them to the Conference League. Roca remains in the team though and, interestingly, almost always lasts 90mins. 

NOT: Cody Drameh - A ‘knock’ reduced him to one appearance in December.

NOT: Sonny Perkins - No minutes in December, and even lost his place on the bench for Pappa Johns duty. 'We can only bring seven substitutes,' explained his manager when asked about Sonny's absence.

NOT: Andrea Radrizzani - Sampdoria are 10th in Serie B, but only 3 points ahead of the relegation play-off places. 

NOT: Victor Orta - With as many league wins as managers this season (three), Sevilla crashed out of Europe and are 16th in the league, one point above the drop zone. You love to see it.

Wednesday, 3rd January 2024

Leeds United Kings of Darts! On the anniversary of Beckford’s winner at Old Trafford, fellow Peacock Luke Humphries steamrolled a scummer to win the World Darts Championship. They keep banging on about how young the Littler Scum Bastard is, but next week he’ll be the same age as Whites stalwart Archie Gray.  

Thursday, 4th January 2024

Leeds are off the mark in the transfer window, sending Djed Spence back to Spurs for reasons we can only assume until The Fuhrer’s presser tomorrow. Sonny P’s loan also came to a premature end, but which player will end up at Bromley first? Only time will tell.