Peter Lorimer gleder seg til storkampene

peter lorimer Peter Lorimer (63) er en av de største legendene i Leeds Uniteds historie, med 238 mål på 525 kamper. Driver puben Commercial Inn, et fast samlingssted for skandinaver på Leeds-tur før kamp. Peter er i dag styremedlem i Leeds United og president i LUSCOS.

major games are Coming up

Despite the 2-0-defeat against Sheffi eld United we are still in a good position and a play-off spot still well within range. Th ings change quickly in football and we haven’t entirely given up on automatic promotion yet either.

We’ve got to be realistic when you look at where we’ve come from, only just having got the 2nd place in League One last year, and I think most people are happy with what the team has achieved this season. If we do get into the playoff matches, I think our chances of going up through those three games are good. Th e crowd will be on the high and creating a great atmosphere. Th ese playoff matches are much down to the form and events on the day, but I do think our chances will be excellent.

Playoff hasn’t really been a good experience for us over the recent years, but that’s in the past and we have got better players who need to show their courage going into the decisive games. Th e atmosphere the fans have been creating, home and away all season, has been really great all season. Not even going back to the days I was playing myself can I remember it being a better atmosphere with the fans than it is at the moment. I think the fans are picking up on the development of the team, the promotion last year and the results this year – after all the bad things that happened from when Peter Ridsdale was in control.

Of the other teams around us at the top, of course I think QPR are defi nitely going up and Norwich are in pole position at the moment in 2nd place. Th ey look strong, whilst Cardiff do have experienced players. One major advantage we have on most other teams are the amount of players we have got. Where as other teams will struggle even if they have one or two players out with injury, we have a lot of options.

We have got Barry Bannan into the team from Aston Villa, and in his first start against Sheffield United he, perhaps as the only outfield player on the day, looked very well, and showed he has quality. He’s not a big lad, but you don’t have to be big to win a tackle. What I hope now is that we do get to keep him until the end of the season.

Of the players that have impressed the most this season I think Robert Snodgrass has had a great season, Max Gradel has done really well and so has Johnny Howson. Our problem has obviously been conceding too many goals at the back. It’s not just a case of the back four, because you start defending from the man at the front. But even if you’ve been neautral this season and watched Leeds, at least it has been very entertaining with a lot of goals being scored – but perhaps not the same joy for Simon Grayson and the coaching staff.

We’ve seen even more fans coming over this season from Scandinavia and elsewhere than perhaps we have over the last two or three seasons, and I think the fans are picking up on the results. The fans, especially the larger groups from Norway for instance, have been unlucky to not have been over to watch the best performances, but instead got to see a couple of bad results. Now, we are looking forward to the Forest-game, which will be a major game for us this season, and even so the game against Reading during Easter. They are also closing in on the playoff-spots, but a good thing for Leeds is that we have competitors such as Forest, Watford and Reading at home. Then, we have it in our court and in our own hands to do something about. We need to win those games.

It’s been disappointing this season that so many games has been moved to evening kick-offs or similar, and so has the match against Reading been. It means a lot of fans who travel from distance, and especially like you at overseas, has to change travel plans or even cancel the trip. In fairness to the club, it’s the television companies’ decisions, which we can’t do much about. Naturally, Leeds gets big crowds and entertaining games, and that’s what they like to show on the tv too. However it also means we get less people going to the evening kick-offs, but one thing we cannot blame it for is the score of the game.

My final words, ahead of the season finishing, are just to get behind the team. The fans have really played a major part this season. They spur our players on, and secondly, they can put pressure on the opponent. The fans really can be your 12th man on the day.