November 17, 2011

#39: Under Pressure

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Dan Moylan, Michael Normanton, Daniel Chapman (Moscowhite), and Paul O’Dowd (Oddy) open episode 39 with the immediate aftermath of two contrasting matches. First, the catastrophe: against Blackpool, Rachubka had let in five, earned a red card in the same game, and spent long minutes face-down on the grass while the crowd, the substitutes, and several of his own teammates stared in disbelief. The hosts agree they have never seen a goalkeeper do absolutely nothing right in a single match. He had already won the villain of the fortnight award in episode 38; he retains it here, becoming the first back-to-back winner.

Then the relief: Adam Clayton, away at Leicester, absolutely thundered one in from distance past Kasper Schmeichel to set Leeds on their way to a clean-sheet win. The show had long felt Clayton was better than he was given credit for, and this was the evidence — a proper strike that left Schmeichel’s arm gesturing for someone to blame before accepting there was no one.

The episode’s extended central section takes the title literally. What is it about pulling on the white shirt that breaks some players and elevates others? Rachubka is the case study, but the conversation takes in Kevin Nicholls leaving during a relegation battle to go to Luton, Aidan Butterworth reportedly retiring in his early twenties to become a PE teacher in Doncaster, Brian Deane failing to recapture his Sheffield United form, and Frank Strandli who was consumed by the weight of expectation. Against these, Andy Hughes and Shaun Derry are held up as players who rose to the occasion rather than crumbled. The question becomes whether the standard of recruitment has been matched to the pressure being applied.

In other news, Jimmy Adamson — the former Leeds United manager who followed Don Revie and Jimmy Armfield into the job — has died at the age of 82. John Clark of Bracken Development writes in to clarify that John Charles Way near Elland Road was not the council’s inadequate gesture toward a great player, but his company’s deliberate act of tribute: they named the buildings after Bremner, Madeley, Giles, and Hunter too. Jonny Howson’s contract situation is updated — hints toward staying, though nothing signed. Alex McCarthy has arrived on loan from Reading to replace Rachubka. Burnley at home on BBC, then Barnsley away, are previewed with quiet confidence.