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The fourth Square Ball Podcast, recorded 16 February 2010, arrived with a chart update — a top 20 finish in the UK iTunes Sport and Recreation category, briefly overtaking Alan Brazil — before getting into a fortnight that had offered drama, frustration, and one incident in Cumbria that provided the talking points section more or less on its own.
White Watching covered four matches. The Spurs FA Cup replay went as expected: 3-1, Jermain Defoe hat-trick, Ankergren again excellent. Defoe’s first goal was noted as fortunate — it had no pace on it, just dipped in from an angle that offered no warning. That 15-minute spell when a Leeds goal felt genuinely close was recalled with warmth. Ankergren and Defoe had “matched each other really” across both ties. Hartlepool away was a 2-2 draw. Luciano Becchio scored twice — his first ever double for the club — and ran headlong into an ITV camera in celebration, which became the basis of an article in the next issue of the magazine. Leeds dominated the opening hour with Beckford; after he came off at half-time, Howson and Doyle lost the shape of the midfield and Hartlepool came back into it. The JPT second leg at Carlisle was won 3-2 on the night, with Bradley Johnson and Kilkenny making an immediate difference when they replaced Doyle and Howson. Leeds had lost the tie overall, though nobody was particularly sorry. Leyton Orient at home ended 1-1 — another game that should have been won comfortably, another afternoon of dominating possession without converting it.
The Carlisle aftermath occupied most of the talking points. Fans had run on and attacked Leeds players after the match. The hosts acknowledged their own fanbase’s history before noting, with some precision, that this was specific. The Johnson’s Paint Trophy exit prompted less grief than amusement: “If you were genuinely disappointed by losing in the JPT, email us now and we’ll give everybody a personal mention, because you can’t get too disappointed by that.” Carlisle’s visible excitement about the competition — and Leeds’ complete indifference to it — was explored at some length.
The midfield debate was properly interrogated. Howson and Doyle had been failing for too long. The brief experiment with Johnson and Kilkenny at Carlisle had looked different: Kilkenny specifically praised as calm, composed, the one player who could collect possession and actually deliver it to a striker rather than aim it vaguely in his direction. Paul Dickov’s imminent loan arrival — universally disapproved of, possibly still on a boat from Toronto — was handled with weary generosity. Clark Carlisle’s recent Countdown appearance, and the revelation that he held five A-star GCSEs and had been named Britain’s brainiest footballer, prompted a brief and sincere wish that he won.
The feature section took everyone onto the pitch. Paul O’Dowd (Oddy) recalled the Carlisle playoff, where a police dog chased celebrating fans back into the stands. Dan described the Premier League relegation pitch invasion — pretend substitutions, an imaginary football, pretend coaching from the dugout — with candour and some pride. Michael Normanton went for the 4-3 comeback against Derby at Elland Road. Dan also described a childhood afternoon at Bournemouth in 1990 — extreme heat, and a copper on the gate who opened it and let him sit by the corner flag on the Brighton Beach Terrace for the match.
Statistical analysis closed the episode: “Carol Vorderman number-crunching” on the promotion campaign established that 90 points was probably sufficient, requiring roughly 28 points from the remaining 17 games. Win the home games, and it was nearly there. Simple enough in theory. The next fortnight offered Walsall at home, Brighton, Oldham, and Huddersfield away to test it.
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