Wise's men visit: Leeds Preview
Crewe face Leeds live on Sky on Monday night, as everyone's favourite Yorkshire club visits Gresty Road for what will, no doubt, be a lively day for the local sheep population.
It's perhaps one of the more eagerly awaited fixtures of the season, and will surely be the largest attendance of the year, but for me the visit of Leeds holds no great attraction. Dennis Wise, a man who bears more than a passing resemblance to a hormonal pixie, seems to epitomise a club that has been disliked since the 1970s, and the infamous antics of Bremner et al.
Now, I imagine that Elland Road is the type of place where the Kray twins would settle down when they get too old to wipe their own arses. Ken Bates seems like a caricature in his own right; a man who floats around carried above the ground by the bluster of controversy that exudes from every pore of his being. Apparently a resident of Monaco, Bates appears to have fingers in every financial pie possible, from football to haulage to farming to freemasonry and to secret meetings with the CIA.
And, into this mix, is thrown Wise and assistant manager Dave Bassett. Wise, who Alex Ferguson once quipped could start a fight in an empty house, has an impressive career resume that includes assaulting a taxi driver, biting someone's ear, punching a team-mate who was asleep (and being sacked) and managing to play football for Wimbledon and Chelsea at some point in the middle of all this.
His assistant, Bassett, is a coach well know for his attractive style of play and being called 'Harry' - hardly a glowing indictment when you're more renowned for being called a name that isn't your own than your managerial acumen. Into all this, we throw the Leeds fans, still adamant that they belong in the Champions League and still adamant that Elland Road should be paved with gold whilst semi-naked girls offer their wares to anyone with a season ticket.
It is a bit of a fantasy land in which Leeds live; a land I imagine that is separated from the rest of the modern world by some strange twisting of space, time and a 1980s De Lorean.
In terms of team news, Crewe's only worry is Billy Jones who is still missing with an ankle injury. It is expected that a central defender may move across to left-back to replace the former Exeter man, after Ryan Lynch was sent out on loan.
Steve Holland meanwhile referred to Wise as a 'deep' thinker who has had 'great experiences'. We assume the sarcasm was attended.
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