Fallen giants living in Brian Clough's shadow"We are the champions, champions of Europe!"
From Real Madrid to Cheltenham Town, the chant has risen from the ranks of Leeds United fans down the decades in a raucous mantra of self-delusion and self-mockery, daftness and defiance.
Leeds never did win the European Cup, despite reaching the final in 1975, but tonight they host Nottingham Forest, who lifted it twice in the ensuing five years under a manager famously fired by the Yorkshire club. Brian Clough would have been shocked by the indignity of two illustrious former employers slumming it in League One, the Third Division as he knew it; more so by the vulnerable state of the teams going into the game.
Under pressure: Leeds United's new manager Gary McAllister The current sequences of these fallen giants, like the inflated expectations of their followers, are similar. Leeds' draw at Northampton on Saturday left them with two wins from nine matches, while Forest's win over Millwall was only their third over the same period. It is a far cry from the days when Don Revie's Leeds set a record of 35 top-flight games unbeaten, which Clough and Forest stretched to 42.
It follows that managers Gary McAllister and Colin Calderwood are both under pressure. This may seem as premature in the case of McAllister, just two matches into his reign as Dennis Wise's successor, as it is unfair on Calderwood given that Forest are third. Yet one urgently needs to halt Leeds' drift out away from the play-off slots, much as the other requires an away display from Forest to get increasingly venomous critics off his back.Both clubs also suffer from being the two League One teams against whom "small" clubs raise their game.
From their spells as players with Liverpool and Tottenham respectively, the former Scotland team-mates are steeped in the passing game which has swept Swansea and Doncaster into League One's automatic promotion places. With barely a third of the season remaining, however, points begin to take precedence over principles.
For McAllister, who had never operated below the second tier until Ken Bates summoned him a fortnight ago, this imperative compounds the awkwardness of a difficult task. Wise initially used the League's 15-point penalty for the manner of the club's exit from administration to foster a sense of "us versus the world" among his squad. That was tangible at Forest in August, when they rode their luck to win 2-1 with goals by Jermaine Beckford and Tresor Kandol. Leeds, though, rarely found fluidity to match the feistiness and began faltering in December. Wise acknowledged as much by making five signings early last month, only to swap his touchline histrionics for a frowning-in-the-stand role at Newcastle. In came McAllister and recruited three players, and new backroom staff.
In effect, Leeds are reinventing themselves at a critical stage of the campaign - they visit second-placed Doncaster on Saturday - but the transition from Wise's direct approach to a more measured style is proving problematic. The 16-goal Beckford has not scored in five games, Kandol is goalless since October and clean sheets are proving elusive.
Calderwood, by contrast, did not make a permanent signing in the transfer window. He has since taken Nottingham-born Will Hoskins on loan from Watford, while Junior Agogo is due back imminently after the Africa Cup of Nations.
Forest head up the M1 seemingly well-placed, four points behind Doncaster with a game in hand, yet with much to prove to their fans. Humbled by Yeovil in last season's play-offs, they have won one in 10 away and chants of "Calderwood out" were heard at Bournemouth.
Booed off at half-time against Millwall, Forest staved off a threatened car-park demonstration against him with goals by their full-backs. But tonight marks the start of a two-month run of away fixtures against six promotion rivals, which may explain why chief executive Mark Arthur says the position will be "reviewed" in the summer.
Clough's genius lay in his ability to turn ordinary players into world-beaters and coax more from already gifted individuals. If ever his latest successors needed those qualities, it is now.
Timeline2001-02
Leeds: Peter Ridsdale sacks David O'Leary after fall to 5th.
Forest: 16th in First Division.
2002-03
Leeds: Escape drop after Peter Reid replaces Terry Venables.
Forest: Lose to Sheffield United in play-offs for Premiership.
2003-04
Leeds: Premiership relegation under 'caretaker' Eddie Gray.
Forest: 14th in First after Joe Kinnear succeeds Paul Hart.
2004-05
Leeds: 14th in First under Kevin Blackwell.
Forest: Relegated to third tier for first time since 1951.
2005-06
Leeds: Play-off final loss to Watford.
Forest: Miss League One play-offs by 2 points.
2006-07
Leeds: Down to League One under Dennis Wise amid financial turmoil.
Forest: Lose to Yeovil in play-offs under Colin Calderwood.
Daily Mail
