Leeds United's killer 15-point blow seemed a little below the belt for an already battered and bruised club - and everyone wrote them off even before a ball was kicked in League One. With their near neighbours Rotherham relegated after a points deduction not so long ago, the spectre of the Grim Reaper loomed large and a few disgruntled former players, staff and financial backers were threatening to hammer home the final nail in the coffin. It seemed like Leeds were ready for the last rites.

Then came the miracle as United finally regained consciousness. The fallen giants have awoken from the 15-point nightmare and climbed up to reach out for the key in the door - 18th in the table after a 2-0 win against Swansea. What's all the fuss about, I hear you cry? Not before time? We would have been several points clear of the rest if we hadn't had that points deduction.

Well I have to say, if severely punishing steadfast fans and battle-bruised players for the board's discrepancies (yes Bad Santa aka Ken Bates, I'm looking fairly and squarely at you to an extent) helps to motivate a team, then maybe that was one of the best things to happen in some time - a long overdue wake-up call.

'Clean sheets, confidence soaring and expectation sky high with players and fans demonstrating a clear personification of the club's anthem, Marching On Together'


After the win against Swansea, Leeds fans would be forgiven for reacting with feverish enthusiasm and waxing lyrical about the likes of 'Bullet' (Jermaine) Beckford, 'Reliable' (Frazer) Richardson and 'Classy' Tresor Kandol in the same breath as mentioning the legendary Billy Bremner, Peter Lorimer and Gordon Strachan.

Clean sheets, confidence soaring and expectation sky-high as players and fans demonstrate a personification of the club's anthem 'Marching On Together'. They are united in euphoria with players huddled excitedly on the half-way line, a crowd of just over 29,000 cheering and chanting wildly as if they had just claimed a cup. Leeds are seemingly no longer playing Russian roulette with survival, allegedly less in the red and more in the black while chasing the coveted jackpot prize of promotion.

Dennis Wise was seen by many as a menace to the future of the club; rows, point-scoring between current management, maligned ex-managers and overpaid ex-players not to mention his close relationship with not-so-cuddly father figure Mr. Bates.The chairman's farcical poison-pen antics in the match programme amongst other alleged not-so-transparent dodgy dealings threatened not only to blacken Wise's name but also derail the whole roller-coaster.

Yet suddenly Leeds got up from the canvas and adopted an admirable siege mentality, a tough 'them and us' attitude reminiscent of the golden age of the 1970s which had risen from the ashes and breathed new life into the club. Like a grumpy but eager old Yorkshire terrier dog - we might not have many teeth left but bug us and with what little we have left, we'll bite...hard. And bark out loud and proud!

Gone is the leaky defence, replaced with a watertight ring of steel. The formerly frail, shot-shy strikers are trailing a blaze of glory, the messed-up midfield is muscling in energetically into the fray and the goalkeeper no longer wears the expression of one who has seen a few ghosts too many. There should also be an appreciative nod or two to Casper Angkeren, whose name didn't mean a thing to anyone in England but certainly the Leeds fans are happy to know his name. And to former bad boy David Prutton, infamous for doing a Di Canio and assaulting a referee during a match. He has almost become an honorary Yorkshireman with his fiery, gutsy determination to shake off his derogatory tag.

Yes I'm proud to be a Leeds fan right now but it's a little too early to start planning a potential victory parade. I'm optimistic that for once, it's going to be an 'all-White' Christmas - yes I'm thinking about it already. I just hope our squad, one of the smallest in the league, doesn't get stuffed with injuries like it always seems to do around that vital period.

All too often the winter has been one hellish hangover. The Chelski Revolution may have hit the buffers at Stamford Bridge but the Chelsea pensioner and his fellow ex-Blues old boy are pushing full steam ahead for a promotion party.

Could Leeds actually turn their 15-point deduction into promotion back to the Championship? Post a comment below or submit an article to Sportingo.