West Ham United travel to Elland Road this week, which will always make me think of Frank Lampard's diving header in our 1980 FA Cup Semi-Final replay rather than Leeds United.
Frank Lampard Snr scores his infamous winner at Elland Road in 1980
Ron Greenwood thought very highly of Frank. It was Frank and Pat Holland who were chosen by Ron Greenwood to spread his coaching philosophies to the Schools of Newham. But as a local man and regular 1st team defender, Frank was destined for something even more special under Greenwood.
"When Bobby left the club for Fulham, I originally wanted Frank as Captain. However, he'd come to me expressing his desire to leave the club. So I couldn't choose Frank over Bill." said Greenwood years later.
Fast forward to today, you would imagine that if Greenwood was manager, Declan Rice would be stripped of his captaincy. I think I could be agreeable to that.
Declan has refused a new contract, and expressed his ambition to play at the highest level publicly. As public as it gets - The World Cup in Qatar. I don't necessarily have a problem with either, but it's a problem if the club captain wants to leave the club.
There is no doubt that Declan is a sensational footballer. I would even say that he may technically be the best player I have ever seen play for the club, and his commitment is not in doubt. But this alone isn't enough to be a captain.
Only yesterday, Declan deemed it necessary to respond to a fan on social media, coincidentally explaining his body language - something I even mentioned myself in my article two days previously. This isn't something I want to see personally. Part of being a leader is to rise above certain behavior and set an example.
The first ever match I attended as a West Ham fan was our 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in 1978 - it was a result that got us relegated. The fans stayed right to the end, and led out by Lampard - not skipper Bonds - the team got a standing ovation. It was quite the debut for me. Although Frank wasn't the captain, it showed that team had born leaders.
Does today's team have leaders? Because while I believe Rice shouldn't be our captain, I can't convincingly name who should replace him. How can our team feature so many senior players, yet lack any true leader?
For all the monetary value of our squad, I don't think we have a single leader. That's exactly how it looked when Brentford scored their second goal last Friday.
Perhaps we could start a new trend? There's no way Mark Noble can genuinely be our Sporting Director from a cold start. So make him captain instead. The very first non-playing captain, from the bench. Yes, I'm joking of course, but the situation today is a mess, with the team that I saw in 1978 seeming to actually have a brighter future.
The game at Elland Road will be a tough one for West Ham. As a team that lacks counter attacking pace, it will be difficult to face such a 'gung-ho' attacking team away from home in an evening kick off. They love this type of match at Elland Road, and we can't afford to lose this.
The law of averages says our luck should change soon, but we go up the A1 with only hope. No form, no convincing strategy, and no leaders.
What would we give for a jig around the corner flag this week?
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