Author Archives: Kyle Oliver Hulme

About Kyle Oliver Hulme

Studying International Relations at the University of Leeds, and if anything it's taught me how to ramble off topic. Currently on an Erasmus year in Krakow. Giving my allegiance to Leeds United, Cracovia, Juventus and AC Cesena. Expect pieces on anything other than English football.

Leeds United: If ever there was an advert for fan ownership, this is it

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Kyle Hulme reports on the potential of Leeds United’s fan ownership…

As I began to write about an ambitious new initiative designed to give fans a stake in Leeds United, news of the suspension of Steve Thompson, Neil Redfearn’s assistant, began to fill my Twitter feed. It upset me; not because I had to delete the words I had already written, but because it served as a reminder that even when you think you’ve turned a corner, sometimes the madness can follow you too.

Thompson was widely acknowledged to have been a key factor of Leeds’ recent upturn in form which saw fans stop shouting about relegation and start whispering of the playoffs. His influence on the club can’t be overstated – from broader impacts such as simply easing the pressure on Redfearn to more specialised focuses like all-but resurrecting the career of Luke Murphy. Yet all of that seemingly matters for nothing as today he’s been suspended until the end of the season and the option to retain him won’t be exercised. It’s a move that has seen Neil Redfearn question his future at the club, and one of several moves that only serve to unite the fanbase against their current owners – which may be the only silver lining to come out of this decision.

In terms of mobilising supporters against the current regime, the timing couldn’t be better. Continue reading →

Leeds United: “One step forward and two steps back. Nobody gets too far like that”

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With behind-the-scenes shenanigans once again dominating the agenda at Leeds United, Kyle Hulme attempts to make sense of it all…

Recognise those lyrics? I do. I was about 12 years old and my mum actually let me take my Playstation 2 with me when we went to the coast with a family friend for a weekend. Safe to say I drilled the game over that week, being the sociable pre-teen that I was, completing it to the soundtrack of the Country and Western radio station K-Rose, where I heard and sung along to that song more times than I care to admit.

Since then, the phrase has been a constant feature in my life; a few years later it started to describe how I’d make my way home from town; absolutely hammered, when staggering in any direction felt like some sort of progress. Today though? Well, I associate it with my beloved Leeds United. Continue reading →

Leeds United: The more things change, the more they stay the same

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Kyle Oliver Hulme gives us the low-down on what’s going on with sack happy Leeds United at Elland Road…

Since I last wrote, Leeds have sacked a manager, lost a few games and had more details about past, present and potentially future owners emerge.

You’ll have to forgive me if it sounds like I’m repeating myself – it’s just that Leeds United seem to exist in a Groundhog Day-like world where events seem bound to repeat themselves unless the protagonist changes the way they go about their business. But try telling that to Massimo Cellino.

Darko Milanic was sacked after just 32 days in charge of Leeds. He left behind his family, his successful team and bought a one way ticket to Leeds – literally. And as one might expect, being the third manager of the season already in the month of September, he found it difficult to motivate the squad and get them to play his way. Continue reading →

Crisis? What crisis? Life in Leeds under Massimo Cellino

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TFN Columnist and Leeds United fan Kyle Hulme takes stock of the season so far…

Whilst chaos clings to everything around Leeds United – in Massimo Cellino they posses a chairman with “elusive intent”, accusations of breaking United Nations Security Council resolutions and player complaints to the PFA – the squad has quietly being making progress on the pitch, with Neil Redfearn and Darko Milanič rubbishing Dave Hockaday’s claim that he could get “more out of these players than anyone else could”.

For the first time in a while, we actually look pretty good. Really good, even. Form has stuttered in the last few weeks since Milanič took the job yet this is no real cause for concern – it’s the first time he’s managed in England, and this is the first season in English football for seven of the starting XI. Not only are they adapting to the tempo and demands of the Championship but to the playing style of one another as well. Continue reading →

Last 16 in sight for USA after hard-fought win over rivals Ghana

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TFN’s Kyle Hulme analyses USA’s 2-1 victory over Ghana…

The people of the United States are no strangers to history; they can proudly recall how they threw off the shackles of the British in 1776, name the field commanders of the Civil War and talk with intrigue and pride about the Battle of the Alamo. But after last night, perhaps they will have a new historical event to talk about around dinner tables and in classrooms up and down the country – the night soccer established itself as a part of their national identity.

Americans are no strangers to rivalries either – ask any hockey fan and they’ll explain how nothing feels better than getting one over the Russians or the Canadians – and last night another ghost was laid to rest. Ghana may seem like an unlikely rival, given that the two countries have no historic problems and they are separated by oceans and thousands of miles, but the Black Stars have been a thorn in the side of the US soccer team for years, bettering them in the group stage in 2006 and knocking them out with a goal in extra time in 2010. Ghana were a demon in long need of exorcising. But last night the US rewrote history, triumphing under a siege of Alamo proportions and moving one giant leap closer to the initially unlikely progression from their “group of death”. Continue reading →

Ross McCormack – the new Billy Bremner?

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“His Hair is Red and Fuzzy, and His Body’s Black and Blue”

TFN’s Kyle Hulme tells how Ross McCormack manifested the spirit of fellow countryman and former Leeds United legend Billy Bremner to save the club in a season of turmoil…

He watched the ball the whole way. Knowing Matt Smith would win it, he ran in between the two defenders. The flick on was unpredictable, landing awkwardly to his right whilst he had his back to goal. Undeterred, he flicked the ball over his and his marker’s shoulder, pirouetting in the same motion, before striking the ball with his weaker foot – the same weaker foot which launched a season filled with hope against Brighton back in August – past the Barnsley goalkeeper and into the goal.

The travelling Leeds fans erupted, their talisman looking to have all-but condemned their Yorkshire rivals to relegation. It was his 29th goal of the season, an outrageous feat given that Leeds that day confirmed their safety in the division, and a personal record he’ll never forget in a season which Leeds fans can’t wait to see the back of. Continue reading →

Leeds United – Why always us?

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Leeds fan Kyle Hulme gives his take on the sorry state of affairs at Elland Road…

In an act that is the culmination of a dark week in the history of Leeds United, Brian McDermott has been sacked as manager of the club, leaving fans angry, bemused and already planning a boycott of future games.

Despite Leeds’ form over the last couple of months, fans have been quick to jump to the defence of the man whom many thought would be the one to bring stability and success back to the club. Yet his dismissal follows a farcical week at the club, in which prospective new owner Massimo Cellino – the current owner of Cagliari – took former Middlesbrough players and current Lumezzane manager Gianluca Festa around Thorpe Arch, the clubs training ground, and even asked if he could sit on the bench during Leeds’ midweek game against Ipswich Town.

Cellino is expected at any moment to secure a 75% stakehold in the club, at a figure rumoured to be around £22m. This is regardless of staunch opposition to the takeover from the vast majority of fans and the Leeds United Supporters Trust. The Italian has convictions of fraud and embezzlement centered around his construction of the Is Arena, which was proposed to be a new stadium for Cagliari, but irregularities surrounding the building of the ground has seen his club play games hundreds of miles away from the city of Cagliari, on mainland Italy. Continue reading →