I spy with my little eye…

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with “the opposition”.

As a long-suffering Leeds United fan, this week’s confession from the club’s manager, Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, that he has sent a member of his coaching staff to watch every team they have played this season train, could not have come at a worse time.

Entering this week’s 28th round of matches they sit atop the English Championship standings, daring the club’s fans to dream of a return to the top-flight for the first time in 15 years.

Distractions, fines, bans and even point deductions is the last thing the club needs as the FA and English Football League enter the fray to investigate the “spy saga”.

While scenes of someone standing on a ladder, peering over the fence with binoculars and notebook in hand immediately come to mind, it is a lot more serious than that. Spying may not be entirely illegal, but it is certainly not in the spirit of the game.

In short, it was a silly thing to do, and the club and manager could be punished. And they can’t really complain when they are.

Bielsa himself has since apologised and taken full responsibility, yet claimed the practice of spying on opponents was common in his native Argentina. He even went as far as saying he would help with the investigation and then presented a peculiar 63-minute presentation at a press conference, detailing how they collected information on all their opponents.

They are not the first sports team to have been caught spying on opponents. And they won’t be the last. But in the modern era of technology, there’s not much teams don’t know about their opposition. Also, you can have all the inside knowledge in the world, but you still have to win where it counts – on the field.

Perhaps the Twitter exchange from Pizza Hut treats the “spy scandal” for the circus it really is.

Pizza Hut: “Hi @LUFC, we’ve just seen a suspicious looking man peering through our chef’s window. Can you let us know if you’re planning to put pizza on the menu in the club canteen?”

Leeds United: “Prefer @dominos thanks! They don’t take a week to deliver a tweet.”

Pizza Hut: “Bit rich coming from a club that hasn’t delivered since 1992…”

For a club that last won England’s top league title almost 30 years ago, you can’t really argue with that.

Trevor Stevens

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