They say a week is a long time in football. But what about three?

Suspensions, a fall out with local radio, firings and re-hiring’s with a bit of football thrown in the middle. The return of the Mac… once again…. again.

Like an ex with whom you shared special memories, only for them to cop off with a richer, better looking bloke behind your back but who you secretly never stopped wishing and hoping they would come back.

And back he came. Same grin, same philosophy, just a thinner hairline. And an apology. Not quite a tail between the legs sob story but a welcome admission of guilt nonetheless. That was good enough for me.

The time for sentiment however is not the present. Mac has inherited a squad badly down on confidence and luck, sitting 20th in the league. He called for unity, a spirit, a togetherness.

And on Saturday come 3pm, that’s exactly what he got.

That’s not to say that nerves weren’t apparent. An early morning sighting of Steve by my brother at the golf course, where, walking alone, quote; ‘he looked terrible’ (Mac, not our kid), seemed to set the tone for the afternoon.

Not that you’d have known that come kick-off. A healthy crowd of over 30,000 settled in to watch the second coming. Straight away, the atmosphere was different. A good noise, a good feel. A togetherness even.

Showing a solitary change from the late draw at Reading, Max Lowe replaced Olsson, as 4-3-3- again regained over the ineffective persistence with 4-4-2 under Pearson.

A cautious but dominant start by the Rams ensued, with the midfield particularly looking immediately at home with the old (new) system. Johnson drove a strike over as the first fifteen passed largely without incident.

A word for the man in the dugout. No, not Steve but Chris Powell, who has handled the whole, Coronation Street - like affair with pure class. There he stood, kicking every ball in his new (old) role as Assistant Gaffer.

Noticeably, the Rams were pressing higher up the pitch, which was a good ploy given Leeds’ willingness to play out from deep. Butterfield almost made the Whites pay for their over confidence, robbing his man only to smash into the North Stand when he should have tested our old friend Robert ‘Butterfingers’ Green.

For our dominance of possession and territory, we were almost undone as the half progressed. First, Keogh was fortunate to see Wood not do better after being caught dallying on the ball, before the same player wasted the best chance soon after.

A lightening quick break for our ‘dirty’ visitors saw Hernandez feed Ayling on the right hand side. With time to brew up before crossing, the right-back did so, onto the head of Wood, who headed powerfully well wide.

Let-off yes, but our response was instant. Good possession football eventually saw Johnson play a delightful clip over the top of Bartley to find Vydra. Taking an excellent first touch, he was unlucky to see his left-footed drive go wide of the far post.

Butterfield then had another of his customary drives from distance well over the bar. What was noticeable though was the lack of grumbles or dissent in the stands. More claps, more support.

Quite if there would have been if Leeds would have scored in added time at the end of the half remains a source of debate. What isn’t however, is the fact that they definitely should have done.

Some tough questions; Is there life on Mars? How have Bastille carved out a successful chart career? And why are Derby County so bad at defending corners?

Mowatt’s corner from the left found the imposing Leeds skipper Bartley with a free run to bullet his header from six yards against the upright, which I believe is still shaking. Half-time.

Thankfully, no man-eating fish to keep us entertained during the break!

Both teams re-emerged unchanged, with the Rams looking to make their controlled first-period count. Within 5 minutes, there was a blow, as Anya was on the receiving end of a robust challenge from Bartley. Hardly a fair fight between heavyweight and featherweight and so it proved, with the Scottish international unable to continue. Enter Johnny Russell.

The iPro had received some P.A renovation during the break, with huge, eye-sores of black speakers now hanging from the roof. However, there almost wasn’t a roof to speak of five minutes after Johnny’s introduction.

Forcing a corner of our own, Ince’s delivery was scrambled away to the edge of the box. Hurtling in like Usain Bolt, Johnny was first to the loose ball and smashed a low thunderbolt of a shot through the crowd and Butterfingers to give us the lead.

Queue pandemonium.

Having safely negotiated the 50 odd seconds it took Blackburn to level in our last home game, we set about trying to double the advantage. Now there was belief and as the volume rose, we almost succeeded.

Good hold-up play from Vydra saw him find Hughes outside the area. Showing great technique, young William smashed a thunderbolt of his own, which Green did well to push round the post.

Next, closer still. A brilliant break saw us turn defence into attack, like, dare I say, a Steve McClaren team. Russell did well to find Butterfield, who found Ince in space on the left. Unselfishly choosing not to go alone, Tom produced a perfect low centre to Vydra, who poked him. Sadly, the linesman had not read the script, flagging the Czech offside.

Of course, it was never likely to be straightforward. Bryson replaced Butterfield for some legs in the last fifteen, but it soon became apparent our high pressing had got the better of us, as Leeds began to press. Johnson’s foul thirty yards out allowed Phillips a sight of goal. His low free-kick was well saved by Carson, before Pearce snuffed out the rebound.

Inside the last ten and some frantic arm-waving from Keogh, coupled with a point at Will Hughes, spelt the end for the latter-much like a father telling their kid to go to bed as they proceed to bounce around the living room. Will though was knackered, with rumours he went to his room and fell straight asleep unfounded…

Baird was his replacement, as we dropped deeper and deeper. Suddenly, the Whites were playing through our midfield and Christie in particular was guilty of some appalling marking. Hernandez benefitted, curling a deflected shot inches wide.

Now the mood was tense, with late levellers from Bristol City and Reading threatening to be added to by our rivals from Yorkshire. That said, Ince should have found Vydra in the clear to kill the game off. He didn’t.

All eyes on the fourth official. Sorry, did that say SIX minutes?! Disbelief in the stands and very nearly an equaliser on the pitch, as that man Bartley snatched a loose ball straight at Carson when he should have done better.

Could we keep the ball? No. Instead, we made Steve and a few thousand more in the stands lose even more hair, fingernails and heartbeats as the kitchen sink was tossed forwards.

Smart interplay, a sideways pass to sub Antonsson on the edge of the box. A curled shot. Carson diving. Time standing still. The ball cannoning of the post and away. It was our day.

Finally, as deafening whistles echoed off the new sound system, the one that mattered. If three weeks is a long time, try six months - the last time we won at home!

And it showed, as relief poured from the stands onto the pitch. A brilliant feeling at the end, you hope, of this turbulent period.

As the crowd sung has name, he appeared, with a smile that a Cheshire cat would have been proud of.

Stevie Mac’s black and white army. Onwards.

Weston’s Player Rating:

Scott Carson — 6: Commanded his area well and made some good claims.

Cyrus Christie — 5: Quite sloppy in both positioning and distribution.

Richard Keogh — 6: A couple of shaky moments but solid enough display.

Alex Pearce — 6: Dependable and assured.

Max Lowe - Weston’s Star Man - 9: Quite brilliant home debut. Won nearly everything and gave his man no time.

Will Hughes — 8: Very good before eventually tiring. Jacob Butterfield — 7: One of his better games. Just needs to shoot under the bar!

Bradley Johnson — 7: Got stuck in and was much better in possession. What we’ve lacked!

Ikechi Anya — 6: Probably his quietest game. Hope his injury isn’t serious.

Tom Ince — 6: Showed glimpses but was frustrating.

Matej Vydra — 6: One good chance first half and a pest to the Leeds defence.

Subs:

Johnny Russell — 8: The hero of the day!

Craig Bryson — 6: Unusually quiet.

Chris Baird — 6: Screened for last 10.

We Said / They Said:

The Gaffer - Steve McClaren:

"I think you could see the nervousness of the players but amongst that nervousness the players showed fight; the attitude was great and we got some great blocks in at the end. We worked our socks off and we needed that second goal. The last 10 minutes was always going to be nervous, but we rode our luck and got through it and it was a big three points.”

"That's what we said at the beginning not just at half-time, what do the supporters want to see, they want to see your fight, attitude, tackles and I think the players did that."

Dirty Gaffer — Gary Monk:

"I said to the players at half-time that we need to put our game on the pitch a little bit better and we came out and we started to do that and then we conceded a poor goal from our point of view which put us on the back foot.”

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