I often find myself disagreeing with Phil Hay’s attempts at rating performances, mainly because he refuses to give anything less than 5/10. Maybe he’s been reading TSS, because since I mentioned his reluctance to give anyone really low scores, he hasn’t rated them. Anyway, it’s unfair to criticise others for something you don’t do yourself, so here’s my first attempt.

Casper Ankergren – 5/10
Never had a single save to make throughout the entire game. Anything Southampton tried was nullified by the defence and midfield making Ankergren more of a spectator than a goalkeeper. Still getting sarcastic cheers from the Kop whenever he catches the ball, and his kicks still have a habit of finding touch, but doing his job well on the whole.

Leigh Bromby – 6/10
A pretty solid performance from Bromby. Closed down well, passed well and essentially did what he’s supposed to do.

Patrick Kisnorbo – 9/10
Kis was everywhere and I only remember him making one slight error that was cleaned up easily by Nayls. The difference with him in the team is remarkable. Irreplacable for me, an absolute rock at the back. Bandage still on from his clash early in the season. I’m starting to think it’s a fashion accessory.

Richard Naylor – 8/10
Not as influential as Kis, but a solid performance nonetheless. Not sure Nayls is 100% yet, but there were few signs of fatigue or lack of match practice.

Andrew Hughes – 6/10
Probably one of his best performances so far for Leeds. He actually looked like a full-back for once. Was beaten a few times down the wing, but overall he had a good game, getting the tackles in and pushing forward when possible.

Jonny Howson – 7/10
Going forward he was missing in the first half, but had a good second period before being substituted. Defensively he was consistently good throughout, closing down quickly and getting back to help out when needed. Tried to sort Becks out during the substitution saga but to no avail.

Michael Doyle – 7.5/10
His defensive contribution was much more important than his attacking one. Like most of the team, he lacked ideas going forward but helped to dominate the midfield by closing down quickly and getting stuck in to make sure Southampton had no time on the ball.

Neil Kilkenny – 7/10
Also played his part in denying Southampton time and space, but much like Doyle he seemed a bit lacking in ideas infront of goal. Felt he selflessly passed up a few shooting opportunities that he probably should have hit, but overall another good shift from Killa.

Robert Snodgrass – 7/10
Had it not been for the spectaculor goal, Snoddy would have scored lower. His crossing was poor throughout leading to many wasted attacking opportunities. He kept the work rate up though and even on a relatively poor day by his standards, he made the difference.

Jermaine Beckford – 6/10
Contrary to most reports, Jermaine didn’t have a bad game. It seems that a lot of fans are too willing to focus on the negatives now though and refuse to give him any respect for what he did do well. Becks chased the ball, closed down with the team and tried to play people in throughout. Nothing really fell for him, but the one chance he did have saw him slip and whinge at the referee. Whinging and substitution antics aside, not a terrible game for Becks.

Lucciano Becchio – 8.5/10
I said it was a coin flip between himself and Kis for man of the match in my report, but Becchio did let himself down by putting an unmarked header over the bar from six yards. Aside from that, he hassled the opposition whenever they had the ball, held the ball up well, linked well with the other players and worked tirelessly throughout.

The substitutions
The usual introduction of Max Gradel brought with it some new ideas in the second half, whilst Bradley Johnson, who came on at the same time also had a good run out and brought the game to life. Although neither of them were really involved with Snoddy’s goal, they did seem to give Leeds an edge.