The Scratching Shed

Richard Naylor makes amends

Alongside the usual faces, I was accompanied on the 180 mile trip down the M1 by my younger cousin, Craig (hereafter referred to as ‘Lightweight’). Lightweight currently lives in Spain, but is visiting for a couple of weeks because he misses the summery gale-force winds and unpredictable downpours, that you just don’t get outside the UK

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League Cup round two at Elland Road was never going to be the most inspiring of encounters against a Leicester side who probably treat it with as little significance as we do ourselves. Nevertheless, still early days in the new season and plenty of faces on both sides no doubt eager to impress their manager as their respective teams look to gain momentum.

Unsurprisingly, there was several changes for Leeds United with the return of Max Gradel after his suspension, Alex Bruce handed a start, Shane Higgs returned to the starting line-up and Davide Somma awarded for his brace against Millwall with a full 90 minutes.

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Davide Somma celebrates scoring against Milwall

Living a fair schlep away from Leeds means I don’t get to as many games as I’d like. Saturday however provided a perfect opportunity for me to travel up for the second home game of the season. Millwall did well in the play-offs to get themselves promoted but I can’t help but feel as if they’ve snuck up behind us. They’ve been somewhat of a bogey team over the last couple of years and I was hoping to escape them this season. It was not to be and a 12:30 kick off meant I was in the car by 8am ready for the journey to Elland Road.

A mixture of excitement and nerves had been building during the week but try as I might to remain positive I couldn’t help but worry about the potential outcome. As desperate as I’m sure most fans were to see us chalk up our first three points of the season, before kick-off I would have happily taken a draw.

Taking my seat quite early I watched Kasper Schmeichel being put through his paces in the warm up. He looked raring to go and each impressive reaction save he made drew a cheer from the Kop. I couldn’t help but feel that we’d probably be relying on him once again.

Elland Road started to fill and as the sun beamed down overhead kick-off arrived. As in the Nottingham Forrest game our start was shaky to say the least and after fifteen minutes the worst happened, Millwall scored – in the most farcical fashion. Fede Bessone had the ball at his feet on the left touchline, heading towards his own goal and with most of Elland Road expecting him to put it into row Z (looking back at the replay he could just of easily squared it five yards to Neill Collins), he inexplicably turned 180 to hoof the ball against the pressuring Steve Morison. The bounce wasn’t favourable and Morison got past him to loft the ball into the area, where Richard Naylor outmuscled Millwall forward Kevin Lisbie only to head past a bewildered Schmeichel and into his own net.

Soon enough after Leeds got their act together and some good passing in midfield combined with some exciting trickery from Sanchez Watt, saw us start to create some chances. A great move and some neat footwork from Jonny Howson saw him hit the post. We forced a few saves from Millwall ‘keeper David Forde and we had another great chance when Neill Collins leapt to meet a corner only to head wide when it seemed easier to score. The equaliser soon came though. Some brilliant midfield interchange led to the ball being laid off by Luciano Becchio to an on-rushing Lloyd Sam to slot home from just inside the area. Leeds continued to knock on the door desperate to take the lead before half-time but Millwall were hanging on with some luck and went into half time level.

In the break I began to hope that we would be able to continue the pressure and take the lead. As the players took to the field for the second half, the noise in Elland Road increased. Leeds started quite brightly creating a few chances but nothing really clear cut. We were retaining possession well but I feared the longer we went without scoring the less likely we would be able to keep up the pressure or even worse that we would leave ourselves open on the counter. Millwall did break a couple of times, but Schmeichel was able to stifle their most dangerous attack, rushing out and making himself big.

The turnaround came when, with fifteen minutes left, Simon Grayson brought on Davide Somma for Fede Bessone, an ambitious change which saw Bradley Johnson move back to help out in defence. I have to admit that I questioned it at the time, both me and my dad wondering whether Somma could really affect play enough to snatch all three points. Myself and any other doubters were quickly silenced (or rather sent into delirium) when within five minutes of coming on, the South African striker scored with a typical poacher’s goal; Sanchez Watt, receiving the ball after Forde flapped at a cross, able to square from inside the area for Somma to sweep home from no more than ten yards.

With Leeds ahead and Elland Road buzzing, it looked as if we would get a deserved win as long as we could hold on defensively. Millwall tested Schmeichel instantly from the restart though, reminding the Leeds players to stay switched on. The tempo slowed slightly but we did well to retain most of the possession with few scares. A chance to extend our lead wasn’t taken when Watt crossed deep for Sam, who headed against the post only for goalkeeper Forde to somehow scramble the ball away when it bounced back across the face of goal. The icing on the cake arrived in stoppage time though when Howson played a pinpoint long ball from deep right to the feet of Somma who, with the option of Becchio to his right, dribbled into the area and wrong footed the defender with a neat step-over before smashing home into the top corner. A dream debut for Somma left Leeds fans celebrating long after the final whistle blew.

I left Elland Road absolutely delighted (and shockingly a little sunburnt!)

As far as a pick for man of the match is concerned, the obvious choice would be Somma for his impact and two well taken goals which won us the game. However it was a fantastic team performance with Becchio working tirelessly as usual, Lloyd Sam was a constant threat driving forward, Howson and Kilkenny dominated the centre while Sanchez Watt provided lots of creativity and energy.

If we can perform this well consistently we will be fine in this league. MOT!

Sam levels it for Leeds

The first away game of the season brought a 150 mile round trip to what I’d decided pre-match was a very winnable fixture against Nottingham Forest. On the road again, and in numbers with a 16-seat packed minibus cruising south down the M1. As the beers flowed, my predictions for the game became more and more ridiculous with my cautious 1-1 turning into a 4-2 before we’d even parked up (I’d decided both defences were lousy).

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Two in two for Becchio

The omens before the game weren’t good for Lincoln, having exited the League Cup in the first round at the last four times of asking and right from the off, it didn’t appear as though things were going to change.

I emerged from the stairs in the Kop just in time to see Lloyd Sam’s cross find Jonny Howson who headed home to give Leeds United an early lead.

It quickly became apparent that the Whites were in a different class as they passed the ball around with absolute ease and made their way through the young Lincoln defence without interference.

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Kris Commons celebrates winner

Had it not been for a controversial penalty decision and an Elland Road crossbar providing more cover than the Derby keeper,  it might have been a much happier opening day for the Whites, but that doesn’t mask the glaringly obvious problems Leeds had with the new 4-5-1 formation.

On paper, the versatile 4-5-1 should mean that the defence is covered well by the extra men in the middle and that going forward, Leeds have plenty of bodies as the formation changes to 4-3-3. The reality however, was that Luciano Becchio found himself alone in the box all too often and the Derby defence hardly had to break a sweat to cover him.

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Taunts of “Can we play you every week?” and “Premiership, you’re having a laugh!” echoed around Elland Road as an attack-minded Leeds United side romped to a convincing 3-1 victory over Premier League side, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Wolves started brightly, and it looked as though Leeds were going to struggle with a sluggish and slow defence that was being easily exploited by the pacey Matthew Jarvis. When Leeds did get on the attack however, they were quite simply too much for Wolves to handle.

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A 3-1 victory over Norwegian side, SK Brann was tainted by the injury of arguably Leeds’ most important player, Robert Snodgrass.

Leading 1-0 thanks to a Luciano Becchio opener, Leeds United were applying the pressure and searching for a second when Robert Snodgrass fell victim to a horror challenge by notorious Danish thug, David Nielsen.

With only 25 minutes gone, Snodgrass was taken off the pitch by stretcher and replaced by Max Gradel. The Leeds United offical site reports;

There was a concern for Leeds… when Snodgrass was the victim of an horrendous challenge and was stretchered from the field.

Leeds United doubled their advantage from the resulting free-kick, with Neil Kilkenny’s cross finding Lloyd Sam who made it 2-0, but it was no compensation for a horrific challenge that could result in a lengthy spell on the sidelines for Snoddy.

SK Brann made it 1-2 shortly before half-time, but Luciano Becchio restored Leeds’ two goal advantage just after the break. The tackles meanwhile continued to fly in and Lloyd Sam was lucky to escape from another horrific lunge as the game was played to a nasty temperament throughout.

A couple of positives for Leeds with Luci scoring twice and Lloyd Sam getting in on the action, but Snoddy’s injury will be the big talking point and a devastating blow before the season has even begun. Fingers crossed it’s not quite as serious as it looked!

Not quite the pre-season showing of strength we’d all hoped for last night as Leeds United crumbled away to Bury and left with an embarrassing scoreline of 4-0.

With just one seemingly disastrous result, any optimism the Leeds faithful may have had ahead of the 2010/11 season has vanished and it’s back to the drawing board as the “inadequate” defence, midfield and forwards are scrutinised.

But should we really be all that concerned? After all, this was only a friendly and on display was a team who still aren’t 100% after a lazy summer celebrating promotion. It’s only natural that it’ll take  a few games for Leeds United to get back into gear. We’ve had extremely poor friendly results in seasons past, and it’s had no effect once the real stuff got under way.

Anyone wanting further proof that friendlies give no indication as to how good the team are needs only to look at Newcastle United’s faltering pre-season campaign last year. Most of the country were writing Newcastle off after some terrible pre-season results, including a 6-1 hammering at the hands of Leyton Orient. But the Geordies turned it on when it mattered and stormed back into the Premier League as champions, as the friendly results were quickly forgotten.

To sum up, a 4-0 hammering to Bury wasn’t ideal, but at the same time it means absolutely nothing. Friendlies are for the sole purpose of gaining fitness and working the kinks out. It does seem that Leeds United have plenty of kinks to work out at the moment, but it’s better to find that out now with time to heal before Derby visit Elland Road on opening day.

Keep the faith!

It’s through extremely blurred vision and with a very heavy head I write my final match report of the season. A season full of ups and downs, ended in a match many of us will be telling the next generation about in years to come. As the champagne flowed around Leeds City centre last night, the events of the day were celebrated and relived amongst thousands of ecstatic Leeds United fans, as the promotion party continued late into the night.

It could all have been so very different though. The match itself was as eventful as they come. Historically, Leeds United are well known for bottling the big games. You only have to look back to the drama of the play-off’s over the last few years to see Leeds United seldom do things the easy way, and this was to be no exception.

A sold-out and deafening Elland Road crowd sang their heroes onto the pitch for what we hoped would be the final game of the season. No Richard Naylor, Robert Snodgrass or Jonny Howson in the starting XI, Max Gradel moved out wide and Jermaine Beckford restored to the starting line-up as captain. Simon Grayson had hinted at changes, but few had seen this coming.

Leeds looked hungry and it seemed as though things would be simple. All we had to do was get in front, and with Leeds dominating as they were, it was unlikely that Bristol would be able to respond.

Controversy soon struck though; after Jermaine Beckford’s opener was ruled out by the linesman, Max Gradel sought retribution for an earlier foul and stomped on Rovers left-back Daniel Jones. Jones hit the floor like he’d been shot and feigned injury to his face. Chaos ensued, with Leeds and Bristol players clashing violently. Another dismal referee dismissed Max Gradel, but despite his part in escalating the situation, Jones escaped with just a yellow.

Marching orders for Gradel

The scale of the situation hadn’t escaped Gradel and he reacted furiously to the sending off. Jermaine Beckford in his new role as captain tried to play peace-keeper, but Gradel was a man possessed and determined to get his own back on Jones or the referee – whoever he could get to first. After several minutes of drama, Gradel was forcefully removed from the pitch by his team-mates, but he wasn’t finished yet and came back on for another go at whoever he could get to. This time, two pretty hefty security staff were sent on, finally managing to restore order.

The tense and nervous atmosphere inside Elland Road was replaced by one of anger and disbelief. To the on-looking Leeds fans, it seemed that we’d once again been the victim of a major injustice that could well have cost us our place in the Championship. The referee was subsequently ridiculed with chants of ‘this games too big for you’ and ‘you’re not fit to referee’ along with some more x-rated stuff towards half-time. Daniel Jones’ part in the incident hadn’t been forgotten either and he was booed every time he touched the ball from that point on.

After five minutes added time, an angry Leeds United crowd left for the break where the events of the first half would be analysed further. Most of the crowd were busy watching Beckford at the time, so few had actually seen the incident involving Gradel. There was much confusion as to what actually happened and many believed Gradel had punched the left-back, probably because of his exaggerated reaction. You have to wonder whether the referee had drawn a similar conclusion, but either way, the odds were now stacked against Leeds United and we were in for a roller-coaster 45 minutes that would ultimately decide our fate.

Such is the way with these things, the villain of the day Daniel Jones hadn’t finished tormenting Leeds United yet. Minutes into the second half, Hughes failed to close Jones down and his cross led to a soft goal conceded by the make-shift Leeds United defence. 1-0 down, and the news elsewhere was that Charlton were winning. Whilst Millwall and Swindon were level, I can only imagine the roar that came from both sets of fans on discovering Leeds United’s troubles.

Leeds were wounded and in total disarray. Fresh out of ideas and struggling with a numerical disadvantage, Simon Grayson was forced into his first change of the day. Jonny Howson was brought on in place of Shane Lowry in what would prove to be an inspired substitution from the gaffer.

Just six minutes after coming onto the pitch, Howson levelled the scores. For all his inconsistencies and lack of goals, Jonny has a habit of scoring when it matters. Few will have forgotten his brace that sent us into the play-off final a couple of years back, but even those goals weren’t as big as this one. From the edge of the area, Jonny found himself in space and struck sweetly to curl the ball past the Bristol keeper and restore parity for the Whites. The roof lifted off Elland Road once again, but this time, it was a roar of defiant brilliance – Leeds weren’t done yet!

Howson levels the scores

It was easy to forget Leeds were a man down as they pushed Bristol back and went in search of a winner. All out attack was what the crowd wanted, and that’s exactly what Leeds United delivered. Those that did remain on the pitch will have been fully aware of what another goal meant for Leeds, and it seemed only fitting that Jermaine Beckford would be the one to get it.

For all his flaws, Beckford’s goal tally is a big part of why we were in this situation to start with. Even his most hardened of critics couldn’t knock his performance today, he’d chased everything, battled hard and been an exemplary role-model for the younger fans in trying to resolve the sending-off situation peacefully. As Leeds United exits go, Jermaine Beckford’s is unlikely to be forgotten.

The most valuable goal of the season, probably Jermaine’s final one in a Leeds shirt and the one that sends Leeds United up was beautiful in it’s simplicity. A classic poachers goal which was started by Jermaine’s hassling of the Bristol keeper. His poor throw was deflected by Beckford into the path of Bradley Johnson who surged down the left and sent a cross into the box. The Bristol defence struggled to deal with the cross and when it spilled free, Jermaine Beckford was on hand to send Leeds into the Championship. Needless to say, the Leeds fans nearly took the roof off Elland Road once more.

Leeds continued to try and put the game beyond reach, and Bristol gave us a few scares as the final whistle agonisingly drew closer, but the poachers goal from Jermaine Beckford would prove to be decisive. The pitch invasion began before the referee could blow for full-time, but it didn’t matter. As the Leeds fans spilled onto the pitch to celebrate a historic win, the reality of it all began to sink in. The PA man’s attempts to get the fans off the pitch proved completely ineffective, and it took a plea from Simon Grayson to restore some order so the players could come out for a well-deserved lap of honour.

"Na na na na na na na na na na, Leeds are going up..."

As the players and the fans struggled to control their emotions, all order at Elland Road was lost once more. Some cheer-leading from TSS’ player of the season, Patrick Kisnorbo would follow and once Elland Road was finally vacated, the party spilled into the streets of Leeds. After six long years of demise, Leeds United have finally began to rise again.

TSS man of the match

Before I return to a state of slumber to recover from one of the most vicious hangovers I’ve had in years, I’m left with the final man of the match of the season decision, and perhaps, one of the easiest. In what is most likely to be his final game in a Leeds United shirt, Jermaine Beckford led by example. Not only did he score the winning goal, but he also assisted in Jonny Howson’s screamer. One of the most dramatic love/hate relationships I’ve ever seen between a player and fans ends in style. Whatever happens to Jermaine Beckford from here on in, I wish him well and thank him for the memories.