The Scratching Shed

After poor performances it’s easy to fly off the handle, lose the faith and respond irrationally and in a total rage, which is why I usually leave the match report until I’ve had time to cool down a little and get to grips with my emotions.

Tonight however, there’s no point pussy-footing around what was a truly dismal display from the Whites. There was no fight shown in the performance whatsoever and Leeds look destined to blow another chance at success. No matter how many times we bottle it, it’s not something that ever becomes any easier.

Prior to the match it was revealed that Beckford had been ruled out with an achilles problem, which is probably why Paddy Power were offering double the odds on him being the first goalscorer. Paul Dickov was chosen as his replacement and he started alongside Luciano Becchio, neither of which had any affect on the game at all, underlining my opinion that Paul Dickov is the most pointless signing under Simon Grayson’s leadership.

My contempt for Dickov could indeed be clouding my judgement and in truth, there’s little he could of done to change the result with such inadequate service from the rest of the team. When the squad insist on pumping the ball long and hoping for the best, it would have been nice to see someone with pace to chase the ball and pressure the Millwall defence into mistakes. Someone like… I don’t know… Grella!?

Dickov and Becchio? Hardly the most terrifying strike-force in League One is it?

Elsewhere, despite having the luxury of being able to name seven substitutes, Simon opted not to include a central defender, so once Kisnorbo left the field Aidy White was his replacement and the defence was reshuffled. This helped nothing and to be quite honest, there were times when we may as well have had four cones in their place as the Millwall team almost walked passed them.

Naylor, for all his merits last season has been carried by Kis for all too long now and is clearly past his peak. Nayl’s is one of my favourite players, but emotion can’t disguise his faults anymore. Aside from his deteriorating defensive ability, his leadership skills seem non-existant. The defence was disorganised, failed to close down and get stuck in and it never appeared as though Naylor knew the answer. When he should have been shouting, issuing orders and directing the others, he was too busy looking around clueless trying to figure out what’s gone wrong.

Finally we come to the midfield, which provided no real service to the inaffective front two and little support to the defence. Snoddy didn’t have a bad game, but that’s about as good as it got.

Prior to this match I called for unity. For the fans to act as one and be the 12th man, but patience is running thin now and understandably so. I can accept dips in form, and bad results, but what we’ve witnessed at Southampton and tonight was a team that didn’t show any fight and looked resigned to failure.

I honestly don’t know where we go from here. I’m trying to remain defiantly optimistic, but the team is giving me nothing to believe in. We seem destined for the play-offs once more and probably another long, disappointing year in League One.

The thing that’s really bugging me is that nobody ever responded. Not even emotionally. I’d be happier if half the team had been sent off after resorting to horrible challenges and swearing at the ref, because at least then, it shows they’re as frustrated as the rest of us. It honestly felt like they’d given in long before the final whistle. What happened to the ‘never say die attitude’ of early season? The late comebacks and inspired substitutions?

Disheartened, angry and worried.

I’m thinking it may be time to stop selling players. Just let the ones that have become no use to us wither away and be forgotten about in our reserves, rather than allowing them to come back and haunt us at their new club!

Obviously I’m joking. On paper, Harding’s goal was the difference, but in reality, it fails to show the reasons why theres such a difference in current form between these two sides.

The statistic that really tells it all about this game is that Leeds United had one shot on target throughout and very few chances besides. Southampton meanwhile were creating chances almost at will in the first half and were unlucky not to get the second when they had a goal ruled out by the ref.

Simon Grayson’s clearly irritated reaction after the match shows how frustrating it was for everyone that made the long journey south;

“The majority of the players didn’t turn up today and we didn’t play well, our passing was poor, as was our decision making.”

Southampton’s defence had no problems nullifying any Leeds attacking threat in the first half, which led to the increased use of the long ball, which was even less affective as the Saints two centre-backs cleared everything with ease.

Becchio and Beckford failed to cause any threat at all with the ball pumped long and high, rarely challenging for the headers and never winning them. No matter how much trouble we’re having getting through when the balls on the floor, it’s the only way Leeds should be using when we have two strikers with very little aerial presence.

For the reasons why Leeds’ defence started pumping the ball long and high, you have to look at the midfield. Time and time again possession was lost and given away cheaply by misplaced passes or poor control.

There were very few similarities between the team that destroyed Tranmere and the one that turned up here and Southampton thoroughly deserved the three points.

As bad as Leeds were, you can’t fail to acknowledge how well organised, hard-working and fluent in attack the Saints were. Alan Pardew is a very good manager that gets the basics right and leaves very little to chance. The strengthening he did in January should give Southampton an outside chance at the playoff positions, but if they fail to make the top six, they’ll walk this league with absolute ease next season.

You only have to look at the top goal-scorers list to see why Southampton are cruising and Leeds United are stuttering to the finishing line. Leeds have one player capable of 20+ a season, whilst Southampton have the top two in the league and plenty of others able to contribute.

I’ve said time and again that January was a massive failure for Leeds. I took some criticism at the time as people pointed towards McSheffrey and the permanent signing of Gradel, but the first was never likely to contribute many goals and the second we all knew would be an inconsistent bit-part player, capable of changing games one week, but having no influence the next. Neither were the second proven goalscorer we’ve missed all season that the best clubs in this league (including Southampton) have.

The clubs that did do well in January are now reaping the rewards, whilst those of us that didn’t do enough are struggling to match them. I don’t think it’s season over, and still believe we’ll go up automatically, but it could have been much, much easier and it’s games like these that show us what we could have achieved given one or two more astute signings.

Overall, what we witnessed was a well-oiled Saints side that could give every team in this league a good game. Pardew has built and developed an unstoppable force that will win this league outright next season if their dreams are shattered this time round and it won’t be long before they’re back in the hunt for a Premier League place.

Despite the result I’m quietly confident about the next few weeks. You take Norwich out of the list of upcoming fixtures and there’s a lot of winable games coming up starting on Monday when we host Millwall. The Southerners did destroy Charlton yesterday and are the form team at the minute so we’ll have to raise our game, but spurred on by a good crowd at Elland Road, I fancy we’ll take all three points. Keep fighting!

Post-Brentford shooting practice clearly paid off last night as Leeds thrashed Tranmere away by four goals to one. The game wasn’t quite as one-sided as the scoreline suggests and this was a more confident Ttanmere team than early in the season, spurred on by their recent victory over Southampton.

The major difference between the Tranmere and Brentford match wasn’t the quality of opposition. If anything, Tranmere probably caused more of a threat than Brentford did, who simply came to Elland Road and parked the bus. The change from Saturday was quite simply what Leeds did with all the chances they created.

On Saturday Leeds squandered a ridiculous amount of chances. Brentford got a goal totally against the run of play and Leeds were left chasing the game. At that point the scoreline read 0-1, but it could quite easily have been 4-1 if Leeds had been a little more clinical infront of goal and showed more urgency to get ahead.

It was clear early on that there would be no such problems tonight as Leeds set out to right the wrongs of Brentford and get their promotion campaign back on track. Robert Snodgrass opened the scoring after just nine minutes and Beckford doubled the lead just seven minutes later from the spot.

Leeds had the momentum and looked confident once more, but Tranmere had other ideas and pulled one back just three minutes later after Leeds failed to clear their lines. Less than 20 minutes gone and already 2-1.

When confidence is so slow and everything is going against you, conceeding a goal at that stage could have led to a ten men behind the ball approach from a lot of teams, but Leeds pressed on and restored their two goal advantage ten minutes before the break. Luciano Becchio the scorer with a diving header from Jermaine Beckford’s cross.

The final goal of the game came midway through the second half sealing the three points for Leeds United courtesy of Jermaine Beckford. The confidence levels had clearly and visibly risen by this point, so much so that Beckford finished off Tranmere with a cheeky well-taken lob.

The ups

“Thankyou for your fantastic support” - The fans, as always, were brilliant.

Shooting practice – I know I’m stating the obvious a bit here, but getting four goals in one game is some achievement when you look back and consider the amount of chances we’ve squandered over the last few weeks.

Beckford - Gets a lot of stick whenever things are going badly. Tends to be the one singled out for the criticism of every fan up and down the country, so perhaps he should take all the praise when we win? Two goals and an assist, not a bad shift in my book.

The substitutions – Still can’t see what Paul Dickov’s bringing to the party, but the introduction of Max Gradel and Tresor Kandol late on was much more positive than we’ve seen in recent weeks.

The downs

Their goal – All that really sticks in mind is their goal which came after several amateurish attempts to clear the ball from Leeds. A bit of panic in the box, the ball flew around wildly and eventually someone stabbed it across the line. Poor, but we can afford the odd mistake when we’re scoring fluently. On another week, that goal would have probably cost us points.

Aidy White returned to the starting line-up for Leeds United with Shane Lowry out injured. Lowry was joined on the injury table by captain Richard Naylor who was replaced by Leigh Bromby at centre-back. Elsewhere there were no changes from the side that drew against Huddersfield.

The draw to Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield could only be seen as a good result at the time, given that we’d trailed to our promotion chasing neighbours and often fail miserably in such derbys. However, Southampton’s 5-0 demolition job on them shortly afterwards had set alarm bells ringing. The Saints, undeterred by their ten point handicap had bought well in January, determined to push on for a play-off spot and there’ll be very few betting against them. Leeds meanwhile did very little and have struggled to find the kind of flair and confidence Southampton have shown ever since.

Personal feelings aside, the lack of ambition the move for a 37-year-old journeyman striker shows sums up the kind of failure post-Christmas has been for the Whites. The implementation of the January transfer window has turned the game almost completely on it’s head. What you do before that date matters little if everyone else improves and you can’t keep up with the pace thereafter. Leeds, for me, failed big time in January and it’s going to be a much tougher slog to the end of the season than it perhaps should have been.

There’s no denying Leeds United were the better team yesterday. Brentford did very little to surprise anyone other than retain possession quite well. Unfortunately for any Brentford fans reading this, that was more a reflection of Leeds not bothering to close down as often as they should more than it was any Brazilian-style ball control on your part. The players were showing complacency once again and expecting the result to just come for them, rather than making any real effort to pressure Brentford into submission.

Leeds, quite simply, could destroy Brentford if they applied the same kind of effort they did against Huddersfield, but it was non-existant. The fact of the matter is, that when the players see Huddersfield on the fixture list they’ll likely take note of the date. Brentford however, is simply a name there to make the numbers up for most of the players, and it showed in the level of effort exerted.

Leading up to Brentford’s goal, all the real chances had gone to Leeds. We probably should have led with ease, but failed to take advantage of our opportunites. There was no real urgency from Leeds as the game seemed to be a bit of a precession. No one expected anything less than three points and it just seemed to be a matter of time until we turned one of our chances into a goal.

Then, the “unthinkable” happened (I use the term loosely, as there’s very little left that could happen to Leeds that would shock anyone). Brentford got a chance and buried it to leave Leeds United behind and looking at each other with total confusion, mystified as to how this kept happening on home soil.

If falling behind did anything, it gave the team a sense of urgency they’d lacked prior. Leeds United got the equaliser courtesy of Jermaine Beckford, but there’s no escaping how poor a result this is. Teams like Brentford don’t come to Elland Road expecting anything. More often than not, it’s damage limitation, but Leeds are just giving away points at the minute through complacency, inconsistency and a lack of determination and fight against these “lesser” teams. It’s starting to feel as though we need to go 1-0 down before everyone can be bothered playing football.

So, it’s all doom and gloom then?

Pretty much, yeah. There’s absolutely no positives I can take from this performance. The fans booing at full-time - however wrong that may be – sums up the kind of second rate, half arsed effort this was. My major concern is a quote from Simon Grayson afterwards who seemed to think it was a good performance. I aren’t saying it was a bad one, and we did dominate, but I’d hardly be praising anyone when they’ve just scraped a draw at home to Brentford.

You look at the list of fixtures still to come, keeping in mind Leeds’ tendancy to blow things at the last hurdle and you can’t help but worry about the final couple of months. Defiantely optimistic, I’m trying to assure myself that we’ll come good against the better teams, but there’s no escaping the fact we’ve blown a substancial lead and as the run of poor form continues, we’re getting very few answers.

The ‘we all hate Leeds scum’ brigade were out in force as the Galpharm recorded its highest gate of the season for the visit of the Whites. Yorkshire derbies are rarely something worth cherishing for Leeds United fans, such is our lack of success in these fixtures but after a confidence boosting win against Oldham, we were expecting a good performance from the Whites.

Leeds didn’t disappoint and were quick out of the traps. So too however, were the play-off chasing Huddersfield whose attacking movement was quick and direct. Unfortunately, so was their fouling ability and after several Leeds United players were upended by the Town players with no response from the referee, it started to feel like it was going to be one of those days. Leeds weren’t no angels either mind, and as the tackles became wilder, the tempo rose and the atmosphere inside the stadium intensified.

It was Huddersfield who struck first blood in what was becoming an end to end encounter, with neither team being allowed much time on the ball. Pilkington’s tame shot from the edge of the area took a fortuetous deflection off a Leeds player leaving Casper Ankergren stranded and the home side infront. 1-0

Huddersfield should have made it 2-0 after that when the Leeds United defence got it embarrassingly wrong leaving a Town forward with a free chance from six yards. With only one man on the line in his way and Casper at the wrong end of the goal completely, he fluffed what should have been a gift of a goal and given Huddersfield a massive advantage.

Leeds pressed for an equaliser with Snoddy forcing a save from Huddersfield’s keeper and Becchio heading over what was probably our best chance so far. Both teams were still fighting for everything with the sole focus of seemingly on attack. So far and despite trailing, it had been a thrilling encounter, no doubt fuelled by the occasion.

It got all the more interesting when Leeds United levelled the scores just after the hour with Jonny Howson scoring a nice header from a Robert Snodgrass cross to temporarily silence the home fans. 1-1

Leeds sensed victory after that and came out on top in the encounters that followed. Beckford looked to be through only to be thwarted by the referee’s decision making, which had been the only questionable performance of the day. It seemed as though it wouldn’t matter though as Snodgrass was once again the provider for Leeds’ second goal when an uncharacteristically good corner was met with an uncharacteristically good header from Luciano Becchio. Who said Snoddy can’t cross and our forwards are weak in the air? (Don’t answer that)

2-1 and it seemed like the Leeds of early season that could get a result under any circumstances. Neither team gave up at that point and the thrilling encounter continued in much the same style as it had started. The tackles were hard and fast, both teams attacked with purpose and the referee continued to try and learn his trade.

The game was to deal one more twist however when Huddersfield equalised with just five minutes left on the clock. I’d love to say you could see it coming and I’d braced myself for disappointment, but in all honesty, I was already celebrating victory. The game was so unpredictable throughout you really didn’t know what was going to happen next, but a voice inside me said that this was our day. That this was the Leeds United of August and that we’d be leaving with three points no matter what.

It wasn’t to be though and Huddersfield got was undoubtedly a fair share of the spoils. Both teams had contributed to what makes a great derby match and the most thrilling encounter I’ve witnessed in the league this season. Despite the late sucker punch, I wasn’t really too disappointed, as it seems we’re on the up again at the right time and are definitely capable of raising our game for the bigger teams. This game simply wet my appetite for a rematch in the CCC next season.

A run that saw Leeds win just once in eight league games was ended last night as two second half goals from Luciano Becchio sank struggling Oldham Athletic. Leeds fans will now be hoping that the win will change the fortunes of a side that have struggled on all fronts since knocking Manchester United out of the FA Cup at the start of the year.

With a return to a more recognisable formation, Leeds looked more comfortable on the ball. Aidy White was brought in on the left-side of midfield and brought with him some pace and new ideas that Leeds have sorely needed of late. Upfront, Luciano Becchio was reinstated alongside Jermaine Beckford and the pairing proved much more of a threat together than they did playing alone. Despite a much better looking team and several first half opportunites, Leeds failed to capitalise and the scores were level at the break.

You could still sense the nerves around Elland Road despite Leeds United’s domination as the second half got underway. The weekends visit of Brighton had seen Leeds control the game almost totally, only to be punished by a controversial penalty late on after failing to make any of their chances pay. This time however, Leeds got the lead they so desperately needed and completely deserved when Oldham’s keeper failed to keep hold of Jermaine Beckford’s shot and Luciano Becchio was on hand to make him pay.

It didn’t take long for Leeds to double their advantage and put the game beyond the reach of Oldham. Just ten minutes after the first goal a good cross from Robert Snodgrass was met by the head of Luciano Becchio who grabbed his second of the night and gave Leeds United a much needed win. Also couldn’t help thinking that he was trying to prove me wrong by scoring with his head after I criticised the arial threat him and Jermaine Beckford collectively create.

Oldham knew they were beat and there was little effort made to try and get back in the game. Leeds had a couple more chances but saw out the game comfortably for a result that was never in doubt after the opening goal.

Corner turned?

I wouldn’t get too carried away just yet. Although Leeds United were much better than in recent weeks, Oldham represent the worst team I’ve seen us play all season. I think they’ve been resigned to relegation since the opening day of the season and are probably doing a little bit better than they ever imagined.

When we visited their three sided, sub-zero home earlier this season we walked them off the pitch with our reserve side and in all honesty, they haven’t improved since. I don’t want to undermine a much needed victory and a definite confidence boost for the players, but the big test will come this weekend in the local derby at the Galpharm.

Ups and downs…

Hard to really list any downs as the game was totally one-sided and Oldham probably made us look good. On the plus side however, it was nice to Aidy White get an hour on the pitch and he proved a useful addition on the left of midfield leaving the field in the second half to a standing ovation from the Leeds faithful.

The formation was massively improved too and it was nice to see Simon Grayson ditch his wild Christmas tree like formations and return to the 4-4-2 that’s done well for us so far this season (Mike Bassett anyone?). It was no surprise to see the two forwards look much more of a threat when played together than they did alone and it paid off as Luci did well to net a brace.

No wins now in the last four for Leeds after another below par performance at Elland Road. Three home games at Elland Road were ahead of us last Tuesday, from which we should have realistically been looking to take all nine points, but after disappointing results against Walsall and Brighton, we’re now looking at a maximum of four as the gap to the play-off places disappears.

This was another below par performance from Leeds and the result is no more than they deserved. Although there was an improvement on Tuesday’s performance, there’s still several issues that need to be addressed;

“What the **** is going on?”

Formation

We’ll start with the ever changing line-up, which yesterday was as below at kick-off.

Ankergren

Hughes, Naylor, Kisnorbo, Lowry

Howson, Doyle, Kilkenny, Johnson, McSheffrey

Beckford

The midfield is in no particular order as it was hard to make sense of who was playing where to be totally honest, such was the lack of order it seemed to possess. The key thing to note here however is that Beckford is upfront on his own, whilst our bench harboured the likes of Becchio, Gradel and Snoddy.

More to the point, on the pitch was McSheffrey, who I was led to believe was a forward. Clearly not a natural midfielder, would probably benefit from playing alongside Beckford as he’d be a much better targetman for the long-ball Leeds are insisting on playing at the minute and can also hold the ball up and create chances, which is what Beckford needs to be of any benefit to the team.

Much like when Luciano Becchio was playing alone upfront, Beckford was massively ineffective as a lone striker with poor support from the midfield. Leeds’ final ball was so poor that the Brighton keeper could have probably taken the day off and the scoreline wouldn’t have changed too much. Beckford and Becchio need each other to produce the goods. They both bring something to the party and neither can play alone.

I’m starting to think we’re dropping a striker in order to accomodate McSheffrey who must have been promised first team football. I don’t mind that as McSheffrey is a good player, but he needs to be playing alongside Beckford to keep the balance of the team and give us any real threat going forward.

The penalty

It was never a penalty in a million years, but these things happen. The referee was totally useless throughout and both teams had to cope with him so no sour grapes from me in that respect. Leeds had all the possession and really should have walked it against a pathetically weak Brighton side who we battered 3-0 in the reverse fixture.

The long ball

It’s becoming really annoying seeing balls pumped long to players who can’t bring them down. The supporters were once again whinging at Beckford for failure to move and fight for the ball, but he’s so useless in the air there was probably little point. The team plays better when we have some sort of flow and pass about a bit, but they just don’t seem to have the confidence to try and play football at the minute.

The celebration

The players goading Gus Poyet after we scored was totally unacceptable in my mind. Whether it was deliberate or has been taken out of context, I aren’t entirely sure. Maybe they were intending to celebrate with their own bench? I know Grayson wasn’t pleased anyway and nor was Gus by the sounds of things and it’s hardly surprising really.

The positives

The substitutions

Once we’d made our three changes we were back to our normal shape with Luci and Becks upfront and four in midfield. Snoddy, who started on the bench for some reason, came on and had an instant impact and it was no surprise he got the goal. After falling one down, it was the only time we looked threatening, but since this coincided with going back to basics in terms of line-up and formation, I’d suggest this played more of a part than anything else.

The defence

A million times better than on Tuesday. Doyle and Howson in midfield were nullifying attacks before they became a threat, leaving Brighton with nothing but the long ball option and Paddy was there everytime to head clear. We look so much better with them three in the team from a defensive aspect that if the formation remains the same, I think the clean sheets will return soon.

Max Gradel

Max was the victim of an absolute horror challenge that saw Brighton reduced to ten men late on. I honestly couldn’t believe he got up and played on afterwards as he must have been in some pain, so credit to the youngster for his determination.

The fans

Unlike midweek, it was a good turn-out with 24,000 there to cheer the Whites on. Good to see such a sizable crowd despite things not going our way at the minute. That said, the patience is growing thin and the growing sighs around the ground reflects the times. Most notable chant of the day was a chorus of “What the …. is going on?” when Brighton scored. No booing at the end though thankfully.

Overall

Better but still with flaws. It didn’t surprise me at all to see us improve massively when we went back to 4-4-2 and got the regulars back on the field. I hope we start the next match with the line-up that’s served us well all season and if we are going to play McSheffrey, then hopefully it’ll be alongside Beckford rather than out of place in midfield.

Defensively we looked a different team from Tuesday night, but upfront we’re lacking in ideas, despite the vast array of attacking players at our disposal. Back to basics for me. The worrying thing is that the gap to the play-offs has closed massively so whatever the reasons behind the current slump, they need sorting sharpish.

Can’t deny I’m worried at the minute, but not entirely surprised. Years of supporting Leeds tells me that we never do things the easy way and this season looks to be no exception. I have full faith in Grayson’s ability to turn things round, but the longer this goes on, the more the fans will lose confidence and the more the morale of the support drops, the harder it will become.

A trip down South to the team that sounds more like a Chinese takeaway than it does a football club was quite an exciting one surprisingly enough. Even though I knew it was unlikely Jermaine Beckford would play and Kis was still out, I couldn’t help but get ahead of myself and predict a 3-0 win to the Whites. Not sure whether it was naivety or logical thinking, but Leeds’ wealth of attacking options for me were destined to destroy the pitiful Southerners.

In the first half things went as planned. Leeds dominated possession, had pretty much all the notable chances and were just missing the deft touch infront of goal that would give us the lead we so blatently deserved. Nothing to worry about though. All we’re missing is a striker capable of making something out of all this possession and attacking play and bobs your uncle. As chance would have it, there just happened to be a young American striker on the bench, described by many of his team mates as the most skilful player in the squad, and who has proved before that he can make a difference.

Unfortunately, Larry stood firm with his starting line-up and put his faith in Luciano Becchio, who, quite frankly, looks lost without Jermaine Beckford lately. I don’t want to be over-critical of a player who has given his all for Leeds United, but the difference between him and Becks was shown to all when it came to penalties against Carlisle. Whilst you’d have to prize the ball from Jermaine Beckford’s cold dead hands to get any chance of taking a scoring opportunity away from him, Luci doesn’t seem to have the same self-belief, nor does he have the same ability to get into key positions and score the vital goals on a regular enough basis.

Max Gradel meanwhile, was trying absolutely everything to find an opening and worked tirelessly throughout. It really did seem like if anything was going to happen, then he’d be involved somewhere along the lines. So, imagine my lack of surprise when it was Max who was removed to finally get Grella on the pitch for his standard fifteen minute cameo appearence. Anyone watching the game knew the right move was to get Gradel alongside Grella and torment Orient into submission, but for whatever reason, Simon Grayson decided to stick by the largely ineffective Becchio for the full 90.

When you’ve had every chance, all the possession and somehow not scored, it’s inevitable you’ll live to regret it and on 83 minutes, Orient took the lead. To be completely honest, I wasn’t even surprised as I’ve seen this happen so many times before, but credit to Leeds. They kept going and fought for an equaliser which came in the dying moments when Bromby’s throw-in caused havoc in the box and an Orient player put the ball over his own line. Lucky would be an understatement, but a point is no less than Leeds deserved.

 So, what did we learn from Orient? The true value of Jermaine Beckford would be my answer. Whether it takes him three chances to score or not, he’d have had fifteen chances in this game and we’d be sitting back on top of League One. Failure to capture another capable striker in the January transfer window may still come back to haunt us. We’d have been better off with Dickov on the pitch, and the thought of him signing for Leeds disgusts me.

The ups

Domination: It was too easy for us to retain possession at times and dictate play, but with no one to turn it into goals, a fixture from which we should have easily taken three points turned in to one where we dropped two.

Attacking options: With a reshuffled midfield, Leeds had a ridiculous amount of attacking options that could cause any team in the division problems. The problem we had however, was that our “Inconsistent, takes him six chances to score” striker wasn’t in the box to convert any of them.

Max Gradel: Good response from Max after the antics of the JPT. Was involved with everything and seems eager to shine for Leeds United.

Keep fighting: The last second equaliser was a tribute to the never-say-die attitude these players have shown all season. Shame we were in the position to need one to start with mind.

The downs

Becchio: It’s not so much Becchio that the problem is with, it’s the lack of a goalscorer alongside him in the last two games. We’ve had the ideal opportunity to let Grella show us what he can do and missed it to accomodate more midfielders than we could ever possibly need. I’m in danger of becoming repetitive but what on earth does Grella have to do to get in the starting XI?

Beckford: Kinda links on from my previous point, but what on earth would we do if Beckford was to become injured for the next three-four months? If Grella isn’t given the chance to shine, then I suspect we’d be freefalling back into the play-offs for another year in League One. All hypothetical of course, but once again I’m worried by our failure to sign another striker in January.

Defence: The difference Kisnorbo makes is ridiculous. The defence had maybe two problems to deal with all afternoon and one of them found the back of the net as no one could challenge for the assisting cross.

Won on the night, drew overall, but out on penalties. Despite a defiant comeback from a never say die Leeds United side who were unquestionaly the better team overall, it’s Carlisle that will play in this years JPT final at Wembley Stadium whilst Leeds United are dealt a bitter blow by the coin flip that is a penalty shoot-out.

I left Carlisle on Tuesday night feeling extremely bitter. The JPT for me was always a pointless competition I cared little about, but the opportunity to watch Leeds United play at Wembley once more was always tempting. My bitterness stemmed from quite possibly the worst referee I have ever seen. I usually try to ignore referee’s performances, because on the whole, the lower league ones are largely useless and both teams have to cope with their incompetence, but this referee was a special kind of moron.

Clearly, this ref had just got himself a new whistle and wanted to show it off to the 10,000 fans who he mistakenly believed had come to watch him. His whistle spent so much time in his mouth that the game hardly had a chance to flow early on, but he did seem to let up a little second half (presumably after a bollocking from someone) and the two teams were actually allowed to play football in small patches.

What was all the more irritating about this referee than the usual jobsworth was his inability to give a decision that actually mattered. If a player coughed near another one anywhere outside the penalty box then this was a definite free-kick in his mind. However, when a Leeds United player was fouled in the box for the most clear cut decision I saw all night, he gave nothing! The final blow for me though came at the very end when he decided to have the penalties taken infront of the Carlisle fans rather than at the opposite end which was split. The coin toss became a little more weighted in their direction at that point.

When the ref did stop to capture his breath, the game was actually a really good battle. The scoreline says it all really, but the comeback from Leeds United was magnificent. Both teams will be questioning some of the defending in the aftermath, most noticably Lubomir Michalik on our part who got himself two assists for Carlisle. Whenever it looked like it was over, Leeds United just didn’t give in and you could sense Mike Grella’s goal coming and just knew this was going down to the wire.

Carlisle for me didn’t deserve their place in the final, Leeds were the better team and but for some poor defending and a few dodgy decisions, we’d be playing in the most exciting JPT final the competition has ever seen infront of a capacity crowd at the national stadium. Without us, the final will hardly be thought of outside Carlisle, but we bow out of the competition with our heads held high and are now fully focused on what has been the number one priority all along. Promotion.

The ups

The fans – As always, the fans did Leeds United proud. We outsang the pitiful Carlisle fans throughout and even when our backs were to the wall facing a two goal mountain the songs just kept coming. MOT!

Never say die – The penalty shootout aside, this was a display from a spirited Leeds United who never gave up and carried on fighting no matter what the scoreline read and however stacked against us the odds were. This is the kind of display that will win Leeds United promotion, however bad the defence may be at times.

Attack, attack… attack, attack, attack! When the goals were needed and the referee kept his whistle out of his mouth for long enough and even without Jermaine Beckford (who would have probably got sent off with that ref) Leeds were good when on the front foot. Becchio should have done better with a couple of chances, but the build-up play from McSheffrey, Snoddy and Gradel was usually very good. Snoddy even managed to cross pretty well so long as the ball was moving. Corners on the other hand… Well, one step at a time…

The Downs

Luciano Becchio – Bitterly disappointed with Luci who bottled the penalty shoot-out, leaving our on-loan full-back to take the decisive penalty instead. Only one regular striker on the pitch in the absence of Beckford and he didn’t have the balls to step up and take a pen for Leeds. Whatever his reasons, he’s a striker and should always be taking them before the full-backs. Also could have done better infront of goal, but as a lone striker Grayson was asking a lot.

Max Gradel – Too much time with Jermaine Beckford has led to the youngster developing a serious attitude problem. The referee infuriated everyone, but shouting at him was never going to get you too far Max. There was one point where Kilkenny tried to calm him down only to receive a load of abuse too. His footballing display was good and he tried everything to give Leeds the edge, but his attitude overshadowed his performance. Lucky not to see a red card.

Lubomir Michalik – Dreadful. At times he made some good tackles and got the blocks in, but when taken into context with his mistakes, he was dreadful and cost us the game.

The tactics – Becchio as a lone striker? I know he’s found his shooting boots lately, but that was never a good idea. What on earth does Mike Grella have to do to get in the starting line-up at Leeds?

Firstly, sorry for the lack of updates lately, I’ve been a little busy with other things and had little time to spare for TSS. No match review for Tottenham was posted, and nor will it be. Those that weren’t alongside me at Elland Road undoubtedly saw the tie on TV so will know Leeds were by no means shameful in defeat, but bowed out of the FA Cup gracefully and can now concentrate on more pressing matters.

Those matters started again at Hartlepool in what was a scrappy affair throughout, with the match ending 2-2 as Hartlepool levelled it deep into injury time. Another set play poorly defended ultimately cost us the three points after a Becchio brace has left us infront going into the dying moments of the match. The most frustrating part of the equaliser was knowing a win would have been vital to our title dreams as both Norwich and Charlton slipped up.

Essentially, Hartlepool earnt their point the same way Leeds have snatched so many this season by never giving up and fighting to the death. Whether it was complacency from Leeds that cost us the win is debatable, but the defending of set-plays being brought into question once more won’t surprise anyone.

Whilst this wasn’t an epic performance from Leeds, it wasn’t a dismal one either like we’ve witnessed in recent weeks. We’re lacking the bit of flair we’ve played with at times this season, but you can’t expect to see that every game. To say Leeds should have beaten Hartlepool would be discrediting what was a good side who battle hard and overall, deserved their point. As hard as the late equaliser was to swallow, that’s the reality of it. Leeds never really outclassed Hartlepool and a draw is a fair reflection of the game.

Whilst it’d have been nice to get a win at Pool and capitalise on Norwich’s slip, I suspect an average of four points from every six will be more than enough to take us up automatically, so a draw away and a win at home in our last two is good form as far as I’m concerned and we’re on the right track once more.

The ups

Domination: In the first half we dominated almost totally. Becchio’s goal was the only thing that seperated us though at half-time and Pool grew in confidence because of it.

Becchio: Luci is on a nice run of form at the minute and thoroughly deserved his brace.

Squad rotation: Some of it forced by injury, whilst others were just rested, but it was nice to see a few different faces in the starting XI. We’d all questioned Simon’s motives in fielding the same squad in congested patches, so it’s good to see him utilising the depth and Leeds getting a result with some different faces.

The downs

Conceding from set-plays: Anyone know how many we’ve conceded from set-plays this season? I suspect it’ll be a large percentage of our total. It seems to have been a constant thorn in our side for a while and shows no signs of letting up.

Lack of va-va-voom: It’s that little thing you just can’t put your finger on that one minute you have and the next you don’t. A little flair, some finesse, I don’t quite know, but at times this season we’ve been untouchable and a joy to watch. This wasn’t one of them.

TSS man of the match

Three goals in the last two for our on/off goalscorer. Let’s hope he can continue to contribute more as the season comes to a close. Failure to capture another striker in the transfer window disappointed me, but if Luci is to start firing them in like this, then who cares. MOT.