The Scratching Shed

"You just listen to me Becks and we'll have this baby back in no time!"

Allan Clarke has added fuel to the never ending Jermaine Beckford saga by telling our leading goalscorer that Newcastle United aren’t a big enough club and he’ll never play for anyone bigger than Leeds. Quite right too. Clearly, this has annoyed a few barcodes mind.

Clarke said;

“Jermaine is doing a great job for Leeds, the fans love him, and he is already with the biggest club he’ll ever play for.

“Let’s face it, Leeds are far bigger than Newcastle, so Jermaine should stay at Elland Road and become a real hero there.”

A quick glance through the comments on the TribalFootball website is enough for you to get the jist of the Newcastle v Leeds row going on in there and what an amusing one it is too. Leeds fans agree with Clarke, Newcastle United fans don’t. (Shock!)

Newcastle point to their superior attendance figures as proof they are a bigger club. Ok, that’s a given, but then you have got a much bigger stadium and more reasonable ticket prices for the League you’re in. This leads to catchment area. Leeds is indeed the third biggest city in England and definitely has a massive area, but then so does Newcastle. An almost infinite supply of feeder towns with almost no noticable clubs to rival you and Sunderland. Let’s not forget, we have both Sheffield’s who are unquestionably big clubs, Hull and of course Manchester United (Although, admittedly we all have to tolerate their fans). Then there’s a whole host of smaller clubs with sizeable fanbases around here such as Bradford and Barnsley. In comparison, you have a monopoly over your area!

The fact of the matter is though. Who cares? You’re always going to get bigger attendances whilever you’re in a bigger stadium and higher league. We’d be getting plenty more in, in your position. You’ve already lost 8,000 fans since last season (although, I can accept ownership may be an issue – as it is with Leeds!)

Trophies next up. Leeds have three league titles, Newcastle have four. Leeds have one FA Cup, Newcastle have six. Leeds have two UEFA Cup’s, Newcastle have one. Leeds were robbed of the European Cup by a bribed referee (1975). Newcastle have never come close. What really matters here though lads is you’ve done nothing since the 1950′s, and three of your League titles were in the days before Leeds United even existed when your biggest rival was Bristol City. Hardly a massive achievement is it?

In fairness it’s been a while for Leeds too. Aside from our title winning season of 1992 under the legendary Howard Wilkinson (who then messed up and sold Cantona), Leeds haven’t done much since the 1970′s. That said, when it comes to football on the big stage, by which I mean Europe, Leeds are still the 14th most successful side in Europe in terms of matches played and won. We’re ranked there because of consistency, because over the decades we’ve qualified and competed in Europe much more than the rest of the English teams in that list - yourselves included. (You’re 87th)

Healthiest looking Geordie I could find... honest!

For me, that makes Leeds United the bigger team, but it’s all down to interpretation and whatever shade of tinted spectacles you happen to be wearing. For those of you in the black and white striped ones, you’ll point to a collection of trophies collected 60-100 years ago, whilst the ones looking through blue, white and yellow ones will point to Revie, Europe and consistency.

It’s an impossible argument that no one can win. I know this because I grew up in a small mining town near Leeds which is literally bursting with Geordies who came Southwards to teach us how to dig holes in the ground and pull lumps of black gold out. A lot of my friends therefore support Newcastle United, so I’m well versed in such arguments and know full well that they never end, and no one ever wins.

It’s totally irrelevant who is and who isn’t the better team anyway. The fact of the matter remains that Leeds and Newcastle are two massive clubs who have massively underachieved, had inept chairmen and find themselves lingering in league’s neither of them belong. Let’s focus on what really matters, which is getting back into a position where we can both challenge for honours once more.

…and as for Allan Clarke? Well, he is a Leeds United legend, he’s hardly going to side with you lot!

When Hogan Ephraim’s shot deflected in after just eight minutes, it looked like it was going to be all too easy for Leeds United, but if the opening goal was lucky, the atrocious defending that went unpunished thereafter was miraculous.

Grayson rung the changes to his side. Richard Naylor returned to the team and partnered Lubomir Michalik at the back, with Crowe and Hughes playing at full-back. On-loan Liverpool goalkeeper, David Martin made his debut and there was also starts for Hogan Ephraim, Tresor Kandol and Mike Grella.

After Ephraim’s fortuitous opening goal, Leeds never applied any real pressure. The best chances we had for the remainder of the first half fell to Kandol, who had a shot blocked by the Accrington keeper’s legs and a hopeful shot from Robert Snodgrass that went wide.

Accrington meanwhile probably had as many chances as Leeds including a free-header from a corner that their striker really should have buried. The lack of man-marking from the set-piece was a sign of things to come as the shaky Leeds defence made the game harder than it should have been.

The second half brought with it another early goal when Ephraim crossed for Kilkenny who headed home. 2-0 to Leeds and things really should have been wrapped up.

Accrington never put their heads down though and kept fighting. Had it not been for a lucky save from David Martin which flicked on to the post and came back out in to the path of a White shirt, Accrington could have been back in it. More fortune for Leeds as the woodwork came to their rescue again and the Leeds defence continued to scare the life out of the 12,000 inside Elland Road.

Grayson changed the front two with Kandol and Grella making way for Vokes and Gradel. Neither of the departing strikers will have been happy with their shift as they did little to threaten Stanley’s keeper throughout. Gradel forced an impressive save from the Accrington keeper late on, but the substitutes didn’t have much more luck than the two they replaced and Accrington continued to look the more likely to score.

Such was the state of Leeds United at the back, Simon Grayson made the decision to bring on Patrick Kisnorbo in place of Robert Snodgrass, effectively changing the formation to 5-3-2. Probably not something he’d expected to have to do before the fixture, but Naylor and Lubo just weren’t keeping the visitors at bay.

Leeds managed to escape the fixture with a clean sheet, but if todays team was supposed to show the quality of this squads depth then we have problems. I know Doyle is often seen as the weak link in midfield, but the job he does in suring up the defence is invaluable. His absence today was noticable throughout. The partnership of Lubo and Naylor didn’t work and the full-backs didn’t inspire much confidence either.

Elsewhere, Grella and Kandol never really had a chance to shoot. The difference between the two sides was only Leeds taking their chances. There were very few clear cut chances for the Whites as we rarely looked in a hurry to attack, but the ones we did have were converted. Accrington meanwhile will have been disappointed with some of their finishing, most notably the free-headet in the first half. However, they’ll also be cursing their luck with the woodwork coming to our rescue twice.

Regardless of how many changes we made tonight, we have to improve before the weekend. Southampton are a strong side and with Rickie Lambert upfront, they’ll be sure to punish such sloppy defending. The main thing is that we’re through to the final where we’ll meet Carlisle United. Although I’d have preferred to play the Leeds suburb of Bradford, we’re still in the race for Wembley and that’s the main thing.

TSS man of the match
I’m going to give it to the Elland Road woodwork tonight as without it, we’d have probably been knocked out on penalties. Hogan Ephraim deserves a shout too though. Although he did little to help out defensively (like the rest of the team) he got himself a goal and an assist, so an obvious choice.

Leeds and Accrington Stanley will tonight battle it out for a place in the Northern Area JPT final at Elland Road. Leeds come into the game on the back of two draws against Huddersfield Town and Brentford, whilst Accrington are in fine form having won their last four consecutive games.

A win for the Whites tonight could setup an area final against the Leeds suburb of Bradford. Leeds and Bradford last met in this competiton last season, when Leeds knocked the Bantams out with a 2-1 win at Elland Road. That day, Andy Robinson fired Leeds into the lead early on from the penalty spot and Becchio added a second just before half-time. Bradford did pull one back late in the second half, but it was Leeds who progressed.

Whilst Leeds have a glorious history of dominance over our neighbours, we’ve never met Accrington Stanley before in a competitive match, so they’ll be an unkown challenge as they visit Elland Road for the first time tonight.

A couple of current players share a link between the two teams. Young Scottish goalkeeper, Alan Martin was on-loan to Accrington before Shane Higgs’ injury forced Leeds to recall him and another youngster, Tom Lees is also getting some first team experience on loan to Accrington. However, I’m under the impression that there’s some kind of mutual agreement between the two sides meaning Tom Lees will not play at Elland Road tonight.

Accrington Stanley are managed by John Coleman who has been in charge at the club for 10 years. He has a pretty impressive record overall having guided Accrington to three promotions (all as champions) during his 465 games in charge. He also holds the record for the clubs longest serving manager and so far this season, his team sit comfortably in mid-table in League Two, still with an outside chance of reaching the play-offs.

Robert Snodgrass will return to the team tonight after picking up a one-match ban for five bookings so far this term. Simon Grayson has also suggested that Sam Vokes will return to the squad after being left out for the draw away to Brentford. Grayson said that the reason Vokes was missing was because he had already selected five loanees which is the maximum allowed under FA rules.

I’d be disappointed if we failed to progress tonight. Success in the JPT would mean a trip to Wembley, which would be good for the fans and just as good for the clubs finances. The possibility of a derby match against Bradford City too is hard to ignore, and after two draws in the League, we need to get back to winning ways.

Andrew Milne

Darlington 0-1 Bradford City

Our nineteen year old centre-back made his first appearence for Darlington after being unnamed in their previous fixture. Steve Staunton rung the changes to the side after being destroyed by Notts County (4-0) earlier in the week.

Despite the changes, Darlington’s disastrous run of results continued as a small team from the Leeds suburb of Bradford won the match 1-0. An improved performance in terms of goals conceded, but nonetheless a forth consecutive defeat for Darlington in a match where they were totally outplayed and managed just one shot on target.

Darlington remain bottom of the league having picked up just eight points so far. With a goal difference of minus thirty, things look bleak for Steve Staunton. Whether he can turn things round or not remains to be seem, but either way, this is good match experience for Andrew Milne who played all 90 minutes.

An away trip to 21st place Torquay next for Darlington. If they have any hopes of turning this dreadful run around and escaping relegation, they need to start picking points up there.

Davide Somma

Aldershot 1-0 Chesterfield

Somma was dropped to the bench after last weeks 3-2 defeat at home to mid-table Crewe, but was brought on for the last fifteen minutes and judging by the Aldershot Town official website, may have been unlucky not to get his first goal for the club.

Aldershot’s offical site reports that “substitute David Somma powered his header goal bounds Ruiz was equal to the effort with a spectacular low save stretching to his left. There was certainly life in this match and loanee Somma, who missed a penalty in midweek, looked keen to make amends after his introduction.”

Somma was denied again by the Aldershot keeper late-on, in what appears to have been a very evenly contested tie. Although I’d have been much happier to see our striker start the game, I guess his penalty miss last week went against him. However, he does seem to be making an impression and with more game time, I’m sure he’ll improve.

After todays defeat, Chesterfield sit seventh in the League Two table occupying the final play-off spot. Sounds like things just aren’t running for them at the minute with two penalty misses last week and some good saves from the Aldershot goalkeeper today. Even with the back-to-back defeats though, Chesterfield are still only four points off the automatic places. Their next three games see them take on sides from the bottom half of the division, starting at Cheltenham on Saturday.

Every football club has it’s celebrity following and Leeds United is no exception. Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics has been eager to use his support of the club to help promote the bands new album, Keep Calm and Carry On, which is released Monday.

Despite growing up in the coal-mining town of Cwmaman, South Wales, Kelly Jones admits that in his household ”You went Welsh for Rugby and supported an English team for Football” and since his two older brothers were already big Leeds United fans, he had little choice in the matter.

Despite admitting he’s not seen Leeds United play in the last couple of seasons (..ahem…fair weather fan…) Kelly still follows Leeds United’s fortunes and is updated with the scores from friends every matchday.

Other notable Leeds United fans include Radio One DJ and everyones favourite loud-mouth, Chris Moyles, who used to “hang out” with Kelly Jones and co. at the Champions League games. These days, Chris is probably our most famous fan with regular mentions to the Whites on his Radio One show. Like most modern celebrities, Chris also has a Twitter page where he often mentions Leeds United too.

Other famous Leeds United fans with musical connections include the artist (ha) formerly known as Scary Spice, or Mel B for those of you with a wider grasp of Spice Girls knowledge. Another talented performer, Gareth Gates (sorry, I’ll stop now) is also a Leeds United fan as are some more credible musicians like Grant Nicholas (Feeder frontman), the Kaiser Chiefs (who are named after the club we bought Lucas Radebe from), Pigeon Detectives, Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard), Chris from Kasabian, Tim Booth (James’ frontman), and Danny & Richard McNamara from Embrace - as well as many more I’m sure.

Elsewhere, the golfer Nick Faldo claims to be a Leeds United fan although until I see him at Elland Road with a scarf around his neck, red nose and screaming along to the hundreth repitition of WACCOE, I’ll not be convinced.

Everyones favourite Emmerdale star, Ben Freedman (never watched it, but I’m guessing he must be) is another Leeds United fan and quite interestingly, so are Southend United’s manager, Steve Tilson and Bradford City’s boss, Stuart McCall. A full list of the Leeds United fans we’ve outed so far can be found here. Maybe they can all club together and use their wealth to save us from the clutches of Forward Sports Fund and it’s mysterious benefactors?

A survey conducted by the Football Fans Census showed Leeds United were cited as rivals by nine teams, putting us third overall in the list of teams with the most rivals. What quickly becomes apparent though is that none of these rivalries are reciprocal.

The list shows the top three cited rivals for each club, and whilst Bradford City place us first, we don’t count them in our top three at all despite the obvious geographical factor (the cities are almost inter-twined these days). Leeds fans still cite Premier League teams as our major rivals, which is consistent with my general feelings. In the five years we’ve been out of the Premier League, I’ve never disliked one team more than the next. I just want Leeds to beat them all.

I think there is a rivalry with Bradford City, but they have a much bigger dislike for us than we do them. It’s much like Notts County and Nottingham Forest. Whilst County list Forest as their biggest rival, Forest would tell you that there’s is Derby County. Infact, much like the Leeds and Bradford rivalry, Forest don’t list County in their top three at all despite the teams being seperated by about 5 metres.

It’s all down to success on the pitch. Although both Leeds and Forest are in the lower tiers at the minute, both have had highly successful periods in their history which the neighbours have had to watch enviously from afar.

Hull City follow suit with Bradford by citing us as their main rival, whilst both Sheffield teams but us second (behind each other). Barnsley, Huddersfield, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Derby also place Leeds United within their top three.

Leeds United fans meanwhile put Manchester United as their biggest rival. Although Manchester United don’t include Leeds in their top three (Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal) this is probably down to our current league status.

The rivalry between these two clubs needs no introduction and a close friend of mine who holds a season ticket at Old Trafford (I’ve tried to make her see the error of her ways) tells me they still sing anti-Leeds songs to this day. The same is repeated at Elland Road where you’ll often hear how much Leeds “hate Manu, hate Manu”.

The rivalry between Leeds and Manchester is so well known, someone actually decided to add a Wikipedia page in its honour, citing the reasons why the two teams hate each other so passionately (War of the Roses, Hooliganism, Industrial revolution, Revie-Busby). It doesn’t suprise me to see us not feature in Manchester United’s top three. Why would we, when we’re currently two divisions below them? While we still hate them and the success they continue to have, they have no reason to be jealous of our misfortunes. It’s the equivalent of Bradford and Hull hating us.

Second on Leeds’ list is of course, Chelsea. Once upon a time, Chelsea would probably have been number one. The infamous grudge matches between the two sides whilst Revie was at the helm remain a talking point to this day and the hooliganism factor thereafter kept the two sides in the news for all the wrong reasons. 

Finally, in third place is Liverpool. This one suprised me a little, but that’s probably because I’ve never really minded them. For me, the mutual hatred of Manchester United makes us kindred spirits – albeit the kind of kindred spirits where they’ll steal your mobile phone whilst your not looking.

So, nine different teams citing us as rivals, none of which we care about too much and three teams we’ve cited that have totally forgotten we exist (“…we’re not famous anymore!”) I guess it’s hard to forget Leeds United however far we sink. First we’re voted the most hated club in the country, then we come third in a list of rivalries. Oh well, there’s no such thing as bad press I suppose.

Not since 1998 have Leeds United met Grimsby Town in any competition, but that’s hardly going to thrill many Leeds fans who will have been looking for a more exciting draw than a visit from the struggling League Two side.

For me, and no doubt many other Leeds fans, the ideal draw would have been us against Bradford, but they’ll now have to see off Port Vale to stand any chance of rekindling an old rivalry.

The biggest draw is undoubtedly in the Southern section where Southampton will meet Charlton.

The games, which will be played on the week commencing 9th November will decide who takes one step closer to the final at Wembley Stadium, and perhaps, who simply didn’t care. After the disappointing performance from some of our fringe players against Darlington, Simon Grayson will be looking for his reserves to put on a better show and progress to the next round.

The game could be an even lower turn-out than Darlington as Sky have announced they’ll be broadcasting it live. Cold and wintery night at Elland Road to watch poor quality football or nice and toasty warm with a pint in hand down the local? I know what the majority will choose.

Enthusiasm for the JPT simply isn’t ripe amongst Leeds United fans. Although many at the Darlington game were keen on another trip to Wembley, they also felt the League was more important and any run in the JPT shouldn’t be at a consequence to the League campaign.

That said, the poll I’ve been running on the site shows a 50% majority want Leeds to win the JPT whilst just 32% feel ‘it’s a pointless competition.’ It’s certainly not the FA Cup, or even the League Cup, but I guess – aside from the League title – it’s the best chance we’ve had at silverware in a while and it’d be nice to have some success to celebrate.

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