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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Striker Ross McCormack has signed for Leeds today

24 year old Scotland international striker Ross McCormack has signed for an undisclosed fee (rumoured to be around £300 000) from Championship side Cardiff City.

McCormack is a proven Championship striker having notched up 33 goals in 88 appearances as well as two in three sub appearances this season.

The deal became public earlier in the week when both clubs released a statement on the deal after McCormack’s agent had spoken to Sky about it. A three year contract has now been agreed with the player and he should go into the squad for Saturday’s game against Watford.

There was some speculation amongst fans that the deal may not go ahead, either because of interest drummed up by the player’s agent or because it was a ploy to get another Cardiff player, Gavin Rae. There were also rumours of a late bid by Hull City that could jeopardise the transfer.

Fans can rest assured that we have now acquired the striker. How he will fit into the side is another question though. With Davide Somma, scoring three goals in two games and Luciano Becchio providing consistent performances, Simon Grayson will have to decide which striker starts in his recently favoured 4-5-1 system or whether to change the system to incorporate two or more of them.

As we approach the end of the transfer window (and the deadline for Premier League 25 man squads) fans may be hopeful of seeing another addition to the squad after Simon Grayson and Ken Bates have talked of adding an extra midfielder. This could mean we see Honduran trialist Ramon Nunez join sooner rather than later as a decision is set to be made this week.

#01 – Leeds United can tame Lions

Millwall had become somewhat of a bogey team for Leeds United over the two seasons previous, and with the Lions leading the Championship after two games it was set to be an herculean task defeating them this time. Leeds’ lion-tamers rose to challenge though as Millwall came with a roar, and left without so much much as a whimper giving Leeds their first victory of the season.

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Max Gradel could make his first appearance of the season against his former club

As reported earlier today, Leeds United is in talks with Cardiff City forward Ross McCormack after the clubs agreed on an undisclosed fee.

The potential arrival of a new striker will leave whoever starts in tonight’s Carling Cup 2^nd round game against Leicester City desperate to impress manager Simon Grayson in an attempt to cement a place in the first team. After Davide Somma’s influential appearance from the bench on Saturday against Millwall (match report here) he will be hoping for an extended run in the team, possibly alongside the ever-industrious Luciano Becchio.

The game against Leicester City looks set to be the first of the season for Max Gradel after the Ivorian completed his four match ban picked up after his dismissal against Bristol Rovers in the final game of last season. The winger’s return (against his old club) provides an enviable selection problem for Simon Grayson who has seen both Lloyd Sam and Sanchez Watt make great starts to the season. I predict that there may be one or two changes to tonight’s line-up to the one that started against Millwall with Grayson looking to build on Saturday’s good performance and give opportunities to other players.

Expectations for this Carling Cup game may divide Leeds fans. I would put preference on a performance over a result as there’s no doubt that last season’s cup runs certainly had an effect on the players’ form towards the end of the campaign. I would however like us to maintain the level shown against Millwall. As much as cup competitions provide extra excitement and good revenue the primary objective this season is consolidation in the league, if not more.

In other news today Leeds United received a £7500 fine and has been warned of their future conduct by the FA following charges over the involvement of players in disruptive scenes versus Nottingham Forest on August 15^th. Forest has been fined £12500 and defender Chris Gunter has received a three match ban for his stamp on Leeds player Sanchez Watt.

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!

This week, with Ryan still away on his holidays I caught up with Millwall fan, Neil for a look ahead to tomorrow’s fixture at Elland Road.

TSS - It seems you’ve started the new campaign with all guns blazing. Is this a better start than you expected or did you expect to surprise a few people? More importantly, is it sustainable?

Neil – I laughed when people had us down as relegation fodder. We’d have won the league had we not had almost an entire side out injured for the first part of last season. Our record against the top sides last season was terrific and I had no doubt we’d make the step up and be competitive. I didn’t quite expect us to trounce City 3-0 at Ashton Gate and beat Hull 4-0 at The Den mind.

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#01 – Betfair love The Scratching Shed

After a summer of fruitless transfer speculation and some heavy criticism from The Scratching Shed, Betfair retorted with a plea of love to Leeds fans. The less than subtle response to some of TSS’ criticism didn’t go unnoticed and TSS responded via Twitter, with Betfair explaining that they’re “very sensitive to criticism from [their] favourite Leeds United blog”.

Bless ‘em! We love you too Betfair!

#02 – Our away support is second to none

4,000 Whites fans out-sang 21,000 Forest fans on Sunday as the Leeds faithful enjoyed their first away trip of the season. According to this guide on a Nottingham Forest fans site, it wasn’t because our support is simply immense, but because we had the “best acoustics!”

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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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With Leeds United not in action until tomorrow, I thought we’d take a look at what happened elsewhere this weekend.

Millwall and QPR move level top of the Championship with consecutive wins that leave their goal margin at +7 each. It was a case of newly promoted vs newly demoted at the Den, with last years League One play-off winners destroying Hull City 4-0 in one of those games where it’s unfortunate that they both couldn’t lose. Meanwhile, QPR had things rapped up early against our Yorkshire rivals, Sheffield United with all three of their goals coming in the first 23 minutes of the match.

After a poor start to the campaign, Kevin Blackwell has been sacked by Sheffield United after a humiliating home defeat at the hands of former Blades manager, Neil Warnock.

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Forest danger-man Robert Earnshaw

Leeds United head to the City Ground tomorrow to face Nottingham Forest in what will surely be one of the hardest tests of the season. Forest, like Leeds, lost their opening game of the Championship going down 1-0 to recently relegated Burnley. They will be hoping to make home advantage count against Leeds as they failed to get off the mark in the Carling Cup midweek losing 2-1 to Bradford City after extra time.

Nottingham Forest finished 3^rd last season and missed out on promotion losing in the play offs to eventual winners Blackpool. They will be hoping to get a first win under their belt as they push for an automatic promotion place. Despite being underdogs for this game, Leeds should be positive going into it, after a good 4-0 win in midweek against Lincoln, it is arguably the best time to face such a test before Forest have gathered any momentum.

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