17 minute hat-trick for Luci

The first league game between Bristol City and Leeds United for more than 30 years got under way after a minutes silence was held around the country to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country. The teams were also wearing modified kits, which included a red poppy to mark the occasion and there was a number of service men and women in attendance at the game.

In the Bristol City side were a few familiar faces, not least of which was former England keeper, David James. Former Leeds United Academy player, Danny Rose also made his return to Elland Road as a Bristol player on-loan from Tottenham Hotspur – he started from the bench.

Simon Grayson meanwhile remained as unpredictable as ever. The Leeds boss once again went with a 4-5-1 formation, but had replaced Luciano Becchio with Davide Somma alone up front. More surprising perhaps, was Bradley Johnson retaining his place in the team after an absolute mare of a game against Hull City in midweek.

It was a slow and scrappy opening ten minutes, but Leeds United eventually took control of the game with a long spell of patient passing that retained possession whilst they looked for an opening. The extended spell of possession ended when Jonny Howson back-heeled the ball into the path of Davide Somma, who despite a poor first touch, managed to get a shot away which was well saved by David James.

Jonny Howson remained influential in everything and was once again the provider as Max Gradel’s shot was deflected into the path of David James just minutes later. This time, Bristol City managed to break quickly with a brave Kasper Schmeichel denying Jon Stead, as Bristol forged their first real attack of the game.

Leeds remained the more dominant of the two sides, but the game was pretty scrappy overall and neither team created much in the way of solid goalscoring opportunities. Howson, Gradel and Snodgrass were all lively for Leeds but the final ball wasn’t there and the sides went in goalless at half time,

At half time, the talking point was the formation and the general consensus was that we needed to go 4-4-2 with the introduction of Becchio or Paynter alongside Somma. Grayson stuck to his guns though and the teams lined up for the second half unchanged.

With unchanged tactics, came an unchanged football match. Leeds remained the more dominant side, but a combination of mistakes, poor passing and offsides were starting to cause frustration and the crowd were getting restless.

After 15 minutes of the second half, the substitution board finally appeared but there was to be no change of formation as Grayson brought Becchio on for Somma and Sam on for Gradel. I thought the better option would have been Johnson or Killa off for Becchio with the team switching to 4-4-2, but what do I know?

Simon Grayson’s persistence with the 4-5-1 was fully vindicated just minutes later when Robert Snodgrass surged down the wing to cross in for Luciano Becchio to send Leeds United in front.

1-0 to Leeds. TSS silenced…

…for all of two minutes anyway, because that’s the amount of time it took Bristol City to equalize. Some pretty lousy defending from Leeds gifted Jon Stead the space to equalize with ease. 1-1. Game on.

The game had really sparked into life though as Grayson’s other substitute, Lloyd Sam was pulled back in the box and denied a clear penalty. Rather than complain about another injustice, Sam came again forcing a save from David James which spilled into the path of Luciano Becchio who scored his second in four minutes to put Leeds back in front. 2-1

Leeds remained in control and despite the self-destructive nature of our draw to Hull still fresh in memory and the added worry of Danny Rose’s introduction, I was confident our run of home games without victory was about to come to an end

My confident stance proved well-founded too, as McCartney delivered the cross that would provide Becchio with the chance to finish off his hattrick in front of the Kop. The Argentinian made no mistake, scoring his third in just 17 minutes to simultaneously end his run of games without a goal and Leeds’ run of home games without victory.

A couple of other chances after that, the best of which came from Bristol as they forced a save from Kasper Schmeichel but the game ended 3-1 and the Leeds fans left Elland Road happy for the first time since September the 25^th (when we beat Sheffield United 1-0).

I was a bit mythed by the substitutions at the time, but in hindsight you can really see why Simon Grayson picks the team and why we watch on scratching our heads. Grayson used a similar tactic last year, letting the pacier striker start (Beckford) and sending the stronger, more physical striker on to finish them off. When Becchio and Sam were introduced, Bristol just couldn’t adapt to the new threat and were found wanting as Leeds went in for the kill.

Becchio also answered my recent criticisms in style today. After singling him out following the Scunthorpe and Coventry games, I actually thought he improved no end midweek (v Hull) and was surprised he started from the bench. But as I said above, the tactics worked well and Becchio was used to devastating effect.

That win takes Leeds up to 5^th in the table as the twists and turns continue. It also takes our goal difference out of the negative with 31 for and 31 against. Never boring watching Leeds this season, is it?

TSS man of the match

Howson, Snoddy and Sam all had excellent games, as did O’Brien and McCartney who often get overlooked because of the dire defensive record Leeds have. The hat-trick hero takes the spoils though with a memorable three in front of the Kop.

A bit of Revie magic needed

The sacking of Thorp Arch Academy boss, Neil Thompson will be seen as long overdue by many Leeds United fans who feel the former treasure trove of talent has run dry over the last couple of seasons.

The sudden dry-patch experienced in Thorp Arch produced talent has been a big talking point for a while now amongst supporters, with many fans – myself included – questioning Simon Grayson’s faith in young players and willingness to introduce them to the first team.

Ken Bates is pointing no fingers at the door of Simon Grayson though, and firmly believes the failings rest with Neil Thompson.

Whilst Technical Director, Gywn Williams works his way through a pile of applications looking for a suitable replacement, Ken Bates explains a vision of a Leeds United team made of strong home-grown talent;

“If you think about it there hasn’t been a new name coming out of the academy for two or three seasons now.

“Leeds should be primarily a strong Yorkshire team and you won’t get that unless you sign strong Yorkshire boys and that is what we are hoping to do.

“Every now and again clubs do change their philosophy. Gwyn Williams, our head of football is taking over the running of the academy between now and Christmas to assess our shortcoming and what we need to improve.

“With his vast knowledge, both national and international, he will know the best people to bring in to change the academy, the direction of the academy and hopefully will start producing us players again.”

Whilst I don’t dispute the need for a new direction, Neil Thompson’s reign as academy boss was under extremely difficult circumstances. In the space of a decade we went from being experienced tappers-up ourselves to vulnerable shark-bait and any half-decent players we did produce (Fabian Delph, Danny Rose et al.) were quickly snapped up by the Premier League teams for a life of bench-warming and reserve team football.

Meanwhile, Ken Bates lined his pockets from transfer fees and by suing the clubs for stealing our players. I suspect Ken’s real frustration is more to do with the lack of transfer fees being received, as opposed to players making the first team but I’m forever cynical of his motives and even if it is solely for the financial gains then this is of benefit to the club too – it’ll help fund the demolition of the Kop to make way for a new restaurant and bar.

I suppose Neil Thompson’s real failing was the inability to keep youngsters at the club when big teams came knocking. There’s lessons to be learnt here from the master of keeping players happy, Don Revie.

In creating the greatest Leeds United team of all time, Revie plucked the best young players from all over the country from beneath the noses of bigger teams. There are many similarities between our current situation and that which Revie inherited, not least the division we find ourselves in and a team made up of largely average players.

But by going the extra mile to sign the likes of Lorimer, Gray and to keep Bremner at Leeds when he was suffering from homesickness, Revie created a close-knit family of superstars where everyone would die for the cause and no one ever dreamed of leaving. Revie always went the extra mile for them, and they would do anything to repay his efforts. It wasn’t just Leeds United they felt a part of, but the city too, which is why many of them still live in the area and are still involved with the club to this day.

Of course, football has changed a lot since Revie’s day, but the underlying principles remain the same. Players will stay where they feel wanted and where they believe they can have a successful future. Just look at Gareth Bale and Tottenham. Harry Redknapp is the modern day God of remarkable signings (van der Vaart being a recent example) and every player loves to play for him because he convinces players that the grass isn’t greener elsewhere.

Leeds United did go in for Lee Barnard, but were beaten to his signature by Southampton.  Apparently, the reason he chose Southampton over Elland Road is because he didn’t want to move north, which would make sense. Clearly, this was never about climbing the ladder for Lee, or he’d have definitely chose Leeds. No disrespect at all meant to Southampton, who I fully expect to make the play-offs, but promotion is still a dot on the horizon for them. The play-offs are a bit of a lottery that everyone wants to avoid (especially us).

£10m bids for Beckford?

This mornings papers are claiming that Leeds may now receive offers in the region of £10,000,000 for Jermaine Beckford! I was willing to help him pack and drive him where ever when people were quoting £3m, but for £10m I’ll carry him to the next club on my shoulders. Whilst I don’t doubt the FA Cup games have turned a few heads, football will have gone to a whole new level of crazy if we get £10m for Jermaine.

Maximum impact

Max Gradel should become our first permanent signing of the January transfer window today as he undertakes the necessary medical at Elland Road. The Ivorian youngster impressed Leeds United fans immediately after arriving on loan three months ago and there’s been calls for Grayson to ‘sign him up’ ever since.

Max has clearly enjoyed his time at Leeds United and spurred on by the overwhelming love he’s received from the clubs supporters, he almost immediately handed in a transfer request on his return to Leicester.

Return of Rose?

According to The People, Leeds are preparing to make a move for former academy starlet Danny Rose, who currently plays for FA Cup opponents, Tottenham Hotspur.

Rose met his former club in Saturday’s clash and gave a pretty impressive performance throughout. However, the appearence was a rare treat for the youngster who has spent most of his time so far out on loan. It’s believed Bolton (who are coincidentally our opponents in round 5, should we beat Tottenham) are also hoping to get Danny in on loan. Rose is believed to prefer a move to another Premier League club so the chances of him returning to Leeds are slim.

Snoddy here to stay

They say always end on a high and today, that particular high is provided by Robert Snodgrass who hit all the right notes after our draw with Tottenham telling The Times that he didn’t want to leave Leeds United;

“If they don’t want to sell me, I don’t want to leave, there’s no point. This team will be there at some point in the next two years.

“Everything is set up to go right back to the top.

“There’s no point being here if you think it stops when we get to the Championship.”

Reading between the lines, that statement could be taken as a bit of a dig at Jermaine Beckford, but in another interview Snoddy defended our “lazy” wantaway striker;

“Becks is just a clinical finisher and he’s rapid. Sometimes people say he doesn’t work too hard but you have to pick and choose.

“What do you want? Do you want the goals or do you want a striker who works hard? I think I prefer the goals, to be fair.”

Goals vs work rate? Where have I heard that argument before…