The Scratching Shed

With the transfer window due to open in just two days Simon Grayson may well be planning for life after Jermaine Beckford. Our number one striker has been the subject of much debate over the last week or so as the Newcastle United manager revealed he is looking into the possibility of signing Becks.

Leeds have maintained all along that Beckford will remain with Leeds until the summer unless a ‘ridiculous offer’ comes in. Whilst I’ve been adamant no club would be stupid enough to pay over the odds for a striker with less than six months remaining on his contract, this is Newcastle and if any club could graduate from the school of Peter Ridsdale financial management with honours, it’d undoubtedly be them.

That said, I guess it’s a case of what Leeds United want for Beckford. If it’s only £2-3m and not the £6m previously quoted, then it could be worth a punt for the Toon. If he can score enough goals to get them back to the Premiership, then he’d be worth every penny, but at the same time, what use is £2-3m to Leeds if we’re going to lose the only player capable of 30 goals a season?

I’ve been pretty convinced that Beckford will remain with Leeds United until the end of the season, but my feelings have changed since Hughton revealed his plans. If he does go, then Grayson will definitely be in the market to replace the goals he contributed and starting with Max Gradel is a good idea.

Simon Grayson has already extended Max Gradel’s loan to the 17th of January, bringing it to the maximum number of days allowed by Football League rules. Leicester have not allowed Max to participate in the FA Cup tie against Manchester United though, which is a bit of a shame as the lads performed well for us and the rest of the team will be talking about nothing else. Hopefully, the extension is simply to give Grayson more time to secure Gradel on a permanent transfer. If Beckford is to leave, then Gradel would be a good start to replacing those valuable goals.

Finally, it seems Grayson is also trying to secure a long term deal with Liverpool keeper, David Martin. Leeds and Liverpool have already agreed to extend his current loan deal until the end of January, but the player could be around for much longer if Grayson gets his wish. Only 23 years old and with plenty of potential, this is a good move from Simon Grayson who is clearly thinking long-term.

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.

Three in, three out

What’s impressed me more than anything about Simon Grayson since his arrival is his ‘take nothing for granted’ approach and the final day of the loan window saw plenty of activity for Leeds.

Firstly, it’ll come as no suprise to most that Tony Capaldi has joined us from Cardiff City. It’s been suggested for a few days that Larry was targeting him and with Andrew Hughes the latest addition to our injury list, it makes good sense. Personally, I’ve been impressed with Aidy White whenever he’s got a game, but you can’t blame SG for covering his bases.  

Simon has also brought in Hogan Ephraim (what a name!) who is a midfielder from Queen’s Park Rangers alongside 23-year-old Liverpool goalkeeper, David Martin. The final one suprised me a little bit. I’m probably one of Casper’s biggest critics, the bloke drives me insane, but he’s kept four consecutive clean sheets and with Alan Martin on standby, I didn’t realise we were in the market for a new keeper. I guess Shane Higgs must be out for a while longer?

Meanwhile, going out of Elland Road until the New Year is Andrew Milne, Alan Sheehan and Davide Somma. Sheehan has gone to Swindon Town and with him unlikely to get much first team action, I wouldn’t be too suprised to see this made permanent in January. Andrew Milne and Davide Somma however have gone to Darlington and Chesterfield respectively, where they should pick up some much needed match experience. I’ll be keeping a close eye on them two.

Can’t take us anywhere

Really interesting piece on The Guardian website today showing what it takes for a non-league team to host someone like Leeds United. Kettering have been more than generous giving Leeds United around a quarter of the total tickets. We’ll be occupying the stand running lengthways across the pitch, opposite the makeshift commentary box where Clive Tyldsley and Andy Townsend will be.

With an average attendance of 1,600, Kettering are expecting almost four times that on Sunday which means the club need extra policing to treat the Leeds United fans like thugs and keep us in line (It’s ok, we’re used to it!) An interesting stat used by the Guardian is that on Sunday alone, Kettering will spend 40% of last seasons entire Policing costs to stage the game. Can’t take us anywhere!

Stadium redevelopment plans

There’s days when I check the official Leeds United site and I’m almost convinced Ken Bates is trying to wind us up. It’s like he gets some sadistic thrill from it or something. Maybe the wife is holding out on him these days, so we have to suffer as a consquence?

Anyway, to get to the point, the Leeds United official site is this morning boasting about the plans to extend both the North and West stand should Leeds win host city status. Furthermore, the club also mentions it’s approved planning permission for the East Stand eyesore that will also begin construction should we be successful.

It’s not that I don’t want to see Elland Road improved – although what the point would be when we’re stuck in League One and can’t fill it as it is, despite being top of the league is beyond me – it’s the Thorp Arch thing once more. How on earth can we afford to build a Leeds branch of Chelsea Village and extend two of our stands when we can’t scrape together enough money to repurchase something so fundamentally important to the clubs future? Where on earth is the money for this coming from Ken?