The Scratching Shed

With the closure of the loan transfer market came Simon Grayson’s last throw of the dice for our promotion dreams. With injuries to key players Jermaine Beckford and Patrick Kisnorbo, Larry had one final chance to get things right to save Leeds United’s promotions dreams, and most probably his job.

However much I like Larry, the one thing he has to do this season is secure promotion. An incredible start meant it was ours to lose, and of course, we’re doing our best to make sure things aren’t easy. If he fails at the final hurdle, no matter how close he comes, it simply isn’t close enough. Tough as that may be, he’s in charge of one of the countries biggest clubs and with such a big job, comes big expectations.

The first area Larry addressed was the most obvious one. When Kis went off injured against Millwall, our defence fell to pieces. With Rui still injured, a replacement seemed the best way forward and for that, he turned to Preston North End and their out-of-favour centre-back Neill Collins.

Already, an unhappy and disillusioned Leeds United faithful have been quick to criticise this move due to his lack of success at Preston. I must admit, I have my own reservations too, but if you take a closer look at his history, you’ll see he’s been quite successful elsewhere; most notably, Wolves.

This could be an absolutely disastrous signing, as many of Simon Grayson’s loan signings have been. It’s a signing forged in desperation and adversity, so it’d be no major shock if Collins wasn’t the answer to our prayers. However, I’m feeling quite optimistic about his arrival. He’s a player with an established career at a higher level, desperate to prove his worth and undoubtedly looking to secure a future away from Preston. Only time will tell, but he’s definitely got a lot to play for so shouldn’t need much motivation.

Sticking with the defence, Shane Lowry returns from Aston Villa to fill the troublesome left-back vacancy that has been a constant weakness since Ben Parker was sidelined through injury.

I’ll probably take heavy criticism for this, but I was actually quite impressed with Lowry. He didn’t make the brightest of starts admittedly, but before he returned to Villa injured, he looked like he’d started to gel with the rest of the team and was certainly more successful than Andrew Hughes. Won’t be the most celebrated of signings, but he’s here to fill a void and it was a necessary move on Grayson’s part.

Finally we come to Sanchez Watt who joins us on loan from Arsenal. The Gunners are expecting great things from this youngster who Wenger brought in as a 15-year-old. When it comes to youngsters, no one has a better eye than Arsene Wenger so the young winger may be the one to watch as our season draws to a close.

Coming from Arsenal, he may be just what we need in that he’ll be familiar with passing the ball on the floor (something the rest of the team have clearly forgotten). Watt is also said to have electrifying pace and likes to run at players. Just the attacking threat we needed on the wing then?

A few months ago, the above three signings would have had my mouth watering, but after such incredible flops as Cardiff’s Capaldi, seeing will most definitely be believing as far as I’m concerned. It’s a shame the depth of the squad wasn’t used more when it should have been as a team of Leeds United’s size really shouldn’t have to resort to desperate last minute loan deals.

Going in the other direction is Liam Darville to Rotherham United and Andy Robinson leaves for Tranmere. I guess it was only a matter of time with Robbo, but his move highlights the kind of players we have available to us that have gone unused since Simon Grayson’s arrival. If the loan signings pay-off and we get automatic promotion then you can’t really question Larry’s judgement. However, if the season ends with Leeds United still in League One, the departure of Andy Robinson and David Prutton will be brought under intense scrutiny.  

So, the dice are rolled, jobs are on the line and tens of thousands of supporters expect. No pressure.

Two good loan signings and the unsurprising permanent move for Max Gradel didn’t make for the January transfer window most of us had probably hoped, but it does seem to have done the trick. Of course, one result at home to Colchester can no more be considered good form than two uncharacteristic losses be considered bad form, but the new additions certainly seemed to bring a bit of freshness into the side and they’ll hopefully get us back on track.  

Whilst much of the attention was on the players being linked with a move to Elland Road, David Prutton left for Colchester United. Always a favourite with the fans, affectionately nicknamed ‘Jesus’ after he went uncut and unshaven for the best part of a year, Prutton is one of the great characters of the game who is so easy likable and I’m sure the Colchester fans will take as much of a shine to him as we did.

In leaving, Prutton sent an open letter to the club and it’s fans thanking them for the the time he enjoyed at Elland Road;

Dear All,

It’s been one of the privileges of my life so far to have played for such a world renowned, highly respected football club.

The friendships I have made, the memories I hold dear and the sheer pleasure of being a Leeds player will stay with me for a long time.

Leeds United gets under your skin (as I’m sure all you avid fans know) and there will be a part of me that will always be Leeds.

I am proud to have played a part in bridging the gap between an uncertain past and a no doubt glorious future.

Leeds fans are loud, loyal and passionate. Make no mistake, you are the lifeblood of the club and always will be.

You were always fantastic to me and I hold that in my heart as I move on.

Thanks for everything,

David Prutton (aka Prutts, aka ‘Jesus’)

I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling a little emotional in reading that letter and in Prutton’s departure. I’ve said on here before that he was one of the players I expected to leave as such a player was unlikely to continue playing reserve team football, so the move came as no real shock. The letter however, did catch me a little off-guard. Very few players ever forge such a bond with any club these days, but in reading the above, you can really tell how much David Prutton loved playing for Leeds United.

I wish him all the best as he moves on from Leeds United. His humurous interviews were always good value and I’ve known several of his team-mates describe him as the joker in the changing room and I’m sure they’ll miss him too.

I imagine that, like me, the majority of readers are fans of Soccer AM and will therefore have seen the following clip but for those that haven’t, here’s Jermaine Beckford and Neil Kilkenny being interviewed not long back (but before Enoch’s transfer).

Quite interesting to see them both rate Grella as the most skilful. I’m shocked that Enoch is considered the most intellectual, although these are footballers we’re talking about. It’s the equivalent to Peter Crouch going to China and becoming the tallest man – no hard feat at all.

Not so shocking was that Beckford is considered the worst trainer, David Prutton is the joker (watch any interview with him, the mans a comedy genius) and Tres the best dancer; the MJ tribute act he did on crossbar challenge was hysterical.

Our 2009-10 Crossbar Challenge attempt (featured on Soccer AM) has found it’s way onto Youtube. Another poor attempt from Leeds United is lightened by Tresor Kandol’s magnificent Michael Jackson tribute, which he follows with a hopelessly poor shot. “TK20 – subs bench!”

The only person to successfully hit the crossbar is Bradley Johnson, who is mobbed by the rest of the team afterwards. Good to see all the lads in good spirits.

Mike Grella also seems to be developing a Yorkshire accent…

Just over a week until the transfer window opens and the rumour mill seems to have burst back in to life already with Jermaine Beckford unsurprisingly topping the list.

The most interesting rumour to have emerged so far is the one linking Becks with Middlesbrough, who are currently managed by our former captain, Gordon Strachan. Simon Grayson continues to dismiss all speculation however, reiterating his statement that Jermaine will be going nowhere until the end of the season unless a ‘ridiculous offer’ comes in.

Two reasons why I can’t see Beckford leaving in January; the first is that I simply don’t believe anyone would be stupid enough to pay over the odds for a striker they can sign for free in a few months time. They can even secure his services on a pre-contract once the window opens so it’d be insane to spend millions bringing him in a few months earlier.

The second reason I think he’ll be staying is kind of linked to the first. When we bought Becks from Wealdstone for the bargain price of £45,000, a clause was agreed whereby Wealdstone would receive a percentage of any fee received if Leeds United were to sell him (link is to the Wealdstone chairmans blog). I aren’t entirely sure what the percentage is, but many seem to think it’s 40%, which makes a sale seem even more pointless. Say we were to sell for £3,000,000, of which £1,200,000 goes to Wealdstone. The agents will undoubtedly take a cut as will Jermaine, so the amount of money Leeds will receive would not be enough to get another striker of any actual quality.

Elsewhere, Grayson will undoubtedly be looking to strengthen a few areas. The full-backs still concern me, but Tony Capaldi is clearly not the answer to our problems. His performances so far have been painful to watch. Cardiff are unsurprisingly willing to get rid of him though and confirmed he was available for transfer. Thanks, but no thanks Mr Ridsdale.

Elsewhere, I think the teams pretty strong and more than capable of keeping the results coming. Max Gradel is a player we should definitely move in for but I suspect we’ll extend his loan until the end of the season and look into it then. We may bring one or two in, but I suspect there will be more going in the opposite direction.

Alan Sheehan seems likely to move to Swindon permanently and trimming some of the deadwood wouldn’t hurt matters. David Prutton, Andy Robinson, Enoch Showunmi and one or two others should be shipped out for a start, however much the fans like some of them. They aren’t going to get many games and the wages of their wages will undoubtedly be quite high for this league.

So whilst I think there’ll be some activity for Leeds next month, I don’t think Jermaine will be part of it. The key now is to get rid of some of the weaker players and bring in some Championship quality ones who can perform if/when we achieve promotion. It’s all about streamlining the squad basically.

Leaving the stadium tonight whilst passing comment to friends about the atrocious weather we always seem to face at Oldham, one of their fans told us that we’d actually come on a good night. It was two degrees when we got in the car for the journey back down the M62 and the rain had barely let up all night. I’d have said I’d hate to see it on a bad night, but I’d been there for worse.

The same Oldham fan seemed extremely pessimistic about his team’s chances, telling us he wouldn’t be surprised to see the team relegated at the end of the season. It wasn’t hard to see why as Simon Grayson’s reserve team strolled to victory and our march towards the League One title continued.

Only Jonny Howson could be considered first team from the starting XI. Jason Crowe and Leigh Bromby would be the next closest although the defence has been reshuffled so many times this season, I aren’t entirely sure what I’d consider our best back four. Loan-signing Hogan Ephraim made his debut, David Prutton made a rare start and Max Gradel partnered Sam Vokes in an unusual Leeds United front-line.

For a stadium in such desperate need of redevelopment, the irony of our stand being sponsored by Leesfield Development didn’t escape me. Oldham actually only have three stands as one was torn down a while back for reconstruction that clearly isn’t happening. I think they’re hoping to build a new stadium, but how they’re going to pay for this when they can’t manage a decent attendance is anyone’s guess.

Oldham’s support is so low that Leeds United’s 4,000+ travelling fans outnumbered the home fans. The atmosphere in the home stands was almost non-existent, aside from an annoying drum that was repeatedly beaten throughout much of the first half. The only audible noise in the ground came from the ever-vocal Leeds United fans who did all they could to keep themselves warm throughout.

A few chances fell either way early on, with Leeds’ best attack being thwarted by the linesman when Neil Kilkenny released David Prutton. Oldham looked a bit better than the team that we beat in the FA Cup a few weeks back, but you could see why they’re struggling throughout.

Sam Vokes wasted an opportunity to send the Whites into the lead ten minutes before half-time as Leeds started to dominate. After beating the offside trap and finding himself one on one with the keeper, he failed to take his chance and fired straight at summer target, Darryl Flahavan. Vokes continues to disappoint me with each passing game. He isn’t a natural goal scorer and exerts very little effort throughout. He just doesn’t look like he wants to be at Leeds and I’ll be glad to see Becchio back in the starting line-up.

The opening goal didn’t take much longer though. Max Gradel fired a nice cross across goal and Neil Kilkenny touched it home to send Leeds 1-0 up. Gradel tried his luck from range shortly after with a curling shot, but his effort failed to trouble Flahavan. Leeds finished the half strongly though and deserved their lead.

The second half continued much the same as the first ended as Leeds looked to kill Oldham off. Flahavan proved to be quicker than Vokes and denied the striker a chance before Prutton headed over. As we approached the hour, Vokes showed once more why he’ll never make it as a striker, firing over the crossbar with an excellent opportunity that he should have been able to keep down. Hate to be too critical of anyone in a Leeds shirt, but I really don’t like the lad. He doesn’t look like he wants to be at Leeds, he didn’t chase much all night (whilst Gradel chased everything and drove the Oldham defence mental) and quite simply, he isn’t good enough.

Oldham’s best chance of the night came shortly after. Some poor defending from Leeds left Paul Heffernan with the goal at his mercy, but he failed to take his chance and fired into the side netting, much to the relief of the Leeds defence and 4,000 travelling Whites.

Two changes for Leeds saw Snodgrass and Becchio come on in place of Vokes and Ephraim. It’s hard to say how well Ephraim played as the opposition were poor and he never did anything really groundbreaking. That said, he didn’t do anything wrong either so it’ll be interesting to see what he does in the next game.

Snodgrass almost got lucky immediately but was beaten to the ball by Flahavan. Another half chance for Oldham followed, but Simon Grayson’s other substitution made the real difference. Max Gradel once again the provider for Becchio to put the game beyond doubt. A skilful finish from the returning striker was celebrated in style with the management and players on the bench.

The Leeds fans went wild and a large portion of the away fans headed for the exits. Interesting thing about Oldham is that the players in the stand running along the pitch have to exit up a set of stairs straight in front of the away fans, which predictably led to chants of ‘Time to go…’ as the Leeds fans celebrated another win waving the Oldham fans goodbye.

Grayson substituted Gradel shortly after and the player received a standing ovation from the travelling Whites. Chants of ‘sign him up’ were once again aimed towards Simon Grayson who would no doubt love to do nothing less.

For Leeds United to be able to beat Oldham with their second team is incredible. Twelve months ago, that was unthinkable, but Grayson continues to impress. The march towards the League One title continues at Elland Road on Saturday when Leeds host Huddersfield in the Yorkshire derby.

TSS man of the match
For his tireless work ethic, skill, flair and of course, the two assists, it couldn’t be anyone other than Max Gradel. It’s like watching an over-enthusiastic kid in the park, who never gives in, chases everything and just seems to love playing. ‘Sign him up!’

There’s nothing like a late November trip to the seaside to remind you that global warming is doing little to improve our winter climate. Cold would be an understatement for days like these and for the travelling Leeds United fans, you just hope and pray the on-pitch activities will produce something that will warm up our shivering Northern souls.

After another one of those international breaks that left myself and countless other Leeds United fans with a weekend to scratch our heads and wonder how to spend the time, the Whites returned fresh and hungry. The Leeds United faithful were all too aware of Gus Poyet’s managerial talent and with two wins in his two games so far – including a 3-1 victory over in-form Southampton – there was some cautious predictiors, including myself. I thought we’d do well to leave with a draw!

The teams were a class apart however and the gulf between Leeds and Brighton in the standings is not by fluke. Brighton simply couldn’t contend with Leeds United despite the fact we’d lost two key players to injury. Bradley Johnson and Richard Naylor were sidelined with Lubomir Michalik and Neil Kilkenny in as replacements, whilst Jonny Howson picked up the captaincy.

In years past, the loss of key players often resulted in clueless below-par performances, but credit to Simon Grayson and Leeds United. We have enough depth in this team now to ride out even the most disastrous injury crisis. Lubo looks like a man transformed and gave a very solid display whilst Neil Kilkenny continued to impress everyone.

Brighton had given Leeds a pathetically poor allocation of 900, which is probably just in-line with the minimum of 10% that the FA demands. Brighton has one of the most ramshackle stadiums/huts you’ll ever visit, so it’s hardly suprising. You’ll see better attempts of a football ground at your local park. Many of my fellow fans that had managed to get tickets had donned some cheap and tacky plastic rain-coats/bin-liners that made them look like the Leeds branch of the KKK. Either way, if you hadn’t come prepared, they’ll have been welcomed as the Whites faithful settled in for a cold, wet and blustery afternoon.

Luckily, the on-pitch activites kept us all warm as we sang our hearts out for the lads. After a shockingly bad penalty shout was missed by another outstanding referee (not that we’d have scored it anyway) Robert Snodgrass fired the Whites into the lead just before the half hour mark. A great strike from some range swerved into the net to leave the Brighton keeper stranded and send Leeds United 1-0 up.

Beckford hit the post, Brighton had a couple of half chances, but overall Leeds were by far the better team and controlled the game throughout. We were rewarded for our dominance just before half-time when a beautiful long range pass from Neil Kilkenny found Jermaine Beckford who had all the time in the world to calmly slot home and give Leeds a 2-0 lead.

The second half continued in much the same style with Leeds clearly on top. Brighton tried to get into the game but never really gave Leeds too much to worry about. The referee continued his impressive display by failing to award another clear-cut penalty to Leeds when Robert Snodgrass was the victim of a WWE-style challenge from the Brighton defence.

Brighton simply never had the opportunity to play. Leeds pressed them whenever they were in possession and gave them no time or space to create anything. Leeds looked much more comfortable on the ball and the result was never really in doubt.

As the final seconds of the game ticked away David Prutton linked well with Neil Kilkenny who smashed a shot beyond the Brighton keeper to give Leeds a 3-0 win, which was no less than they deserved. Kilkenny had a very good game and should definitely be giving Grayson a bit of a selection headache when Johnson returns.

It was just too easy for the Whites today. Brighton simply weren’t up to the challenge and Leeds out-classed them in every area. I think overall, Brighton will be happy with 3-0 when you consider the two clear penalty decisions Leeds were denied and Beckford’s unfortunate shot that came back off the post.

TSS man of the match
I’m going to go with Neil Kilkenny, although in fairness, all the midfielders were contendors. None of them did much wrong all game and the fixture was definitely won in the centre of the park. Brighton were closed down quickly, given no space at all and Leeds commanded respect throughout.

Elsewhere in League One
Charlton came back from 1-0 down to earn a draw at Yeovil, whilst Colchester failed to take their chance and could only manage a 2-2 draw at Oldham. Huddersfield move up to third after beating Hartlepool 2-1 and Norwich also drew away to Southampton.

Leeds now sit nine points clear of third place Huddersfield and six clear of Charlton with a game in hand. We’ve still conceeded just eight goals in the League, which is still the best in the country alongside Chelsea who are easing towards the Premier League title with a 4-0 win. It’s still early doors, but the title is definitely ours to lose.

Stephen McPhail
Just like to send my best wishes to former Leeds United player, Stephen McPhail who has been diagnosed with stage one matt lymphoma – a type of cancer. He’s set to receive treatment for the disease shortly and is hoping to be back in action for Cardiff by January. Best wishes, Stephen.

Struggling League Two side Grimsby Town are our visitors tonight for the area quarter-finals of the Football League Trophy. Leeds are unsuprisingly favourites for the tie after our dominant start to the season and Simon Grayson has admitted the lure of playing at Wembley means the players shouldn’t need much motivation for this clash.

The distance between these two teams and the contrasting fortunes so far this season has left us 2/9 favourites for the tie, whilst Grimsby aren’t given much of a chance at 11/1.

Aside from a 2-0 win to Leeds in the 1998 FA Cup, the last time Leeds and Grimsby competed against each other was in the 1980′s in the Old Division Two. Throughout the 80′s Leeds and Grimsby met ten times, with Leeds winning four, Grimsby winning two and the rest ending in draws.

So far in this seasons Football League Trophy, Leeds have played just once beating Darlington 2-1. The game saw Simon Grayson make several changes to his usual line-up handing starts to Lubomir Michalik, Aidy White, David Prutton, Andy Robinson, Neil Kilkenny, Tresor Kandol and Mike Grella. There are rules in place to ensure teams play some of their usual line-up, but I’d expect a similar amount of changes tonight.

Although Leeds won their first FLT game of the season 2-1 against Darlington, Simon Grayson was publically critical of his sides display. Leeds started brightly enough and were 2-0 up before the half hour mark, but the foot came off the gas thereafter allowing Darlington to get back into the game. Simon told his fringe players that they should be making the best of these opportunities to impress and that failure to do so will see them given less chances.

Grimsby Town’s first game of this seasons Football League Trophy saw them beat our fellow League One rivals, Hartlepool 2-0. However, they’ve also lost 4-0 to Tranmere Rovers in the League Cup so I wouldn’t read too much into that.

It gets worse for Grimsby too. They haven’t won in their last five games and currently find themselves one place off the bottom of League Two. The only team with a worse record is the one we met in the last round of this competition, Darlington, who have managed just five points from fifteen games.

A familiar face returns to Elland Road tonight and is definitely one to watch. Peter Sweeney had little luck at Elland Road but has fit straight into Grimsby’s first team. In the ‘interview with a Grimsby Town fan’ I did, Rob told us how Peter was getting on in Grimsby;

He’s a good player, probably our most skillful player, the biggest problem is his mouth. He gets booked at least every other game for dissent. He’s suspended on Saturday against Bath for 5 bookings, probably all for dissent!

I also asked Rob for a prediction and he said a draw meaning it would go to penalties.

Personally, I’d be disappointed with anything less than a comfortable victory. I’m hoping to see Sam Vokes, Max Gradel and Aidy White given an entire match. As I said earlier, I think there’ll be mass changes to the usual line-up although with this weekends game postponed Simon doesn’t have to worry too much about resting anyone. Either way, (without wanting to sound arrogant) we should be too strong for Grimsby.

Leeds will play their first game in the JPT this season at Elland Road tonight as the Whites take on Darlington.

Simon Grayson is expected to make several changes to the team that took on Charlton on Saturday. Aidy White returns from injury and is expected to be included alongside Davide Somma who will make his first team debut. Elsewhere, Simon Grayson could choose to give a younger goalkeeper his first taste of the action, with Shane Higgs still out injured and loan-signing, Frank Fielding away with the England U21′s.

I’d also expect Andy Robinson, Mike Grella and Neil Kilkenny to start the game. David Prutton could also make an appearence as Simon Grayson looks to take full advantage of the two week break from League One fixtures.

There are some limits to how many changes Simon Grayson is allowed to make to his squad. The JPT have a rule to permit teams fielding an entirely reserve line-up, so there will be some regulars in the line-up. Simon Grayson speaking on BBC Radio Leeds said;

“We’ll make changes on Tuesday night but within the rules and regulations.

“You can’t go through the season where everything is rosy because injuries are all part and parcel of the campaign.

“We’ve got a good squad when everyone is available but if you’re asking me if it’s a test of my managerial career then I’ll take it every day of the week when we’re 11 games unbeaten.”

Darlington have had a woeful start to the season and currently find themselves without a manager. They’ll be led out tonight by caretaker managers, Craig Liddle and Neil Maddison with new manager, Steve Staunton watching on from the stands. Most of you will remember Staunton as Gary McAllister’s assistant manager. He is also the former Republic of Ireland manager.

So far this season, Darlington have managed just two points from their opening eleven fixtures and currently find themselves bottom of League Two. The never-say-retire legend, Dean Windass is part of their attacking line-up who celebrated his 40th birthday earlier this year.

Head-to-head, Leeds and Darlington have met just four times. Leeds have won three of these meetings, whilst Darlington’s best result against us came in the League Cup back in 1996 when they held us to a 2-2 draw at Elland Road. In the replay, first half goals from Rod Wallace and Ian Harte saw us through to the next round 2-0.

The other two meetings between the sides ended in 1-0 wins to the Whites. Earlier this season we knocked them out of the League Cup to setup a meeting with Liverpool and back in 2007, we knocked them out of the JPT when a second half goal from Paul Huntington was enough to see us through to the next round.

I’m sure the Darlington players will want to put on a performance for their new manager tonight, but even with a weakened side, Leeds United should be better man for man across the field so I wouldn’t expect anything less than a win. Whether people actually care or not though, is something I put up for debate yesterday. At the time of writing this the below poll showed 43% of fans wanted Leeds to win the trophy, whilst 24% were “sat on the fence” alongside yours truly and 33% thought it was a pointless competition.

The last team to beat us at Elland Road triumphed again as they held us to a 1-1 draw. The result brings an end to the fifteen successful league wins at Elland Road, but the Whites will take some consolation knowing they remain undefeated and move three points clear of Charlton who were hammered 3-0 by Colchester.  

The match saw a welcomed return for Leeds United skipper, Richard Naylor who partnered Patrick Kisnorbo at centre-back. Casper Ankergren also came in for the injured Shane Higgs. Jason Crowe was out injured with the adaptable Leigh Bromby switching to right-back whilst Lucciano Becchio returned after missing the MK Dons for the birth of his baby girl, Bianca.

There were a few recognisable faces in the Carlisle line-up with Ian Harte making his return to Elland Road for the visitors. Former academy players, Tom Taiwo and Gavin Rothery were also in the team, although Rothery remained on the bench throughout.

Leeds had the better of the opening stages with Lucciano Becchio heading over in the first minute and Robert Snodgrass went close. The game lacked urgency though and there were few decent chances for either side.

When the referee blew his whilstle on the half hour mark, both sides looked puzzled as to why. Micky Doyle had gone down fighting his way through the defence, but no one expected a penalty to be given, not even the Leeds fans. Leeds’ fortunes from the penalty spot failed to improve as Jermaine Beckford’s tame effort was saved by Pidgeley. The Carlisle keeper couldn’t keep hold of the ball though and Beckford followed up to tap it in. 1-0.

The game sprang to life briefly after this and Snodgrass went close to making it 2-0 when his curling effort beat the keeper but came back off the post. Carlisle countered, which led to Casper having to make his first save of the game. Carlisle created a bit of a threat when a curling free-kick had to be pucnhed clear by Ankergren (still not learnt to catch then!) but Leeds went in ahead at half-time.

The second half started as the first ended with Carlisle’s confidence building. Johnson hit a shot from range that went just over the bar, but it was Carlisle who applied the early second half pressure after that. They couldn’t find the finishing blow though and the game began to fizzle out. Jonny Howson did fire a shot wide, but other than that, Leeds had taken their foot off the gas and seemed happy to sit on the 1-0 lead.

Leeds paid for their failure to kill the game off when Carlisle brought on Scott Dobie. Within five minutes of coming on to the pitch, Carlisle had earnt a corner that he headed home. It would be easy to put this down to the return of Casper Ankergren, but for me it was more to do with the reshuffled defence that gave the striker far too much space.

Leeds sprang back to life with Prutton going close and Leeds firing balls in from corners and free-kicks. The final chance fell to Jermaine Beckford though who couldn’t connect quite right and fired over the bar after a nice flick from Enoch Showunmi.

Overall it was a poor game. Maybe it was the busy schedule the Whites have had lately leaving the team a bit tired or the changes Simon Grayson had to make, but either way we should have won this. Definitely two points lost rather than one earnt.

Looking on the positives, it’s good to remain undefeated and as Simon Grayson said after the match, we’d have taken this at the beginning of the season. That said, Charlton seem to have hit a bit of a rough patch at the minute and we need to take advantage of that and give ourselves some breathing space.

Both Robert Snodgrass and Leigh Bromby went off injured last night as the injuries begin to build already. Casper Ankergren still doesn’t convice me and if Shane Higgs is to be out for a while then he definitely needs replacing. Snoddy is a major concern too as he looked in serious pain when he went down and could be out for a while.

Simon Grayson’s reaction to the game and season so far;

“It was a quiet dressing room after the game but you have to be positive with the start we’ve had

“Being honest, we would have taken four points from the two games against MK Dons and Carlisle and we would have taken the start we’ve had – every team in the country would take it.

He goes on to add “I’m disappointed we didn’t win but ultimately it’s another point

“We were lacking the sharpness and quality we’ve had in other games, but you get performances like that.

We’ve had a busy schedule and there’s a few tired legs, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse.”

Elsewhere, Greg Abbott – who had earlier been sent to the stands for arguing with the officials – was left annoyed at the penalty decision but happy with his teams performance;

“We’ve had a run of bad decisions against us lately and that was another. Their player was outside the box. I just wanted to ask the referee why he had awarded a penalty kick but I think the officials wanted me out of the ground and out of town! “I told the referee I wanted to talk to him. There was no swearing and no abusive language, though I suppose he will find something. They wouldn’t even let me on the pitch at the end to congratulate my players who had done themselves and the club proud, but those are the rules I suppose.”

TSS man of the match
All the team looked a little jaded and out of sorts at times, except for Jonny Howson who has continually impressed me all season. He battled well in the midfield, tried to create things when his team mates were lacking in ideas and ultimately stood out in a tired display from the Whites.

Next up is probably the biggest game of the season at home to Charlton. An expected crowd of over 30,000 will be at Elland Road for the clash of the top two and with Charlton currently looking a bit out of form, this could well be the chance to put some breathing space between us.