The Scratching Shed

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…

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.

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!’

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?