It’s an untrodden path for Leeds United players – Ben Parker aside – for them to speak so truthfully about their feelings towards the goings on at Elland Road. If it wasn’t for the continuing discontent amongst fans, the outside world may well be oblivious to the problems at Leeds United Football Club as they’re constantly bombarded with statements about how fine and dandy everything is.

Everyone involved with the club, from the chairman Ken Bates, his various mouthpieces such as Ben Fry and Peter Lorimer, and even the players who were once expected to put the fans above all else appear to be reading from the exact same script. I doubt even the minimum wage employees at the club superstore would dare speak ill of his holiness.

The Leeds United fans meanwhile started to question their own sanity – are we the only people that can see how under-invested in this club is? Are we alone in thinking promotion was always impossible following the sale of key players like Howson, Gradel and Johnson? It’s almost as if we’ve been living some kind of Truman Show existence, wherein everyone knows about this epically proportioned con we’re all living except us. We have our suspicions of course, but the more we’re told how nonsensical they are, the more we start to doubt our own sanity.

It’s psychological warfare on a level Adolf Hitler would have cringed at.

Fortunately, Robert Snodgrass has decided that as Leeds United captain, he’ll carry out his obligations in the traditional sense. He’ll be straight-talking and answer the fans questions without a pre-approved script, speaking honestly about the true state of club affairs and not allow himself to be another scapegoat of this disastrous dictatorship-like regime.

The biggest concern of fans is another mass exodus of players, so it was no surprise to hear Snodgrass asked whether he’d be staying at Elland Road. He was firmly non-committal in his response saying that he couldn’t guarantee he’d be at Leeds United in five years time, explaining that “they (the club) have to show me some ambition”.

“Last season I had offers of Premiership football, the manager told me stuff, but I didn’t see much of it – whether that was him or the chairman.

“As a footballer everything here is first class, I love where I live, the only thing missing is the Premier League”.

Snodgrass went on to add that any decision he did make would have to be made with his family in mind.

Jonny Howson was another issue raised by fans in attendance. Robert Snodgrass again responded candidly;

“We’re missing Howson. Weird that we never replaced him. How can you say you’re aiming for promotion and then sell your captain?”

It seems the Leeds United captain shares the same view as most fans. Clearly unhappy at how this season has unfolded, it’s going to take a big show of ambition if we’re to retain him for the 2012-13 campaign. Amidst all the secrecy and scripted comments from everyone at Elland Road, it’s easy to forget that the players are dealing with the same lies, broken promises and frustrations that we are. No one signs for Leeds United expecting anything less than promotion, and key players don’t hang around when promises are continually broken. I think that’s worth keeping in mind for when Robert Snodgrass decides enough is enough and parts ways with a club he clearly loves representing.

The mature response in these circumstances is to reflect and re-consider the reasons for current situation, that the `blame game’ be avoided. But to be frank, I’ve never really held with that.

What follows is a candidate list, of the 5 worst decisions (and this is entirely subjective – and opinion based) which have lead us to where we are – a voting option follows beneath.

1. Selling the crown jewels

We overachieved in our first season back in the second tier. A 7^th place finish was more than we could have dreamed of on the day we scraped past Brizzle Rovers. Yet we ended up disappointed to miss out on the play offs. The key to that? A coveted cache of some very talented players :-

Jonny Howson, home-grown, Leeds supporting, a box to box midfielder capable of defence splitting passes, late runs into the box, and the odd meaty tackle, a second division lampard if you want. Yes he went missing from time to time, but at 23 you can forgive him that.

Max Gradel, a top quality striker cum winger, an Ivory Coast international, with bags of pace, flair, and a genuine hunger for goals. You `pitied the fool’ who was given the job of marking him, and despite a foul temper, generally much loved by the Elland Road Faithful.

Bradley Johnson – Not everyone’s cup of tea,  Johnsons proclivity to aim for Row-Z was a shortcoming, but he remains to this day, full of running, a genuine ball winning midfielder, and able to score goals of almost mind bending quality (see Arsenal FA Cup 2010). Like Michael Brown in his prime. He was a player we plucked from relative obscurity at Northampton town.

All the above of course are now plying their trade elsewhere. Howson at Premier League Norwich, ditto Johnson, and Gradel at Ligue 1, Saint Etienne. Collective transfer fees of close to £4m received for those players seems of little comfort when we review the threadbare squad at Elland Road.

Howson seemed a sacrificial lamb,. He wanted evidence (like most of us) that Leeds were serious about the premier league next season, and like all of us saw zero investment of any note into the squad. Refusing to sign a new contract until the time was right, he was hardly engineering a move out. But lo and behold in January Bates and Harvey decided to cash their chips and accept £2m for a player worth probably 3 times that amount – had they not delayed and bungled a new contract (of which more in point 2)he might be with us still.

Would keeping Howson have kept us in contention for the play offs? Well he’s playing for Norwich now, and isn’t it March? We were all told he wouldn’t be fit until April? A key player, with good fitness record, and a scorer of critical goals (Carlisle, Bristol Rovers) Howson was Mr Dependable, and one of few who coped well with pressure.

Gradel was of course `not for sale’ a phrase which should be banned from Elland Road forthwith – we’re sick of hearing it. Apparently he wanted to be close to his Family in France (who are Paris based I believe) by moving to St Etienne – a 5 hour 525Km drive from Paris. Mmm? £2m later on transfer deadline day and he was sat in the conference room of the rather unspectacular French club, (who most of thought were an Indie Beat Combo from the 90’s), next to some bloke who looked like the Toymaker from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – with a big grin on his face. Gradel would have bagged us 20 again this season; perhaps a bigger contract might have encouraged the Gradel clan to move to Yorkshire? Didier Drogba doesn’t seem to be hell bent on playing for Sochaux or Auxerre to be closer to his brood? Just dreadfully handled and like Howson despite the cash and saved wages – where was his replacement?.. Still waiting.

Johnson publicly stated he wanted to sign a new contract (much as Howson had done) and yet come the close season he fell off the radar and we all knew he was on his way with Norwich, West Brom and a couple of other mid table premier league sides interested.

He’s since slotted nicely into Norwich’s midfield, and we all look on enviously. Why on earth did we let one of our key players leave? But as per the two previously mentioned where was the `superior replacement?

Bates has got out of jail with the emergence of Adam Clayton, but an aged Michael Brown, the bizarre Mika Vayrynen, and the inconsistent Ramon Nunez and Lloyd Sam just haven’t cut it. There have been latter additions like Robbie Rogers, but their impact has been limited, and the odd loan who couldn’t stick it (Townsend) surely keeping hold of your best assets is key – we sold them – and didnt adequately replace them.

If our budget on day one was £9m for playing staff and we were up by £4m (£5m if you include Schmeicel) how does a £12M spend represent a strain on the business? Youd still be in the money. So bad decision 1 selling our best players.

2. Failing to tie players down to contracts

As already mentioned Howson and Johnson’s contracts were running down a la Jermaine Beckford, but they weren’t alone. Neil Kilkenny also basically got fed up with waiting for championship wages, and like Johnson voted with his feet.

We all sat in disbelief as Johnson and Kilkenny’s contracts ran down. Surely we’d learnt our lesson with Beckford? But amazingly the club had the gall to suggest that the Beckford decision was a calculated one, and that Leeds pick and choose who they offer contracts to – andf hold players to them. A total nonsense when you review the Gradel saga. We all considered losing Howson, Johnson, and Kilkenny – surely we wouldn’t lose all of them – would we? Erm yes.

Not only did we manage to get beaten to the punch for David Norris by Portsmouth, Keith Andrews by Ipswich, who were frees we allegedly came close to signing, we failed to offer our own enough. And the market is dictated by the consumer. Kasper Schmeicel’s situation was more bizarre still – we apparently spoke with his agent and established he might want a pay rise at the end of the season – the response, a trip down the M1 to Leicester and a gleeful ken Banking a near £1m transfer fee (allegedly) Schmeicel replacement Rachubka haunts all of our nightmares, and Lonergan has proven just as inconsistent as Schmeicel.

You’d have thought our asset stripping this season might have taught us a valuable lesson, but apparently not. With Aidan White, Adam Clayton and Robert Snodgrass, Ross McCormack close to the end of their deals we still haven’t clarified what next?

Some clubs seem to do this under the radar so as to achieve a good price for players. Our contract lengths seem almost fair game, and negotiations seem to turn bad rapidly. Remember Brad Johnson’s lambasting at the hands of Ken Bates for Picking his `ma up from the station instead of meeting with him to discuss wages – we should definitely get rid of the arrogant so and so Ken..

Bad decision 2 – mishandling players contracts

3. Failing to invest in new players

So you get £2m for Gradel, plus his save wages, £2m for Howson plus his wages, you save Kilkenny’s Schmeicel’s, Johnsons wages – you get like for like – right?

Erm no.. we scrabbled around the bargain bin again, imagine what class of winger you’d get for £2m and at say £12K to £15k a week – already budgeted for. A rising star from League One, a premier league youngster, or a star from one of your rivals. Well let’s not forget this is Leeds. We already had Lloyd Sam and Ramon Nunez – so why not plump for a centre half? Or rather, why bother.

I wont go on.

The usual tripe we’d gotten used to got trawled out – “why buy – when you can do loans? You’ll get premier league quality without the transfer fee”.

“The player was asking for an exorbitant wage – we told him where to go” – the greedy sod.

“We only want players who want to play for Leeds – not mercenaries, if the wages were all that were important – we dont want him.”

We ended up taking a squad to Scotland for Pre-season reminiscent in depth to that which Dennis Wise took – mid-insolvency to Eastern Europe. Which player we brought in this summer sparks the imagination? Sets the pulse racing, or has made a real difference? Answer – none of them. A restrictive wage policy and an aversion to paying transfer fees was for a time glossed over by some `ok’ performances, and by some of the youngsters doing well – for a time.

But our failure to invest and strategize long term is at the root of our dreadful squad.

Bad Decision 3 – not investing in players

4. Investing £7m in the East Stand

But the figures show a profit for 2010-11? £3.5M (near enough the combined transfer fees for Howson and Gradel)

Surely we do make money? Well yes we do, and have a healthy turnover where income conveniently seems to nearly match our outgoings. A rarety in business.

Where did most of our investment cash go in the summer of 2011? The East Stand redevelopment.

Most of us will never see the fabulous Ivory trimmed Pleasure Palace of which Kublai Khan would be jealous – where Ferrero Rocher run like a mountain stream alongside lashings of Lambrini and Carling Black Label. Joking aside we put (by the looks of it) £2m of cash into those boxes from our own turnover and borrowed a further £5m.

Whoopidy do! – so what are the visitors going to watch, more championship drudgery? – did they enjoy 7-3 versus Nottingham Forest more than someone sat in the cold Yorkshire Air that night?

Investing copius amounts of money on our rented ground when the premier league is far from guaranteed seems the most mind blowing piece of bad judgement. £2m would have made some serious inroads into redeveloping our squad, or even our youth set up, as would a £5m loan. It seems like the emperors new clothes. A vanity project which has left us embarrassed. Its the type of decision you lament when in administration. Why was cash flow so poor? Well we were servicing a loan for empty corporate boxes, empty because we didn’t get promoted. Why didn’t you see to it that you did get promoted? Well we needed money for the corporate boxes. Goodnight Vienna.

Bad Decision 4 – Investing what money we did make into corporate boxes.

5. The sacking of Simon Grayson

This is a two-tiered bad decision.

The board were vocal at the time of Grayson’s imminent departure and immediately afterwards concerning just how much they had backed him in the transfer market. And while our erstwhile manager made some gaffes (Paynter, Bruce, Bessone, Sam, Rachubka) which manager doesn’t? Especially one forced to trawl the bargain bins with the aplomb of a 76 year old pensioner (too close to home Ken?)

Generally he did find us some gems, and gave starts to some decent youth players (Somma, McCormack, Gradel, Clayton, Naylor, Lees, White) He returned a decent win ratio of course (over 50%) too.  But his lack of backing in Summer 2011 – at precisely the time he should have been rewarded for strong showing in the championship saw a season of struggle almost inevitable, worse still as per the above his best players got sold from under him.

A manager like Grayson needs backing, not slagging off in public. But the real rub came in the shape of the timing of his departure and the `planning’ around it. Sacked just after the transfer window closed – the club brazenly admitted the move was engineered so the new man could `get the best out of the existing squad’.

They went on to appoint Neil Redfearn, a likeable guy, but at best an assistant at this level ,and certainly not a man to heap a disillusioned and over-tired squad on, losing at Coventry away and Brighton at home is the difference between where we sit now – and the play offs. Sure we brought in Warnock (who seems on paper to have performed worse still) but that decision was appalling in its timing – why didnt they sack Grayson at Christmas, or earlier in the season if they didnt rate him?

Bad Decision 5 – Sacking Simon Grayson

Case in point is Simon Grayson, a man who I defended to the hilt throughout his tenure at Elland Road. It was never all that difficult considering his win percentage and highly successful start to the job, but when things went off the rails a little, some felt I was allowing Ken Bates’ failings to cover those of Simon Grayson.

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Reactionary responses always seem to cloud the bigger picture, and under current circumstances you can’t have it both ways. You can either accept that the side is underfunded and that mid-table is the best we’re capable of (which is what the majority have said all along and predicted long before Max Gradel and Jonny Howson were sold) or you can blame the manager for the kind of inconsistent form indicative of mid-table teams – thus excusing Ken Bates by default. If you expect better than what we’ve seen then what you’re saying is that the team is better than a mid-table outfit. Anything else is contradictory.

People can excuse themselves by pointing to performance levels and tactical observations offered with the benefit of hindsight, but statistics don’t lie. Nor does the league table. If the club has paid for a mid-table team, and we’re in mid-table, then Simon Grayson was living up to all expectations.

When Max Gradel, Jonny Howson, Bradley Johnson and Neil Kilkenny were sold/given away and replaced by has-beens, frees and loanees there was absolute uproar. The fans knew the cheap replacements and loanees would not be of a similar skill level, or hold a similar level of passion for the club. Replacing a young heart-on-his-sleeve midfielder like Bradley Johnson with a has-been journeyman like Michael Brown was never going to be an improvement – and Simon Grayson can’t be blamed for that, he wanted Keith Andrews! But in an oh-so-typical Yorkshire Radio rant from Ken Bates, the Leeds chairman blasted his ridiculous wage demands and Shaun Harvey and Gwyn Williams brought us Brown instead. Andrews meanwhile ended up at the mighty Ipswich Town who, despite a lower turnover, higher wage budget and a similar amount of playing staff to ourselves, could afford him.

But we know all this. We know that our squad of young and hungry players has been systematically cast off and replaced by has-beens, unknowns and loanees because the club first failed to secure new contracts (Shaun Harvey) and secondly, failed to provide adequate funding for suitable replacements (Ken Bates).

So who should we be blaming?

Should Simon Grayson be held accountable for achieving mid-table with a mid-table team?

Should we not be questioning the distinctly average wage bill? The non-existant transfer funds? The constant sales of key players?

If you disagree with my assertion that Simon Grayson was underfunded, then fair enough. You’re well within your rights to complain about the performance. You’re wrong (see this link), but that’s beside the point – at least your opinions aren’t contradictory.

For the rest of you, you can’t look at the evidence, set your expectations to “incredibly low” then complain when the reality lives up to your own predictions. Doing so excuses Ken Bates and his minions, and that’s all Simon Grayson’s sacking was ever about. It was a simple ploy to distract the dissidents by creating division – Ken Bates has been doing it for years, just ask the Chelsea fans.

If you subscribe to the statement that Simon Grayson was sacked to give us a chance at the play-offs, then why are we sat here two weeks and six dropped points later without a replacement? If Simon Grayson was underachieving as much as Ken Bates likes to claim, then why wait until the end of January when there was talk of his sacking at the beginning? And why was every poor performance the managers fault before Simon Grayson was sacked, and now it’s apparently the players?

At this point in time, I actually think Simon Grayson’s downfall was that he over-achieved. The problems we’re now experiencing have existed all along, and always will whilst football isn’t the main priority of those running our football club.

When Simon Grayson led us to a 7th placed finish last season, it set the tone for everything that followed. It allowed the club to pretend the team didn’t need any further investment – “maybe a little tinkering around the edges, but nothing major” was the general theme of transfer discussion from the club – and has since been used as evidence we can do better, despite the sale of key players Max Gradel and Jonny Howson.

So are those of us that write this site overcritical of Ken Bates? Well, the crux of the matter is this – as a hard-working (well, working) customer of Leeds United Football Club, I expect a proportionate sum of my money to be spent on the squad I go to watch. I expect the biggest one club city in England to be aiming towards a successful future, and for the manager to be given the necessary funding to achieve that dream. I don’t want a hotel, I couldn’t care less about the museum and I managed to get suitably drunk long before Billy’s Bar and the Pavilion were added.

These things all come down to Ken Bates. A manager can only be judged by the funding (relative to division) that he receives, and in Simon Grayson’s case, he had a mid-table budget. Who else am I supposed to blame?

All I really expect is for football to be the priority. Is that really too much to ask of a football club?

Jonny joined the club as a youth player in 1997, a lifelong supporter who went on to become captain of the club he loved.

Since making his professional debut in 2006, Jonny Howson has amassed over 200 appearances for The Whites and provided us all with some cherished memories.

Wishing him nothing but luck for the future (and hoping to see him back in all white one day), here’s a selection of Jonny’s Leeds United career highlights;

Aston Villa have allowed Fabian Delph to join Leeds United on loan, with the initial deal keeping him at Elland Road until February 25th.

The news follows upset at the sale of captain Jonny Howson and Leeds will hope this announcement eases tensions after protests were held outside Elland Road last night.

Simon Grayson is due to hold a predictably tough press conference at 2pm today, where questions over the club’s ambition will likely dominate proceedings. He too will hope Delph’s capture can distract somewhat from the widespread feeling of gloom surrounding Leeds United.

It’s unlikely to change much however. A one month loan deal does not make up for the loss of another key player and calls for Ken Bates to sell up will continue on regardless.

Fabian Delph’s return could actually have the opposite effect. Fans will be reminded of the reported £6m that seemingly vanished after his 2009 sale – £6m Ken Bates claimed would secure Thorp Arch’s repurchase.

Fabian Delph joined Leeds United as a youth player in 2001, making his debut for the first team in 2006. He went on to make 46 league appearances for The Whites, scoring six times before he was sold to Aston Villa for a reported £6m in 2009.

Since then, Delph has managed just 25 Premier League appearances for Villa with injury problems halting his progress. Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish, will see the loan deal as a chance for Fabian Delph to return to match fitness.

Pub Ammo: Fabian Delph is Leeds United’s 66th loan signing since 2004. It’s a transfer philosophy that just screams long-term thinking and building towards a brighter future, I’m sure you’ll agree?

Ken Bates Quote: ”Our position is very simple – Fabian Delph is not for sale, nor will he be in the future. Fabian’s going to be a Premiership player, but he’s going to be a Premiership player with Leeds” 04.11.08

Guest Submission by Matthew Brown-Bolton

Ken Bates’ business model is a simple one. Engage the turnover generated by Leeds United, invest it in non football related enterprise, and satisfy any investors who have backed him, the key one being of course himself. He has no desire to structurally improve the club, and labours under the delusion that all that’s needed to get promoted to the PL is a team of cheap but hardworking players who tow the line, accept low salaries, and play for the love of Leeds United alone. This is a concept alien to Ken though, to paraphrase Shirley Bassey `He loves only.. Gold!’

So as of Saturday we don’t go to Elland Road, and for those of you foolhardy enough to watch Ipswich town humble us, I make one simple request. Take a packed lunch. Buy a YEP – even a copy of The Square Ball, but dont buy a programme. Just make it your mission not to spend one red cent at the ground.

Doing that once will speak volumes to Ken – it will show him just how much we loathe his mismanagement of Leeds United.

For those of you who still labour under the delusion that he saved us, it was he who placed us in administration. Even Gerald Krasner – an insolvency expert, and his predecessor understood the inherent risks in doing this, and when interviewed described it as the `last viable option’ and something Leeds needed desperately to avoid. But Ken just saw the £££ signs. In that process, he flouted the challenges of HMRC, and risked the entire CVA process as a result. There were 3 other bidders in that process for the club – each offered more to the creditors – Leeds businesses by and large, than Ken did, and Redbus even had a proposal to spend a specific amount on developing our dreadful team and to repurchase Elland Road and Thorp Arch.

But Ken threatened that he would wind up the club fully unless his bid was accepted by creditors. SO he got in there even before HMRC, he didnt have Leeds United’s interests at heart. And if youre still not convinced. Just look across from the dilapidated John Charles stand. Can you see the £7m of corporate boxes metaphorically sticking two fingers up at you?

That £7m could have been invested in a new contract for Jonny Howson, or Adam Clayton. It could have bought us a Gradel replacement, and still left us with change for a premier league loanee.

Let’s get angrier still….

In 2006 – we were supposed to be debt free by the end of that season – by the end of that season we were in administration and sold Rob Hulse and Matt Kilgallon.

We spent 2007-2010 in the 3rd division – our lowest ebb.

We haven’t spent over £500,000 on a player transfer fee since 2006.

Our ticket prices are higher than Manchester United.

We dont own Elland Road or Thorp Arch and Ken has fallen out with the only people who offered to lend us the money, the City Council

We weren’t going to sell – Max Gradel, Bradley Johnson, Jermaine Beckford, or Jonny Howson – they’ve all gone and in total we have received less than £3m for all of those players, conservatively worth £20M between them.

Leeds is about football; Ken Bates is about Ken Bates –

Make Saturday your day of protest – don’t spend a penny

Written by Matthew Brown-Bolton

With Jonny Howson leaving for Norwich City, it’s almost impossible to believe some fans can still defend Ken Bates.

‘Almost’ is the key word however. You see, we’ve been here before. Back when we were sinking out of the Premier League heading towards financial ruin, there was plenty of fans willing to believe that Cyril Chapuis was the kind of quality signing that would rescue us. That El Tel and Peter Reid would “steady the ship”.

Living in denial is just less painful I suppose? We’ve all been there.

The all too predictable reaction of “it makes good business sense” and “he was overrated anyway” will inevitably follow. It’s nothing more than fans refusing to face up to the reality of another key player lost under Ken Bates.

Our drop in form since Jonny Howson’s injury will be written off as mere coincidence. Bates won’t be blamed for his inability to keep hold of key players, Jonny Howson will take the stick for failing to believe in Leeds United. But why should he? I certainly don’t…

The fact Jonny Howson had only five months left on his contract is less a reflection of his commitment to Leeds United, more a haunting realisation that  even our home grown, Leeds United supporting club captain doesn’t believe this club is going anywhere. Something the club’s statement certainly attests to.

Anyone questioning why Leeds United aren’t back in the Premier League yet and why Simon Grayson needs so many players each season need only look at the example set by Norwich City. Key players don’t grow on trees and when you find them, you should do everything in your power to keep them together. Only then will you have success.

Norwich did that. Norwich are now in the Premier League. Leeds United meanwhile sold Max Gradel, Kasper Schmeichel, Jermaine Beckford, Neil Kilkenny, Bradley Johnson, Fabian Delph and now, Jonny Howson. And almost exclusively – Kasper Schmeichel aside perhaps – these players were followed by average replacements purchased on the cheap.

This is not the philosophy of a club that should be in the Premier League. This is the philosophy of a club languishing in the Championship, spending the absolute minimum each year, happy to make up the numbers. We may as well merge with Barnsley and have done with it…

With some fans already setting fire to season ticket renewal forms and many more claiming they won’t renew, news of Jonny Howson’s exit is only going to make matters worse. Our captain’s jumped ship, why shouldn’t the rest of us? Our irrational sense of loyalty isn’t getting us anywhere after all.

Farewell and good luck Jonny. I honestly don’t blame you…

Disastrous, despicable, indefensible and tragic. Not the start to the New Year celebrations the Leeds United fans had in mind, but getting absolutely battered by our South Yorkshire rivals was nonetheless predictable.

Losing Robert Snodgrass, Jonny Howson and Tom Lees to injury is basically the same as Manchester United losing Rooney, Nani and Ferdinand – we were always going to suffer.

But things didn’t start all that badly for The Whites. Before Barnsley went ahead, Leeds had been the better team. Another piece of “head in hands” defending however and in one calamitous exchange Leeds went behind and things spiralled out of control from there.

There were no real positives to speak of. Ramon Nunez had an OK game but that’s about as good as things got for Leeds.

Replacing Robert Snodgrass on the wing was Ross McCormack who – not through a lack of trying – couldn’t beat the horde of Barnsley players that quickly surrounded him every time he got hold of the ball. With no attacking support from Connolly, the best he could do was force the occasional corner or throw, but anything closely resembling Robert Snodgrass he certainly was not.

Up front we’d started with Andy Keogh whose performance was instantly forgettable. He was later replaced by Luciano Becchio who despite scoring a late consolation goal was even more infuriating that Keogh. If Becchio is to be deployed in a 4-5-1 formation, he needs people crossing from the wings, otherwise he’s totally useless.

Almost every ball played to Becchio came high and from deep in our own half and all Becchio ever did was head it on, which is a useful enough contribution if he was actually heading it towards someone. But there was no one at all in support so all Becchio was really doing was helping the ball back to the opposition. Seeing this particular move repeated numerous times was probably the most infuriating part of the day.

The reason Becchio and Keogh lacked support was because of the God-awful central midfield we were forced into playing. The combination of Michael Brown and Mika Vayrynen was probably the least creative partnership I’ve ever seen Leeds United field.

If the result wasn’t quite so catastrophic, it’d be quite pleasing to hear all the Jonny Howson doubters come to their senses and realise how valuable he is to our team. Without him and Robert Snodgrass we’re a bottom half team – they’ve been the driving force of our side for the past couple of years and I’m truly baffled as to how people were missing that.

The problem is depth, and quality depth costs money. The likes of Vayrynen, Brown and Pugh are all acceptable squad players at this level, but you need that little something extra if you’re to compete. What we had here was a team bursting with back-up players – not the quality ensemble required to achieve our goals.

We’re all going to play the blame game now and some will point to Grayson as the problem, and whilst we can all highlight things he could have done differently with the benefit of hindsight, those that travelled to Barnsley are under no illusions as to what the real problem is.

“Where’s all our money gone?” was more a statement than a question. We know where it’s gone, and it’s damaging any chance we have of returning to the Premier League.

For the most part, the fans in attendance were largely in support of Simon Grayson. I overheard the odd fan calling for his head, but they were generally shot down by people pointing out the Ken Bates factor. The list of potential suitors to replace our manager is a worrying one, and with no money to spend, I fail to see how any of them could produce anything more than Grayson has.

Another Yorkshire Radio address will doubtless follow, with Bates insisting we spend more on our squad than any one else and that the transfer budget is largely consumed by wages. This excuse simply doesn’t wash with me. Far too many players snubbed us for higher wages elsewhere in the summer, so any suggestion that we don’t spend much on transfer fees so we can pay higher wages is clearly nonsense.

Moreover, EVERY team pays wages. Our chairman makes out as though this is exclusive to Leeds United – that all the other teams buying quality players are doing so because they don’t have to pay wages. The two budgets should be totally separate, and both need to be dramatically increased else we’re in for another transfer window of gloom.

The likelihood is that we’re heading for a New Year, with new faces and the same old problems. Perhaps a change of manager is appropriate? I suspect it’ll be a bit like Jonny Howson’s injury – that only when Simon Grayson has left will fans fully appreciate his value to the club.

Happy New Year all. Sorry it had to start on such a downer. On and on…

Reading have allowed Alex McCarthy to remain at Elland Road for another month.

The 22-year-old England U21 International goalkeeper has been in fine form for The Whites, helping Leeds to overcome the nightmare of Paul Rachubka’s meltdown.

A clause in the loan agreement means McCarthy will be unable to play against his own club Reading this Saturday, paving the way for Andy Lonergan to return who was on the bench for Leeds’ 1-1 draw with Watford last Saturday.

Elsewhere, Simon Grayson has been expressing his relief that Jonny Howson’s injury is not as bad as first expected, basically claiming that Leeds’ captain will be out for “weeks, not months” (deja vu anyone?)

Finally, Alex Bruce’s Elland Road career may be coming to an end as the centre-back revealed he was open to the possibility of a permanent move to Huddersfield Town in January.

Injury news, and it’s relatively good on the whole. Simon Grayson was cryptically positive about Jonny Howson, saying it could have been worse, though refusing to give specifics and any timeline for our captains return.

Ben Parker is back in training and could take part in a reserve fixture next week after receiving some good news from the specialist.

Finally, Davide Somma has been taking part in some running exercises as he moves towards a return to full training. Simon Grayson stressed how difficult things had been for the South African, who has been a massive loss to Leeds United this season, but revealed he was “keeping his pecker up”.

I’m almost certain that “keeping his pecker up” is not a euphemism for finding comfort in some kind of sexual act, although he is a good looking lad and footballers tend to be the playboy types so if that is the case, please take some precautions Davide! And that doesn’t mean you should be buying party sized boxes of Durex, it means we don’t want to see you aggravating the injury – although the world is over-populated enough, so both pieces of advice are valid.