News that Welsh winger Craig Jones is on trial with Leeds United has been met with widespread derision from Whites fans, confused as to why the club think we need another winger with the myriad of options available to Simon Grayson.

On paper, it’s a fair point. Ramon Nunez, Lloyd Sam, Robert Snodgrass, Robbie Rogers, Andros Townsend and Danny Pugh should provide the depth we need for two positions.

That doesn’t tell the full story however. Firstly, Danny Pugh is a utility player. He’s been played on the wing lately, so most Leeds United fans add him to this list. Long-term however, he’s a more likely candidate for left back or central midfield. He’s a useful player to have because he can slot in almost anywhere the team is short of cover, but he’s primarily a stop-gap to cover the absence of others.

That brings us down to five, one of which is a loanee, so should not be factored in at all – especially by those that like to complain about our lack of “long term vision”.

Of the other four, one is Ramon Nunez – perhaps the most inconsistent player I’ve ever seen, whose real danger comes as an impact sub played centrally. Definitely not a natural winger and not someone I’d consider for the position at all unless desperate, which we have been at times this season largely as a result of Max Gradel’s deadline day sale.

Now we’re left with the pretty much unknown entity that is Robbie Rogers, who hasn’t received a work permit yet so may never actually play for Leeds United and Lloyd Sam, who has played well at times, but looked pretty average for the most part – more squad player than first team regular.

You could also factor in Ross McCormack, but he’ll “do a job” on the wing and would only leave us short on strikers if he was to play there long term. Similarly, factoring Aidy White in only creates further gaps elsewhere in the team.

Ultimately, what we have is one Robert Snodgrass, a loanee, a player that may never grace Elland Road’s hallowed turf and a distinctly average squad player. Another winger should be considered as much a priority as any full-back or central defender because we’ve suffered all season after failing to replace Max Gradel.

Admittedly, Craig Jones’ record in the Welsh Premier League doesn’t count for much at all, but then nor did Robert Snodgrass’ in the SPL. Plucking players from obscurity is what you have to do on such a limited budget, and there’s nothing to say Jones won’t be just as successful as those that came before him.

Fans should also remember that this is nothing more than a trial. It might work out, it might not, but if it does, he’ll be a low risk gamble on a relatively low wage. The fact we have Craig Jones with us at the minute does not mean the club aren’t looking at central defenders and full-backs, it just means the press have picked up on his trial and that’s all we’re hearing about at present.

A 95th minute Ross McCormack tap in gave Leeds United the winning start to 2012 they so desperately needed as an injury-fuelled Christmas disaster was put behind us.

Pre-match huddles for both teams added to the sense of drama at Elland Road as fans speculated whether or not this would be Simon Grayson’s final game in charge. Had Charlie Austin buried an early one-on-one attempt with Andy Lonergan, it may have been just that.

Instead, the scores remained level and the first signs that Andros Townsend would be a huge asset to us started to show as Burnley struggled to cope with his blistering pace down the wing.

Already stretched for numbers throughout the team, Simon Grayson was dealt another huge blow after quarter of an hour when Patrick Kisnorbo left the field injured. With so many injuries to the current side, Simon Grayson hadn’t been able to name a defender on the bench so Lloyd Sam came on with Leeds switching young Zac Thompson to full back and Alex Bruce central.

Paddy’s fall from grace has been painful to watch. He seems to have a compulsory blunder in him every game nowadays – which we’d already seen this afternoon. He never seemed to fully recover from the last injury and if this one is as serious as it looked, it could be the end of his Leeds United career.

Apologies if this sounds a little crass but the forced changed actually worked out pretty well for us. Zac Thompson put in a strong performance which should have moved him up the pecking order a little and Alex Bruce had a relatively good game too.

If the performance of our makeshift team wasn’t enough to restore some hope, the sending off of Keiran Trippier certainly was. Booked for an earlier foul on Andros Townsend, the Tottenham Hotspur youngster once again managed to draw a foul from Trippier and in less than 30 minutes of his Leeds United debut, Townsend had managed to get one of Burnley’s key players sent off.

A man down, Burnley responded as expected – by pulling everyone back and defending for their lives. Half time came and went and whilst dominant, Leeds were struggling to break through Burnley’s defence.

Ramon Nunez had a couple of shots from range, Andros Townsend was a revelation on the wing, Zac Thompson looked beyond his years and the usual suspects Adam Clayton and Aidy White looked to be back in form.

But despite some strong individual performances, Leeds couldn’t find a way through and were duly punished on 68 minutes when the defence switched off and Charlie Austin smashed home an opening goal from absolutely nothing.

What should have been a routine defensive move against ten men (make the numbers count, get the ball, fire it back up field) somehow resulted in the opening goal. It was so unexpected I was barely paying attention when it happened, sort of daydreaming, ready to refocus when the ball headed back up the other end.

This is Leeds and we seldom do things the easy way, but I couldn’t help think back to all the other poor showings we’ve had against ten men. We rely heavily on teams coming at us for goals – it opens space up for when we counter and catch them out, and is precisely why we’re often better away from home.

At Elland Road, with or without ten men, teams are often very defensive in their approach and Leeds struggle to break them down and create openings. This is where players like Max Gradel are so important because they drag players about and create gaps for others to exploit – make no mistake, failing to replace him has really cost us this season.

Regardless, Leeds soldiered on. Burnley had a little flurry after the goal sensing Leeds’ weakness and looked to capitalise, but we rode it out and headed back in the opposite direction.

As we approached full time, I genuinely started to wonder whether this would be Simon Grayson’s final bow – speculation has been rife before, but it’s generally just knee-jerk reactions to the bad patches of form every team suffers. Things seemed different this time though. The injury crisis somehow seemed irrelevant, the knives were being sharpened and Simon Grayson had only minutes to save his job – cue the dramatic finish.

If Hollywood had written this ending the goals would have probably been 30 yard screamers, expertly executed by the protagonist whose crisis of confidence led to a dramatic conclusion. But this is England and we do things differently here – a bundled home 88th minute equaliser from Brian Easton is much more fitting.

Leeds were back level and the fourth official indicated for five minutes of added time. The performance had been better than in recent weeks and a draw was certainly better than defeat. Nevertheless, against ten men, we knew Simon Grayson needed another.

As one, The Whites surged forward to throw everything they had left at Burnley’s resilient defence. Zac Thompson struck first, unlucky to see his effort deflected wide. The seconds ticked away and Lloyd Sam struck what was sure to be Leeds’ last chance agonisingly wide of the post.

Tensions heightened with every attempt Burnley made to time waste, but Leeds still managed to carve out one more chance with Andros Townsend’s long range effort spilled by the Burnley keeper and Ross McCormack on hand to turn it home.

Cue the biggest cheer heard inside Elland Road in months and a Jose Mourinho-esque release of tension from Simon Grayson. The relief was palatable, Grayson lived to fight another day, Leeds remained in the play-off running, Ross McCormack was back amongst the goals and Andros Townsend’s début gave us all reason to believe again – unquestionably the man of the match.

Such highs are always short-lived however. A win at home to Burnley merely papers over the cracks but – thanks to the Arsenal distraction – we now have 12 days before our next important game and there is definitely cause for optimism.

By the time we visit Crystal Palace on Saturday the 14th, Tom Lees will be back in the squad, meaning the defence should be stronger. More importantly, Robert Snodgrass will be nearing a return and with the addition of the lighting fast Andros Townsend on the opposite wing, we’ve effectively doubled our creative options.

Lady Luck shone brightly on us today, but that shouldn’t overshadow the definite improvement we saw. It feels like a corner has been turned and that better times lie ahead. Maybe I’m getting carried away, but I really feel we can push on from here – that our recent run was merely a bad patch of form, a giant hurdle we had to overcome to reach the promised land.

Happy New Year all. On and on…

Leeds managed to escape with a point from a pretty drab encounter at Vicarage Road as Robert Snodgrass equalised from the spot with the last kick of the game.

Shortly before that, Alex McCarthy marked his final game in a Leeds United shirt by tipping a Watford penalty onto the post.

Watford had taken the lead through a Michael Kightly goal midway through the first half, and were undoubtedly the better team overall.

The Whites lacked presence going forward and made no real effort to play the ball around on the deck throughout the course of the 90 minutes.

However, Watford weren’t much better. The two sides share equal credit for a game in which the ball seemed to spend more time in the air than it did on the ground.

From a Leeds United standpoint, the most concerning thing was the inability to create anything particularly threatening. For me, Luciano Becchio, Patrick Kisnorbo and Lloyd Sam stood out as the biggest disappointments today, but they were only the worst of an almost exclusively bad bunch.

Simon Grayson had started 4-4-2 and tried to switch things around, but that didn’t make much of a difference. I’m sure some will look to the formation as reason for a disappointing display, but the formation was trivial in this instance – the performance just wasn’t good enough.

That said, we somehow snatched a point and Watford fans will be more disappointed than we are. Sometimes the performance matters more than the result and it’d have probably been easier to accept a 1-0 loss in which we played well, than a 1-1 draw where we played poorly.

But at the end of the season the points are all that matter, and today we added another one to that tally. A tough Christmas schedule lays ahead and we need to see an improvement on this display if we’re to come out on top (metaphorically speaking).

Clearly, Gary Speed’s spirit lives on and has embodied itself within Robert Snodgrass – I can’t think of a more feasible explanation for the rapid turnaround in form after some pretty depressing performances had us all worried.

Before the game got under way, David Batty, Gary McAllister and Gordon Strachan returned to Elland Road to lay a wreath for their former team mate – the man who completed the greatest Leeds United midfield line-up this supporter has ever seen.

It was an emotional farewell, with Gary’s wife Louise showing a truly incredible amount of strength to attend the game and witness the tributes herself.

After the tributes finished, the game got under way, albeit slowly. Millwall set up to contain Leeds and The Whites struggled to break the Londoners down and create anything noteworthy.

The biggest story of the first half was Jonny Howson leaving the field injured. Clearly in pain, Jonny sheepishly got to his feet, snubbing the stretcher he looked like he was going to need.

Always a worry when you see a player leaving the field injured, but even more so when it’s someone who so rarely gets injured – it immediately leads you to the conclusion that it must be something serious. Hopefully that’s not the case, but I can’t help thinking that the best case scenario is 3-4 weeks without our captain.

Lloyd Sam came on as Jonny’s replacement, taking over the right wing so Robert Snodgrass could move to the attacking midfield position Howson’s departure had left vacant.

Still struggling to break Millwall down and create opportunities, it was no surprise to see Leeds’ opening goal come from a dead ball – a well struck 25-yard freekick from Robert Snodgrass on 63 minutes.

With Millwall now behind, they were forced to try and respond which created the space Leeds United needed to really cause the opposition problems. Just two minutes after the opening goal, and Robert Snodgrass doubled Leeds’ advantage with an excellent diving header from the cross of Lloyd Sam.

2-0, and it really could/should have been more. One particular move saw Luciano Becchio read the riot act by Robert Snodgrass who could have done somersaults in the space he’d made available to himself. Instead of playing Snoddy in however, Becchio stalled and the move came to nothing – an insignificant event in any other game, but you couldn’t help feel that was Snodgrass’ hattrick chance wasted.

Still, another three points and The Whites move up to fourth, closing the gap on second placed West Ham United to six, with four points now separating us from 7th placed Blackpool. Almost halfway through the season, and overall, you can’t help but feel satisfied looking at the table.

Another clean sheet, two more goals for Robert Snodgrass and the end of our dismal run at home would all seem more important if it wasn’t for the real story today – the Elland Road farewell to a club legend.

RIP Gary, Marching On Forever.

After the debacle that was Leeds’ performance against Southampton, fans were looking for a response against Bradford. But when Bradford struck on the 30 minute mark, even the most optimistic whites fan must have sunk into their seat. To be fair to Leeds, they had been passing it around better than Saturday but they still lacked that cutting edge.

Luckily, Leeds turned it around after twice being behind and secured a second round tie against Doncaster. Personally I think the reason we’re in the next round comes down to a few factors. Ramon Nunez was a breath of fresh air on the night. He looked dangerous, he gets into the right positions and you can sense the excitement in the crowd when he’s on the ball. Ideally he needs a run in the team, but I can see Simon Grayson dropping him to the bench on Saturday, to make way for the return of Max Gradel and Robert Snodgrass. However I would argue that Nunez should play instead of Snodgrass after his lacklustre performance against the Saints, but it’s not up to me.

Bringing Leigh Bromby and Tom Lees on for Andy O’Brien and Paul Connolly was a decision that was welcomed with cheers from the Elland Road crowd. All pre-season I’ve wanted Lees to start against the Saints and with O’Brien picking up an injury, I thought he was certain to get his debut for the club. However Grayson stuck with O’Brien and we all saw how that ended up. He was at fault again on Tuesday and to be honest he looks unfit and off the pace. After Grayson had made the substitution I can only remember the Bantams getting one more chance, which was superbly dealt with by Tom Lees. It was a bold decision by Grayson’s standards, but one that paid off.

Lees also supplied a perfect cross for the equaliser that supplied Ross McCormack with a chance to get off the mark. Now Lees is predominantly a centre back but he did play right back for Accrington Stanley when he was on loan with them a couple of seasons ago, so he’s certainly capable there. I believe he should be given another chance on Saturday in the right back spot and hopefully he can provide some more assists whilst staying solid at the back. Lloyd Sam looked lively too and his jinking run into the box supplied Nunez with the first equaliser. He is a great asset to the squad and a more than capable back up to either Max or Snodgrass. Adam Clayton looked the part once again. His crunching tackle in the first half embodied the true never-say-die attitude that the Whites faithful expect. He is quickly becoming a fan favourite and if he continues this form he will soon become a vital part of the team.

Overall Leeds will have to step up a gear against Boro on Saturday. We need to keep the ball better and pass it around teams, it’s no use hoofing it up to Ross, because it’s just coming right back to us. If we can match the intensity and performance levels of some of the matches last season, (QPR and Millwall spring to mind) most teams in this division will struggle to match us. Let’s hope Leeds can kick start the season with a performance that the Leeds faithful deserve.

Yorkshire derbies seldom go to plan for The Whites and Bradford City came to Elland Road determined to continue that tradition.

There were starts for Ramon Nunez, Lloyd Sam and Ben Parker as several first team regulars were away on international duty, but it was those that remained which would give Leeds United fans the most cause for concern as the evening’s events unfolded.

The biggest problem area remains the defence which was all over the place when Bradford City took the lead through a Jack Compton goal just after the half hour mark. Through a crowded defence, Compton managed to pull away and find space for a shot that left Andy Lonergan with no chance.

The general reaction within the ground was that Ben Parker was at fault as he allowed Compton to pull away without giving chase. And it’s true that Parker should definitely share the blame, but the defence were so badly organised that our two centre-backs are nowhere near the centre of defence when the shot was fired almost dead centre. The lack of organisation meant both Patrick Kisnorbo and Andy O’Brien had been left clumsily scratching their heads at the left-hand side of goal, whilst Ben Parker – who in my opinion should be covering the far post in this situation – was caught in two minds as the only defender remaining. There’s no escaping the fact he should have chased, but had he done so, it would have been just as easy for Compton to lay the ball off to whoever was coming in at the back post and then we’d have complained he was out-of-position. The fact is, the entire defence was at fault.

After a disappointing first half, Leeds United came out on fire and Ramon Nunez equalised within 30 seconds. Lloyd Sam did incredibly well to somehow work his way through a crowd of Bradford City players to tee Nunez up for the equaliser and his first goal as a Leeds United player. What Lloyd Sam lacks in the skill and trickery department, he more than makes up for with an unrelenting determination.

Lapse defending was to blame once again however as Michael Flynn restored Bradford City’s lead on 57 minutes. Andy O’Brien will once again come in for criticism here, and it seems Simon Grayson agreed as he decided to replace O’Brien with Leigh Bromby just five minutes later. Tom Lees was also brought on to replace Paul Connolly. Two changes in defence when trailing by a goal tells you all you need to know about The Whites’ performance up to this point.

On a more positive note, Ramon Nunez always looked a threat, Lloyd Sam worked tirelessly throughout and Ross McCormack was constantly on the move trying to create space and chances for himself. And it was McCormack who leveled for The Whites on 69 minutes, latching on to an incredible cross from Tom Lees to head home his first goal of the season and restore parity at Elland Road.

Leeds were starting to look more and more threatening going forward with Ross McCormack and Ramon Nunez showing the potential to forge a strong partnership up front. On several occasions, McCormack showed his ability to create space for a shot and was unlucky not to get a second with a couple of well-struck long range efforts. Nunez meanwhile was at times let down by a bit of rustiness in his control, but was always giving Bradford something to think about. Neither can really be classed as an orthodox striker, McCormack for example was still working his way back from defence at one point whilst half The Whites squad were up the other end of the field attacking and he does have a tendency to drift back into central midfield, but between the two of them, we may just be on to something.

Leeds eventually sealed victory when a Lloyd Sam cross was spilled by the Bradford City keeper gifting Ramon Nunez his second Leeds United goal with just 15 minutes remaining. From there on out, Leeds United dominated and retained possession well. City did manage a couple more half chances, most notable of which was a hit-and-hope attempt from the wing that Andy Lonergan had to peddle back and save at full-stretch, but we came through in the end to progress to the second round.

Conclusions

Credit to Bradford City, they came fired up for the battle and gave a very good account of themselves making this a thrilling Yorkshire derby match. What I particularly like about City is that they aren’t a side who spends half the match complaining to the referee when a decision goes against them or he misses something. Case in point, Leigh Bromby shoved their forward to the ground in an off-the-ball situation, but instead of rolling around like most Premier League (and Championship for that matter) players would have done, he got up and went over to the referee playing down the incident with Bromby, shook hands and left it at that. They’re not a team who ruins the game with constant whinging and moaning, they simply get stuck in and get on with it. I admire that it any team.

As for Leeds, the defence is a still a total shambles. The only positives I can take from this is that Ben Parker got 90 minutes under his belt – he needs games to get back to his old self unfortunately – and that Simon Grayson identified Andy O’Brien as a weakness and gave Leigh Bromby and Tom Lees a chance to impress. Both Lees and Bromby looked an improvement to me and should be considered ahead of O’Brien who is clearly lacking fitness this weekend.

Micheal Brown looked a lot better than he did against Southampton and seemed to time his tackling a lot better too. Adam Clayton is an absolute warrior who I’m quickly falling in love with (he hasn’t got a bad shot on him either) and Lloyd Sam was an example every player should follow – absolutely tireless.

Other positives were Ramon Nunez and Ross McCormack, but I think I rattled on about them enough above?

Overall, we’re still not the finished article but in the second half we performed much better than we did last week against The Saints. Conceding two goals against a League Two side is a concern and one which needs to be addressed quickly, but at least we have some positives to take from this game unlike last week. On and on…

Leeds United	3	2	Bradford City
Ramon Nunez			Jack Compton
Ross McCormack			Michael Flynn
Ramon Nunez
Elland Road (Att. TBC)
League Cup 2011-12, August 9th 2011

Newly promoted Southampton brought optimistic Leeds United fans (like me) crashing back down to earth in a league opener Whites fans will quickly want to forget.

Things didn’t start too badly at St Mary’s with Michael Brown throwing his weight around in midfield and a snap-shot from Jonny Howson providing Leeds United fans with room for optimism after the opening exchanges.

But things soon went awry as Dean Hammond ran into acres of space before releasing a beautifully struck shot to the bottom left-hand corner. Lonergan dived the right way and wasn’t too far away from the save, but his view was undoubtedly blocked by Leeds’ back-line who made no attempt to close down the oncoming forward. By holding back, Leeds’ defence not only allowed Hammond plenty of time to carefully pick his shot, but they also provided him perfect cover from the pesky keeper who may otherwise have got in his way. 1-0, and things only got worse.

The Whites quickly decided the best way to level things was by hoofing the ball long to Ross McCormack who, being one of the smallest men on the pitch, somehow couldn’t win the aerial battles against 6ft tall defenders (strange that…) – you’d think this is something we’d realise quickly, but no, not Leeds United. After all, they’ve been doing the same thing to Max Gradel for two consecutive seasons and still exchange confused looks when he can’t pluck the ball from 10ft above his head. .

Rather unsurprisingly, this proved ineffective and Southampton grew in stature and confidence as Leeds crumbled and forgot how to work as a team.

It didn’t take long for the Saints to double their advantage as Adam Lallana managed to twist his way into an acute shooting angle to fire beyond Andy Lonergan – not the debut our new keeper was hoping for. 2-0 and you already sensed the game was over.

Half time came and went and Leeds United didn’t show any signs of improvement. Southampton meanwhile seemed to be going from strength to strength and within just 7 minutes of the second-half kicking off, they put the game totally out of reach with a beautifully worked passing move finished in some style by David Connolly. 3-0, game over.

At this point, the fans of some clubs would head for the exit and begin the 4-5 hour journey back north. But the Leeds United faithful are far too stubborn for that! Even if we weren’t going to win the match – and trust me, there was never any danger of that happening – we were still going to make ourselves heard and out-sing the Southampton fans. The one constant this club can rely on is the – often undeserved – die-hard supporters.

With nothing left to lose Grayson looked to the bench for a masterstroke that would get us back in the game, and to the complete bemusement of most fans decided Billy Paynter was the man for the job. “He’s been right before in this situation” we reasoned and decided he probably knew best.

He didn’t. But in fairness to Grayson, Paynter did have the best chance of the game when he was released one-on-one with the oncoming Saints keeper, only to be denied by what was admittedly a pretty good save. Still, you’d have fancied McCormack or any one of our midfielders to have buried it quite easily.

Ramon Nunez and Lloyd Sam followed and both looked a hell of a lot better than half the players we’d started the match with. You can’t help but think Ramon Nunez would be better alongside Ross McCormack than Jonny Howson is, and that Lloyd Sam looks in much better shape than Robert Snodgrass who I genuinely forgot was on the pitch.

Southampton continued to carve out the better chances with some excellent passing movements throughout the team and went close to adding a fourth when Richard Chaplow struck from range only to be denied by the post.

But it was Leeds who would have the final say when one of the Saints’ defenders was judged to have handled the ball in the area by the linesman to concede a penalty. Max Gradel, whose enthusiasm was one of the few positives you could take from this game, sent the keeper the wrong way to add a consolation goal for Leeds right at the death and keep us from the bottom of the table by virtue of goals scored.

Conclusions

Southampton are an excellent footballing side, in a similar mould to that of Norwich City. Comfortable on the ball, extremely well-organised at the back and able to forge concise, quick counter-attacks. Some of their passing moves throughout this game was more like watching Arsenal than a newly promoted side from League One.

However good Southampton may be, that does not excuse the result, nor does it detract from the truly woeful display Leeds United put on. Where the Saints had cohesion and composure, Leeds had panic and hoof-balls. You’d be at serious pains to choose a man of the match for Southampton because there were no individual performances – they won as a team. At no point during the course of the fixture did Leeds exhibit a similar togetherness and understanding.

When Southampton were in possession it was difficult to turn them over because every player was on the move creating options for the man on the ball. When Leeds were in possession our options were largely non-existent. No one was creating the same space for themselves and giving the man on the ball the same kind of options Saints had. It was so obvious for Southampton to read and nullify Leeds’ options that they could commit several players to Max Gradel every time he had the ball, knowing he had no one to release the ball to. When Leeds are at their best, our passing stretches the opposition creating the gaps we exploit and score goals from. We have so many attacking options when on the break that it’s impossible for the opposition defence to mark them all. Not once did we see that at St. Mary’s.

Moaning about referees is one of my pet-hates, but sometimes it’s hard to ignore how bad they are and this one undoubtedly affected the game. At some point over the summer it must have been decided that football is no longer a contact sport and that whenever two players brush against each other, a foul must be given against the team on the break.

For those that missed the game I really cannot put into words how bad this referee was. Inside St. Mary’s it was difficult to tell what he’d blown for and who he was giving the free-kick to 90% of the time. I assumed that watching it back on Sky Sports would give me some clarity, but even that didn’t help!

I expected Michael Brown and Patrick Kisnorbo’s tough tackling to be the difference this season, but if that was the standard of refereeing we can look forward to, we better start training with 10 men.

Very few positives, but Adam Clayton impressed me as did Ramon Nunez and Lloyd Sam. Ross McCormack also deserves a mention. He’s clearly an extremely talented striker slotted into a team built around and only suited to Luciano Becchio – that’s something we have to address quickly, because this kind of football does not work without him. As mentioned earlier, the fans were outstanding too. If the team performed half as well as the travelling support did, we’d have won 5-0.

Overall, I fear the more pessimistic fans may have been right all along. Maybe we did overreach last season. It’s only one game, and you have to remember that both ourselves and Norwich lost the opener last season but the one recurring thought as I watched the Whites crumble and heard the Leeds fans moan about Bates’ lack of investment was the £7m East Stand development being added to a ground we allegedly don’t own! “What the f**k is going on?” the Whites faithful asked. What the f**k indeed.

On and on…

Southampton	3	1	Leeds United
Dean Hammond			Max Gradel (Pen)
Adam Lullana
David Connolly
St Marys’ Stadium (Att. 25,860)
Championship 2011-12, August 6th 2011

TSS on talkSPORT: Following the match yesterday I was contacted by Sam Matterface from talkSPORT to see if I’d be available to feature on a look back show. I’m due to go on air at some point between 4-6pm tonight (August 7th). I’ll add further details on Twitter and The Scratching Shed forums as I find out more. I suspect it’ll end up like a footballer’s post-match interview, heavy in the “erm…” and “at the end of the day…” department.

Leeds United ended their pre-season campaign with a 3-2 victory over Premier League side Newcastle United at Elland Road. 

The Whites took an early lead after a Robert Snodgrass free-kick was spilled by Newcastle United goalkeeper Frazer Forster allowing Patrick Kisnorbo an easy tap-in.

Leeds kept up the pressure and dominated much of the first half but The Magpies got back on level terms when Steven Taylor was left unmarked to head home from a corner kick.

By half-time, Leeds United had undoubtedly been the better team. The Whites were creating plenty of chances going forward whilst the defensive partnership of Andy O’Brien and Patrick Kisnorbo was looking much stronger than anything we saw last season.

That partnership however was broken up for the second half with Leigh Bromby coming on for Andy O’Brien who is no doubt some way from match fitness following his recent injury.

Other substitutes followed throughout the second half as Simon Grayson started to break-up what is likely to be his opening day line-up.

And it was one of those substitutes that would restore Leeds United’s lead. Lloyd Sam somehow managed to win the ball on the by-line before slotting home from an incredibly tight angle to make it 2-1 and give Newcastle United fans more reason to worry about their defence.

The lead was short-lived however as a good move from Newcastle United finished with a powerful strike from Haris Vuckic who left Leeds’ new keeper Andy Lonergan with no chance.

But Leeds United weren’t done yet, and it was another second half substitute, Billy Paynter who would seal victory for the Whites and bring his Leeds United goal drought to an end. The relief was almost palpable as Billy celebrated a rare goal.

Conclusions

Overall, this was a very encouraging display from Leeds. The Geordies will be furious with the defending on display, but to put Leeds United’s victory down to Newcastle’s incompetence would be unfair on the players who, to a man, performed very well.

The squad looked sharp and eager throughout the game. Recent injury concerns Robert Snodgrass and Andy O’Brien both looked in good shape to start the new season whilst the returning Patrick Kisnorbo has transformed the defence completely.

Jonny Howson put in an excellent shift and clearly enjoys the attacking freedom he’s afforded with Michael Brown and Adam Clayton alongside him in central midfield.

Despite conceding two goals, I also think Andy Lonergan will improve our defensive fortunes. He showed he had the shot-stopping ability on a couple of occasions, but more importantly for me was that he just appeared calmer and more in control than Kasper Schmeichel ever was.

What was particularly encouraging was seeing the cover available to us. Lloyd Sam put in a tireless display when he came on and constantly looked a threat, whilst Ramon Nunez and Alex Mendy both look like capable squad players with the ability to change a game.

Up front remains a bit of a concern despite Billy Paynter’s late winner and a positive display from Ross McCormack. The big question mark for me personally, is whether McCormack can play the lone striker role – he displays excellent movement and does find the space you’d expect from a seasoned pro like Ross, but I’m convinced he’d be better with a target man alongside him.

Leeds United	3	2	Newcastle United
Patrick Kisnorbo (5)			Taylor (35)
Lloyd Sam (67)			Vuckic (76)
Billy Paynter (85)
Elland Road (Att. 20,457)
Pre-season friendly, July 31st 2011

The long awaited unveiling of the new away kit has finally taken place and since we did a poll on the home kit, we thought we’d do the same for this one too.

The yellow and black colours Macron have gone with haven’t caused too much of a shock as Lloyd Sam dropped that little bombshell a couple of weeks back. I’d personally assumed it would be predominantly yellow however, so the black being the main colour did surprise me a little.

I wish I could find the words to sum up the following, but I really can’t… (Lights off for the full experience)

A Max Gradel goal was all that separated Rochdale and Leeds United in another drab pre-season friendly encounter.

Simon Grayson once again made good use of the players available making nine changes throughout the course of the fixture.

There was more injury concerns too for Whites fans with Patrick Kisnorbo, Robert Snodgrass and Lloyd Sam all absent. It appears they were rested mainly as a precautionary measure after picking up minor knocks against Motherwell last Saturday, but with Luciano Becchio and Davide Somma already set to miss the start of the campaign, Leeds fans have some cause for concern.

Worried fans will doubtless point to the secrecy surrounding Davide Somma’s injury (which the striker leaked on Twitter) as reason enough to be sceptical of any injury news coming from the club. There was no explanation given for Somma’s absence from the recent trip to Scotland and it was only when Whites fans saw him on crutches in Leeds we really knew he had problems.

The only other news to come from the game was the three trialists Leeds United played. Alongside former Aston Villa players Isaiah Osbourne and JLloyd Samuel, Leeds United also fielded a mysterious French midfielder who they refused to name – following an investigation amongst Whites fans on Twitter, we’re pretty sure it was Alexandre Mendy. For those of you that like to judge players based solely on a carefully edited YouTube best bits compilation, click here.

So, a pretty uneventful encounter overall but Leeds United continue their pre-season form with three wins from three.