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

No, Dom Matteo’s bet-fishing column in the YEP, suggesting to the gullible that we’re still worth a punt for the playoffs was not outrageously far-fetched – just a little bit. It’ll involve an upturn in form, yes, but seventh’s where the money’s at. Good, that’s out of the way.

Well, not really. This is not just a prediction for this season – we’re going to finish seventh forever and ever or at least until the world stops going round: an endless Groundhog Season of unendurable raised and subsequently narrowly crushed hopes. It just feels right doesn’t it?

Seven, seven, seven is the number of our beast, and it’s coming to the fore right now. It’s taken us that many years of fibs to start meaningful action against Ken, in a season that follows a seventh-place finish. Or should I say the first of our never-ending seventh-place finishes. Max Gradel started the season as number seven and has now vanished into thin air (also known as Ligue 1).

And it would be face-smackingly remiss not to mention the fact that we’ve just conceded our record home goals-against glut. It’s almost as if I’ve been waiting for a seven-goal shellacking just to provide apt moment to write this hokum.

You could say that if we were to compare Leeds United to a film, and again, you can probably see where this is heading, it would probably be Se7en. Maybe with a bit of Jason and the Argonauts ethic thrown in, for the seemingly never-ending, extremely bumpy quest of glory, monsters round every corner elements.

Kevin Spacey with a stick-on beard plays Bates of course, but who knows whose head is going to be in the box at the end of this epic hybrid horror. Whoever’s it is it’ll probably be adjudged to be a metaphor for the mindless devotion of us, the hordes.

It’s abundantly clear that the gypsies are still angry; that the curse was never lifted properly. I think we all secretly assume this to be the case, especially the younger generations – the paranoid stories of our fathers stick.

I’d venture further: there was probably some curse-amplification carried out by that sneaky exorcist gypsy, right at the point when the Don felt it safe to assume the club was being cleared for take-off. Indeed the sevens look likely to even have chased him post-Leeds, his stormy England tenure ending abruptly in 1977 and all.

So why the sevens over traditional sixes, oh hex-ers of the club? Presumably just boredom marked as progress, the usual. Or the fact that the Borough of Leeds was formed in 1207. Or the fact that our faux-exorcism took place at the start of seventies. You with me? No? Good.

If we’re going to get Biblical, and hell it’s gotten pretty silly here already, it’d be worth pointing out that there are also supposed to be seven signs of the coming of an apocalypse. But the mighty whites aren’t about to cease to be – they’re just settling in to a slow-burning, bespoke sort of doom. Seventh forever is just the kind of excruciatingly marginal underachievement we’re famous for.

This Warnock reign had been simmering along just fine, hadn’t it? But just when you thought it was safe to put your head over the parapet and search out them rose-tinted specs, we’re indeed back to doom. Those Argonauts had some patches of calm sea, too.

It would be fair to say that the stagnation that this season’s seventh-place finish will mark may be considered a certain level of achievement, factoring in the fact that the squad’s unarguably worse – it’s the ones that follow that’ll be the tricky part in terms of maintaining our faith.

We demand a lot of our managers, but fighting number seven, the occult and overblown pessimistic analogies may be too much for anyone. That said, it has been stated that Neil has a bit of a track record for the dark arts…

Read more from The Mangle. 

Either Leeds United recently employed a Leprechaun to administer huge doses of luck when all hope seems lost or I’m at a total loss to explain today’s events.

For the first hour or so, Leeds United were second best. Behind thanks to an Andy Lonergan blunder and incapable of stringing half a dozen passes together, there was no creativity, no inspirational leading figure and absolutely no chance we were going to take anything from this game. In short, there was no belief – not from the players and certainly not from the fans.

It was painful to watch. As news spread that Robert Snodgrass has ended contract talks with the club, citing a lack of ambition and broken promises as his reasoning, the cries of the dissidents were understandable. What we were witnessing was the death of a football club.

The seven year long asset-stripping, under-financed reign of Ken Bates had clearly taken it’s toll. The fans had lost faith and the players had too. As easy as it is to point to Simon Grayson’s tactics and failure to motivate when your team is struggling, there is little anyone can do in this situation. All the tactical wizardry in the world won’t change the fact our players have lost all faith in the club itself.

Ken Bates had his say of course, pointing to a £2m overspend on the club’s £9m “transfer budget”. The only problem with Ken Bates’ definition of a transfer budget is that it’s actually our wage budget, but we’ll cover that wonderfully crafted piece of misdirection in a separate post (now published here).

Anyway, as one man’s yawn contagiously spread around The Kop, the epically proportioned bit of luck Leeds United required started with Alex McCarthy who was sent off for handling outside the box. This seemed an incredibly basic error for such a hugely talented goalkeeper to make, leaving some fans to question which side he was playing for – had he taken pity on us?

That was followed by Ipswich Town’s centre-back passing the ball to Robert Snodgrass who must have felt embarrassed by the charitable equaliser he was allowed to slot home. 1-1.

Soon after that, Ross McCormack put Leeds ahead as Ipswich Town’s replacement goalkeeper got caught in two minds making it far too easy for Leeds’ top goalscorer to add a second. Paul Jewell’s defence had crumbled and his team were masters of their own downfall. 2-1

That just left Luciano Becchio to round things off and bring an end to the most bizarre twenty five minutes of football you’re ever likely to see. Even Paul Rachubka’s meltdown paled by comparison as this had spread throughout Ipswich’s entire team almost instantaneously.

In summing up this match, words fail me. The only way I can describe it is that this could be the only time in the history of professional football where a team has won 3-1 and their highest player rating was 4/10 – and even then I think I may have been generous.

Finally, the comedy on display almost overshadowed the dissident protests. Large numbers of fans gathered before the match to call for an end to Ken Bates’ reign and there was no real let up inside Elland Road either. The chants were a common theme, banners found their way in and stewards ejected some fans as tensions rose.

Despite the result this was a dark, but nonetheless necessary day for Leeds United. Seven years since Ken Bates “saved us” (from administration I presume…? oh wait…) our homegrown club captain has been sold and Robert Snodgrass is looking set to follow. At the start of this season our optimism was based on the midfield trio of Max Gradel, Jonny Howson and Robert Snodgrass.

Two down, one to go…

New feature: Rate the players v Ipswich Town here

Photo Credit: Alex Knight Photography

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…

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.

With exactly one month to go until the transfer window opens, you’d think there would be more pressing matters for the news agencies and sites to report than potential moves, but alas, fans love nothing more than dreaming of what could be, so why shouldn’t the evil news agencies deliver that to them?

In the case of Leeds United, two players have already been churned out of the old rumour mill. The first, 30-year-old German goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann seems somewhat believable but will do little to fuel dreams of an automatic promotion push for Whites fans. The six and half foot giant has managed just one appearance for League One Preston and will be considered the first sign of another forgettable transfer window by the masses.

The second rumour may provide more room for optimism, as Leeds are rumoured by Sky Sports to be part of a Championship trio chasing Stevenage’s Lawrie Wilson.

Sky Sports claim that the 24-year-old has been instrumental in Stevenage’s rise from the Conference to League One although 9 goals in 132 appearances suggests he’s no Max Gradel. However he has topped Stevenage’s assist table for the last two seasons.

Oh how lovely it must be for a season to go by when one of your key players isn’t nearing the end of his contract, deadlocked in negotiations with our tight-fisted board and attracting the interest of Premier League relegation fodder.

First there was Jermaine Beckford, then there was Max Gradel and now there’s Jonny Howson. It wouldn’t be quite as depressing if Leeds United didn’t already have 2012/13′s drama set in place –  a la Snodgrass, Clayton, Somma and McCormack.

Yes, it’s wrong to be using players with two years remaining on their contract to blast the clubs contract policies, but does anyone honestly believe these contracts will be sorted before we have to sit through another six months of perpetual news feeds serving up one link after another, whilst the player decides he is no longer capable of answering simple questions with anything but ambiguity?

Regardless of how naive/pessimistic you may be, those are matters we can tear our hair out over in due course – for now, let’s concentrate our follicle extraction on Jonny Howson. The Leeds born, Leeds bred, Leeds supporting, Leeds United captain should never have become a player we were in fear of losing. Over 200 appearances for the club, Mr Leeds United is the club’s longest serving player – by quite some margin too if you consider his youth career.

Yet despite the fact Jonny is a player who bleeds blue, white and yellow, talks over his new deal appear to be getting nowhere, rumours of interest from other clubs are starting to surface and the words of reassurance coming from Jonny are far from reassuring.

Speaking after the 3-0 win over Doncaster Rovers Friday night, Jonny said;

“We’re still discussing things. From my point of view I just want to play in a team which can give performances like that, and if we keep doing that then I’m sure it (the contract) will take care of itself.

“I’ll put it to the back of my mind.

“They (contracts) are big decisions at any time. It’s your career and you’ve got to make the right decision.

“But my aim is to get Leeds into the Premier League and if we keep producing performances like that then it won’t be a problem.”

It’s almost like Jonny is issuing the club an ultimatum – “Match my ambition, or I’m off – football careers are too short.”

And whilst I doubt Jonny would ever leave Elland Road, it’s not hard to sympathise with his current plight. He helped us fight defiantly through the loss of Beckford, but we brought plenty of new blood in for the start of last season which will have settled any fears the team may have had.

But where does Jonny look to see a similar level of ambition this season? His concerns are similar to that of the support; the transfer window was a massively depressing couple of months where Leeds United made a net loss in terms of quality.

For the time being, Leeds are in good form and Jonny, like the fans, is at relative peace. But he wants to play Premier League football while he’s still young enough to improve with the experience, and if Leeds United can’t deliver a team capable of doing that then, like the fans, Jonny may become restless.

Ramon Nunez today secured a new contract that will keep him at Elland Road until 2015, with an option of a further year thrown in for good measure.

The 25-year-old Honduran made a sensational start to the 2011/12 season netting five times and making his way into the starting line-up against Crystal Palace following the sale of Max Gradel. However, the winger failed to produce the kind of game-changing performance he’d made from the bench and was subsequently dropped in favour of Andy Keogh for the visit of Manchester United.

Ramon Nunez becomes the second Leeds United player to extend his contract with the club following in the footsteps of Tom Lees who secured a similar deal at the end of September.

Whilst the news of Nunez’s new contract will be music to the ears of most Whites fans, there is still some cause for concern as negotiations with Jonny Howson continue. The homegrown club captain is Leeds United’s longest serving playing and has made over 200 appearances for his home town club, but his current deal expires at the end of the current season.

There will also be some concern about Adam Clayton and Robert Snodgrass. Whilst both players are tied to the club until the end of the 2012/13 season, fresh long-term contracts would go a long way to assuring fans they won’t follow in the footsteps of Max Gradel, leaving Leeds United forced to sell next summer.

Leeds United 3-2 Crystal Palace

Suspended Aidy White and injured Adam Clayton were replaced by 17-year-old Charlie Taylor and 34-year-old Michael Brown for Leeds. Those were the first indications that The Whites may have trouble against an in-form Palace side who started the game sixth in the Championship.

Our fears looked to be misplaced however when the young Charlie Taylor put a superb cross in for Ross McCormack to fire Leeds United into the lead with only 8 minutes on the clock.

From there however, Leeds crumbled. Within five minutes Palace had leveled things and by the 20th minute of the game Leeds were 2-1 behind.

The problem wasn’t so much the makeshift defence which consisted of two youngsters on the wings with Paddy and on-loan O’Dea in the centre, but the total absence of a Leeds United midfield.

Michael Brown’s biggest contribution to the match was a bit of shouting here and there, Jonny Howson had clearly decided to join Adam Clayton and take the day off and Robert Snodgrass hadn’t played this badly in a long time.

Then there was Ramon Nunez who was played on the wing to fill the position Max Gradel left behind. Within the first twenty minutes it had become evident that he had no defensive ability whatsoever and Palace were exposing this weakness time and again.

Quite how The Whites made it to half time only a goal down was a mystery for the ages, but it did give us an undeserved lifeline. The problem was that the Elland Road crowd were now on the players backs and the only outcome seemed to be a Leeds United defeat.

But 15 minutes into the second half Simon Grayson made the changes necessary to get Leeds back into the game. Luciano Becchio returned and instantly lifted the crowd coming on alongside Mikael Forssell for Ramon Nunez and Andy Keogh. Nunez was about as impressed with his own performance as the rest of us were, throwing a Max Gradel-esque hissy fit as he left the field – this was the first time all day he’d resembled the Ivorian.

A little over ten minutes after coming on Luciano Becchio made the kind of return we’d all been hoping for. Left totally unmarked in the box, he headed home to level the scores before heading off to the bench to celebrate with our coaching staff.

Palace looked deflated and Leeds looked to capitalise but chances went begging and Palace started to get their noses back in front.

It seemed for the first time all season however that Lady Luck was smiling down on Leeds. With a little over five minutes remaining, Mikael Forssell found Ross McCormack who managed to net a totally undeserved winner.

Conclusions

Overall, this was one of the worst displays I’ve seen in the past few seasons.

Some will point to the defence as reason for our poor showing, but it’s hard to escape the fact our midfield did nothing to support them. Every single one of them should be heading home tonight to look themselves in the mirror and ask if they think their performance was worthy of wearing the white shirt.

Our lack of depth is well documented, and that was exposed today by Clayton’s absence – we looked a totally different team without him. But it wasn’t so much the quality of the players fielded, as the effort they put in which was most concerning for me.

Palace will feel they should have won this one, and I can’t argue with that. Leeds were extremely lucky to come away with three points, but it’s all swings and roundabouts I guess. We dropped undeserved points to Boro, Ipswich and arguably West Ham so something had to go for us sooner or later. I just hope the win isn’t used to disguise the glaringly obvious problems we have.

Leeds United return to Championship football today following the international break and will be out to prove they’re still a serious threat after Max Gradel was sold to St Etienne.

New arrival Mikael Forssell is likely to start from the bench with Ramon Nunez filling Max’s position on the wing.

Luciano Becchio may make his return after completing 60 minutes of a behind-closed-doors friendly against Hull City earlier this week.

Our opponents today, Crystal Palace have started the season surprisingly well and currently sit sixth in the Championship having lost only one of their games so far. Their last fixture saw them hold Blackpool to a 1-1 draw.

Football betting odds make Leeds United odds on favourites for this one with Palace 10/3 for a surprise win. Meanwhile a draw would pay 13/5.

The Five Year Plan Fanzine lists Glenn Murray as the player we should be keeping an eye on in Palace’s starting XI and predict a 2-1 win for the visitors.

Despite the departure of Max Gradel, Leeds’ main threat is still likely to come from the wings where Robert Snodgrass and Ramon Nunez will be keeping the oppositions full-back’s busy. Adam Clayton has made a sensational start to the season too and will be desperate to continue his good run of form in the centre of the park.

Up front, Ross McCormack and Andy Keogh will no doubt continue the partnership that has proved to be a big threat so far and they’ll be keen to make a mark with Forssell and Becchio lurking in the background.

If Leeds can keep the discipline that has cost us so dearly thus far in check, I’m predicting a show of defiance from The Whites and a relatively comfortable victory. Whilst the defence is still problematic, I suspect Palace will struggle to cope with our attacking options.