The Scratching Shed

Matt Derbyshire

Matt celebrates Greek cup win with Olympiacos

After a quiet few days, Betfair has re-awoken and we’re blessed with yet another transfer link that’s unlikely to ever happen. This time, the online bookmakers have scoured the net in search of a possible player to link and returned to us grateful Leeds United fans with the news that Matt Derbyshire wants to return to England!

Those of you that haven’t already leapt into the air with joy should feel free to do so now.

Read the rest of this entry →

Back in February, fans that travelled to Carlisle for the ill-fated JPT semi-final and the tens of thousands more watching back home, witnessed some ugly scenes as Carlisle’s celebrations were marred by several assaults on our players.

Following those scenes in February, I observed that ‘The stewarding, policing and protection afforded to our players following the JPT clash on Tuesday night was quite frankly atrocious.’ I felt that Carlisle had massively underestimated the potential for trouble at the game, and were undeniably at fault for the events that followed.

Not only were the numbers of stewards and Police too small to meet the requirements for the match, but the ones that were there did nothing to help the Leeds United players who were trying to get off the pitch. At the time, Richard Naylor was the most outspoken on this issue, quite rightly condemning the actions of those who were supposed to be there to prevent such situations.

In February, I concluded my initial rant by predicting the FA’s punishment for Carlisle would be pathetic or non-existent. Unfortunately, my prediction came true as the FA decided to put the matter to rest, claiming that Carlisle did everything in their power after the events to bring those responsible to justice. Strange, since the ones that were responsible are still being hunted.

What really irks me about all this is the unavoidable double standards of the FA. It’s something we’ve grown used to at Leeds United, but that doesn’t make it any more acceptable. My prediction that the FA would do nothing was largely based on the lack of media coverage. The FA have become the media’s plaything and only seem to act when there’s mass coverage and outrage about a given event. Since this was the Carlisle fans at fault, the media simply couldn’t care less, but I’d be willing to bet all my worldly possessions that if the boot was on the other foot, Leeds United would now be suffering the consequences.

After securing promotion to the Championship (albeit the hard way) Simon Grayson has wasted no time in clearing the deadwood and lining-up some new targets.

If you’re to believe the most popular circulating rumours then Leeds are frontrunners for Ian Harte’s signature and have also offered Norwich’s Darel Russell a better contract than what his current club can come up with.

Firstly, I’m torn on Ian Harte. I always liked him whilst he was at Elland Road (despite his non-existent defensive ability) and have been massively impressed by his goal-scoring record in 09/10. His overall performance when we came up against him earlier in the year wasn’t great, but then, I never expected him to perform miracles at centre-back. It’d definitely be nice to have a natural left-footer on the wing, and his goals would be most welcome. Age is a concern, but if he can do the business then so be it.

Once again, Russell isn’t the headline making transfer I’d hoped for, but he seemed solid enough when we came up against Norwich and should be able to ply his trade in the Championship. Not a young man by any means, but for the year or two I’m hoping it’ll take to get us back to the Prem (ever the optimist) he should suffice.

Although neither of these players have been confirmed as targets by Larry, I suspect there’s an element of truth to them both. They seem to fit the criteria of Ken Bates in that they’ll only need short-term contracts, won’t cost him anything in transfer fees and are a quick and easy way to pave over the cracks. I never expected a big-spending summer, but some evidence we’re looking towards the future would be nice.

Finally, we come to the ‘released and retained‘ list published by the official site earlier this week. The best shot-stopper outside the Premier League (probably) will be leaving us. Casper Ankergren came to Leeds United and instantly won over the fans with some commendable performances and impressive saves. However, his inability to catch or kick the ball grew frustrating and his departure won’t surprise many. That said, I always liked Casper and wish him well.

Rui Marques is perhaps the most surprising released player on the list and his relationship with Simon Grayson has to be questioned. Rui and Kis formed the strongest defensive partnership of the season and looked destined to be first choice. However, an injury to Rui and the return of Naylor saw Marques cast aside and forgotten about. Despite a massive loss of ideas from Nayl’s, he retained his place whilst Rui slipped down the pecking order. Again, I wish him well and he’ll most definitely be missed.

Amongst the others leaving the club are youngsters Andrew Milne and Mike Whitwell who were both touted as potential first team material not so long ago. Simon Grayson’s decision to favour an out-of-place Andy Hughes over the talented Aidy White has often left me questioning his faith in the clubs youth structure, and it’s with that in mind I have to wonder whether that’s a big part of the reason for Milne and Whitwell’s release. Maybe I’m reading too much into it and they simply weren’t good enough? Only time will tell.

Alongside those that have been released are several players who have been instructed to find another club. Andy Robinson, Alan Sheehan, Tresor Kandol and Lubomir Michalik will all be looking for a new home as Larry trims the ‘deadwood’. I’ll always remember Tres for the great moonwalk he pulled on Soccer AM after introducing himself as “TK20 – Subs bench!” None are massive shocks, but all of them have done a service for Leeds United at some point or another and will be remembered for their efforts in trying to turn around a sinking club.

Seeing players leave the club is one of the hardest parts of following a football team. All of the above deserve thanks for their contribution to Leeds United FC over the past few years and I wish them all well. Unfortunately, in any area of life, success often has it’s victims. Football is no different.

All that transfer talk with no mention of Jermaine? A TSS first!

It’s through extremely blurred vision and with a very heavy head I write my final match report of the season. A season full of ups and downs, ended in a match many of us will be telling the next generation about in years to come. As the champagne flowed around Leeds City centre last night, the events of the day were celebrated and relived amongst thousands of ecstatic Leeds United fans, as the promotion party continued late into the night.

It could all have been so very different though. The match itself was as eventful as they come. Historically, Leeds United are well known for bottling the big games. You only have to look back to the drama of the play-off’s over the last few years to see Leeds United seldom do things the easy way, and this was to be no exception.

A sold-out and deafening Elland Road crowd sang their heroes onto the pitch for what we hoped would be the final game of the season. No Richard Naylor, Robert Snodgrass or Jonny Howson in the starting XI, Max Gradel moved out wide and Jermaine Beckford restored to the starting line-up as captain. Simon Grayson had hinted at changes, but few had seen this coming.

Leeds looked hungry and it seemed as though things would be simple. All we had to do was get in front, and with Leeds dominating as they were, it was unlikely that Bristol would be able to respond.

Controversy soon struck though; after Jermaine Beckford’s opener was ruled out by the linesman, Max Gradel sought retribution for an earlier foul and stomped on Rovers left-back Daniel Jones. Jones hit the floor like he’d been shot and feigned injury to his face. Chaos ensued, with Leeds and Bristol players clashing violently. Another dismal referee dismissed Max Gradel, but despite his part in escalating the situation, Jones escaped with just a yellow.

Marching orders for Gradel

The scale of the situation hadn’t escaped Gradel and he reacted furiously to the sending off. Jermaine Beckford in his new role as captain tried to play peace-keeper, but Gradel was a man possessed and determined to get his own back on Jones or the referee – whoever he could get to first. After several minutes of drama, Gradel was forcefully removed from the pitch by his team-mates, but he wasn’t finished yet and came back on for another go at whoever he could get to. This time, two pretty hefty security staff were sent on, finally managing to restore order.

The tense and nervous atmosphere inside Elland Road was replaced by one of anger and disbelief. To the on-looking Leeds fans, it seemed that we’d once again been the victim of a major injustice that could well have cost us our place in the Championship. The referee was subsequently ridiculed with chants of ‘this games too big for you’ and ‘you’re not fit to referee’ along with some more x-rated stuff towards half-time. Daniel Jones’ part in the incident hadn’t been forgotten either and he was booed every time he touched the ball from that point on.

After five minutes added time, an angry Leeds United crowd left for the break where the events of the first half would be analysed further. Most of the crowd were busy watching Beckford at the time, so few had actually seen the incident involving Gradel. There was much confusion as to what actually happened and many believed Gradel had punched the left-back, probably because of his exaggerated reaction. You have to wonder whether the referee had drawn a similar conclusion, but either way, the odds were now stacked against Leeds United and we were in for a roller-coaster 45 minutes that would ultimately decide our fate.

Such is the way with these things, the villain of the day Daniel Jones hadn’t finished tormenting Leeds United yet. Minutes into the second half, Hughes failed to close Jones down and his cross led to a soft goal conceded by the make-shift Leeds United defence. 1-0 down, and the news elsewhere was that Charlton were winning. Whilst Millwall and Swindon were level, I can only imagine the roar that came from both sets of fans on discovering Leeds United’s troubles.

Leeds were wounded and in total disarray. Fresh out of ideas and struggling with a numerical disadvantage, Simon Grayson was forced into his first change of the day. Jonny Howson was brought on in place of Shane Lowry in what would prove to be an inspired substitution from the gaffer.

Just six minutes after coming onto the pitch, Howson levelled the scores. For all his inconsistencies and lack of goals, Jonny has a habit of scoring when it matters. Few will have forgotten his brace that sent us into the play-off final a couple of years back, but even those goals weren’t as big as this one. From the edge of the area, Jonny found himself in space and struck sweetly to curl the ball past the Bristol keeper and restore parity for the Whites. The roof lifted off Elland Road once again, but this time, it was a roar of defiant brilliance – Leeds weren’t done yet!

Howson levels the scores

It was easy to forget Leeds were a man down as they pushed Bristol back and went in search of a winner. All out attack was what the crowd wanted, and that’s exactly what Leeds United delivered. Those that did remain on the pitch will have been fully aware of what another goal meant for Leeds, and it seemed only fitting that Jermaine Beckford would be the one to get it.

For all his flaws, Beckford’s goal tally is a big part of why we were in this situation to start with. Even his most hardened of critics couldn’t knock his performance today, he’d chased everything, battled hard and been an exemplary role-model for the younger fans in trying to resolve the sending-off situation peacefully. As Leeds United exits go, Jermaine Beckford’s is unlikely to be forgotten.

The most valuable goal of the season, probably Jermaine’s final one in a Leeds shirt and the one that sends Leeds United up was beautiful in it’s simplicity. A classic poachers goal which was started by Jermaine’s hassling of the Bristol keeper. His poor throw was deflected by Beckford into the path of Bradley Johnson who surged down the left and sent a cross into the box. The Bristol defence struggled to deal with the cross and when it spilled free, Jermaine Beckford was on hand to send Leeds into the Championship. Needless to say, the Leeds fans nearly took the roof off Elland Road once more.

Leeds continued to try and put the game beyond reach, and Bristol gave us a few scares as the final whistle agonisingly drew closer, but the poachers goal from Jermaine Beckford would prove to be decisive. The pitch invasion began before the referee could blow for full-time, but it didn’t matter. As the Leeds fans spilled onto the pitch to celebrate a historic win, the reality of it all began to sink in. The PA man’s attempts to get the fans off the pitch proved completely ineffective, and it took a plea from Simon Grayson to restore some order so the players could come out for a well-deserved lap of honour.

"Na na na na na na na na na na, Leeds are going up..."

As the players and the fans struggled to control their emotions, all order at Elland Road was lost once more. Some cheer-leading from TSS’ player of the season, Patrick Kisnorbo would follow and once Elland Road was finally vacated, the party spilled into the streets of Leeds. After six long years of demise, Leeds United have finally began to rise again.

TSS man of the match

Before I return to a state of slumber to recover from one of the most vicious hangovers I’ve had in years, I’m left with the final man of the match of the season decision, and perhaps, one of the easiest. In what is most likely to be his final game in a Leeds United shirt, Jermaine Beckford led by example. Not only did he score the winning goal, but he also assisted in Jonny Howson’s screamer. One of the most dramatic love/hate relationships I’ve ever seen between a player and fans ends in style. Whatever happens to Jermaine Beckford from here on in, I wish him well and thank him for the memories.

Another crazy day of mixed emotions for Leeds fans after we escaped from defeat at the Valley with automatic promotion still in our own hands. Throughout the game, the travelling Leeds United fans were kept informed of events elsewhere and when Andy Robinson made it 2-0 to Tranmere Rovers, Leeds United were one goal away from their seasons aim of automatic promotion.

This being Leeds however, things were never going to be that easy. The team had looked bright and hungry throughout the first half and although we went into the break at 0-0, there was a lot to be optimistic about. Unfortunately, things didn’t run quite as well in the second half and Charlton started to edge Leeds out.

Still at 0-0 and knowing the results elsewhere were going in our favour, Simon Grayson took a calculated risk to give Leeds United more options upfront. Beckford was the first player on, replacing Robert Snodgrass with Gradel dropping back a little. This was followed by Sanchez Watt replacing Micky Doyle ten minutes later and Mike Grella replacing Andy Hughes with about five minutes remaining.

When you need a goal to secure promotion back to the Championship, it makes sense that you give yourself as many attacking options as possible upfront and Simon Grayson did the right thing. It had been another closely matched game where for large parts, both teams had absorbed any attacking threat from the other, but the changes opened things up noticeably. It worked in Leeds’ favour to some extent, allowing Beckford a good chance, but it also allowed Charlton more space on the attack too and they ultimately punished us for it with three minutes remaining when Akpo Sodje scored via the head of Richard Naylor.

The Leeds fans were silenced. It was a nervous performance from Leeds, and when playing it along the ground in the first half didn’t prove affective, they resorted to the dreaded long-ball and the chances became even fewer and farer between.

It wasn’t the most unexpected of results, or performances. The reverse fixture at Elland Road earlier in the season that ended 0-0 was just as frustrating as this one so it seemed unlikely the goals were going to flow at the Valley. The problem is that both teams play a similar style so neither ends up with much room.

What the result means is that there are now five teams capable of achieving automatic promotion from League One next week. Two of them play at the New Den as Millwall host Swindon. If that game ends in a draw, then both Charlton and Huddersfield could capitalise. Charlton would need a win away to Oldham, whilst Huddersfield would need to do a demolition job at Exeter City, but could mathematically go up by goal-difference.

As it stands, Leeds United lead the way though and that’s all that really matters. A win over a Bristol side who we destroyed 4-0 earlier in the season is all Leeds United need to escape the hell of League One football. In our previous meeting, Bristol had a defence made of play-dough and Leeds United came back in style after our first defeat of the season to Millwall. A similar display next week and it’ll be one hell of a party at the sold-out Elland Road.

With a lot of thanks to Andy Robinson and the usual unpredictability of League One, we head into the final game in a position I think we’d have all accepted at the beginning of the season. 90 minutes of football on Saturday will determine what division Leeds United play in next season and that’s all there really is to it. Our lack of points against the top six this season, the defensive hole Paddy’s injury has left, the lack of goals from midfield and our apparent need to do things the hard way have taken us all on a journey through third division hell that boils down to one game against Bristol. As Winston Churchill once said, ‘If you’re going through hell, keep going…’

With most Leeds United fans more interested in who wears the Whites armband than who will be occupying No. 10 Downing Street for the next four-five years, TSS has decided to express the concerns of some posters and instil a little democracy into our own leadership battle.

Much like the current leader of our great country, the current leader of Leeds United – namely, Richard Naylor – has come under much scrutiny in recent months. Much like Gordon Brown, Richard Naylor is an unelected leader of our never-democratic team, who has been criticised from all quarters for his lack of noticeable leadership skills. In Naylor’s defence however, he does come from the place he represents, unlike a certain Mr. Brown who comes from the cold foothills of Scotland. This is akin to Leeds United being captained by a Manchester born exile – touchy subject to say the least.

The candidates

Jonny Howson is a Leeds-born, Leeds-bred lad playing for his favourite team and quite literally ‘living the dream’. He knows what it means to play for Leeds United and is often seen as the fans representative on the pitch. Leeds United fans are well-known for the love of their home-town heroes, but it’s a potentially disastrous situation as shown by previous hero, Alan Smith. Jonny  is currently the teams vice-captain and brings with him a fair amount of experience in the senior position, having led the Whites earlier in the season whilst Richard Naylor was out injured.

Left-back, right-back, right-midfielder, central midfielder and no doubt centre forward given half a chance, Andrew Hughes will be a surprise nomination to many as he’s often a player targeted for some heavy criticism. However, Hughes’ versatile roles within the side show his eagerness to play for the team regardless of position. Moreover, whilst his ability at left-back is easy to scrutinise, his commitment and effort can’t be. One of those ‘wears his heart on his sleeve’ kinda guys Leeds United fans usually love.

Patrick Kisnorbo would probably be the bookies favourite if anyone other than ourselves were taking this poll seriously. His introduction into the Leeds United side this season instantly solved the defensive frailties we’d been prone to throughout previous years. Unfortunately, Paddy was injured recently and Leeds have suffered ever since. Kis has continually shown his commitment to Leeds despite his injury by travelling with the squad to all their games since. He’s also a big favourite amongst the fans for his fearless, never-say-die attitude that was epitomized by the bandage he wore for most games this season. It covered an untreated head injury from earlier in the season that Paddy had played through the pain barrier of. Still, he is a foreigner… Come over here, steal all our jobs, fix Leeds United’s defensive problems…

Robert Snodgrass is another one of our beloved foreigners that gives everything for the team. Even when things aren’t going well for the Scot and his crossing ends up in the roof of the East Stand, Snoddy’s head never drops and the youngster keeps fighting for the cause. In interviews, he’s told how much he loves playing for the club and wants to be part of a legacy which includes other Scottish greats like Eddie Gray and Billy Bremner. Unquestionably a fans favourite, but does he possess the ability to lead such a great team at such a young age?

The final nomination is Luciano Becchio. An outside shot, no doubt, but his effort is something every Leeds United fan appreciates even when things aren’t going quite right for the Argentinian. Most of his time in Leeds has been spent living in the shadow of prolific goal-scorer Jermaine Beckford, but whilst Jermaine’s goals have undoubtedly put us in the position we’re in, Luci’s work-rate has been a big contributing factor – something that hasn’t gone unnoticed amongst the Leeds United fans and led to Becchio become a bit of a cult hero. A much beloved work horse, but does he have leadership potential?

I’ve also added an option to vote for ‘other’ so those that feel someone has been over-looked can select this option and add their comments below. The current captain has also been included in the poll for those of you that still believe Richard Naylor is the right man for the job. Thanks go to Mike R for suggesting the idea as well as the people who debated the captaincy issue on a previous post.

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Five goals, four injuries, three red cards and a brace for Jermaine Beckford made for one very happy Elland Road crowd as the struggling MK Dons cast their thoughts to next season and the end of a disastrous run.

An early goal from the in-form Luciano Becchio set Leeds United on their way, but it was quickly cancelled out by Lewington just six minutes later. With Leeds United legend, Lucas Radebe watching on, the Whites defence once again crumbled from a set-play and gifted Milton Keynes the equaliser. Maybe we can get the Chief in to give Naylor and Collins a few pointers?

Leeds’ first goal had been created from nothing by the on-loan Arsenal youngster, Sanchez Watt dispossessing one of the Dons defenders. A similar blunder was punished again as Neil Kilkenny won possession, then found Sanchez Watt who set Max Gradel up to put Leeds back in the lead and give the youngster his second assist.

Just before half-time, the referee made an appalling decision by sending-off MK Dons Mathias Doumbe, but levelled his mistakes out shortly afterwards by denying Leeds what looked like a clear-cut penalty. Nevertheless, Leeds United headed in for the break 2-1 up and would return to play a MK Dons side ravaged by injuries, lacking a permanent manager and down to ten men. It really couldn’t be any easier.

The second half was a bit of a precession if truth be told. The Dons never looked capable of getting back into it, and as their injury crisis deepened with two more players added to the list, you had to feel sympathy for a team who looked likely to make the play-offs earlier in the season. Leeds meanwhile were having our own injury problems as Ben Parker was taken off with what looked to be a season ending injury.

Despite being down to ten men, the Dons held out and Leeds struggled to kill the game off. Luckily, we had our most dangerous weapon ready to pounce from the subs bench and his introduction brought with it a new lease of life for the Whites. Jermaine Beckford entered the field to a positive reaction from the crowd in what is likely to be his penultimate appearance at Elland Road.

The pace of Jermaine Beckford instantly caused problems for the makeshift Milton Keynes defence and it took just five minutes for Jermaine to extend the Whites lead. A cross from Bradley Johnson was pounced upon by Beckford and put beyond the Dons keeper to secure the three points for Leeds United.

Sanchez Watt’s man of the match performance was prematurely ended by injury as Leeds headed into the last ten minutes. The Arsenal youngster received a well-deserved standing ovation from the Leeds United faithful as the fans crossed their fingers and prayed it was nothing serious.

With four minutes remaining, Jermaine Beckford doubled his tally after being bundled down in the box and earning Leeds a penalty. Milton Keynes were struggling to cope with Becks’ pace and David McCrackan was sent off under the last man rule. Beckford’s penalty was a weak effort, but still managed to beat the MK Dons keeper, as the Whites put the final nail in their coffin.

All that was left was for the referee to send off his final player of the day which was Peter Levens, meaning Milton Keynes finished the match with eight men and the referee had taken his card tally to five yellow and three red. Personal best perhaps?

Overall, Leeds weren’t as good as the result suggests. Our defensive frailties were once again highlighted as everyone went missing during set-plays and we really should have had the points sealed up earlier than we did. Milton Keynes are a wounded side that never caused us any real problems. Their injury crisis, management problems and the fact they have nothing left to play for means they’re just making the numbers up at the minute and looking forward to drawing a line under a devastating season. That said, Leeds got the three points and that’s all that really matters.

All that leaves Leeds United still in second place, but since Millwall managed a late couple of goals at home to Leyton, they’re still only one point behind us. The good news is that Swindon and Charlton only managed draws leaving them pretty much out of the running now as Leeds head to the Valley next Saturday.

TSS man of the match

Simon Grayson rung the changes for this game and the one that paid off most notably was the starting place for Arsenal’s Sanchez Watt. The youngster was a real breath of fresh air, linking up well with Max Gradel throughout and getting himself two assists for his efforts. Hopefully his injury wasn’t too severe.

The best away record in League One came up against a Gillingham side that had lost just three at home all season. Despite an impressive record at Priestfield’s, Gillingham haven’t won a single game on their travels all season and are currently in a battle to stave off relegation. Add to that the fact they haven’t lost at home to any of the top six, and anyone expecting an easy ride was in for a bit of a shock.

This being Leeds United, we didn’t make things easy on ourselves either. Gillingham battled hard for the ball, never afforded Leeds United too much time or space and won pretty much all the aerial battles, whilst Leeds failed to get a foot-hold on the game.

Both Richard Naylor and Neill Collins failed miserably in the air time and time again, making it far too easy for Gillingham to float balls in and create chances. Leeds’ back-line might as well have been cemented in place for the Gills opening goal which was headed home by Adam Miller with less than 10 minutes played.

Things failed to improve for Leeds and Gillingham continued to dominate. Leeds were being out-muscled, out-tackled and out-fought as Gillingham scrapped away and Leeds tried to play them at their own game. This was the most frustrating part to watch because Leeds United currently sit second in League One and should be asserting their dominance on these “lesser” teams. Going away and trying to play the opposition at their own game was never going to work – no matter how good Leeds United think they are.

With half hour gone, things didn’t improve for Leeds and Gillingham’s second goal didn’t surprise many of the travelling 3,000. Another high ball into the box – this time from one of the million free-kicks we’d given away – was headed home by Mark Bentley who went totally unchallenged from close range.

Careless mistakes and failure to get the basics right were costing Leeds United all across the pitch, non more so than Gillingham’s third goal that was headed home by our very own Richard Naylor. By now, it was like watching a car crash in slow motion as the Leeds fans stood in silence, arms crossed and shaking their heads.

Some hope was restored for Leeds United shortly before half-time when Leeds finally managed to string a couple of passes together and find Luci inside the box. With his back to goal, Becchio powerfully turned away from his marker and placed his shot beyond the Gillingham keeper. Half-time, and despite a late consolation, it was hard to see how Leeds would turn this round.

At half-time, Leeds United fans were offered some small consolation in knowing that our promotion rivals were failing too. For me however, this just rubbed salt into the wounds as I knew this was our opportunity to create some breathing space, and once again, we were making a mess of things.

Leeds improved a little after the break and finally looked like they may try and force Gillingham onto the back foot. Within the first minute, Max Gradel cut inside from the wing and fired goal-wards, only to see his shot blocked by the opposition keeper.

The failed passes, poor defending and lack of aerial threat continued to hinder Leeds United though and it seemed obvious we needed a change. Grayson duly obliged, bringing Jermaine Beckford and Ben Parker on in place of the ineffective Robert Snodgrass and largely useless Andrew Hughes. As poor as the two players being removed had been, I think the majority of Leeds fans were expecting Parker to replace Naylor in a reshuffled defence, but it seems only Larry had failed to spot how useless he’s become.

Parker livened things up a bit, but one man simply can’t make a team and his efforts were wasted as the rest of the team continued to fail across the pitch. What I did notice was a good move from the opposition manager shortly afterwards when he made a change that allowed one of his strikers to be moved out wide-right to nullify the threat Parker was causing.

Meanwhile, Max Gradel had somehow managed to convince himself that he’s the new Lionel Messi and decided to take things into his own hands. Unfortunately, his own hands (or boots as it were) seemed to be smothered in butter. His crossing and passing were hopelessly misdirected, as was his shooting, whilst any attempts to get back and help the defence usually resulted in a free-kick to the opposition. After what had arguably been three man of the match performances, Gradel was truly woeful.

By now, Leeds were enjoying more of the possession than the Gills, but it never felt like we were going to do anything with it, and sadly, I wasn’t mistaken. Gillingham defended in numbers and when they did get the ball, sent it up the wings and ran our full-backs ragged. The only hope came five minutes before the end when Jermaine Beckford’s pace earned him a penalty, which he tucked away with confidence.

3-2. but the Gills were always going to hold on. It was too little, too late from Leeds and there was to be no way back from what had been a tragic performance in the first half, with some minor improvement in the second. The defence was missing all day and had no aerial presence whatsoever. Gillingham exploited this and deservedly took a 3-0 lead leaving Leeds United with no chance to recover.

Whilst the Becchio-Gradel partnership has worked wonders in the last three games, it failed to pay-off here. Becchio spent half the match trying to battle for possession, but this just gifted the opposition free-kick after free-kick as the Argentine did nothing to dispel the theory that strikers can’t tackle. Gradel meanwhile will have to battle it out with Naylor for the most useless player on the pitch award as his crossing, passing and shooting continually went astray. The youngster was also dispossessed with ease at times and gave away too many free-kicks trying to get the ball back.

Needless to say, the 200 mile journey back to Leeds to drown our sorrows was much quieter than the one that had brought us south. The chance to extend our lead had been wasted. Only one point separating us from third as we head into a home game against MK Dons, where the tension is likely to be amplified as the games quickly run out. Three to go…

Leeds United’s fate will be decided in just six games as the 2009-10 League One season that promised so much, stutters to a finish. After leading the League table by a sizable margin, things went totally off the rails for Leeds United after Christmas with a run of eighteen games producing just eigtheen points.

The silver-lining may finally have arrived for the Whites though. Some improvement in play, didn’t bring an improvement in form against Swindon Town and Norwich City, but on Easter Monday things finally started going our way and Leeds earnt a valuable three points courtesy of a Richard Naylor brace at Yeovil Town.

If you thought we had things bad though, spare a moment for this weekends visitors Southend United who are clearly a club in turmoil. Steve Tilson’s side have had a torrid time of it this year and have not managed to pick up a single point on their travels. Both Steve Tilson and captain, Adam Barrett point to the clubs faultering financial situation as the underlying cause of the problems with wages being paid late and the players minds elsewhere.

Adam Barrett told the BBC that;

“I’ve got two kids and a wife, so it’s extremely difficult. I’ve never been in a situation like this. “You can’t solely concentrate on your football because of it. There’re too many off-field things happening.”

A lot has been said about the confidence of Leeds United’s players. Jermaine Beckford undoubtedly needs a goal to reignite his own personal form, whilst the rest of the team need to string a couple of wins together to restore the belief. This weekend should provide an opportunity for both.

Of their eight games away from home in 2010, Southend United have lost them all, conceding 21 goals and managing just 6 in reply. If ever there was a silver-platter moment for a whitewash, this is most certainly it.

With the likely return of Luciano Becchio and a possibility of involvement for Ben Parker – who got a rare goal in the reserves this week – things might just be starting to work out for Leeds United again. The players can be under no illusions that it’s now or never and many of them will know they’re playing for not only their own job, but Simon Grayson’s future too.

It’s going to be a tense few weeks and you can bet your mortgage it’ll go right down to the wire, but things with Leeds United are seldom easy and it shouldn’t really have surprised any of us that we find ourselves in this situation. All we can do is ‘keep fighting!’ On and on…

You kind of have to admire the Football League’s sense of humour. Despite the 3-0 battering at home to Swindon where Richard Naylor was about as affective as a plastic frying pan, he was awarded a place in the official Football League team of the week for the Easter Weekend.

Every week, TSS receives emails from a PR company working on behalf of the Football League. One of the things TSS is sent is the team of the week for the previous weekend which is decided between a panel of “experts” from the Football League. You have to question how much notice they actually take of the games when the email contains the following quote;

This week, the Coca-Cola League 1 Team of the Week features Leeds United’s Richard Naylor. Defender Naylor is included for his performances against Swindon and Yeovil over the Easter weekend.

I do appreciate Naylor’s revival at Yeovil. He was exceptional from set-plays and undeniably won us the game, but does that really excuse the sorry efforts of our entire team against Swindon Town and merit a place in the team of the week which was based jointly on the two games?

I suppose the only one good thing about this award is that it should further add to our slowly returning confidence. Naylor has received a lot of deserved criticism over the past few weeks and the only way he can combat that is by turning in match winning performances like he did against Yeovil. He still had his dodgy moments, but at the front, he led by example. You need your key players to step up at times like this and carry the rest forward.

Fingers crossed that Naylor is up to the job.