The Scratching Shed

Tresor Kandol today agreed a deal to join Scunthorpe United on the 1st of July when the summer transfer window opens.

Tres’ final game for Leeds United will be one he hopes to forget. After entering the field as a substitution in a crucial game against Norwich, Tres was sent off just 20 seconds later. That result ultimately paved the way for Norwich City to secure the League One title, whilst Leeds had to battle on to the final day. Kandol was never again included in the squad by Simon Grayson.

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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!

The wild scenes at Elland Road on Saturday, followed by some hardcore partying that ran well into Sunday morning are now behind us and the focus shifts to the possible transfer targets of this summer.

Strikers

No one will be surprised to see that the biggest story today is Jermaine Beckford. The majority of Leeds United fans are already resigned to the probability of Beckford’s departure, but Simon Grayson offered some room for optimism by telling reporters that Beckford had received a new offer from Leeds United. Grayson went on to add that it wasn’t easy when the competition is from Premier League clubs (Everton, Newcastle) but he remained hopeful that the striker would stay.

I’m reluctant to say that I think he’ll leave because I said that in January (and at this time last year), but it seems unlikely that he’d turn down the chance to play for Everton to remain at Leeds. Whatever happens, Beckford should be remembered for the goal-scoring machine he was. For all the controversy, he always did what we paid him for and for three consecutive seasons, he’s been our only consistent source of goals. I wish him well.

With or without Beckford, we need some more fire-power upfront. Regular readers will remember my relentless insistence that we sign Gary Hooper back in January and he remains a likely target. The striker position is often the biggest page turner, so don’t be surprised to see us linked with everyone from Gary Hooper to Billy Sharp to Cristiano Ronaldo (not that he’d be welcome). Losing Beckford leaves us looking very weak in this area. Those that remain – Becchio, Kandol, Somma and Grella – are either unproven or fail to provide goals on a regular basis, so it’s essential that we bring one, if not two more experienced strikers into the team.

Midfield

The midfield is an area many fans have been concerned about all season. When it’s good, it can be the engine that powers us past teams in second gear, but for too long towards the end of the season it became inconsistent and offered little support to a shaky defence. That said, I don’t necessarily think we need whole scale changes. Jonny Howson remains inconsistent, but I often feel that’s because he’s left playing a position that doesn’t suit him. When sent on solely to attack like he was against Bristol, he showed us exactly what he’s capable of.

I’m not overly concerned about the midfield because I think the Championship is a different style of football that may suit some of our players more. It’s certainly not as scrappy and as rough as League One and we now have the added bonus of not being everyone else’s FA Cup final. It’s been repeated by everyone throughout the season, but what we do need is a Batty-esque type player. Someone who will mix it up and offer support to the centre-backs. Doyle’s tried to play this role, but not always successfully. Elsewhere, it’s just shedding the deadwood and adding quality depth (which applies across the entire team). I’d like to see Arsenal approached about the possibility of a season long loan for Sanchez Watt, who has shown real glimpses of class, but may not be ready for a top four Premier League side.

Defence

This seasons defence has been a story in it’s own right. From the best defence in the league to one that looks like it had never played together before, all in the space of nine months. It’s hard to say who will be able to cut it in the Championship, but my primary concern would be the full-backs. We’ve struggled in the absence of Ben Parker all season, and this should have been resolved in January.

I’ve been puzzled for a while as to why Rui Marques didn’t return to the team because him and Kisnorbo were the best central partnership we’ve had in 2009-10. Richard Naylor has been a great servant of the club, but his time must surely be up. There’s a few others too that need to be set free, so I suspect the defence will be where most of our changes are made.

Finally, there’s the goalkeepers Higgs and Ankergren. Both have served us well this season and it’ll be a shame to lose either of them, but it’s hard to see Simon Grayson not moving for a new number one. That said, both could probably play in the Championship so if the money is a little thin, we might be set for another season of watching Casper’s goal-kicks head straight into the stands.

So, long summer ahead…

I guess whatever happens this summer depends entirely on money. Anyone who thinks the majority of this team couldn’t make it in the CCC is kidding themselves – after all, this is the same team that knocked Manchester United our of the FA Cup, gave Liverpool and Tottenham a run for their money and destroyed League One for most of the season.

Whole-scale changes are unlikely and unnecessary. What we need to do is trim the deadwood and replace it with some quality and depth, but there’s a lot of players in this team more than capable of playing at the next level and it’s only fair they are given the opportunity to prove it.

Leeds United games don’t come much more crucial than this weekend’s visit of Bristol Rovers. Three points for the Whites and it’s goodbye League One and hello once more to the Championship.

As crucial last games of the season go, Leeds United couldn’t have asked for a much easier ride. Since relegation from the Premier League, Leeds have played Bristol Rovers five times, losing none. Of those five games, Leeds have won three and drawn two, netting 12 goals with just 4 in reply.

Our last meeting on the 27th of October last year resulted in the following 4-0 win, with two goals from soon to be ex-Leeds United striker Jermaine Beckford. A similar result on Saturday and Leeds United are Championship-bound.

Final score: Bristol Rovers 0-4 Leeds United
27th October, 2009. Memorial Stadium, Bristol.

Leeds United goals: Beckford (9, 65), Vokes (55), Kandol (87)

Jermaine Beckford at Scunthorpe, Tresor Kandol at Millwall and now Davide Somma at Lincoln. It seems whenever we loan a striker out, they go on to change the course of the respective teams season, no moreso than Davide Somma who seems to be almost single-handedly saving Lincoln City from non-league football next season.

Two goals against Bournemouth at the weekend took Somma’s tally to seven in nine games and unsuprisingly left the Lincoln City fans raving about his ability. Back at Elland Road meanwhile, Leeds’ star striker has failed to find the back of the net in over a month with Leeds’ only goals coming from Gradel, Becchio and Richard Naylor.

Whilst Leeds’ form has taken a turn in the right direction, it does seem that whenever Beckford isn’t firing on all cylinders, we invariably suffer. It’s no surprise then that some Leeds United fans think Somma may be worth recalling and given a chance in the first team. On the evidence of his two goals below, it might not be a bad idea.

His second goal looks like something straight out of the Tony Yeboah school of shooting and could well net him the League Two goal of the season award, whilst his first shows the kind of clever finishing Leeds United sometimes lack, dummying the keeper before rolling the ball home with all the casualness of a striker bursting with confidence.

Post-Brentford shooting practice clearly paid off last night as Leeds thrashed Tranmere away by four goals to one. The game wasn’t quite as one-sided as the scoreline suggests and this was a more confident Ttanmere team than early in the season, spurred on by their recent victory over Southampton.

The major difference between the Tranmere and Brentford match wasn’t the quality of opposition. If anything, Tranmere probably caused more of a threat than Brentford did, who simply came to Elland Road and parked the bus. The change from Saturday was quite simply what Leeds did with all the chances they created.

On Saturday Leeds squandered a ridiculous amount of chances. Brentford got a goal totally against the run of play and Leeds were left chasing the game. At that point the scoreline read 0-1, but it could quite easily have been 4-1 if Leeds had been a little more clinical infront of goal and showed more urgency to get ahead.

It was clear early on that there would be no such problems tonight as Leeds set out to right the wrongs of Brentford and get their promotion campaign back on track. Robert Snodgrass opened the scoring after just nine minutes and Beckford doubled the lead just seven minutes later from the spot.

Leeds had the momentum and looked confident once more, but Tranmere had other ideas and pulled one back just three minutes later after Leeds failed to clear their lines. Less than 20 minutes gone and already 2-1.

When confidence is so slow and everything is going against you, conceeding a goal at that stage could have led to a ten men behind the ball approach from a lot of teams, but Leeds pressed on and restored their two goal advantage ten minutes before the break. Luciano Becchio the scorer with a diving header from Jermaine Beckford’s cross.

The final goal of the game came midway through the second half sealing the three points for Leeds United courtesy of Jermaine Beckford. The confidence levels had clearly and visibly risen by this point, so much so that Beckford finished off Tranmere with a cheeky well-taken lob.

The ups

“Thankyou for your fantastic support” - The fans, as always, were brilliant.

Shooting practice – I know I’m stating the obvious a bit here, but getting four goals in one game is some achievement when you look back and consider the amount of chances we’ve squandered over the last few weeks.

Beckford - Gets a lot of stick whenever things are going badly. Tends to be the one singled out for the criticism of every fan up and down the country, so perhaps he should take all the praise when we win? Two goals and an assist, not a bad shift in my book.

The substitutions – Still can’t see what Paul Dickov’s bringing to the party, but the introduction of Max Gradel and Tresor Kandol late on was much more positive than we’ve seen in recent weeks.

The downs

Their goal – All that really sticks in mind is their goal which came after several amateurish attempts to clear the ball from Leeds. A bit of panic in the box, the ball flew around wildly and eventually someone stabbed it across the line. Poor, but we can afford the odd mistake when we’re scoring fluently. On another week, that goal would have probably cost us points.

I imagine that, like me, the majority of readers are fans of Soccer AM and will therefore have seen the following clip but for those that haven’t, here’s Jermaine Beckford and Neil Kilkenny being interviewed not long back (but before Enoch’s transfer).

Quite interesting to see them both rate Grella as the most skilful. I’m shocked that Enoch is considered the most intellectual, although these are footballers we’re talking about. It’s the equivalent to Peter Crouch going to China and becoming the tallest man – no hard feat at all.

Not so shocking was that Beckford is considered the worst trainer, David Prutton is the joker (watch any interview with him, the mans a comedy genius) and Tres the best dancer; the MJ tribute act he did on crossbar challenge was hysterical.

Our 2009-10 Crossbar Challenge attempt (featured on Soccer AM) has found it’s way onto Youtube. Another poor attempt from Leeds United is lightened by Tresor Kandol’s magnificent Michael Jackson tribute, which he follows with a hopelessly poor shot. “TK20 – subs bench!”

The only person to successfully hit the crossbar is Bradley Johnson, who is mobbed by the rest of the team afterwards. Good to see all the lads in good spirits.

Mike Grella also seems to be developing a Yorkshire accent…

Chatting with the enemy

Happy New Year everyone, hope you’re not suffering too much.

In the build up to the FA Cup clash on Sunday, The Scratching Shed and The Republik of Mancunia joined up to have a chat about the rivalry, how things are going and the game ahead. Scott from TRoM sent me some questions to answer which you can now see here. I also put my own questions to Scott which will be published here tomorrow.

Transfer rumours begin

Most of the rumours unsurprisingly revolve around Jermaine Beckford today after it was revealed that Leeds United have turned down Newcastle’s initial offer, thought to be in the region of £1.25m.

With his exit looking somewhat inevitable, rumours of who will replace him have began. Clearly, Luciano Becchio won’t bang in 30 a season, nor do I expect Mike Grella, Tresor Kandol et al, to do so either, so a proven goalscorer is essential.

The initial speculation is that Billy Sharp of Sheffield United and Gary Hooper of Scunthorpe United are the likely replacements. I think both players could do a job for Leeds. Both are in the right age group (Sharp 23, Hooper 21) and both are prolific scorers. Sharp is currently on loan at Doncaster Rovers were he has scored 10 in 16 appearences for them, whilst Hooper has managed 31 in 62 appearences for Scunthorpe.

What would they cost? Well, Sheffield United paid £2,000,000 for Sharp in 2007, with a player heading in the opposite direction as well. Sharp is out of favour in Sheffield though and has been our on loan recently, so we should be able to secure his services quite cheaply. Hooper meanwhile could be a little more expensive as he’s Scunthorpe’s key player and signed a three year contract in 2008. I suspect £2-3m would be too much for them to turn down though.

There’s something about wearing the all white strip of Leeds United that makes players insist on doing things the hard way. Top vs bottom yesterday was a perfect example. What should have been a stroll in the park for the runaway league leaders, almost turned into a disaster.

Credit where it’s due though. For a team that’s just lost ten in a row and look like they’re already relegated, Stockport were determined to make life as hard as possible for Leeds United. Had it not been for one of the most pathetic defences I’ve ever seen and a goalkeeper determined not to leave his line, Stockport could have become only the second team this season to beat Leeds United.

First things first – the pitch. I can’t describe how bad it was. Within minutes of kick-off it started to tear up and was somewhat reminiscent of Histon’s last year. Fair’s fair though, the game came close to being postponed due to the weather conditions lately and had it not been for the efforts of the Stockport fans and ground-staff, we wouldn’t have been playing at all. Besides, I played on enough bad pitches as a youngster, as I’m sure the pro’s did and we still managed to have a game.

Within the first two minutes Leeds had already turned Stockport’s defence inside out and Snodgrass fired us into the lead. Three defenders were around Snoddy as he advanced on goal, but none of them put a tackle in and Snodgrass was allowed to shoot from just outside the box. His shot deflected off the foot of one of the defenders, wrong-footing the keeper and giving Leeds a dream start. 0-1, and things were going as expected.

Stockport soon equalised though when one of their stand-out players, Carl Baker – who, incidentally is leaving them next week – went on an unchallenged run towards the Leeds goal. Eventually he was stopped by the Leeds defence, but only at the cost of a free-kick, from which County equalised. Baker took the free-kick himself, firing it low into the bottom corner, via another deflection from the Leeds wall. 1-1, and before anyone points any fingers, there was nothing Casper could have done about it.

Both keepers were kept busy as the teams exchanged blows. Bradley Johnson came closest for Leeds when his volleyed shot came back off the bar. Becchio also thought he’d scored just after the half hour mark, but the linesman decided he’d used his hand to control the ball. As half-time approached, Leeds enjoyed the better of the match but never pressured Stockport’s weak defence enough for me.

The second half started with both teams having chances, but it was Stockport who would take the lead just after the hour mark. A corner taken short from Stockport, was whipped towards the back post from the edge of the area where Leeds’ defence was once again missing and Mullins converted to give County a rare moment of celebration. After losing ten in a row, this wasn’t what the league leaders were expecting, nor were the home sides fans who were in total euphoria.

Simon Grayson made two changes shortly afterwards in search of more ideas upfront. The most important change was undoubtedly Max Gradel, who the Leeds fans had already called for. He replaced Robert Snodgrass and immediately started to torment Stockport’s fragile defence. Howson was also brought on for Doyle.

It took just five minutes for the equaliser and it was Patrick Kisnorbo with an unexpected assist. His cross found Jermaine Beckford who headed home brilliantly to restore parity. Who said Beckford was rubbish in the air? 2-2.

Gradel was busy running the Stockport defence ragged and Grayson made his final change replacing Lucciano Becchio with Tresor Kandol. The better chances were going Leeds’ way by now as Stockport looked happy to take a point.

Relying on such a poor defence was County’s downfall and ultimately cost them points as Max Gradel’s cross was poorly cleared, landing nicely for Leigh Bromby who struck beautifully on the half volley to send Leeds back infront with just two minutes remaining. 2-3. Queue a hysterical celebration from Bromby, who clearly hadn’t rehearsed anything in training.

County tried to chase the game and get themselves a point, but the World’s greatest time-waster, Casper Ankergren had other ideas. When the ball went out for a Leeds goal-kick in the dying moments, Casper did his usual routine of lining the ball up, walking back slowly, re-aligning the ball, walking back slowly again, knocking the mud off his boots on the post… etc… etc. Understandably annoyed by Casper’s antics, one of the Stockport fans behind his goal launched a snowball at him, for what had to be the funniest moment of the match.

Casper’s time-wasting proved to be irrelevant though as Jermaine Beckford wrapped things up in injury. Tresor Kandol played him in and although his shot was a little tame, it found it’s way under the County keeper to secure the win for Leeds. 2-4, job done. Beckford clearly enjoying himself again and everything rosy once more in the Leeds United camp.

Whilst the goalscoring had finished, the totally inept referee who had been handing yellow’s out like they were Christmas cards decided to go one better by sending off a County player. His challenge on Gradel wasn’t the best admittedly, but they’d already lost the game and Gradel was fine so I simply can’t see what the sending off achieved. 

Clearly one of those ref’s that was adamant the fans came to watch him rather than the football, he managed a total of eight yellow cards (six for Leeds) and one red. An impressive haul by anyones standards. His final booking was one of those rare moments I agreed with though. Patrick Kisnorbo - who’d otherwise had a relatively good game - decided to shout at David Poole as he was leaving the pitch. A stupid thing to do as the player had already been sent off and seen his team go from in front to two behind and was probably feeling bad enough already. Kis received a yellow card for his antics, but it could easily have been red with the way the cards had been dished out.

This was a poor game by our standards. We weren’t great defensively and never pressured a weak Stockport defence enough. The conditions didn’t help as players slipped all over so Leeds were never able to really take control.

Stockport deserve credit mind. Considering they’re struggling as much as they are it was a spirited display from them, but Leeds have more talent at their disposal. Having the luxury of being able to bring on Max Gradel, who can change games in seconds, is something most teams don’t have. Thankfully, we got the job done and end the year with a victory.

Elsewhere, Charlton could only manage a draw, so Leeds will start the New Year eight points clear at the top of League One. Back across the Pennines next for Leeds, who will be playing a largely unheard of team from Salford in the FA Cup.