Horrible Leeds continue to mess with the promotion race TSS February 22, 2015 Match reviews 40 Comments Neil Redfearn’s young side have developed a taste for upsetting Championship leaders, once again overcoming the odds to secure vital points away to Middlesbrough yesterday afternoon. No threat of relegation, no real chance of making the play-offs, a Leeds United side with precious little to play for are shamelessly messing with the teams battling for promotion. There’s no wonder no one likes us. So impressive has Leeds’ 2015 turnaround been, Redfearn’s side have gone from skirting with the relegation zone to the top of the Championship’s form table, our latest victim 24 points ahead at kick-off and as close to a nailed-on certainty for the 3 points as things get in this league. But it’s no fluke Leeds are suddenly winning games. With the addition of Sol Bamba, The Whites are now a tough team to beat. Marco Silvestri was called upon plenty to make a series of good saves, but the Italian has been doing that all season. His weakness, the spilled shots and poor command of his area, are less of an issue with Bamba organising and leading the defensive line, he’s taken charge and leads as much by example as he does vocally, his experience helping to provide some much needed guidance and direction to those around him. Such has been the transformation since Bamba’s arrival, when Alex Mowatt scored the only goal of the game in the third minute, I never doubted we’d be able to hold for victory. Even when events conspired to leave us suffering through a hefty 10 minutes of injury time, there wasn’t that gut feeling an extra time sucker-punch was about to follow. Leeds have learnt to frustrate better teams, they’ve learnt to keep things tight and ‘win ugly’ – an important trait if we’re to build upon these improvements next season. Key to all that will be retention. The impressive batch of youngsters and the head coach who’s worked with them all from youth level need tying down. There’s something special about this side, an understanding and togetherness we must take full advantage of, for when you have a strong group of players who’ll run through walls for each other, who’ve become hard to beat under the guidance of a man who knows their game better than anyone, you have the makings of a team who could go on to achieve great things. And don’t for one second think Byram, Cook, Mowatt and Taylor are all Thorp Arch has to offer. Lewie Coyle got rave reviews in a development match midweek, Lewis Walters is back from injury and ready to stake his claim while Chris Dawson has already shown great potential in first team outings. Leeds could be fielding six or seven homegrown players by this time next season. The real test now is one of our ownership. Summer can’t be wasted with more punts on random imports, too much of this season has been spent in transition trying to get them up to speed. Leeds have a solid base capable of winning us promotion next season, the summer window is a chance to carefully augment that team with a couple of players to fill the obvious gaps. Players who, like Sol Bamba, have an understanding of the league already. Cellino must also recognise how important a distraction-free environment is. All too often this club is plagued by chaos and uncertainty and while I don’t think his absence has played a massive part in our improvement, I don’t think it’s hurt either. All the talk has been centred around football for once, there’s been no unsettling sideshow, no arguing the pros and cons of our erratic owner. Ongoing legal dramas and battles with The Football League need to be addressed and dealt with once and for all, and even if that isn’t possible, Cellino needs to keep his head down and stop giving soundbites and making wild promises that fuel the incessant bickering of our fanbase. We don’t need a celebrity owner for the press and fans to crucify, we need one who can quietly get on with the job without adding to the inherent madness of Leeds United Football Club. But for now at least, all’s well in LUFC-land. We’re upsetting other teams, getting results and the future’s rarely looked brighter. On and on…