Super Frank Lampard - A Managerial Adventure

Mowatt you beauty!​

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In an absolute barn stormer of a match we ended up stealing the points with a last minute Alex Mowatt free kick. A stubborn Ipswich side led by top scorer David McGoldrick burst out of the gates and took the lead twice in the early stages. Just as it was starting to look like hope was lost, Dallas nipped in with an equaliser and as happy as I would have been with a point Alex Mowatt smashed the game wide open with his stunning free kick.

Boxing day boxing match​


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The traditional Boxing day match turned out to be a belter as yet another win makes it seven in a row and puts us in a clear lead of the Championship. A relatively straight forward win was made very complicated when we conceded two goals in four minutes to go from 3-0 up to 3-2. Luckily we managed to park several buses with the hand brakes firmly applied to see out the game.
 
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As 2014 draws to a close we are looking in a very very healthy position. Four points clear at the top of the Championship is no mean feat and that run of wins has really helped us out. Wolves occupy the other automatic promotion spot but are level on points with Bristol City who went on an awful run after we beat them, I am half expecting them to drop away dramatically.

Key Players​

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Chris Wood has been a delight to watch this past month and has convinced me that his extortionate wages are worth it. Wood has scored five goals in his last six games and will be staying with the club for the foreseeable future.








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Lewis Cook has been the heartbeat of the midfield since I decided to move him from his defensive role to a playmaking role. Solid but unspectacular, he is exactly the sort of player that a team needs to just get the job done with minimal fuss.










The end of the 2014 calendar year means only one thing..

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Chuffed to bits with this, my first ever award as a manager. All of the credit should really go to the lads who have been superb all season and have really taken on board the way in which I'm trying to make them play.
 
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Such a short message. Such a big deal.

It turns out that Leeds failed the previous years financial fair play restrictions and therefore are placed under a transfer embargo for the rest of the season. This is a massive blow for the whole club and could have severe implications on our push for the Premier League. A new influx of players was already planned to freshen up the squad, while a wave of players deemed surplus to requirements were on their way out, but as they cannot now be replaced some of them are going to have to stay.

All we can do is hope that nobody else in the Championship strengthens their side too much and that we can hang on to our early season form.
 
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We so almost pulled off a 'cupset' at home to Leicester in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, which would have been the perfect way to lift our spirits following the transfer embargo. The returning Giuseppe Bellusci headed us in front early in the game and that was a lead that we held for almost the entire match with some resolute defending. In a cruel ending, a cross was accidentally bundled in by Okazaki to take the tie to a replay at Leicester.
 
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Charlton sign two from Leeds​

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Charlton today have finalised the signings of Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi from Leeds United on permanent transfer deals. Cooper completed a £725,000 deal late last night while Berardi finalised his own £700,000 deal early this morning. Cooper has not played for Leeds since his infamous falling out with Manager Frank Lampard following his sending off for dissent a couple of months ago.

Leeds United are currently under a transfer embargo following their failure to pass financial fair play restrictions and will be unable to replace Cooper and Berardi with new signings.
 
Thank god for that. Liam Cooper was off the books and could no longer cause any trouble for the club. Neither he nor Berardi were featuring for the club and both were unhappy so the decision was made to offload both and bring in £1.4 million in transfer fees and save £11k a week in wages.

Before their transfers were authorised by the club we had to see if we could afford to lose them and it turned out we could. The absence of Cooper would be covered by yet another promising youngster, Jack Vann, who has been promoted to the senior squad from the Under 18's with immediate effect. Vann looks set to have a big future and now seems as good a time as any to try him out in the first team.

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The absence of Berardi would be covered by former Manchester Utd youngster Scott Wooton who is mainly a centre back but is accomplished at right back where he will cover first team choice Sam Byram.

Another player who has been promoted to the first team from the under 21's is Kalvin Phillips. At just 19 years old, Phillips is yet another product of the Leeds academy and can join the midfield starting place battle along with the likes of Lewis Cook, Alex Mowatt and Luke Murphy. Phillips promotion to the senior squad will pave the way for Tommaso Bianchi to leave. Bianchi is unhappy with his amount of first team football and it would suit both parties if he moved on.

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And the hits just keep on coming

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Off the pitch it has been a really tough week for the club and it wasn't looking like getting any better. Sol Bamba has left the squad to join up with the Ivory Coast for their African Cup Of Nations campaign and will be missing for the next month. Caspar Sloth was the next casualty after picking up an injury in the last match against Rotherham. He will be missing for the next 5-6 weeks as well.

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And yet somehow, the results on the pitch just keep on coming!

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Before the match I had a public spat with Paul Clement after I urged the Derby board to give him more time and condemned the sacking of managers after such little time. Clement came back and basically told me to mind my own business and that it was people like me that were adding pressure to his job. Well... his job is probably a little less safe after this! the perfect result as we made actions speak louder than words. We outplayed Derby for most of the match and it looked like it was going to be heartbreak when Tom Ince equalised undeservedly late in the game, but Chris Wood had other idea, picking the ball up in his own half and running at the opposition before blasting a heavily deflected shot into the roof of the net. The goal would eventually go down as a Keogh own goal but I dont think anybody cared, the win was what mattered.
 
Out of the cup

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We got absolutely battered by Leicester. This game was perhaps just a toe dipped in the water, testing out Premier League opposition and we are definitely not ready. Chris Woods consolation ensured his good form continued but that was the only silver lining to a bad day.
Pick me up required

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And then an unexpected battering from Huddersfield. A really poor performance from the boys as they walked all over us. Bellusci was forced to sit out this match because he had picked up 10 yellow cars this season along with his three reds. This meant young Vann got his chance in the first team and looked completely out of his depth, patience is going to be required for the young lad and I am willing to give him as much time as he needs.
 
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Bianchi joins Wigan

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Leeds United midfielder Tommaso Bianchi has joined League One side Wigan Athletic on a free transfer. Bianchi made just the one appearance in a Leeds shirt this season under new manager Frank Lampard and has now signed an 18 month contract with the League One leaders.
 
A much needed win​

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We really needed that. I made the decision to push Lewis Cook up into the AMC position and play young Kalvin Phillips in CM with Mowatt. That decision was almost instantly rewarded as Cook assisted Doukara for the first and then scored his first ever goal for the club to make it 2-0. That was how it finished in the end with a performance that looked more like what we were used to.
Breathing Space​

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A big game against 4th place MK Dons was next up and we went into it knowing a win would give us some breathing space at the top. Lewis Cook once again controlled the whole match from his AMC position, scoring the first two goals and assisting Chris Wood who headed in the third. Diego Poyet scored a penalty for the Dons but it turned out to be nothing more than a consolation as we claim our 2nd win in a row.
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The table is actually looking extremely good at the end of the month. A nice gap back to 2nd place Wolves means we can go into games under slightly less pressure.

Key Players​

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Lewis Cook has been absolutely superb, three goals and two assists in his last two games have seem him named as the Championship player of the month. This lad could be the real deal.










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Sam Byram is as impressive as usual. At this stage of the season and considering our league standing I am starting to look at who can make it in the Premier League and this lad is right at the top of the list.










New Contracts​

As a club we decided that we needed to act immediately to secure our best assets. This not only secures our best players for the foreseeable future but it sends out a massive statement of intent that we are in this for the long run. Lewis Cook, Sam Byram, Kalvin Phillips, Charlie Taylor and Chris Dawson have all committed their futures to the club by signing contracts that will keep them here until 2019.
And so with the transfer embargo in effect, and all the players we could afford to offload gone, it was that time again.

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Captain Irresponsible​


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A horrible match for me to watch. Brentford took us apart and I am really starting to doubt whether Bellusci is the right man for our defence. As good as he is that is his fourth straight red card of the season. Because of this he is going to have to serve a 6 match ban! (3 for the sending off, one each for previous cards). I just cannot afford to have my best players missing all the time because of poor discipline. Looking into selling.
Set piece saves the day​

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A much better performance against a struggling Bolton side. It fell to Joseph Mills to curl a free kick into the top corner of the net to give us the win and the points but we do just seem to have lost our edge. The goals are not flowing like they were and we dont have an in form striker.


Frustrated​

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A disappointing draw against Charlton as once again we just looked completely blunt up front. Chris Wood opened to scoring with a neat finish but proceeded to waste at least two more clear cut chances. The point is always welcome but this is more of a case of two more dropped in a home match that should have been a victory.
 
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After the disappointing draw against Charlton we needed to get back onto the horse quickly. Another game dominated in chances was a lot tougher than it should have been. It finally fell to Antenucci to grab a late goal and the win.
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And back to disappointment again. 20 shots on goal, only 7 on target, and no goals. A dull 0-0 draw was hard to take but at least we are playing well and with a little bit of swagger. Alex Mowatt got himself sent off late in proceedings which is disappointing because he will miss the next two games, but it gives a chance to somebody else.
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And yet another red card, Sol Bamba the culprit this time. We appear to have a huge discipline problem at the club. At least we managed to clock another win with a good result against Cardiff. We restricted them to mainly shots from distance and Botaka and Sloth did the rest.
 
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Still top of the tree and the pressure is really on now. Just 12 games to go and a 12 point lead over Middlesbrough in 3rd place. 8 wins would see us back in the Premier League for the first time since the 2003/2004 season. A lot of the players in the squad dont seem to be pulling their weight and we are not the dominant side that we were earlier in the season. While results have still been good I do worry that a big loss could ruin the somewhat fragile morale of the team, but we will have to jump that hurdle when we reach it.
Key Players​

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Lewis Cook has had a wonderful season so far and I am sure that if we don't achieve promotion he will be off to a Premier League club. He has everything required to make it at the top level.











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Jordan Botaka has chipped in nicely this season and has been good again this month with a couple of goals and assists to his name. On three occasions this month he has achieved a match rating of more than 8.
 
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Oh Dear. Having just finished talking about how a big loss could knock our chances, we turned up with this against Wednesday. A completely unacceptable performance saw us get hammered, despite taking an early lead through Dawson. 4 shots on target out of 20 shots in total is just appalling and I am definitely going to mix things up a bit for the next game.
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What. A. Comeback. This could have absolutely saved our season. We went 2-0 down early on and were looking like suffering a 2nd straight loss. Casper Sloth scored just on the brink of half time to give us some hope but it was the half time change that worked a trick. Off came Chris Wood and on came Soleymane Doukara who managed to end his 13 hour barren spell with two wonderful finishes within 5 minutes. A MASSIVE win!
 
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What a match at the Madstad. I think it is safe to say that Souleymane Doukara is back in form again as his hatrick helped condemn Reading to defeat. A crazy first half saw four goals fly in and the teams go in equal. Doukara obviously wasn't happy with just a point though and put the Reading defence to the sword mid way through the 2nd half.
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Perhaps the biggest game of our season as first took on second in the table. And we chose today not to show up. We looked blunt up front and thoroughly bored for most of the game as wolves climbed all over us. A stubborn defensive effort was finally broken by Van La Parra and then Jack Price grabbed the second on the counter as we pushed for the equaliser. This one really hurt.


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Former Leeds man Ross McCormack was on the opposing team today as we took on Fulham at Craven Cottage. Doukara was again on the scoresheet as we led by two goals early in the second half. McCormack got his goal late in the game and refused to celebrate which earned him a standing ovation from the away fans. Luckily his goal only turned out to be a consolation and we claimed yet another priceless win as reach the sharp end of the season.
 
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Seven games to go. Just seven more games. Seven games! this is getting really tense now, the closer we edge to promotion the more afraid I am of blowing it. Four wins from our remaining seven games will see us promoted.

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Some really tough matches in the run in as we have to make away trips to QPR, Burnley and Nottingham Forest as well as taking on Middlesbrough and Bristol City who are 3rd and 4th in the table. Our future is in our hands which is good, but can we handle the pressure that goes with it?
Key Players​
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Souleymane Doukara has been superb this month and has pretty much kept us single handedly at the top of the table. 6 goals in 4 games for the Senegalese striker was enough to earn him the official Championship player of the month award, well done Souleymane!









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Sam Byram just continues to improve and has done well again this month. He is starting to really bomb forward in games now and is putting in some excellent crosses for players to run on to. Solid at the back and a threat going forward, cant ask for much more.
 
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In a match that we probably should have won, Souleymane Doukara scored our goal before limping off injured. We were forced to endure another afternoon of frustration as we hit the woodwork a couple of times and missed a couple of sitters as well. The worst news is Doukara's injury is fairly serious and he will miss the next 6 weeks and the entire run in. Are the nerves starting to show?
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The nerves are definitely starting to show! We absolutely bottled it against QPR and gave them two soft goals to make us without a win in two. The gap at the top of the table is only coming down, this really isnt good enough.


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Much much better! an efficient and ruthless performance saw us put Blackburn to the sword. Mirco Antenucci came in to the team and led the attack superbly as his goal added to Stuart Dallas' opener before Botaka made it safe midway through the 2nd half. We are on the brink!
 
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No no no this is not happening. Our worst performance of the season by some way, we got absolutely slaughtered by a ruthless Burnley side at Turf Moor. All we could do now was to wait for Bristol City's result and pray.

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Somebody heard us! Bristol City got edged out in a narrow game against Cardiff which meant we could now mathematically finish no lower than 2nd in the table!

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We had done what seemed to be the impossible! despite irresponsible players and transfer embargo's, we had reached the promised land! Celebrations went on late into the night, after all the lads deserved it. We had to keep one eye on the race for the Championship title itself but we could worry about that tomorrow.

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