Super Frank Lampard - A Managerial Adventure

Better late than never​

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The first round of the Capital One Cup matched us up against Shrewsbury who gave us a really good game. Once again we were horrifically unlucky as yet another own goal went in, Liam cooper the unfortunate party this time as a cross bounced off him and past the helpless Silvestri. My heavily rotated side fought back admirably as Chris Dawson found the equaliser but it took extra time before Chris Wood got his debut goal to put us into the 2nd round of the cup.

Amazing what a win can do​

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Just a few days later we faced off against Huddersfield in our 2nd Championship match of the season. Some superb counter attacking football produced a fine display as we took the three points with relative ease. Another fantastic display by Souleymane Doukara saw him claim the match ball with a thrilling hatrick to leave him with 5 goals in his first two games. A brilliant start.
 
A proper Leeds win

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A thoroughly bad tempered match saw us finish the match with 10 men as captain Bellusci got himself sent off for a 2nd bookable offence in the 60th minute. Luckily by that point we were already 2-0 up thanks to goals from Botaka and Doukara who just cannot stop scoring. Eoin Doyle grabbed one back for Preston late on which led to a nervy finish, but we held on for the three points. A proper ground out result.
Tight at the top​

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The top of the table clash failed to live up to its billing and fizzled out into a boring 0-0 draw. Neither side looked like creating much but both continue their unbeaten starts to the season. Probably a fair point.
The cup run continues

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League one side Millwall were the opposition in the Capital One Cup 2nd round and we breezed past them with a heavily rotated side. An early injury setback for Chris Dawson was unfortunate but not damaging as Chris Wood grabbed a brace before Bellusci nodded a third to give us an easy 3-0 win.


Where Eagles dare

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Chris Eagles scored his first goal for the club as we squeaked past a very good Brentford side. It was a closely fought match with both sides being wasteful with the chances they got. Eventually Sam Byram floated in a wonderful deep cross which the unmarked Eagles managed to latch on to at the back post. That is now three clean sheets in a row.
 
The end of the month has arrived and with it comes the closing of the transfer window and start of the international break. To be honest perhaps it was a bad time for the break to come as we are in such good form but as there is nothing we can do about it we have to accept it for what it is. As the break starts we are sat in first place in the table! who would've expected that at the beginning of the season!?

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I couldn't be happier with the start that we have made. Souleymane Doukara leads the scoring charts in the Championship with 6 goals and we have only conceded 3 in our first 5 games.

Key players​

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Souleymane Doukara has been in scintilating form, scoring 6 goals and chipping in with an assist in his first four games. Out of those four games he was voted man of the match on three occasions and has an average rating of 8.15. Long may this form continue.









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Giuseppe Bellusci has led from example at the back. The club captain has played 6 games so far and chipped in with a goal and an assist. His average rating of 7.63 shows just how vital he is to the defence that have kept four clean sheets in the last five games.









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Lewis Cook has been the mainstay in the midfield so far this season. Solid but not exceptional he has played 6 games for an average rating of 7.3. The core of the team are doing well.
 
Well.. it had to come some time​

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A gutting defeat to Bolton was made even worse when wide man Jordan Botaka picked up an injury forcing him to miss the next two months of the season. After missing our majority of the chances we were punished heavily by Neil Lennon's side. Disappointing, but on to the next game!!
Thats more like it​

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Back to winning ways against Charlton as a thoroughly professional performance saw us take the points. While we struggled forging many chances, Charlton gifted us a penalty which the ever professional Chris Eagles dispatched neatly to give us a good away win.

And again​

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It has been said often and frequently that the mark of a good team is the ability to grind out results when you aren't playing well, and that is exactly what we are doing. Another scrappy and bad tempered match ended in a 1-0 win when once again we were gifted a penalty which Chris Wood decided to put away this time. All of this happened in the opening two minutes, meaning the rest of the game fizzled out into a rather boring affair.
 
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Donyoh joins Leeds on short term loan​

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Manchester City academy player Godsway Donyoh has joined Leeds United on a short term 3 month loan deal. Donyoh spent last season out on loan at Swedish side Falkenberg where he scored four goals in 16 appearances.

"Godsway is a tremendous young talent and we are more than happy to aid his development here at Leeds" Said manager Frank Lampard. Lampard's Leeds side have been exceeding all expectations so far this season and find themselves sat 2nd in the Championship.
 
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A really disappointing result against Tottenham left us wondering what could have been, and could have spelt the end of a Leeds career for one player. Chris Wood slotted an accurate finish into the corner of the net as we executed a counter attacking game perfectly. The turning point of the match happened when Bellusci brought down Eriksen in the area and gave Tottenham a penalty. Liam Cooper, who had only gone into the book 60 seconds before, decided to take it upon himself to mouth off at the referee so much he got himself sent off. All of a sudden we were down to 10 men and facing a penalty which they scored to level the game. We couldn't hold out in the end but we can take a lot of pride from our performance.

After the game I pulled Cooper aside and let him know just how angry I was with him, he had let the entire team down because he couldnt control his gobby mouth. This resulted in him reacting angrily in response so I took the decision to fine him a weeks wages and issue him with an official warning, which he also complained about and started talking angrily to his team mates. He has definitely earned himself a one way ticket to the reserves and will need to have a serious change of attitude if he is to play for Leeds again.
 
This is looking really good. Leeds have a such a talented young core, whether they can all step up in the Premiership will be interesting to see!

Unlucky against Spurs (even if I do support them :P).

Souleymane Doukara is also looking beastly so far! Hopefully it continues :)


 
Disclaimer89 said:
This is looking really good. Leeds have a such a talented young core, whether they can all step up in the Premiership will be interesting to see!

Unlucky against Spurs (even if I do support them :P).

Souleymane Doukara is also looking beastly so far! Hopefully it continues :)
Click to expand...

Cheers buddy!

Doukara has sorta gone off the boil a bit.. he's sharing duties with Wood now.. I am really liking Leeds, Byram in particular is a really likeable young lad, with huge talent. :) Hopefully they will smash the prem! (If we ever get there!)
 
Appalling​

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A really really poor result and not only that, we got well and truly thumped! disappointing but not the end of the world. With several players either injured or out of form it was going to come.
Back to the old 1-0

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A much much better display and a fantastic result against a very strong Cardiff side! We were helped out somewhat by their injury woes but a pinpoint finish into the bottom corner from Casper Sloth sealed the win and the points.
 
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So I think it is probably fair to say we are into the swing of the season and perhaps we can start getting an idea of who is going to challenge. Reading seem to be joining us as a team that are really difficult to beat but grinding out the results. Burnley are going to be right up there having only conceded four goals in the first ten games, and Wolves are also looking ominous having scored more goals than anybody else.


Key Players​

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In what has been a slightly lean month in terms of goals, it is probably time to sing the praises of some of our defensive assets. Sam Byram has been tremendously consistent and has anchored the right side of the defense in every match this season. Definitely a key player and a star in the making.









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Giuseppe Bellusci makes a second consecutive appearance in this section and he has played superbly as part of the central defensive partnership he has with Sol Bamba. Our captain and our best player, any hopes of promotion will surely rest on the likes of Giuseppe keeping his form up.
 
Just keep grinding them out​

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To be completely honest this was a brutal game. 11 yellow cards were dished out, 8 of them to Wednesday as both sides finished with 10 men (Bellusci for us). An early Antenucci penalty was the only goal action to speak of and so it finished 1-0 to claim three more big points for us.

No such thing as a bad point

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A good point picked up against Hull in the first of a run of really hard games. Doukara broke his goal drought to earn that point in a game which we dominated and perhaps should have done more, but I dont want to be too harsh on the lads.

Marvellous

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A brilliant performance and a brilliant result. Doukara notched another but it was Chris Dawson who who stole the show with a wonderful strike to seal the points. An important result against a fellow top of the table team.

Not so marvellous

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A brilliant start trailed off into a defensive horror show as our usually reliable back line completely collapsed and allowed Wolves to blow us away. Disappointing end to the month.
 
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Well that is certainly a very strange table, perhaps Cardiff are the only team in the top 6 that would be expected to be there? Still we really cant complain about 3rd place in the table, but a distinct lack of goals is definitely a worry.


Key players

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Souleymane Doukara is starting to discover his early season form again with two goals and an assist this month. Is keeping Chris Wood out of the team at the moment.











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Big Sol Bamba has had a great month, with all four of his appearances gaining him a match rating of over 7. The dominating centre back is a great partner for Bellusci in the heart of the defence.
 
Bore draw

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We were perhaps slightly lucky to hang on to this one. Doukara put us ahead before Cauley Woodrow levelled with an absolute beauty. We then spent most of the second half with our backs against the walls defending for our lives, but we escape with a point.

Another bore draw

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Once again we were lucky to get away with a point. Stuart Dallas was the saviour this time, equalising after David Nugents bundled opener. The rest of the match fizzled into nothing as we were left frustrated again.

And another​


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We are definitely hitting a bit of a rut now. Frustration in the squad is growing as we are now 8 points off the lead of the Championship. We cant afford to be dropping these points. Botaka notched the goal this time but nobody is showing any type of consistency whatsoever. A better performance against struggling QPR, but not enough.
 
Back to winning ways

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This one was a huge relief. The perfect start was achieved when Alex Mowatt curled in a superb free kick with his first touch of the ball inside the first minute. Jordan Botaka who has been excellent since his injury return doubled our advantage. Jordan Rhodes did enough to ensure it would be a tight and nervy finish, but no more than that as we held on for the three points.

The start of a run?

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Burnley had only just sacked Sean Dyche after what they felt was a disappointing start to the season (11th place) and replaced him with Malky McKay, but I still feel this is a massive win! Things didnt start well with an unfortunate own goal from a corner, but we pulled it back admirably with Chris Wood hitting the winning goal mid way through the 2nd half. Also worth mentioning in yet another goal for young Botaka, he is doing extremely well.
 
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As we approach the half way stage of the season, it is clear that the run of draws have put a dent in our league standing, but there is a long long way to go! 4th place in the table was far better then what was expected at the beginning of the season and we are just a single win away from the automatic promotion places.

Key Players​

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Jordan Botaka has been in great form since his return from injury and has earned himself the right of being one of the first names on the team sheet. 3 goals in his last 3 appearances have come at exactly the right time and this lad could have a bright future at Elland Road.











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Sol Bamba is in here again. The towering Ivorian has been dominant at centre back and carried straight on from where he left off last month. No clean sheets this month for the defence but Bamba has been crucial in keeping the scorelines down.
 
Still there or thereabouts mate! A decent run could see you back up in the promotion spots, great stuff.
 
Yeti01 said:
Still there or thereabouts mate! A decent run could see you back up in the promotion spots, great stuff.
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Cheers bud, the Championship is such a ridiculously tight league! I keep waiting for the easy run of fixtures to come along, but their aren't any! :P
 
Top of the league eh?

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A fantastic result against top of the table Bristol City. Chris Wood starred as he immediately restored our lead following Bristols equaliser. This result cuts the gap to the top of the table to just two points, game on.
Seeing the Wood through the trees ​


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Another fantastic match and brilliant result. I am starting to notice a bit of a problem with our captain Gieseppe Bellusci. This is his third sending off of the season meaning a three game ban is coming his way. This disciplinary issue is becoming a real problem and needs to be sorted. I fined him a weeks wages after the game which he wasn't overly happy about, but we will see how it goes. Chris Wood is doing his chances of staying with the club no harm at all as he wants again scored the vital goal.
And another one bites the dust

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We went into this game with both Bellusci and Bamba suspended. This meant Liam Cooper got a chance to earn his place back and monumentally blew it by giving away a penalty in the 2nd minute. Fortunately for us it was missed, and Chris Wood went on to punish them for that miss by notching his third in three games. This result means its five wins in a row, and 8 without losing, a good run.
 
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